A Garden Wedding in a Birmingham Ballroom

When Ndeto Mwose proposed at sunset on the beach in Grand Cayman Island, Justine Maxwell didn’t see it coming. Yes, they’d been together four years—they met in 2020 after Justine’s brother attended law school with Ndeto—and yes, they were on a beach vacation, but she was still thrown. “I was completely surprised because it was actually Ndeto’s birthday, and we were celebrating him the entire day,” she remembers. It made their trip all the more magical, and when they returned home, they got right to planning the wedding.

“Ndeto and I really fell in love with the unique space and eclectic art within The Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook,” Justine says of their Birmingham, Alabama, venue. They intended to turn the space into a lush yet contemporary garden and enlisted planner Becky’s Brides and floral artist Wildly Rooted Floral Design to make it happen. Their vision was achieved: Guests entered the reception through an eight-by-10-foot tunnel trellis covered in lush greenery with floral accents; and inside, 14-foot ficus trees rose from planter boxes and a stunningly verdant installation framed the wedding cake.

It all set a romantic scene for the couple’s 175 guests, who watched them exchange vows on May 25, 2024, with Eric and Jamie Photography snapping away. Read on to see all the pretty details.

A neutral color palette—champagne, beige, cream, gold, and black—allowed the abundant greenery to shine. The theme was hinted at in the invitation suite, which featured a leafy vellum wrap around the understated invitation card. The rehearsal dinner and welcome party were another foreshadowing: The dual events were held the night before the wedding at Juniper, a Birmingham restaurant with a lush green patio and wall of floral paintings.

Justine spent the morning getting beautified with her girlfriends. She opted for voluminous, long wand curls and classically romantic makeup featuring a pink-brown nude lip and brown smoky eyes. She made sure her skin was prepped leading up to the big day—a sugar scrub followed by serum and moisturizer is her daily regimen—and primed with her secret beauty ingredient: Bobbi Brown’s Enriched face base priming moisturizer.

Justine’s mother was there when she said “yes” to the dress—and she was by her side getting ready on the big day, as well, wearing a chic mauve dress. The bride paired her own dress with a bracelet her mother gifted her.

Justine’s Allure Couture gown featured a mermaid silhouette, plunging sweetheart neckline, and laser-cut tulle detailing. “It was so my style, not too flashy,” she says. “I could picture myself walking down the aisle once I put the veil on.”

As for her hair? “I wanted the hairstyle to flow and complement my dress and earrings,” she says. Her almond nails were painted with OPI’s Funny Bunny, a pinkish-white hue; she held a bouquet of white garden roses, ranunculus, and peonies.

“We wanted to have a special moment to ourselves before anyone else saw us and to just take [it all in],” Justine remembers. “Our first look was full of excitement.”

Just their photographer and videographer were present to record the special exchange. “It was important to us to select a diverse group of vendors to ensure we established a good rapport with them, and that they could understand our vision for our wedding,” Justine says. In the moment, Eric and Jamie Photography and Cine Videographer captured the couple’s emotion beautifully.

Ndeto spent the morning shaving and moisturizing, then relaxed in the hotel’s billiards room with his friends before getting dressed. His black tuxedo was customized down to the finest detail, with a shawl lapel, cummerbund, monogrammed cuffs, and a tone-on-tone houndstooth bow tie. The finishing touch? A spritz of Prada Luna Rossa Carbon.

Justine’s half of the wedding party wore chiffon dresses in a champagne-beige hue, with subtle details differentiating the bridesmaids from the maid and matron of honor: The maid of honor wore an off-the-shoulder style, and the matron of honor opted for flutter sleeves. “I wanted the bridesmaids’ dresses to be similar, so I chose a chiffon dress but with a different silhouette,” Justine says. They each carried a bouquet of white garden roses. Groomsmen wore black tuxedos with peak lapels to contrast Ndeto’s shawl collar, plus white shirts and pocket squares.

The adorably scene-stealing flower girls wore ivory satin dresses with long tulle skirts. Meanwhile, the ring bearers matched the groomsmen in (miniature) black tuxedos.

The garden vibe was set from the moment guests entered the ceremony space. “There were arches with lush, voluminous greenery and white flowers surrounding the altar, and floral meadows down the aisle,” Justine says. An ivory aisle runner and mod black chairs served as accents against the greenery. The room’s multiple glittering chandeliers drowned the space in a romantic soft light, but its paneled walls were covered with champagne-hued draping that made the space feel intimate and insulated.

“We love music, and we wanted to incorporate it throughout by having a saxophone and piano combo playing during the ceremony,” Justine says. Her father walked her down the aisle as the musical duo played an instrumental version of Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love.”

“Walking down the aisle and saying ‘I do’ to the love of my life was the easiest part,” Justine says. They exchanged personal vows, then recessed joyfully out to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).” 

The live music continued: At their outdoor cocktail hour, a soloist sang some of the couple’s favorite songs as waiters passed gourmet appetizers and light bites. Guests sipped his-and-hers cocktails, a whiskey highball and a wine spritzer.

Their escort board was a DIY project, made from a trio of floor mirrors in arched gold frames. The middle mirror featured a decal of the couple’s new monogram; on either side, printed pages with the guests’ names were affixed to the mirror with golden wax seals. Upon finding their seating assignment, guests grabbed a flute of Champagne, adorned with a custom monogrammed drink tag, before entering the reception.

The ballroom had been flipped from ceremony to reception while guests were outside, and one of Justine’s favorite moments was the reception room reveal: It was hard to believe the stunning transformation. Guests passed under a massive tunneled trellis lush with floral accents and hanging orbital votives. Inside, tall centerpieces bloomed with roses, and shorter ones were interspersed with taper candles and tea lights; bud vases lined other stations. Ficus trees in planter boxes were spaced between tables to make guests feel ensconced in a forest garden—and, at the center, a white dance floor was splashed with the couple’s new monogram.

The modern black chairs from the ceremony were reused for dinner seating, and provided a pop of contrasting color against the neutral linens and details; black-handled flatware and black charger plates looked sophisticated and minimalist across the heavily flowered tablecapes. The bride DIYed the dinner menus, which boasted of a shaved fennel salad with pink peppercorn dressing, Joyce Farms roasted chicken, and Yukon Gold mash with broccolini.

Justine and Ndeto shared their first dance to “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar ft. HER (she and her father danced to “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion), then cut into their cake. The four-tier French vanilla confection was a work of art—and displayed as such among an incredible arch of greenery and white florals sprouting from the ground.

Justine changed into a second dress with a glittering top and fitted skirt to dance the night away with loved ones. “Having a full-service wedding planner that handles everything is so worth it, so that on your special day, you are not stressed out,” she advises. “You can take time to enjoy the day, to take it all in.” That’s exactly what she did—and shortly after, there was more relaxation: She and Ndeto jetted to Costa Rica, Anguilla, and St. Maarten for a romantic honeymoon.