After dating for three years, Ryan McInnis proposed to Maggie Zellner on a trip to Colorado. They got stuck in traffic, and it ended up taking them two-and-a-half hours to get to JFK, so they missed their flight out and didn’t make it to Beaver Creek until the following day. “This really threw me off the scent—I had some suspicions that Ryan might propose that weekend, but I figured whatever plans he had would now be scuttled,” Maggie says. They missed an entire ski-day, but the upside is that she was totally surprised when he asked her to marry him. “After Ryan proposed, we FaceTimed our families and approximately 300 of my friends, drank way too much champagne, and took a sleigh to dinner. I had no complaints.”

Since the two are based in New York and didn’t want to do a destination wedding, they chose the iconic Plaza Hotel for their venue. “I’m a little bit of a foodie, and the Plaza uses a fantastic outside caterer, Great Performances, for its events, so that’s probably what tipped the scale for me venue-wise,” Maggie says. To help plan their February, 2019 wedding, they hired Caitlin O’Hara of Cait & Jules, who transformed the space into a winter wonderland. And for their invitations, Alpine Creative Group handled the paper materials, while Nicole Black of The Left Handed Calligrapher took care of the beautiful writing.

Because it was winter, Maggie wanted a dress with a high neck and long sleeves and chose a gorgeous Monique Lhuillier design. For the reception, she changed into a Rime Arodaky long-sleeve gown, embellished with floral, snowflake-esque appliqués. And then, she ended the night in a long-sleeved Hervé Léger mini dress and Sophia Webster shoes. “I somehow made it through my entire adolescence and most of my twenties without ever owning an Hervé Léger dress, and then, hilariously, I bought one for my wedding.”

The day before the wedding, the couple had a photoshoot akin to a first look session in Central Park, where the bride wore a Galvan dress, Roxanne Assoulin earrings from Moda Operandi, made-to-order Jimmy Choos, and an Edie Parker clutch. After the photos and the wedding rehearsal, Maggie and Ryan headed downtown to meet their guests for a welcome party at the festive and cozy Gramercy Park Hotel.

All of Maggie’s looks for the weekend were tailored perfectly by Nadin Fashion Alteration, and Maisie-Kate Keane was on-hand the day of the wedding to help the bride get dressed, organize outfit changes, and do any emergency sewing—she saved the day when one of Maggie’s best friend’s dresses broke 30 minutes before the ceremony!

For the bride’s beauty look on the wedding day, Dana Rae Ashburn made Maggie feel glamorous and gave her her signature cat-eye liner look, and Ryan Nickulas styled her hair in a chic updo. She also wore her grandmother’s Dior robe to get ready in. 

Then it was time to head to St. James on the Upper East Side for the traditional, evening ceremony. The bride walked down the aisle, lined with evergreen garlands and candles, with her father to meet Ryan and their officiant, Eva Suarez, at the altar. “Even though I knew exactly who would be there, it was still astonishing to see all these people who Ryan and I love, gathered together in such a special setting.”

After being announced as husband and wife, the celebration kicked off at The Plaza. “My dad gave a short welcome toast—I think it was exactly 27 seconds—and we got on with the party!” Maggie says. Florals from Carlos Rivas decorated the ballroom and Cait & Jules used mirrored tables, taper candles, and gold mercury glass votives to make the room glow.

After dinner, the newlyweds danced to “Bailando” by Enrique Iglesias, and Maggie and her father twirled to “This Must Be the Place” by The Talking Heads. And because the bride had hoped for snow, which unfortunately never came, Cait & Jules had white confetti unleashed during one of the last songs, “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim.

At midnight, guests braved the winter night and walked across the street to Pomona for more merrymaking. “Our parents and their friends stayed mostly in the dining room and amused themselves watching the magician and other carnival-type entertainment, and Ryan’s and my friends gathered in the back, where there was a DJ and dance floor,” Maggie explains. “We had a beer pong table set up in the library with a uniformed referee, and by the end of the night, pretty much everyone was wearing the #BrideZellner baseball hats and the large, heart-shaped sunglasses we gave out as party favors.”