After three years with her boyfriend, Jamie Calhoun came home to discover a letter from Steven Calhoun, instructing her to put on a dress and follow specific clues. She was led on a day-long scavenger hunt with her sister as her chauffeur, and at each stop, Jamie was surprised by one of her family members, who had another letter from Steven. The last one led her to a lake they frequented around sunset, and he was waiting for her at the end of the dock, surrounded by candles.
Once engaged, they booked St. James Catholic Cathedral in Orlando for their January 4th, 2020 #OverTheMoonForCalhoun wedding. And since Jamie always wanted a tented affair, but Florida’s weather is unpredictable, they completely filled the ballroom at The Alfond Inn with drapery for the temperature-controlled space of their dreams. To help plan and design everything, the couple hired Lisa Stoner.
Jamie’s wedding dress was the first (out of two) that she tried on at The Collection Bridal in Winter Park. “I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to wear,” she says. “Both my mother and grandmother wore gowns with long sleeves, cementing in my mind at a young age that I would one day wear the same.” Her Monique Lhuillier gown featured French lace, pearl buttons, a full skirt, and of course, graceful sleeves. She ended up adding an extra foot to the train and completed her look with a cathedral-length, French silk tulle veil from Noon on the Moon.
On the day-of, Jamie got ready with LeJeune Artistry in a vintage-inspired robe from Daphne Newman that made her feel like an Old Hollywood starlet. And she put on Tiffany & Co. pearl earrings that Steven gifted her that morning and bespoke, blush Jimmy Choo pumps with their wedding date engraved on the bottom.
Bridesmaids complemented Jamie well in pale blue gowns from Jenny Yoo and were her “something blue.” And Steven was ready to say, “I do,” in a J.Crew tuxedo with Tom Ford accessories.
The bride rode to the church with her father in a a 1965 Rolls-Royce, and once at the cathedral, filled with red poinsettias and twinkling Christmas trees from Fairbanks Florist, Jamie’s childhood priest presided over the ceremony. “We didn’t do a first look, so walking down the aisle to see my teary-eyed, soon-to-be husband waiting for me is one of my favorite memories of my life thus far,” Jamie remarks.
After saying, “I do,” the newlyweds made their debut as a married couple at their cocktail hour, where guests enjoyed jazz classics played by the Anthology String Quartet. The two toasted with a champagne tower, and then everyone transitioned into the ballroom for a seasonal, farm-to-table, French-inspired dinner and dancing.
The new Mr. and Mrs. had their first dance to “That’s All” by Frank Sinatra, and then Jamie changed into a Tadashi Shoji gown and a Jennifer Behr floral headpiece for more fun on the dance floor with DJ JW Jaeger. Once the reception came to a close, the bride made another outfit change into a sparkly Needle & Thread dress and headed to a retro cocktail den in Winter Park for the after-party.
Jamie and Steven planned to honeymoon in Provence and Paris in June and July, but due to COVID-19, they’ve postponed. Jamie adds, “Instead, I’ve been doing a lot of French cooking at home to try and recreate the experience!’
