Petal Power

It’s easy to assume that Yianni Stapleton would be hard-pressed to find a good gift for Bety after spending all day with her at Stapleton Floral Design—but it turns out their mutual passion never gets old. “I actually bring flowers home to my wife, especially when it’s unusual or new for the season,” says Yianni, who has shops in the Seaport and South Boston. “Celebrating an occasion may involve a restaurant, but a beautiful bouquet with a bottle of pink champagne is still her favorite.”

The bubbly was a-flowin’ when they got married in 1988—she with 25 guests and he with 250 guests as part of their “beautiful big fat Greek wedding,” he explains. Their biggest disagreement was on the cake; Yianni wanted a “monster” confection complete with bridges, the wedding party in miniature on said bridges and the bride and groom in the center. Bety’s classic style of design won out, but it was all for the better: “We had a simple, beautiful three-tiered cake with my bride and groom on top,” he says. “We’ve always compromised in both our personal life and business, and it’s worked out for the best.”

Though balancing the two isn’t exactly a piece of cake, they’ve made indelible memories during the past three decades in business. Those include brushes with fame, like arranging flowers for the Hatfields & McCoys miniseries and the Ted 2 wedding. But real-life weddings deliver the truly special scenes. One bride came to them 26 years after Stapleton served as her mother’s wedding florist; the daughter carried her mom’s bible down the aisle in style with a modern silk jacket adorned with brocade, ribbons, rhinestones and flowers. For another wedding, the Stapletons managed to find rare black bacarra roses at the last minute for a desperate bride. They arrange them every year for the groom, who still comes in for his annual anniversary bouquet.

Perfect Harmony

With a band name like Eye2Eye, it’s no surprise Larry Jackson and Penni Layne are on the same page musically and professionally. They started performing together nearly 20 years ago as members of that act; now they manage Eye2Eye along with five other bands as the owners of Upside Entertainment. But their success is about far more than the songs, Larry says.

“You’ve got to make couples feel special and loved and listened to. We’re going to do everything we can do to make your event great,” Larry says, emphasizing that, as in any relationship, establishing a foundation of trust is key. “Clients try to choose every song they want the band to play, and that ends up a lot of times tying the hands of the bandleader from doing what they do best—knowing which songs to pick and where to put them at to make a great five-hour party.”

He and Penni should know, after all—they’ve attended an estimated 2,000 weddings and functions. Their own wedding took place only a year ago. Several musician friends performed at their celebration, and Larry crooned “The Way You Look Tonight” to Penni (though he lovingly credits her as the more “natural vocalist”).

It’s a talent she now gets to hone in their soul and R&B band, Penni Layne & the Wonder Boys, which performs original tunes and cover songs. Mirroring their roles as parents to a blended family with three kids, their careers are now more about mentorship. Leah Randazzo, a vocalist in Upside’s band Protégé, says she learned from the best: “They are both really sweet and fun and know more about the wedding industry than anyone I know!”

Sweet on Each Other

A 20-hour road trip can make or break a relationship… so just imagine trying to do that and transport a life-sized Darth Vader cake from Massachusetts to Florida. Such is life for Amanda and Tyler Oakleaf of Oakleaf Cakes Bake Shop, whose business has grown from a two-person operation based out of their apartment to a storefront near Symphony Hall with a slew of like-minded artistic employees.

“I could never do this without his help; we make a great team,” Amanda says of her spouse of more than a decade. “Sculptural details like fondant doesn’t want to hang that high without ripping, and he’s more on the engineering side and marketing side—the real brains behind that cake and creating my website. I’m more on the decorating, baking and creative side.”

Their location helps bring in a mix of employees from her alma mater, nearby MassArt, and from Berklee, where he studied music engineering. The result is a mini family of illustrators, art historians and pastry chefs.

“Everybody has the same background, so we get along really well—sometimes too well! We have the same nerdy obsessions with comics and superheroes. We nerd out on the cakes as much as customers.”

The only thing Amanda would change? “If I got married now, I wouldn’t have a cake. By now we just do pies or ice cream for our birthdays!”

