REAL WEDDINGS
A California Deco Garden Wedding at the Norton Museum of Art
A California Deco garden inside a West Palm Beach landmark, with live trees beneath a clear roof, a candlelit gallery ceremony and a cookie cake stacked eighteen layers high.
Most couples bring flowers into a museum. Sami and Jamie brought in trees.
On April 25, 2026, Sami and Jamie turned the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach into a vintage garden with a California Deco twist. The idea started at the museum’s entrance, home to its iconic tree. For the reception, live trees were brought in beneath a clear roof to echo it, their branches softening the gallery’s clean, contemporary lines and turning a landmark into a garden.
The Deco came through in the graphic notes: a black-and-white checkerboard dance floor, olive-green linens, cane-backed bentwood chairs and black pleated lamps. Soft against sharp, organic against geometric. It’s the contrast that makes a wedding feel designed rather than decorated.
The venue itself was a surprise. The museum is a landmark in Sami’s own hometown, yet she had somehow never visited until a trip with her mom, just as the couple began planning. That discovery set the stage for a weekend that tied her Florida roots to the laid-back, well-travelled life she and Jamie have built together in Los Angeles.
Quirky, personal touches kept the celebration unmistakably theirs, from an eighteen-layer cookie cake assembled tableside to milk-and-cookies mini drinks late in the night. Creative Touch Party Design planned the wedding, and Danforth Neal captured every chapter of this museum wedding, from a coastal welcome party to a black-tie reception beneath the trees.
A Coastal Welcome Party
The weekend began on April 24 with a welcome party that blended Florida coastal charm with a Greek taverna-inspired menu, a nod to the easy, well-travelled life Sami and Jamie have built in Los Angeles. As golden hour settled over the marina, Sami wore a strapless white column dress with a beaded bag, and Jamie chose a relaxed tan suit with an open collar.
Inside, tables were dressed in blue-and-white patterned linens with woven chargers, bentwood chairs and illustrated menus. At the bar, a sign with a wavy border introduced the evening’s signature cocktails.
Details and Getting Ready
The wedding-day details were gathered the evening before: Sami’s Lihi Hod gown on its dress form, lace-trimmed pointed pumps by Amina Muaddi and a bottle of perfume. The gown balanced a sleek, modern silhouette with delicate vintage detail, finished with a cathedral-length veil edged in lace, a pairing that mirrored the wedding’s own mix of clean lines and vintage garden. The next afternoon, she got ready with her bridesmaids, who traded blush robes for gowns in yellow florals and gold.
Jamie’s details were playful and personal: a bourbon bottle with a red tassel, a black bow tie and monogrammed matches. He and his groomsmen then dressed in classic black tuxedos.
A First Look Among the Palms
Before the ceremony, Sami and Jamie met for a first look on a garden path shaded by palms and tropical foliage, a preview of the garden to come. Jamie waited with his back turned. When he finally turned to see Sami in her gown, the moment dissolved into laughter and a kiss.
With time to themselves, the couple wandered from the lush greenery outside into the cool, quiet galleries within. Jamie led Sami past lit display cases, her train gliding across the gallery floor. Afterwards, the wedding party gathered on the steps before the museum’s tall geometric doors, the bridesmaids in yellow floral gowns and the groomsmen matching Jamie in black tie.
A Norton Museum of Art Wedding Ceremony by Candlelight
After all that greenery, the ceremony turned inward and quiet. It took place in a gallery softened with floor-length drapery and lit by a single tall window. Clear chairs lined an aisle edged in pillar candles and low arrangements, leading to a floral canopy by Xquisite Events. Trailing amaranthus, white roses and blooms in blush and rust spilled from every side, while pools of dappled light fell across the floor.
The processional moved through the museum itself, as the bridesmaids passed sculpture and framed works on their way to the aisle. Sami followed, escorted by her family, with her cathedral veil trailing behind her.
There was laughter during the vows and more than a few tears among the guests. After their first kiss beneath the canopy, Sami and Jamie walked back up the aisle as newlyweds, and halfway along, Jamie paused for a dramatic dip and kiss.
Cocktails and Portraits
Cocktails kept the same playful streak. Sushi and sashimi were arranged on sculpted ice, and pasta was tossed in a wheel of parmesan. Nearby, a seating display of tall cream pillars carried the couple’s S&J monogram, banked with florals and candlelight.
Meanwhile, Sami and Jamie slipped away for portraits beneath the ceremony canopy and outside along the museum’s pale walls. Out on the plaza, the Norton’s lettering rose above them, and Sami’s lace-edged cathedral veil spread across the stone.
A Garden Beneath a Clear Roof
The reception is where the idea came fully into focus. Beneath a clear-topped tent, live trees rose among the tables, their weeping branches reaching toward the roof and echoing the tree at the museum’s entrance. At the centre, a black-and-white checkerboard dance floor added a crisp graphic note, the Deco counterpoint to all that organic movement.
Tables were dressed in olive-green linens with cane-backed bentwood chairs, towering arrangements of hydrangea and trailing amaranthus, clusters of green grapes and taper candles. Each place setting paired a black-rimmed plate with a printed menu.
Before their guests came in, the newlyweds stepped onto the floor to take in the room on their own. Hand in hand, they walked out beneath the trees as the last daylight filled the tent.
First Dance, Cookie Cake and the After-Party
Daylight still glowed through the roof as Sami and Jamie shared their first dance, her skirt sweeping across the checkerboard floor as guests gathered close. Soon after, both were lifted high above the crowd.
At the bar, a sign bearing the couple’s monogram introduced the signature drinks beneath black pleated lamps, and Constellation Culinary later served a plated dinner at tables banked with hydrangeas and greenery.
Dessert was the showstopper: an eighteen-layer cookie cake by Earth and Sugar, assembled tableside in front of guests and crowned with an S&J topper. Sami and Jamie added the finishing touch themselves, then shared the first bites and a kiss beside the stack. Then the dance floor took over, and the couple were hoisted above their friends once more.
Once the dancing was in full swing, Sami changed into a Kyha Bridal mini with off-the-shoulder straps and silver platform heels, keeping the look fresh and editorial for the after-party. Espresso martinis and milk-and-cookies mini drinks, served in tiny glasses with striped straws, kept the celebration going late into the night.
From a hometown landmark Sami discovered with her mom to a garden of live trees beneath a clear roof, Sami and Jamie’s Norton Museum of Art wedding was playful, personal and unmistakably their own.
The Team
Every professional who shaped this story, listed by role.
Venue
Norton Museum of Art
Event Planning
Photography
Videography
Floral Design
Lighting
Day-of Stationery
Atelier
Tent Rentals
Event Rentals
Linen Rentals
Draping
Entertainment
Cookie Cake
Catering
Beauty
Wedding Dress
Bridal Boutique
Shoes
After-Party Dress
Jewelry
Groom's Attire