When planning their New York City wedding, Peter Kelly and Garth Greenan were excited by the opportunity, as a gay couple, to subvert some of the traditional wedding customs that didn’t quite resonate with them. “It was really about doing something that was unique to us as a couple, but also unique to our expectations of [what] a wedding [can be],” Garth says. “Which, until fairly recently, wasn’t even an option for us.”
Even a quick Google search showed Peter just how much mainstream wedding planning focused on the bride. “There are all these conventions set up and we don’t really fit that exactly,” he says. “We started to think about things like, What colors do we have to use? We don’t necessarily have to use the black, white, pink, or whatever is more conventional, so why don’t we do a mid-century palette? Why don’t we do a lot of oranges and browns?”
The wedding took place at the iconic Rainbow Room, a fitting choice for two grooms deeply rooted in the art world—Garth as the founder of Garth Greenan Gallery, and Peter as the founder of Kelly Art Advisory. Visuals played a central role in the celebration. “I love seasonal realities, and that was a big part of why we chose the Rainbow Room. You look across the park, you see all the orange trees and everything, and it’s like seasons are changing, time is moving,” Peter explains.
Read on for details about the grooms’ custom Bode tuxedoes, how they incorporated art into their ceremony, and why some might even call it a shotgun wedding.
The Planning
“We’re fairly traditional,” Garth says. “The idea started that we were going to do something small. Then it became like, no, we really want to celebrate this and do something proper and big. I don’t know that either of us [loves] the kind of attention a wedding brings, but it became this big thing.”
The couple teamed up with wedding planner Jove Meyer and quickly landed on the Rainbow Room, a venue Garth had recently visited for an event. “When we were touring basically every venue possible in the city in a day, it just called out to us as this is where you’re supposed to get married,” he recalls.
True to their personalities, Peter and Garth made decisions swiftly and confidently. “The overarching theme for us as a couple and our wedding was that we’re very, very, very into planning, and we’re very decisive, so it all came together as fast as it possibly could. We never had 12 venues on hold or five chairs that we were looking at,” Garth says.
The rehearsal dinner was held at Mel’s, a Chelsea pizzeria that has since closed. “You could see the fire inside [the pizza oven], so it was kind of glowing. We had chosen sort of fall-ish, ’70s colors. It wasn’t deliberately autumnal, it was just evocative of the era that we were most interested in,” Garth says.
“It was a beautiful evening,” Peter adds. “We got married right after Halloween, and they still had the Halloween decorations up, which I felt like Garth would be annoyed at, but I thought was so cute.”
The Looks
Both grooms wore custom tuxedoes by Bode. “Garth and I have both been pretty big fans of the brand for a while. We’re both really into art, and especially American art. Bode is interested in providing all of these handmade crocheted fabrics, these American textile traditions,” Peter explains. The tuxedoes leaned classic but featured intricate embroidery and beadwork. “We had this opportunity to be traditional, but to twist it a little bit and put our own spin on it and make it our own. Whatever a wedding means to us, that can be reflected in our tuxedos and our outfits.”
The Ceremony
The ceremony was officiated by Neal Ambrose-Smith, an artist the couple collaborates with. They took part in a meaningful ritual, being wrapped in a blanket created by the artist Howardena Pindell. Peter’s brother read a Walt Whitman poem chosen by Garth, while Garth’s brother shared an excerpt from the Book of Ruth selected by Peter.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, an artist Peter has worked with (and Neal Ambrose-Smith’s mother), created a beautiful register that was signed by the wedding guests. “Jaune kept saying that the only reason you’re married is because a group of people that care about you and matter to you recognize that you’re married,” Garth shares. “Having all of those people bear witness to that is super important.”
The Cocktail Hour
“The most memorable moment was when Peter and I were alone right after we had actually gotten married—we were together in the wedding suite,” Garth says. “It was the first moment that we had together where we were actually husbands alone. I couldn’t really remember what happened, but I knew something really great had happened.”
The Reception
Garth and Peter did their first dance to Dusty Springfield’s “The Look of Love.” The music selection was thoughtfully curated, evolving through the decades as the night progressed. “The DJ started off with disco, and then it progressed into the ’80s and ’90s and the 2000s and 2010s. The night went on and just kind of got a little more dancey and fun,” Garth says.
The Morning After
On Sunday morning, Garth’s best man hosted a brunch catered by Electric Burrito in Chelsea, held at the West Village townhouse the couple had just purchased. “It was nice to kind of say, ‘Okay, now that everybody’s leaving and we just had this wedding, this is where we’re going to be setting up our life together,’” Peter reflects. The new home and the wedding marked monumental life moments happening back-to-back. And soon after, a baby arrived. “You could say it was a shotgun wedding,” he laughs.
Garth Greenan and Peter Kelly’s Wedding
Adrienne Gaffney is a features editor at ELLE and previously worked at WSJ Magazine and Vanity Fair.
