The Brides Married Between Flower-Covered Chimneys in the Heart of the Adirondacks
“We met in the ‘gayest’ way,” says Olivia Zetter of how she first crossed paths with her now-spouse, brand strategist Alexandra Allukian. “We were at Boston Pride in 2015. We first met that Friday evening, but never ended up exchanging numbers.” Fortunately, she and Alexandra ran into each other at another pride event the following day and ended up walking around the city until 4 a.m.
“I saw her coming up the stairs, and I had to say something,” Alexandra says. “I had never seen anyone like her.” After missing the moment as Olivia passed by, Alexandra plucked up the courage to introduce herself. “I yelled after her, ‘I like your hair!’” she remembers, laughing. “When we finally started talking, we realized that we had so many things in common, from places we’d lived and traveled around the world, to our shared values, to realizing that Olivia’s grandfather went to the same high school as me and my five siblings.”
Their first date was a few days later in the Boston Public Garden. They met at the gazebo, and the first thing Alexandra did was jokingly propose, before leading Olivia on a scavenger hunt for roses around the garden. “I thought she was insane,” Olivia admits. “But by that point, I already knew that this was most likely going to last. The only challenge was that I had just finished grad school and I was imminently moving to D.C.”
Alexandra was still living in Boston at the time, and the two embarked on a relationship despite the miles between them. “Quite a few years of long-distance followed, but regardless of where we were in the world, laughing always came easier and the hard things in life were just a little bit easier too,” Alexandra says.
They were engaged in August of 2021 and designed their engagement rings together with Lindsay Olson of Adeline Jewelry. “Alexandra’s ring was ready first, but we kept it a secret,” Olivia says. “I was able to surprise her by recreating our first date in the Boston Public Garden, this time with a real proposal. Alexandra returned the question in Paris shortly after, surprising me this time.”
In recent years, the couple has spent quite a bit of time in the Adirondacks. With that in mind, they chose the ruggedly beautiful place that they’ve come to love as the location for their wedding. They were married on July 9, 2022 at the Partridge Park Lodge near Saranac, New York, and their goal was to create a wedding weekend that was beautiful but also relaxed and filled with love.
The two explain that they love hosting long, lingering dinner parties for friends and family where everyone just hangs out and talks for hours, so they wanted their wedding to feel similar—just with a stunning backdrop and a lot more dancing.
They worked with Lindsey Leichthammer of Lindsey Leichthammer Events to plan it all. “My mother, Sally, was an unbelievable help as well,” Olivia says. “She has impeccable taste and the best eye. The incredible dinner parties she would throw when I was growing up and still today—cooking, arranging the table, picking flowers from the garden—were really an inspiration. They were always radiating love. Not to mention the fact that she helped keep all the wedding details straight. We couldn’t have done it without her.”
Both families spent a week together in the Adirondacks before the wedding. Festivities began with an intimate rehearsal dinner on the porch of the lodge Thursday night for immediate family and the wedding party, before a casual lakeside welcome party for everyone in town on Friday. The team from The Hindquarter, a Vermont-based catering company, cooked for both events in addition to the wedding, creating an amazing multi-course meal for the rehearsal and wood-fired pizzas for the welcome party.
On Saturday, the entire wedding took place outside on a bright, sunny day among their close friends and family. The ceremony was held in a clearing in between two stone chimneys covered in flowers that were remnants of the original lodge. The setting was particularly significant because the couple’s last names translate to “cedar tree” and “pillar”—each a symbol of lasting strength—and the chimneys reflected the foundation they’ve built and continue to build together.
For the ceremony, Olivia wore Danielle Frankel’s Simone dress. “The dress isn’t my usual style, but the material really drew me in—it’s an incredible soft, flowing silk blend,” she explains. “That and the shape made it feel timeless; and, hey, it’s not often that you get to be a bride.”
She combined something old and something new in a sentimental necklace worn down her back—an emerald and diamond pendant that belonged to her grandmother, hung on a new chain set with stones from her mother, and put together for the wedding by her mother’s close childhood friend. “It was such a meaningful piece,” Olivia says. “I so deeply treasure it.”
Olivia’s close friend and mentor lent her exquisite emerald and diamond earrings that were a gift from her husband, after realizing that they were a perfect match for the necklace. “It was such an honor to wear them,” Olivia says. “Between the earrings and the necklace, I really felt draped in so much love.”
Alexandra wore a custom white suit by Di Stefano, designed in Los Angeles and made in Naples, Italy, where her mother’s side of the family is from. “We stumbled across Di Stefano when we were walking through the Garment District in Los Angeles six weeks before the wedding, and at that point, I still hadn’t found a suit,” Alexandra remembers. “The team there worked with Olivia and I to design the suit that same day, and then they truly worked miracles to have it made in time.” The brides also chose to honor their families and the line of strong women in their lives with their wedding bands. “My band belonged to my maternal grandmother and Olivia’s band was her mother’s engagement ring,” Alexandra says.
The brides wanted their wedding party—Alexandra’s five siblings and Olivia’s brothers, cousin, and close friends—to wear outfits of their own choosing. Their only guideline was to wear something they felt good in that fitted into the broader color scheme of earth tones.
Alexandra’s niece and nephews and Olivia’s maid of honor’s son were all flower children. Their only guidance was to wear all white, and the couple gifted each of them Converse sneakers. “The night before we left for the wedding week, my five-year-old niece calls and asks us if her sneakers can have ‘diamonds’ on them,” Alexandra says. “Thankfully you can overnight a bedazzler and rhinestones!”
