The Couple

The ceremony took place on a white stone patio on the property’s highest point, overlooking the river. Ryan and Eric stood before an altar created by two tall, yellow hibiscus plants in full flower—the father of the bride had “lovingly nursed them for months,” and wrapped blue ribbon through their stems and planted smaller blue flowers at their bases to create the perfect handcrafted style statement. Ryan had spent a lot of time creating the personalized ceremony. “I spent countless hours on The Knot’s message boards compiling ceremonies from other Knotties,” she remembers. “I’m still getting compliments on how touching it was.”