One Couple's Modern Black-and-White Wedding at Rosewood Phuket in Thailand

With the pandemic affecting their life and business, Ilaire (41 and a wedding planner and stylist) and David (41 and works in business) decided to find “beauty from the ashes of these tough times” by tying the knot with a microwedding. Although only 18 people were able to be there in person (Ilaire’s parents in Italy had to tune in virtually), the couple leaned into making good times out of bad, so much so that they centered the design around the interplay between light and darkness. After first introducing the “day to night and night to day” concept with their invites, they reinforced the aesthetic with an uneven ceremony aisle. The left had ghost chairs while the right was all black. The white-and-black details didn’t end there—two-tone macarons accompanied bubbly at the reception. 

“There was a unique, warm feeling of a new beginning on our wedding day and it will be never be forgotten,” recalls Ilaire of the euphoria that filled every part of her nuptials to David. Each part of the couple's wedding was planned intentionally and was informed by numerology. "Micro, minimal, meaningful, intimate, innovative—those principles guided our day. In numerology, MMMIII or 3003 represents the power of creativity that can bring joy to everyone."

During the ceremony, Ilaire and David exchanged wedding rings that bore the inscription “never give up” as a reminder of their promise and commitment to each other. “Even after planning 200 weddings, I still get excited about petal tosses and I couldn’t wait to experience that moment for ourselves!” says Ilaire. “Our recessional was such an explosion of fun that the photographer asked us to do it twice!”

For the wedding day, Ilaire rocked a crop-top-and-skirt look that she designed because she “couldn’t imagine wearing something that was not designed by me.” Meanwhile, David donned a white T-shirt that befit his laid-back style and finished off the ensemble with a skull-and-rose pattern-lined jacket. 

When it came to designing their reception tablescape, the couple focused on the idea that “less is more. We wanted to clear the visual clutter by sticking with solid, neutral colors, and by choosing modern chairs and linear decor elements,” says Ilaire. The day’s arrangements included some phalaenopsis orchids and Quicksand roses, but focused predominantly on nonfloral elements like pampas grass, dried palm fronds and ruscus leaves.

“We are foodies, and we are Italian so, naturally, the dinner menu was definitely very important to us,” says Ilaire. “We served Hokkaido scallops, truffles and lobster, plus Billecart-Salmon rosé to drink. And at the end of the evening, as a nod to a tradition from our hometown, we enjoyed a chocolate bar.” Ilaire and David’s two-tier cake with a dramatic brushstroke design was just used for their ceremonial cake cutting—each guest was given their own individual cake to eat.

“A sentence that I kept at the core while wedding planning was ‘in good and in bad times, under the moon and stars, as day turns into night and night turns into day,’” says Ilaire. As a nod to that idea, Ilaire and David commissioned a custom-designed moon-shaped altar backdrop. Five people helped make the wood structure, which was painted with a marble-inspired effect before being finished with copper leafing. "The strong contrast between black and white and night and day was our way of visually emphasizing the resilience and deep meaning of a wedding celebrated, no matter what, during a tough moment," says Ilaire.