1: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
We opted to have a small family wedding and to keep everything fairly simple. The pandemic had made planning things more complicated and we decided that we'd rather have a short engagement than a huge wedding. Honestly, it made our day so much more intimate. Since there were only around 40 guests we decided to forego having a bridal party. I chose to limit the color palette to ivory, gold & a dusty blue with touches of fresh greenery. The venue that we found was a historical mansion with lots of original woodwork and charm which really lent itself to the timeless, romantic look that I had envisioned. We had a Christian wedding ceremony which was especially meaningful because Micah's father is a pastor and was able to perform the ceremony for us.
2: Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
The wedding decor was probably what stressed me out the most! Decorating for events is one of my skills and I struggled with the fact that I wouldn't be able to do the actual set-up myself. Since the venue already had such beautiful features, I chose to keep the wedding decor understated and classic, wanting to highlight the gorgeous space. The venue did not allow any candles since it is a historical building, so for the centerpieces I used gold lanterns with fairy lights inside. I made the seating chart, framed table numbers, place cards and decorated a "Mr. & Mrs." sign to match the color scheme. My husband, Micah, designed the wedding program and my good friend, Robyn, did the chalkboard art for our welcome sign. I wanted to keep things very simple, so had everything boxed and clearly labeled so that my wedding coordinator could handle the set-up for me on the day of the wedding. I reviewed everything with her the night before at the rehearsal and she did a great job bringing my vision to life!
3. What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
The only actual flowers were the ones in my bouquet and the boutonnieres for Micah and both of our fathers. I stuck with ivory colored flowers for the classic look that I was going for. My bouquet had spray roses, roses, calla lilies, parviflora and silver dollar eucalyptus. The boutonnieres were ivory roses with silver dollar eucalyptus as well. We used large fresh eucalyptus swags to drape the two gorgeous mantles in the ceremony room and the reception room. We also incorporated fresh olive wreaths to complement the decor throughout the venue (as part of the table centerpieces, on the entrance table and over the ceremony mantlepiece). There were also sprigs of eucalyptus incorporated as part of the overall wedding design.
4. Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
My husband, Micah, is a composer so he wrote the music for the ceremony processional and recessional. He also wrote the arrangements for the two hymns that were sung during the ceremony. Two musicians that he knows professionally played his arrangements on the violin and cello. It was incredibly meaningful to have the music personalized in this way. During the recessional we joyfully danced down the aisle as the musicians played.
5. Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
I had found a dress online on BHLDN's website that I absolutely loved and was almost positive that it would be the one that I would end up choosing. My sister came with me to their store in Manhattan so that I could try on wedding dresses and she could give me her honest opinion. I picked about half a dozen dresses to try on and quickly narrowed it down to two (one of which was the original dress that I had liked). I ended up choosing the second dress which was a completely different silhouette than I had initially chosen. It was a beautiful sleeveless A-line dress with a deep V-neck, a low back, layers of tulle in the skirt and flowers and vines embroidered on the bodice and flowing down into the skirt. Since we were getting married in March I felt like I would need some type of jacket or wrap to go with my dress. I had a hard time finding something with the exact look that I wanted. My sister found an ivory jacket on eBay which was from Anthropologie, brand new and my size. I had the seamstress that was altering my dress shorten the jacket and sleeves, remove the pockets, take the jacket in a bit and swap out the buttons for ones that I had found at a trim store in Manhattan. It was quite a bit of work, but the end result was exactly what I had envisioned! I opted not to wear a veil and had a jeweled hair vine intertwined with my updo. I wore pearl drop earrings, a gold and pearl necklace and a gold and pearl bracelet. The bracelet was actually a gift from my dad to my mom on their own wedding day and it was really special to incorporate that into my wedding day look (something borrowed and something old). My shoes were a pair of pale gold rhinestone studded pumps by Michael Kors that had just the understated glam that I was looking for. Micah ended up opting for a black slim suit from Calvin Klein. He paired it with a white shirt and a dusty blue tie and matching pocket square to coordinate with our wedding colors. He chose a pair of classic black oxford shoes for his footwear.
6. How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
Micah and I were introduced by a mutual friend but did not end up dating until we reconnected a year or so later. Our love story took a few turns but we are grateful that it ultimately brought us closer together. We got engaged on December 4th 2021 while watching the most glorious sunset overlooking the Manhattan skyline from Gantry State Park in Long Island City, Queens. When we returned to Micah's apartment I saw that he had transformed it into a beautiful Christmas wonderland as a surprise for me. He had purchased and decorated a live Christmas tree, hung Christmas lights, painstakingly cut out and hung ornate paper snowflakes, made hot chocolate with marshmallows and even had a Christmas scented candle burning. I was aware that he had never bothered to decorate his place for Christmas before and started to cry when I saw how much trouble he went to in order to do something special for me. I knew that this man was, without a doubt, the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
7. What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
We had decided beforehand to memorize our vows so that we could just speak them naturally to each other without having to be prompted by the pastor. It was incredibly meaningful to make those promises to one another without any interruptions — in that moment it felt like we were the only two people in the room.
8. Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day?
A: Be flexible. Even after all of the planning, on the day of the wedding some things are just simply outside of your control (i.e. half of your family getting stuck in traffic on the way to the ceremony). It's important to be willing to adapt when things aren't going as planned. We ended up doing a "first look" since we had to push back the ceremony start time to wait for key family members to arrive and although it wasn't in our original plan, we have absolutely no regrets! It turned out to be such a special moment for us.
Vendors:
Ring Designer: James Allen
Shoes: Michael Kors
Dress Store: BHLDN
Tuxedo & Men’s Attire: Calvin Klein
Bakery: Chef Cake Cookie Jar
Floral Designer: The Bouqs Company
Ceremony Location: Rutherfurd Hall
DJ: Magic Touch DJ’s
Photographer: Laurel Creative