› No Tie Required - Spring 2004
There were open arms and open collars when Kerr Smith of Dawson's Creek married actress Harmoni Everett at a resort near Palm Springs. You could say the mood was as warm as the weather
Dawson's Creek actor Kerr Smith, 31, and his new wife, actress Harmoni Everett, 29, aren't the types to adhere to convention. In fact, when Smith popped the question to Everett two winters ago at a Utah ski lodge, the couple wound up celebrating with hamburgers. "I didn't realize he was about to propose. So I got up to get a burger!" Everett says. It's no surprise, then, that the pair ended up with a wedding that was short on ceremony but long on fun-albeit with lots of lush, romantic details. "We wanted it to be enjoyable for people, not painful," Everett says.
The couple, who met on the set of the film Pressure in Vancouver, British Columbia, had 60 friends and family members go to the La Quinta Resort & Club outside Palm Springs, Calif., three days before their June 7 wedding. There, guests enjoyed spa treatments and what Smith called "a weekend pool party"-long nights of outdoor barbecues and plenty of margaritas.
Despite the 104-degree heat, the couple realized their vision-and kept their cool for the 15-minute ceremony on the resort's main lawn. The bride walked to the sounds of a solo harp down an aisle blanketed with rose petals, and the pair exchanged custom-made bands by Smith's family friend, jeweler John S. Price. Afterward, guests sipped cocktails on a shaded patio before riding golf carts to the clubhouse, which was transformed into a sophisticated blues club. "I was going for an elegant, dark and romantic feeling that steered away from anything traditional," says Everett, who had Leigh Ann Waterfall of Decor Solutions drape the walls in red velvet, cover the tables with red douppioni silk, and create red centerpieces that included roses, orchids and miniature calk lilies. Guests feasted on a five-course dinner of salmon and beef tenderloin and danced for hours. And while the night was hot, the vibe was perfectly warm. "Love was in the air," Smith says. "People who didn't know one another were getting along like they'd been friends for 20 years."
Smith wore a Hugo Boss suit-without a tie or boutonniere, in keeping with the wedding's relaxed tone. Everett's Badgley Mischka ball gown was decorated with crystals and pearls. "When I saw her in her dress, I broke down," the groom says.
"We are so well suited to each other," Smith says, "because both of us are very laid-back and are children at heart."
COPING WITH AN UNFORESEEN CHANGE OF PLANS
When the site in Mexico that Smith and Everett originally had booked for their ceremony abruptly closed for renovations three months before their wedding, they scrambled to come up with a backup. Here's how Everett, who devised a whole new plan, says you can pull off an elegant wedding in a matter of weeks:
* Divide your to-do list. The couple, who at the time lived in Wilmington, N.C., where much of Dawson's Creek was shot, teamed up to search for a new venue. "We were moving back to Los Angeles, and I needed somewhere close that still had a destination feel," says Everett, who eventually narrowed her Internet searches to places in Palm Springs. "Then I was in L.A. for work," Smith says, "so I checked out La Quinta and another place. I videotaped everything and sent the tape back to Harmoni so we could make a final decision."
* Nix complex floral arrangements. "Harmoni knew exactly what she wanted: lots of red roses," says designer Leigh Ann Waterfall, who used roses in five shades, from bright red to burgundy, to make the hand-tied brides- maids' nosegays and the tabletop centerpieces.
* Let the setting speak for itself. With the resort's panoramic views of the Santa Rosa Mountains, sprawling lawns and flowering gardens, there were few additional decorations needed for the outdoor ceremony, aside from two urns at the head of the aisle, each filled with 400 red roses. "One side of the dining room overlooked the golf course and the sunset that night," Waterfall says. "We made the most of the view."
* Don't fret over the favors. Rather than buying gift baskets to place in guests' rooms, the couple made the rooms themselves a present for several guests-by covering their accommodation costs. And they didn't have any favors, says Everett, "because they end up staying on the table anyway."