An Old Hollywood Wedding at G. Fox in Hartford, Connecticut

When Xiara Correa (26, a physical therapist) and James Stringer (26, a Hospital Corpsman in the US Navy) met in middle school, they never thought they’d end up getting married. “We rode the same school bus and attended the same classes, however, we did not share the same circle of friends and we never dated in school,” Xiara says. “We simply knew of each other from a distance. We both grew up in the same town in California, but we reconnected all the way on the East Coast. When we graduated high school, I went to college at Loyola Marymount University and James joined the Navy. When I moved to Connecticut for Physical Therapy school, I reached out to Facebook friends who lived on the East Coast, including James, who at the time was stationed in South Carolina. We became close friends online and he invited me as a friend to be his date for the Military Ball. We both had an amazing night of dancing and really getting to know each other. From that night on, we could not leave each other alone and began dating long distance for a few months. We couldn’t stay apart much longer so James re-assigned to Connecticut and we officially started our lives together. We were dating for two years and had moved in together when James proposed to me during our vacation. We were going on a trip before he deployed to Afghanistan, and he proposed on July 19, 2011, in the hills of Catalina Island in California. He had been bugging me all day to go mountain biking, and I didn’t really want to because it was very hot and the hills were steep. I was upset the whole time because he was biking ahead of me and leaving me in the dust. Little did I know he was scoping out a spot to propose! We finally made it to a cliff with breathtaking views of the ocean. There with no witnesses when he proposed to me. It was a very special, private moment. From there, I actually made him carry the bikes back down so I could stare at my ring on my finger the whole time! We were engaged for two years before we wed because James was in Afghanistan for a good part of 2011 and some of 2012.”So when Xiara and James finally did get to plan their wedding, they made sure it was extremely romantic and reflective of their personality as a couple.“We had our wedding at the Old G. Fox building in downtown Hartford, Connecticut,” Xiara says. “It used to be a very upscale department store like you hear about from the ‘40s and ‘50s where you didn’t go there unless you dressed up. The architecture is grandiose and Art Deco. We chose this location because of the amazing architecture, the history it told and the Old Hollywood feel. It reminded us of home and the romance of a timeless love. Our love was felt there immediately when you stepped in. Our wedding theme was vintage Old Hollywood glamour. His crackerjack sailor uniform and my affinity for vintage style inspired the wedding. I was also inspired by our relationship, because I feel like we’re old souls and have a timeless love where we were separated by a deployment, where we wrote hand-written letters to each other. We are also both from California and that’s how the Old Hollywood tied in.”The color palette of the couple’s wedding was blush pink, brown and gold, with golden uplighting warming the Art Deco venue. “The cocktail hour was held on the mezzanine, and it felt like you were at some big Hollywood movie premiere. The meal started with a frisee` and baby arugula salad, with entr?e options of lemon rosemary-roasted chicken breast, filet of sole, New York strip steak, or a baked stuffed Portobello mushroom. The ivory wedding cake was strawberry cr?me with buttercream frosting and lots of piping, topped with an Art Deco-style ‘S’ for Stringer. We only had 75 guests, so the small size allowed us to speak to each and every one of our guests.”