When biologist and musician Kelsey Reckling attended her friend’s senior thesis art show in Los Angeles, she had no idea she would end up marrying the musician from the band playing in the gallery space. After her friend formally introduced her to William Keegan, they knew it was something special. And eight years later, he proposed during a trip to the Yucatán Peninsula.
As Kelsey’s biological studies focus primarily on birds, they always include birdwatching excursions on their trips. The two had woken up before sunrise to prepare for their day at the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, where more than 300 species of birds are known to dwell. “Toward the end of the morning, we were walking across a boardwalk through flooded mangroves. It started thundering, and we could hear howler monkeys grunting loudly in the treetops.” William insisted they stop for a photo op, to which Kelsey promptly insisted they keep trudging onward ahead of the storm. But when William, who is normally never one to pose for a picture, asked once more, she obliged. As their tour guide took the picture, William dropped to one knee and asked Kelsey to marry him.
The couple wasted no time selecting their venue. Kelsey worked in the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum insect collections from 2017 to 2018 and always hoped that when she and William would one day marry, it’d be here. The day after the proposal, she approached him with this venue idea, and he agreed it was perfect. From there, the aesthetic came naturally. Kelsey notes, “I knew I wanted it to be very botanical and inspired by the natural world.” The two enlisted Laura Gordon to photograph the event and Nicole Gillis of Nicole Alexandra Designs to pull it all together. From there, the couple sent out their Stephanie Fishwick invitations for their spring wedding.
Also in 2018, Kelsey saw a long-sleeved Monique Lhuillier dress with a mock turtleneck and understood that this would be “the” dress for her wedding day. Once engaged, she considered other dresses online and even visited the Monique Lhuillier atelier to try a few pieces. But she continued to think of that original dress and had to have it. Her botanical shoes were also Monique Lhuillier. Her father gifted her Sophie Bille Brahe freshwater pearl earrings, which she accessorized with her late grandmother’s old bird broach-turned-hairpiece. Page Beauty applied her dewy makeup. William kept his groom’s look dapper with a black Indochino suit and Otaa bow tie.
On an auspicious date like Friday, May 13, 2022, guests gathered in the Exposition Rose Garden outside of the museum. This was the site of one of Kelsey and William’s first dates with their friend Emma almost nine years earlier, so they felt it was only right for her to officiate the ceremony here. The Downbeat Agency string quartet strummed a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue,” as the bride made her way down the aisle. United with William at the altar and in the middle of the ceremony, they were surrounded by a fleet of hummingbirds who were likely attracted to Tularosa Flowers’s arrangement but perhaps just crashing this celebration of love.
Everyone ventured into the museum rotunda for cocktail hour with a jazz band serenade from Django Foxtrot. Once glasses were emptied, guests walked through the Dinosaur Hall and entered the Grand Foyer with two life-sized dueling dinosaurs as the room’s centerpiece. The fully-equipped bars, photo booth, guestbook with polaroids, and seating assignment table with cloches by Calligraphy Katrina and custom Lola Valentina Designs butterfly linens were set up throughout. The table was transformed into a living garden by Tularosa Flowers with butterflies, beetles, and other insects incorporated into the table arrangements.
Dinner, dancing, and toasts were held in the North American Mammal Hall, where the tables and dancefloor were ensconced by scenic mammal dioramas from various areas and climates in North America. The delectable meal by Good Gracious! Events consisted of heirloom tomato salad and a choice between salmon, beef tenderloin, or cauliflower steak. For dessert, there were citrus-flavored butterfly cookies with edible flowers, vegan chocolate hazelnut cookie sandwiches, and a divine wedding cake by Lila Cake Shop. The two star-crossed flavors—aptly named Romeo + Juliet—were vanilla cake with guava compote and cream cheese buttercream and chocolate raspberry with chocolate cake, raspberry compote, and raspberry buttercream.
With DJ Krieger on the turn tables, the newlyweds shared their first dance to “This Magic Moment” by Ben E. King and The Drifters bfore the bride switched into dancing shoes—white knee-high boots paired with an Andrew GN mini dress. The newlyweds exited the museum with a giant whale hanging from the ceiling. Overhead, their guests stood over the museum gardens and tossed birdseed on the bride and groom for good luck. Kelsey adds, “A biodegradable alternative to throwing rice!”
