A Dreamy Wedding at Atlanta's Callanwolde Fine Arts Center

Pichon Duplan, a management consultant, couldn’t keep his eyes off of Marcelle Nashief, a process engineer, when he first met her at a mutual friend’s party in 2015. He got her number, asked her on a date, then two years later, popped the question where they lived in Boston.

In the summer of 2019, the now St. Louis-based pair threw a destination celebration in Atlanta that included sweet nods to their life and family. The day was full of roses and orchids, the favorite flowers of their mothers and the couple featured a wine box ceremony to honor their love of red wine (and the fact Pichon was named after a famed Bordeaux chateau). Though they planned to wed in the outdoor amphitheater on the property, summer rain moved the ceremony indoors to just as beautiful of a space: the grand staircase made for quite the entrance for Marcelle, even if she was afraid to fall in her five-inch Jimmy Choo heels.

“What our guests remember most about my day are the little things I didn’t think they would notice or appreciate, like the flip flops, the wine box ceremony, the tribute to my deceased parents, the small details of the décor,” Marcelle says. “It doesn’t have to be grand to be memorable, just authentic and genuine.”

Read on for all the details of Marcelle and Pichon’s wedding day, planned by Pop + Fizz Atlanta and photographed by Ashlyn Cathey Photography.

As a wedding gift, Pichon gave Marcelle a Cartier Love bracelet that she donned with Anna Bellagio earrings for the nuptials. 

Like many brides, Marcelle made a few trips to bridal salons to find “the one.” She knew this Tony Ward mermaid-style gown was it when she put the dress on. “It checked all my boxes and more,” she says. “I felt beautiful in it.”

The bride carried a stunning bouquet of cascading roses.

Marcelle picked white for her bridesmaids for one majorly sweet reason: “I wanted them to truly be part of my big day, almost like a team,” Marcelle says. “These women have seen me at my best and at my worst. We are a team.”

The bridesmaids all wore a matching ruffled dress that Marcelle found at David’s Bridal. She says she wanted them to feel beautiful but not break the bank.

The two flower girls donned BHLDN party girl dresses and flower crowns made of baby’s breath for this big role for the day.

Pichon and his groomsmen weren’t about to let the women upstage them. He wore a custom black Jos. A. Bank tuxedo with white cufflinks, white pocket square, black bow tie, and a white orchid boutonniere to match Marcelle’s overflowing orchid bouquet. 

When Pichon proposed, he got a little help from their friends and family. Marcelle’s sister distracted her on a Facetime call while Pichon pulled out the custom engagement ring, and friends hid nearby to snap photos of the sentimental moment. “I turned around and immediately realized what was happening,” Marcelle says, noting there were plenty of happy tears from everyone. 

Due to weather, the couple moved the ceremony inside to the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center’s grand foyer, which was not too shabby! The wood paneling and Gothic-inspired stonework added an Old World touch to the décor, which was mostly acrylic materials and modern floral arrangements. It perfectly fit the “contemporary and elegant” vibe that Marcelle wanted for the day. 

Guests and the couple entered down a grand staircase covered in white flowers and greenery. That included Marcelle’s two nephews, who served as ring bearers wearing tuxedos that matched the groom.

“The most fearful part was the grand staircase and my five-inch Jimmy Choos,” Marcelle says of the new bridal entrance because of the rain. “I was most nervous of the idea that I could fall down those stairs on my wedding day. Of course, I didn’t because I held on to those rails for dear life!”

At the bottom of the stairs, Marcelle’s older sister and uncle greeted her to walk her down the aisle in honor of her late parents. She found a thoughtful way to include them in the day: she left two chairs except for a single rose on each as a tribute. 

A reverend officiated the traditional ceremony where the couple shared their own vows and conducted a wine box ceremony. Each year on their anniversary, they would leave a letter to one another and read the letter from the previous year. 

“Picking the venue was the easiest part of the process,” the bride says. “I knew what I wanted the moment I saw it.”

After the ceremony, the newlyweds joined their wedding party for a celebratory group photo.

Flutes filled with sparkling wine and acrylic nameplates served as the escort card display. After all, it’s not too early to have a toast to the newlyweds!

The reception utilized a lot of white drapery, white table cloths, and acrylic details, like chairs, to pull off the ethereal modern vibes. Marcelle placed the dining area, dance floor, and baby’s breath-covered bar in different rooms so that the guests could mix and mingle throughout all of the beautiful rooms. “It looked like it was on a cloud,” she says. 

Marcelle’s bouquet doubled as the centerpiece for the sweetheart table, which was covered in white floral-accented linen that added texture to the monochromatic décor. The bridesmaids’ bouquets were also repurposed as centerpieces and surrounded by tea lights and candles for the evening’s romantic glow. 

The couple made quite the grand entrance to the reception, which was also quite the party. A DJ played plenty of tunes while the couple’s Ghanaian best man and maid of honor taught the whole group funny phrases in their native language to describe the newlyweds. Pichon spun his mother on the dance floor to the Boyz II Men classic, “Song for Mama,” and the couple served their favorite drinks: whiskey ginger, and raspberry bellini.

Since guests traveled in from all over the world, including Ghana and England, Marcelle and Pichon opted for food stations that featured Southern favorites, like fried chicken, and party staples, like cheeseburgers and milkshakes. 

It wouldn’t be an orchid-filled wedding without a cascading display of the flowers down the three-tier cake. The inside, of course, was red velvet—another Southern classic.