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.
Planning all of the details happened in less than a month. “We knew that we wanted to honor and include our families despite choosing to have an elopement,” Micaela says. “Thus, the idea of heading to the courthouse to collect our marriage certificate and having a send off bon voyage dinner was born. Going to the courthouse in a pandemic was, as you would probably imagine, a kind of sterile experience. So we got dressed up and made it fabulous.”
Micaela wore a one-of-a-kind dress from Miu Miu with matching sunglasses, and Mac wore a favorite suit that he already had in his closet. Friends and florists at Flowers by Special Arrangement decorated the couple’s “something blue”—a Bentley that doubled as their borrowed getaway car.
That evening, Micaela and Mac made the drive across town for the intimate 10 person dinner that Micaela’s mother and father hosted at the Surf Club at The Four Seasons in Miami. “It was the first time we had been together with our families since the pandemic broke out, and it was deeply meaningful,” Micaela says. “I borrowed the most beautiful couture dress from Giambattista Valli, and Mac wore a green sport coat I had made for him by his go to tailor: Michael Andrew’s Bespoke. The setting was beautiful, and we took family portraits. Toasts were made, tears were shed, and it was perfect in every way.”
The next morning, Micaela and Mac headed to the airport for St. Barth’s. The couple had never been to the island before, so in true elopement style, upon arrival, they spent time scouting the perfect spot for their service. They hiked up a path of 70 steps at Fort Karl, which led to a plateau and cliff overlooking Shellona beach. “As we ascended the top of the stairs, the church bells in the village of Gustavia started to ring—as if it was a sign!” Micaela says. “We decided that was going to be the spot for our vows.”
As a stylist, who recently expanded her business to service brides, Micaela knew she needed to be creative given the time constraint. “I knew immediately that the wedding dress I had planned to wear wouldn’t be ready in time for our elopement," she says. "I also felt strongly about wearing white next year when I have the opportunity to walk down the aisle with my father at our ‘sequel wedding.’” With only three weeks to find something to wear, she worked with items that she had in her closet, and others she was able to borrow from friends.
