Kelsey Forde and Marc Wilson

Kelsey Forde and Marc Wilson wed at Newport Coast

A perfect California day blessed the April 28, 2012 wedding of Kelsey Rhoads Forde and Marc Devant Wilson as they exchanged vows under a majestic Georgette-draped Italian rotunda overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Pelican Hill Resort, Newport Coast.
At the following reception and dinner at Pelican Hill Resort, the new Mr. and Mrs. Wilson delighted guests by performing a tango for their first dance as husband and wife.
The couple is at home in Chicago after a Hawaiian honeymoon at Lanai.
Kelsey grew up in Malibu, graduating from Malibu High School in 1999. She trained from the age of five at the Ballet Studio by the Sea and performed with the Malibu Civic Ballet. She competed on the Malibu High School swim team. Kelsey earned a degree in Merchandise Marketing at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and lived in West Hollywood. She is studying to earn a bachelors degree in business at Kendall College in Chicago.
A 1992 graduate of Barrington (Illinois) High School, Marc earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and sociology at Duke University, Durham, N.C., where he had a football scholarship, and a masters in psychology at Pepperdine University, Los Angeles. He is a senior strategic planner for McGarryBowen advertising agency. In the fall he will begin studying for a doctorate in Industrial Organization Psychology at the Chicago School of Psychology.
Kelsey and Marc met at a friend’s barbeque in Los Angeles, renewing their acquaintance several years later when Kelsey was living in New York and working for a promotion company, and Marc was an account manager at an advertising agency in Chicago.
Marc proposed to Kelsey on a street corner in New Orleans, presenting her with a ring he had designed.
The marriage brought together family and friends from 19 states and South Africa.
Bishop Dr. Michael J. Love of Trinity Baptist Community Church at Crystal Lake, Ill., officiated. Love is Marc Wilson’s lifelong friend and pastor.
Kelsey wore a strapless, fit and flared gown of vintage lace accented with a champagne ribbon sash.
The bride’s sister Laurel Bluhm of Issaquah, Washington served as matron of honor. Nathan J. Hamilton of Los Angeles, California was Marc’s best man. Six bridesmaids and groomsmen stood with the couple as they said traditional vows accompanied by poignant personal statements.
Ring bearer Carson Bluhm of Issaquah, Wash., escorted flower girls Sydney P. Boone of Silver Spring, Md., and Chloe Genda of Rogers, Minn, who scattered rose petals on the grassy aisle.
Thousands of white roses, tulips, hydrangeas and lilacs accented with soft-hued greens and succulents carried out the white and sage theme.
Rita P. Wilson of Laguna Beach, the groom’s mother, hosted the wedding events. The groom’s father is Harold H. Wilson of Cary, Ill.
The parents of the bride are Ronald S. Forde of Brookings, Oregon and Tina Fisher Forde of Tehachapi, California.

Joe Latter Photographer