While on a winter holiday in White Fish Montana, Lumena Foundation Co-Founder Michaela Finley and John Gyimesi, a metal smith and jewelry designer, both knew they were getting engaged to each other. “I felt strongly that John should have an engagement ring because a jewelry designer should absolutely have an engagement ring,” Michaela states. “ And I wanted to propose to him as well—I just wanted him to propose first.”
On January 10, 2024, they went for a snowy walk in the woods. “I had a feeling he was going to propose, so I had packed his ring just in case,” Michaela recalls. “He got down on one knee and asked me, and then after saying yes, I proposed right back.”
Wanting to get married in the city where they fell in love, they chose Pendry Baltimore, in Fell's Point. “John and I have a shared love of art history and historical architecture,” Michaela says. “We worked with Katey Clark Creative to create a wedding that transported us and our guests into our favorite art and architectural periods: Hellenistic, Rococo, and Baroque.” Grey and Cake set the tone for the weekend with a vintage-inspired invitation suite.
“There is no bigger excuse to dress up than your own wedding,” Michaela says of finding her bridal wardrobe. She and John enlisted the help of stylists Anny Choi and Justin Fernandez.
“For the ceremony I wanted to feel like I could step out of a John Singer Sargent portrait. In his portraiture, he captures the play between fabric and light so exquisitely and it will always enamor me.” She chose the Priscilla by Danielle Frankel for how the light plays on the draped taffeta. “Additionally, I liked how it made me feel like a modern interpretation of a Hellenistic statue.”
Michaela’s next dress was also by Danielle Frankel. “The silk wool of the second dress felt amazing on my skin and the luminosity of the fabric dazzled me,” she shares. "I felt like one of Degas’s ballerinas.”
On October 11, 2025, Michaela got ready with Caitlyn Meyer Pro Beauty Team, who gave her a soft glam look. “I wore my hair like my grandmother and great grandmother often wore their hair—in a coronet,” the bride shares. “I wanted to carry them with me on my wedding day.”
John was drawn to a Tanner Fletcher suit for the ceremony, followed by a ONE OF “late-night pajama party” look with cherry blossom embroidery.
“The ceremony was held in the round, so we were surrounded and held by our loved ones,” Michaela says of the service in the garden courtyard, transformed by Social Supply Design and Amaryllis Inc. Her aunt officiated the hand-fasting ceremony. “We were happy, grateful, and tearful. After nearly a decade, and all the planning we were finally married!” Every meaningful moment was beautifully captured by photographer Laura Gordon and videographer Gooden Cinema.
The reception evoked a secret garden party from long ago with fresh fruit dripping out of statues’ hands and climbing vines and florals. Guests dined on Daisy Plates from Maison de Carine. “We also had a ‘secret’ portrait moment for guests,” Michaela explains. “Tiny magnifying glasses and parchment left on tables clued guests into where they could find wander to find a tucked away nook to take photos with a photographer.”
The newlyweds shared a first dance to “L.O.V.E” by Nat King Cole. “We wanted a song that we could swing dance too,” the bride says.
Later on in the night, Michaela changed into her last look of the night—a sparkly Weiderhoeft mini dress. And back on the dance floor with Elan Artists, Michaela experienced a peak moment dancing with friends to “Pink Pony Club.”
The night closed with one last night cap and then they couple headed to bed. “We were dead on our feet by the end,” Michaela recalls—the sign of a highly successful and celebratory day.
