I recently had the pleasure of attending my ninth Engage, a luxury wedding summit. Several times a year the upper echelon of wedding professionals—and those wanting to learn from them—gather in some sumptuous setting to experience three days of luxury events for themselves as guests. Extravagant parties, top-tier education and star-eyes-emoji entertainment all dazzle and inspire the attendees.
In June, Engage went to Nemacolin, an eclectic and magical resort in Farmington, Penn. Because I knew there were large animal enclosures (actual lions, tigers and bears, all of whom were born in captivity and many of whom were re-homed from other facilities) never want to put ourselves in danger, especially when our kids are with us. But my fears were allayed—which I’ll get to in a bit.
All Engage summits flow in much the same way, and they’re chock full of wedding inspiration that can be applied to weddings of any budget if you get creative. It all begins with suggested attire in the form of Pinterest boards sent to attendees well ahead of the event (it really does make for the prettiest of pictures and hypes up the guests).
The first event on the conference timeline was the registration and gifting attendee check-in, where “soft solid shades of summer” were encouraged and attendees were greeted with gifts such as custom patches and denim bar (for our new gifted denim jackets), noise-canceling ear plugs by Loop, laser-etched personalized Corksicle bottles, Calpak water bottle holders to carry them lest our hands tire, and a new Hana Canvas Boat Bag by Graf Lantz to put it all in.
Engage is All About Engaging!
I spent time with friends and colleagues I hadn’t seen in a while and met new people as well. That’s really the heart of Engage, after all: nourishing relationships. Like many other industries, the wedding industry is a relationships-based business. Talent and skills are critical, but most vendors and venues also depend on referrals for their next year of weddings.
The opening session of speakers followed registration and gifting. The 300 or so attendees were guided to a humongous tent divided into two large rooms, a smaller room as a foyer and surprisingly well-appointed pop-up bathrooms with bathroom attendants.
Flowers, Flowers and More Flowers
The décor—and overall theme of the conference—was wildflowers. Colorful foam flowers reaching upwards of 15 feet set on faux grass happily greeted attendees as we entered the tented area (yes, there was absolutely air-conditioning), along with a coffee bar, snacks and bevvies in abundance.
Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce, Engage founders and former Disney Weddings and Honeymoons employees (actually, Grinnals launched the Disney Weddings and Honeymoons program), opened the session and, as their custom, welcomed someone from the host property to say a few words. But first a video played introducing us to Nemacolin. The cinematic delight featured aerial views of the expansive property 2,200 acres), shots of some of the activities available (fly fishing, art tours, axe throwing, spa pampering, to name a few). But then the video showed an outdoor wedding that caught my breath. The wedding was for two men, and I lost it. I wasn’t audibly wailing, but the tears were flowing.
Engage has, of course, always supported LGBTQ+ marriage, which is why they continue to invite Equally Wed as their media guest and have had me speak several times. This wasn’t what surprised me. It was the gay wedding—the only wedding in that video—that stunned me. My wife and I had been worried about going to a resort in rural Pennsylvania, and yet here we were where LGBTQ+ love was unabashedly celebrated. That wedding was between Jordan Millington-Liquorice and PJ Magerko-Liquorice, son of Nemacolin owner Maggie Hardy. Deepak Chopra officiated, and rumor has it that Lady Gaga performed at the reception. You can read all about it in Vogue. Once I saw that video, I relaxed. Of course, as we know in our community, a few progressive and inclusive folks at a property doesn’t mean everyone’s an ally, but the leader of a business sets the tone, and the tone at Nemacolin was all love. We continued to bask in that love the remainder of the visit.
Each event that followed for the next two days was better than the last, all of which offered inspiring ideas for any wedding or celebratory event.
Woodland Welcome Party
Woodland welcome was the theme of the first night. The welcome party was held at a large pool deck with guests in refined nature-inspired looks.
Welcome Party Entertainment
The evening took a more exciting turn with a drone show that announced a special guest, Kesha, who rocked the stage for several scream-worthy songs.
