New Yorker Christopher Verrillo’s first trip to Nashville was an overwhelming success—he met Music City native Maggie Gatling at a mutual friend’s dinner party and immediately asked a friend for her number. They began texting, and she even drove him to the airport at the end of the weekend just so she could see him again.
For the next two years, Maggie and Christopher dated long-distance between Nashville and New York and never went more than two weeks without seeing each other. After the pandemic lockdown, Maggie decided to move to New York in January 2021.
In August, they were asked to do a photo shoot for a bridal promotion complete with 12 photographers, hair and makeup, and even a wedding planner. “Chris was so sweet to do it with me, but little did I know, he had a trick up his sleeve, and everyone knew but me,” Maggie notes. While on Top of the Rock, the highest floor of Rockefeller Center, Maggie donned a wedding dress and posed for the next photo. The planner asked to replace the fake wedding ring she was wearing with a backup she preferred.
Chris then said, “She doesn’t have the ring that fits you, I do.” He got down on one knee and asked Maggie to marry him. Needless to say, their engagement photos were spectacular and prescient with Maggie already in bridal white.
After vacationing at Rosewood Mayakoba, the couple knew they had the ultimate wedding venue. While planning with Canteiro Weddings, Maggie hoped to embellish Rosewood’s natural beauty. “Everything is so lush and colorful, so we chose flowers local to the area and colors that were true to our surroundings,” she notes. The welcome party featured a bright, fun palette, while the ceremony and reception had more neutrals. To capture every special moment, Valorie Darling was behind the lens the entire weekend.
Truth be told, Maggie planned the entire floral-filled welcome party aesthetic around her green Rosie Assoulin dress. Chris matched his bride-to-be in an Enzo Custom blazer. Meanwhile, their guests all donned white for high contrast. Everyone received welcome bags with treats from The Copper Cookie Company.
Maggie had a vision for her wedding dress—and ended up with some completely different. “Everything I gravitated towards was not what I originally wanted,” she remarks. “Everyone always says you never end up with the dress you think you will end up with, and that is so true.” At Mark Ingram Atelier, she found a form-fitting appliqué dress by Eisten Stein. With an added train and even longer veil, it was everything she never knew she wanted. Natalie Dresher applied her elegant makeup, and Gamaliel Alvarez styled her hair.
Growing up in the South, Maggie saw all of the women in her life pair their outfits with pearls as the final touch to any look. For her most special day, she would naturally need her own pearls, so she inquired with Sophie Bille Brahe and booked a private appointment at The Greenwich Hotel to source her unique pearl drop earrings.
Lastly, for the after-party ensemble, Maggie sought out Happy Isles’s assistance. “My visit there was nothing short of spectacular,” she recalls. “We tried on so many amazing party pieces, but the dress I chose was out of this world.” The dress—a 1950s rhinestone number—even came with a cape.
On September 3, 2022, guests gathered in a small secluded area of the El Mirador lagoon, overlooking the water and adorned with orchids, elephant ears, palm leaves, and other tropical flowers. Chris arrived to the ceremony by boat. “That was one of his only requests throughout the whole planning process, and we made sure to make it happen,” Maggie asserts. Chris’s father’s best friend from college served as the officiant, and he read the secret letters the couple wrote, describing what they love most about one another. The service was nothing short of beautiful and emotional.
An early morning rain—thankfully not during the wedding—ensured that the weather would be cool for the reception. Instead of a traditional cake, they served guests a true sweet Mexican classic. . . churros! “They were a huge hit,” Maggie confirms. Her father started the party with a blessing and his speech, and the couple’s best friends followed with uproarious toasts. After dinner, the newlyweds surprised their guests with a firework show to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon.” A saxophonist then brought everyone back to the dance floor.
The bride and groom shared their first dance to Chantal Kreviazuk’s “Feels Like Home” from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It’s one of Maggie’s favorite films, and she’s always known to wanted to dance to it at her wedding one day. While dating Chris, she played the song for him, and it soon became one of his favorites, too.
The real star of the evening, though, was Milly, the couple’s dog who joined them on the dance floor. The after-party kicked off on the adjacent beach with late-night bites and a piñata—another detail personally requested by Chris. Everyone hit the colorful cardboard donkey, but it was the mother of the groom who had the final swing. The night ended with a moonlit swim—with all of the guests splashing around fully clothed. Chris’s parents even took a dive in the water to cap off the weekend.
