Wedding

“To pick one or

two colors wasn’t

really in the cards for us,”

says Stacy.

When Stacy Kellogg and Ozgur Ercan say they had a colorful wedding,

they’re not kidding.

The Rochester, New York, couple used broken pieces of stained

glass in five bold colors during their wedding ceremony to symbolize

different aspects of their relationship: fuchsia for love, purple for

passion, green for growth, orange for happiness, and teal for loyalty.

Guests picked up pieces of broken glass (sanded for safety) and held

them, wishing the couple joy in their marriage, before returning the

glass pieces to a storage basket. Color was a vital component of the

wedding celebration for Stacy, a floral designer who’s been making

beautiful floral arrangements for more than 14 years. “To pick one or

two colors wasn’t really in the cards for us,” says Stacy. “We really

wanted to reflect our colorful personalities, so we started with our

favorite jewel tones and built the wedding from there.”

Stacy and Ozgur were determined to have a wedding that truly

reflected their unique personalities. They brainstormed ideas and

encouraged their vendors to go wild carrying out their basic concepts.

“We told everybody, ‘Do something you have never done before. Have

fun with it,’” says Stacy. Stacy and Ozgur put their own creativity to

work too: Stacy enlisted her bridal party’s participation in making

their own headpieces for the ceremony; Stacy’s mom stitched colorful

crystals all over Stacy’s second wedding dress (a surprise gift from

her mom and aunts, who knew Stacy had loved the nontraditional

dress); and each guest took home a hand-painted favor made by

Stacy and Ozgur. Every detail of the wedding, from the structure of

the wedding ceremony, to the aisle runners, to the flowers that the

bride designed herself, was crafted to reflect the bride and groom’s

personalities. Stacy’s creative enthusiasm was such an important part

of the wedding that Ozgur quipped, “We’ve been Stacified,” when

someone complimented his groomsmen’s colorful ties. The phrase

caught on, and it’s become a tagline for Stacy’s floral business.

Since Ozgur is originally from Turkey and most of his family still

lives there, Stacy and Ozgur wanted to incorporate Turkish traditions

into their ceremony. Stacy and 150 of her closest female friends and

family members had a kina before the wedding, a traditional Turkish

prenuptial gathering ceremony that represents the bride leaving her

parents’ home. Turkish food was a big hit at the wedding reception,

and Stacy and Ozgur found a DJ who could spin Turkish tunes as well

as American music, keeping the dance floor packed all night.

Stacy found vendors who were as

excited about creating something

one-of-a-kind as she and Ozgur

were, and the end result was everything she’d hoped for. In

fact, when she walked into the room where the reception was to take

place and saw everything set up, Stacy burst into happy tears. Ozgur,

who was with her, says that his favorite part of the whole day was

seeing how happy Stacy was at that moment. “I can’t even imagine

how you feel right now, knowing you created all this,” he whispered

to her. “I’m so proud of you.”

Stacy and Ozgur had toyed with the idea of a destination wedding,

but a family scheduling conflict made them rethink the destination

idea and look in their own backyard. Artisan Works inspired them

immediately with its creative approach to art display and wealth of

colorful details. It felt like the perfect fit for their personalities and the

perfect place to celebrate their wedding.

After the celebrations ended, Stacy and Ozgur headed home with a

basket of broken glass and plans to create a new art project from it

together — proof that their creative wedding celebration really was

a harbinger of shared inspiration to come.