[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/real-weddings-jonathan-and-steve\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/real-weddings-jonathan-and-steve\/","headline":"Jonathan and Steve’s Atlanta wedding","name":"Jonathan and Steve’s Atlanta wedding","description":"  Jonathan Goldman and Steven Schessler discovered love in the grocery store. While pushing their respective carts through the aisles of Whole Foods Market, the...","datePublished":"2010-03-18","dateModified":"2021-06-21","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/#Person","name":"Equally Wed","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/","identifier":787,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/real-gay-weddings_jonathan-and-steve.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/real-gay-weddings_jonathan-and-steve.jpg","height":280,"width":634},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/real-weddings-jonathan-and-steve\/","about":["Real LGBTQ+ Weddings"],"wordCount":1049,"keywords":["Atlanta","gay wedding","hot air balloon","two grooms"],"articleBody":" Jonathan Goldman and Steven Schessler discovered love in the grocery store. While pushing their respective carts through the aisles of Whole Foods Market, the couple had a chance encounter, which ultimately lead them down another, much more impactful aisle. \u201cYou really can find everything you need there,\u201d says Jonathan.The couple dated for three years before Steve proposed in March of 2006 while vacationing in Spain. If you\u2019re thinking this already sounds like a situation worthy of a hand over the heart, wait for it. \u201cI knew Jonathan always wanted to go hot-air ballooning,\u201d Steven says, \u201csince he mentioned it when we first started dating.\u201dAnd so the perfect proposal was born, shimmying through the skyline over farmland with the Pyrenees in the background, Steven put a ring on Jonathan\u2019s finger. Though it may seem like that\u2019s when the proverbial happily ever after kicks in, there\u2019s still a whole process of conceiving, organizing and executing the perfect ceremony to accompany a perfect love. This can put a lot of pressure on the months following an engagement but if approached with the right planning, attitude and calmness, the process can be fun, personal and enhance the experience.\u201cWe happily put off planning for a good six months, with the intention of leaving ourselves a year for a September wedding,\u201d Steven says. Jonathan currently lived in San Francisco, and Steven stayed in Atlanta to wrap up a fellowship teaching at Emory for another school year\u2014a plan that could ultimately provide stress at a time meant for celebration and elation over the pending union. The extended planning-free engagement helped the cross-country lovebirds to relish in the moment before diving into the details.As could be expected, the bicoastal living situation presented challenges to the newly engaged couple\u2014tours were difficult to arrange with limited time together, venues don\u2019t always communicate in a timely fashion and the obvious desire to be near each other makes things tricky. Many couples agree that the planning process is a good testament to the patience and love that bind the relationship. Cooperation in the form of Jonathan flying to Atlanta once a month and Steve flying to San Francisco once a month combined with slew of talented friends and coordinators made getting the ball rolling less daunting.Wedding coordinator Daria McGregor also made planning easier, allowing the couple the freedom to enjoy the process even more. \u201cWe knew we could count on her to keep us, and everyone, on track,\u201d says Steven. \u201cAfter we set our venue [the Magnolia Hall lawn and Magnolia Hall at Atlanta’s landmark Piedmont Park], nothing was very difficult, perhaps the most surprising thing in itself.\u201d Attention to every element can become challenging when bombarded by so many details, so delegating each aspect of the ceremony based on personal preference contributes to this ease. The invitations give a glimpse of what guests can expect at the ceremony, and after finding gorgeous, handmade Italian paper, the couple left the work to Bruce McDonald at Craftsmen Printing, who engraved the invitations.Florist John McDonald at Twelve took an area and delivered the personal vision Jonathan and Steven had put together. \u201cWeddings are traditionally designed to appeal more to women, and we wanted a more masculine feel to the ceremony and reception,\u201d explains Jonathan. \u201cJohn helped us create a space that was modern, unique and masculine without seeming staged.\u201d Details like a handcrafted chandelier to hang over super-deep tables filled with natural arrangements kept the atmosphere handsomely warm. The grooms\u2019 boutonnieres of black callas, fern fronds and equisetum caps continued the theme.Food is a big deal at any ceremony. You want something you love that will translate to your guests with mass appeal while maintaining a unique and special flavor in accord with the feel of the day. It\u2019s hard to put all of that on a plate, but Chef Drew Ihrig from Endive in Atlanta put together an exquisite Italian-themed menu inspired by foods Jonathan and Steven enjoyed while living in Florence, beginning with passed hors d\u2019oeuvres and Prosecco and ending with dobos torte with chocolate butter cream presented with Fiore de Latte gelato. The main entr\u00e9e was an Italian surf and turf featuring fennel-encrusted wild boar chop with grappa raisin jus, medjool date, Romano bean and pancetta ragout and prosciutto-wrapped sea bass filet painted with sundried tomato coulis over white truffle asiago polenta with shaved asparagus.Jonathan donned a Dolce & Gabanna suit with an Alexander McQueen shirt and Brioni tie with Steven in a Hugo Boss suit, walking down the aisle hand in hand as strings played \u201cTime After Time.\u201d \u201cI knew I was smiling really big, so I was thinking, \u2018Stop smiling so big or you are going to look stupid in your pictures,\u201d says Jonathan. \u201cI was trying to keep up with Jonathan and make sure I smiled at all our friends and family who came to celebrate with us,\u201d adds Steven, \u201cand I was so happy to be there and that we got such a gorgeous, sunny afternoon after all.\u201dThe crucial moment was made perfect by personal touches and sincere expression. \u201cSince the details of the ceremony were up to us entirely, we wrote it using some traditional elements, but wrote our officiant\u2019s opening welcome as well as the content of his \u2018sermon,\u2019\u201d explains Jonathan. \u201cWe also each shared readings with each other before the ring exchange.\u201dDominic Ramirez was behind the lens, capturing the intimate moments and candid smiles and the unique and custom musical stylings were provided Ray and Erika Lindholm, who run Atlanta Classic Weddings and engineered the aisle song. The reception soundtrack was delivered by DJ Scott Anthony, a regular spinner at various venues in Atlanta.Jonathan and Steven were pleasantly surprised at how different, happy and excited they felt at the end of the day. \u201cWe realized that while we need to continue to fight for marriage, equality and the recognition of our civil rights,\u201d says Jonathan, \u201call our emotions and memories of getting married come from the ceremony and reception that we designed to share with the ones we love in Atlanta, and that the laws we\u2019re fighting to change can\u2019t stop us from sharing our love.\u201d\u2014Katie Gallagher"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Jonathan and Steve’s Atlanta wedding","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/real-weddings-jonathan-and-steve\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]