Real Wedding: Alicia & Brian
During the first year and a half of their romance, Alicia Mikoloski and Brian Kubeck found adventure together on trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Yet when it came time to get married, this New York City-based couple decided to get married in their home state’s beautiful backyard. “A true snow-white backdrop for our celebration was what we both pictured,” says Alicia. “We thought Lake Placid was the perfect place.”
In some ways, it’s not surprising that this couple found a lot to agree on when it came to getting married. After all, fate seemed at work in getting them together. They’d been introduced twice at different events over a five-year period by mutual friends before the sparks finally flew—the phrase “third time is a charm” seems invented for this couple. Once they made a connection, they discovered they’d gone to the same college, had friends in common, and that Alicia had worked for a time with Brian’s sister. Yet despite similarities in their backgrounds, they soon found they had a great deal to teach each other. “Brian opened my world up to travel,” says Alicia. She, meanwhile, upped Brian’s culture quotient—having been a dancer her whole life, she took him to the ballet and the opera in Central Park. “Our time together is always a mix of our favorite things,” says Alicia.
Partly because the couple did so much international traveling as a duo, Alicia suspected nothing when Brian took her to Paris for a getaway over Labor Day weekend. “It was very romantic, but I didn’t have any expectations of an engagement for the trip … until he asked if I wanted to have some chilled Champagne. That’s when the butterflies started.” Alicia’s feelings of nervous anticipation turned into tears of joy when Brian surprised her in their hotel room by getting down on one knee and proposing with a gorgeous ring.
The couple decided to tie the knot in the winter—both love skiing and snowboarding and the relaxed vibe of ski towns. Their hope was to create a wedding that was fairly simple, that felt cozy, warm, inviting, and true to the spirit of their chosen destination in New York’s Adirondacks. From its antler chandeliers to its massive stone fireplace, the Crowne Plaza Resort & Golf Club, unfussy yet full of character, fit the bill.
At the reception, votive candles in containers of ice lined the entrance; inside, table centerpieces made with white tulips, greenery, and pillar candles gave the room a warm glow. And the weather cooperated to give them the perfect backdrop. “Lake Placid had just gotten a fresh dump of snow a few days before and it flurried all day long, keeping the snow glistening and white,” says Alicia. “It was a true winter wonderland. We couldn’t have had a more perfect atmosphere, inside or outside.”
The dancing and the music at the reception provided an emotional highlight. Their first dance as a married couple, to the song “Luckiest” by Ben Folds Five, was, Alicia says, “incredibly important and moving.” To celebrate the longevity of their parents’ marriages, the couple also played their parents’ wedding songs. Taking it one step further, Alicia had done some undercover research beforehand to find out their friends’ wedding songs—and those tunes were played throughout the reception dinner. “It worked out really well,” she says. “It surprised them and made them realize how much we wanted the day to be special for everyone.”
Thoughtful, personal details characterized the ceremony and reception. Instead of traditional favors, for example, the couple made a donation on behalf of all the guests to Doctors Without Borders, a charity the couple admires and supports. And they created a special guestbook using a creative idea from their floral stylist Susan Cady of Finishing Touches: Everyone signed in the margins of a beautiful coffee-table book on the Adirondacks, now one of the couple’s most treasured keepsakes. “It’s so much fun to flip through,” says Alicia.
When it comes to wedding planning, Alicia encourages other couples to rely on each other for advice and support. “Communicate your desires and any stress you are feeling,” she says. “Most important, enjoy it! What we wanted was a great party—and that’s exactly what we had.”