Ellie Monahan’s Fourth of July Wedding Weekend Started With an ’80s Theme Party and Ended With Fireworks
From the very beginning of Ellie Monahan and Mark Dobrosky’s courtship, themed parties have played a pivotal role. The two first met at Yale, when she was a freshman and he was a sophomore. “I noticed him at a tacky prom party that fall, but didn’t officially get to meet him until January of 2010,” Ellie, who’s now a screenwriter, remembers. Their friends, who were dating at the time, set them up. “They weren’t meant to be, but somehow we ended up together,” Ellie jokes. And finally, things came full circle over this year’s Fourth of July holiday, when Ellie and Mark hosted an ’80s party to kick off their wedding weekend at Cedar Lake Estates in Port Jervis, New York—a celebration that had been two years in the making.
Back in February of 2019, Mark, who works at Imperial Capital in Los Angeles, took Ellie on a weekend trip to Ojai, which is about a two-hour drive from their home in L.A. “He picked me up from work on Friday with wine and all these fancy, smelly cheeses from Eataly,” Ellie says. “He clearly knows the way to a girl’s heart!” They went hiking and to see live music at a winery, before stopping for dinner at the Ojai Valley Inn. “Before our reservation, we took a detour onto the golf course to a hole called the Pink Moment, named after the supposedly spectacular pink sunset you can watch from its view. Unfortunately—and much to Mark’s chagrin—it was a pretty overcast evening, so there wasn’t much of a pink moment. Cold and slightly annoyed, I started walking up to the restaurant when Mark called out for me, and I turned to find him down on one knee, holding the ring box upside down. It was perfect.”
The couple’s wedding was originally scheduled for July 4, 2020, at Cedar Lakes Estate, but Ellie saw the writing on the wall and made the decision to postpone due to the pandemic in early to mid-April last year, back when everyone was wiping down their groceries and crossing the street to avoid interacting with others. “There was just no way we were going to be able to hold a 200-person event where most of the guests would be staying together in cabins with bunk beds,” Ellie admits. “While there was so much uncertainty, we knew we still wanted a big celebration with all our family and friends and decided the best thing to do would be to wait. When you’ve been together for 10 years, what’s one more?”
Luckily, Cedar Lakes Estate had an opening on July 4, 2021, so they pulled the trigger and locked that date in early. The venue referred the bride to Amanda Savory of Amanda Savory Events, who had previously planned and executed over 30 weddings at Cedar Lakes. Hiring her was an instant no-brainer for the couple, especially as Ellie was busy on set in Toronto from February through May producing two episodes of the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys. “She really knew the ins and outs of the venue and was honest about what’s worked and what hasn’t,” Ellie says. “She and her insanely talented team really listened to my crazy ideas and found a way to pull them all off.”
Ellie’s mom, the former Today show host Katie Couric—who now runs the multimedia news and production company Katie Couric Media—also knows a thing or two about how to throw a good party. The weekend kicked off with a field day and an ’80s themed BBQ, both of which served as fun icebreakers. “My mom had so many great ideas, like having the kickass ’80s cover band Rubix Kube play at our welcome BBQ, Pop Rocks on the tables, and getting a donut truck. She knew how to put them all together like a true news producer,” Ellie says. “Our good friend Cherie Neve is the lead singer of Rubix Kube, and they absolutely killed it, singing and dancing for hours.”
Ellie, fittingly, dressed as Madonna—wearing lace, pearls, and fingerless gloves—and Mark was David Byrne. “My mom was Cyndi Lauper, and my stepdad was George Michael,” Ellie adds. “There were also a bunch of Richard Simmonses, Andre Agassis, and Princess Dianas. Everyone looked so silly and awesome, and we were impressed by the commitment! It was the perfect way to kick off the wedding weekend.”
On Saturday, the weather forecast was dire after two days of passing showers. Thankfully, it ended up being 75 degrees and sunny with zero humidity. In the four months leading up to the wedding, Ellie had visited eight bridal salons with her mother and sister in tow in search of the dress. “I tried on so many beautiful dresses—it was impossible to decide what I wanted to wear,” she says. “But when I put on the Josephine gown at Monique Lhuillier, it just felt right. I loved the lace on the bodice, the silk-screened bouquets on the organza skirt, and, of course, the insane train.” The dress originally had a sweetheart neckline with off-the-shoulder straps, but Ellie worked with the team at Monique Lhuillier to do a custom bodice with a straight neckline and no straps.
Jewelry was kept simple, with diamond studs given to Ellie by her mother that had once belonged to the bride’s late aunt, Emily. “That was extremely special,” Ellie says. “[Additionally,] I wore a pearl bracelet my late father gave my mom as my ‘something borrowed.’ My mom also pinned a tiny blue brooch that belonged to my great-grandmother beneath my skirt for something blue and something old. We are a very sentimental family: Mark wore his grandfather’s Army pin on his lapel.” Ellie also enlisted her mom’s longtime hair and makeup team for beauty. “Dana Fiore and Josie Torres have known me since I was a kid,” she says. “We did a trial back in January 2020, but really just for fun since we are old friends, and they have done my hair and makeup countless times before.”
Following the couple’s first look and family photos, Mark made his way up to the mountaintop with his brother and best man Dave, while Ellie took a trolley up. “I hadn’t been nervous all day, but once we got on the trolley, it finally hit me, and I felt like my heart was going to fall out of my chest. Compounding my nerves was the fact that I left the majority of my voice on the dance floor at ’80s night and was terrified I wasn’t going to be able to project my voice when I said my vows,” Ellie adds. In preparation for the big moment, she spent the entire day downing hot water with honey.