Linen and Lace
Day two’s inspiration: linen and lace. The second day of Engage is all-day education separated by a seated lunch and punctuated with dine-arounds for the guests to experience the restaurants. When we walked into the second tented room for the seated lunch, I was not the only one who audibly gasped. The room was transformed into a blooming garden with posh pops of pink everywhere. Pink and green wedding inspo galore right here, folks.
Afterward, conference attendees traveled across the lawn to the Grand Lodge for a meet the media event, where they were able to mingle with editors at several wedding magazines and websites, including Equally Wed.
Flights of Fancy
The evening dress suggestion was flights of fancy, and people took that in all sorts of creative directions with feather-rimmed caftans to feather boas. After dinner at the various restaurants, everyone gathered for the dessert afterparty where oversized hot air balloons and sugary surprises awaited.
Picnic Prints
Day three, the final day, is always a half-day of education which finishes with a to-go lunch. Fittingly, our dress theme was picnic prints. After the breakout sessions, we gathered to grab our picnic basket bags.
Afternoon Activities
For our afternoon break before the gala, attendees were able to take part in some of the property’s activities, such as watercoloring, a tour of the property’s art collection, pasta making, axe throwing and fly fishing. I chose fly fishing, which was so fun, even in the pouring rain. We had a terrific guide, and one of my fishing buddies even caught a trout! (She quickly released it back into the water.)
Cathedral in the Clearing Gala
The theme of the Engage Nemacolin gala was Cathedral in the Clearing: “Dramatic Blacks, Whites & Silvers.” I wore a simple black gown. We were told it was in a secret location, and on the shuttle rides (which had the nicest shuttle drivers I’ve ever encountered) everyone was buzzing on who the surprise entertainer would be. Not every time but nearly most Engage Summits have some special performer who comes out to wow the crowd at the galas. Past Engages I’ve attended have included Flo Rida, Salt-N-Pepa, Ne-Yo, spoken word artists, choirs and some with ironclad NDAs where we weren’t allowed to take pictures.
The secret location turned out to be near the golf club where the guest planner and creative director Ed Libby orchestrated the building of a glass-like cathedral in a meadow—the clearing. Walking into the cathedral was pure magic. It was all black, white and a rich woody green. It was a seated dinner at mostly round tables with calla lily centerpieces. In the middle of the meal, I had a spidey sense that we were about to be surprised by someone on stage, so I made my way to the dance floor. Maggie, her son and son-in-law came out to thank everyone for attending, and then Maggie introduced the special guest: Diana Ross. The queen herself entered in swaths of purple and belted out favorites like I’m Coming Out and Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
The next day, Engagees departed with the usual don’t-make-me-leave sadness. My family stuck around for a few rounds of putt-putt golf (it’s a great course with waterfalls and bridges!) and one last visit with the animals before we, too, had to head home.
And while Engage is strictly for wedding professionals, the wedding and fashion inspiration is for everyone. Engage recently launched The Engage Edit, a website of their own which offers glimpses into past Engages to inspire luxury wedding and event ideas.
Host property: Nemacolin
Event: Engage Luxury Wedding Summit
Creative Director, Event Design & Floral: Ed Libby & Co. Events
Art Direction, Branding, Gifting Curation & Paper: TPD Design House
Event Planning: LeFeast
Entertainment: Elan Artists
Custom Linen: Nuage Designs
AV & Production: See Hear Pro
Tabletop Rentals: Maison de Carine
Furniture Rentals: Luxe Event Rentals
Drone Show: Sky Element Drones
Mixologists: The Cup Bearer
Photo Director: Corbin Gurkin
Photo Team: Paul Morse, Bo Shim Photography, Kylee Yee, Joel and Justyna, Ryan Greenleaf, Gooden Cinema, Roey Yohai Studios, Afrik Armando
Graphic Design and Show Director: Trisha Hay Design
Photo Styling: Shiramisu
Additional Linens: Party Mosaic
Stylized Photo Booth Nights 1 and 3: Banga Booth
Stylized Photo Booth Night 2: 888 Portrait Experience
Napkins: My Drap
Source: Equally Wed – LGBTQ+ Wedding Magazine and Wedding Vendor Directory – equallywed.com