Putting a Ring on It

Scott and Minter Richter don’t mind taking work home with them—on many nights, tales from their custom ring business, Minter + Richter Designs, fuel dinner table conversation with their two sons. “Telling them all of the fun and exciting love stories I’ve heard all day is my favorite part of the day,” Minter says. “Scott always smiles, laughs and says the same thing: ‘We are all snowflakes.’ … Each love story is dramatically different from the next. You may see rings on our website, but I see people and stories.”

Minter works at the “front of the house,” consulting with brides and grooms. Scott then translates her notes and sketches into handcrafted bands at his studio at South Boston’s Distillery building, using titanium inlaid with unique materials like concrete and water buffalo horn. Scott integrated a thin blue line into rings for a pair of police officers, while a couple who met on a beach in Hawaii incorporated sand and an inlay of koa wood into their design.

The Richters’ own love story began with a friendship, first forged in 1988 when she moved to Boston and got a job at the store Scott managed for his uncle. Nearly 10 years later, they reconnected for a co-worker reunion. “I fell head over heels for an old friend,” Minter says. “Not far from our 20th anniversary, I can’t imagine life without him.”

Minter says having their own company was meant to be since they worked together from the beginning—and because family-owned businesses run in the family. “We both come from parents who worked together. Somewhere in the back of each of our minds, I think we thought, ‘Of course we’ll work together! We always have!’”

If The Shoe Fits

Sure, Ron Davis has gotten down on bended knee before thousands of women—but he’s only ever proposed to one. As co-owners of Natick’s Shoes to Dye For, he and his wife Lisa have helped outfit countless brides and bridesmaids with comfortable yet chic footwear and accessories, although it’s often him suggesting fingertip- or cathedral-length veils and kitten heels while Lisa takes the lead on the paperwork side of things.

“People have all different types of relationships—it’s really just what works for you,” Ron says about what he’s learned working with couples over the years, including unconventional brides who bring in their grooms for a sneak peek.

The couple’s own Cinderella moment came 27 years ago, when they met at an anniversary party. They soon discovered that each other’s family histories in the shoe industry went back three generations, and they even went shoe shopping during their first date. Ron jokes that he knew Lisa was The One when he found out she was a sample size 6.

Today, with their 17-year-old daughter Mandy helping out at the store, there’s another generation involved, though her twin brother Josh “only stops by when he wants a free lunch,” Ron jokes. Customers are more likely to meet the Davises’ 6-year-old Havanese named Fenway, who, Ron says, “has his own fan club.” And although the industry has changed over the years, he still loves the art of matching just the right shade of champagne to a gown—and carrying on a tradition. “Bridal shoes used to be part of every family shoe business, but it’s really become a competitive, niche market now, and there are fewer and fewer stores like this,” Ron says. “We’re a dying breed, pun intended!”

Picture Perfect

The ironic thing about beloved Boston wedding photographers Felix and Sara Rust? They don’t have any pictures of their own vows, exchanged 25 years ago at a duck pond in the Fens. “Looking back, I wish we had made a bigger deal of it. After years of being married and being a photographer, I realize that weddings aren’t just for you—they’re for your friends and family and people who want to celebrate with you,” Felix says. “Our relationship didn’t change, but the world starts to see you as seriously as you’ve seen yourself all along.”

Their own worldview was altered after having son Dash, 16, and daughter Magali, 13, which prompted Felix to pursue what was at the time an amateur passion for photography, shooting an image a day (called the “Daily Dash”) for out-of-town relatives. Over time, portraits and children’s photography morphed into a booming wedding photography business with Sara’s support. “I just assumed it would be lining up and telling everyone what to do. But I did my own thing and snuck around like a fly on the wall, and it was basically playing around all day long,” Felix says. “This won’t be like every other ‘kiss’ photo you’ve ever seen on Pinterest; every shoot is different.”

A self-described introvert who thrives when his “antidote” Sara assists in noisy crowds, Felix says they’ve developed a uniquely symbiotic style over the years. “Because we know each other so well we do this little maneuver where we are dancing out of the way and we’re almost never in each other’s shots. It’s so beautifully choreographed.”

Much like a first date, the Rusts interview all of their potential wedding couples to make sure they’re compatible. Their newest passion—shooting boudoir photography—would never work if Sara weren’t there to help subjects relax. “Like weddings, it’s about these super-emotional, transitional moments,” Felix says. “Women realize how truly beautiful they are when they see the photos for the first time.”