Stylist Micaela Erlanger’s Three-Part Elopement, From Miami to St. Barth’s
Celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger and restauranteur Mac Osborne were introduced by mutual friend Savannah Engel. “Mac and Sav had gone to college together, and Sav and I both work in the fashion industry," Micaela explains. "After she arranged multiple failed set ups, I agreed to—what I swore would be my last—blind date.”
Cocktails at Grand Banks were scheduled. He was 30 minutes early; she was 30 minutes late, but the two still managed to hit it off. “A few weeks later while on our third date, we knew something special was brewing and decided it would be fun to get away,” Micaela says. Mac planned a beach weekend in the Hamptons and four days later they drove Out East. “The house we rented was at the end of the road to Sammy’s Beach,” Micaela recalls. "It was a quintessential Hamptons location, tucked away and at the end of a quiet street.” Three months later Mac moved into Micaela s apartment.
In the fall of 2018, he took her back to the beach where it all began. “He convinced me we were going out for a day trip and had borrowed his grandfather’s vintage Jaguar for the drive,” she remembers. “Little did I know, he had planned to propose. It was perfect—just the two of us on the beach having coffee and playing with the dog. I was so surprised! The best part was jumping in the ocean right after to celebrate the moment.”
Their wedding was originally scheduled for October 2020 in Miami, but like so many other couples, they had to postpone…three times. “After three years of being engaged, three wedding postponements, one elopement cancellation—they closed the border the day we were supposed to fly the first time—and countless other hurdles, we did what any COVID couple would do," Micaela says. "We switched gears, got creative, and planned again!”
Since the number three seemed to be a reoccurring theme in their love story, they decided to go big or go home and settled on planning a wedding celebration in three parts. Part one was dubbed “License to Wed.” The couple dressed up to go to the Miami Courthouse to get their marriage certificate, and the bride-to-be’s parents hosted a bon voyage send off and celebratory dinner for immediate family at the Surf Club in May. Part two was a destination elopement. “We envisioned an elopement-style vow exchange and commitment ceremony in St. Barth’s, complete with our two person COVID-friendly version of a ‘rehearsal’ dinner and ‘reception, ” Micaela explains. And then part three—a.k.a. “the grand finale”—is set for April of 2022. “This will be the day when we finally have the postponed wedding of our dreams,” Micaela notes. “Where I have the chance to walk down the aisle with my father as a bride, the day where we declare our love and renew our vows in front of family and friends, and celebrate with the people we cherish most.”
This sequence of celebratory events was prompted by one simple thing: Micaela and Mac didn’t want to wait to get married any longer. “Discussions with our friend and photographer Christian Oth sparked ideas,” Micaela explains. “Eloping was not something we had considered, but it ticked the box of being able to do something special and beautiful for the two of us while still getting to plan our ‘wedding’ for next year.”
St. Barth’s was open to travel, and its proximity to Miami, where the couple spends most of their time, made it the perfect destination. A Google search led to Peg Walsh from St Barth Properties, and her concierge team helped Micaela and Mac plan all of the logistics for the entire trip. Micaela planned every aspect of the elopement but couldn’t have done it without Olivia Junières and Emmanuelle Cirpriani. Hotel Barriere Le Carl Gustaf, which overlooks the Gustavia Harbour, served as their home base.
