Speakeasy Soirée

• By Melanie Barnes
• Published Summer 2012

Ruby Sheng & Jason Nichols

Galapagos Art Space
October 1, 2011

When creative director Jason Nichols, 34, and brand strategist Ruby Sheng, 31, shared an electric moment on the dance floor at a loft party in 2006, they had no idea that an impending blizzard would keep Ruby from returning home that night. “We spent the weekend snowed in at Jason’s, and we’ve been together ever since,” she says. Nearly five years to the day of the snowstorm, the couple headed to Maui for Ruby’s 30th birthday. “Everyone kept suspecting it would happen then, but a beach proposal didn’t feel genuine,” says Ruby. Fortunately, Jason had other plans: “That morning, Ruby scheduled for us to go skydiving,” he says. “I had to jump out of a plane, not die, and then propose on a dance floor, all in the same day.” The pair settled on a speakeasy wedding theme (“We were watching a lot of Boardwalk Empire,” laughs Jason), preceded by a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Clips from old films were projected onto the brick wall, guests lined up for mug shots, and the evening ended with a saucy burlesque show. “It was the perfect finale,” says Ruby.