Click here for the FULL wedding!

Let’s keep this pretty party going, shall we? This video by Kiss the Bride Films is a must see…

From Liesl of Photo Pink… The lovely Kristin and Peter were married April 10, 2010, at The Foundry in Long Island City, New York. Their wedding theme was “Vintage New York City.” The Foundry was beautifully decorated with white and pastel pink flowers, candles, and vintage-style string lights. The bride wore a custom-made Jason Wu dress with vintage-style hair (she looked like Lana Turner!) They had an awesome surf and turf grill cocktail hour, and their cake was incredible with huge feathers that swayed in the breeze. Instead of a guestbook, the couple had vintage postcards that were to be filled out with well-wishes by the guests and placed into a vintage suitcase.

Wedding Photography: Liesl Henrichsen + Konrad Brattke of Photo Pink / Wedding Venue: The Foundry in Long Island City, New York / Flowers: Martin Jobes Design / Wedding Cinematography: Kiss the Bride Films / Catering: Benchmarc Events by Marc Murphy / Wedding Cake: Cake Alchemy / Wedding Dress: Custom by Jason Wu, Friend of the Bride / Shoes: Miu Miu / Suit: Hugo Boss

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Post tags: Benchmarc Events by Marc Murphy, Black, Cake Alchemy, Hugo Boss, Jason Wu, Kiss the Bride Films, Konrad Brattke, Liesl Henrichsen, Long Island City, Martin Jobes Design, Miu Miu, New York, Photo Pink, The Foundry, White
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings

Click here for the FULL wedding!

From the Bride… Our theme was “11:11 Make A Wish.” We wanted our wedding to feel like our guests arrived in an enchanted space. The Metropolitan Building was the perfect space to make this happen. The ceremony on the second floor was our “Secret Garden” and going upstairs for the reception on the fourth floor, we transformed it into a “Backyard Party.”

Our guests picked up their namecards, which were hotel key cards, that brought them to their next destination. Guests went to their tables, which were numbered with the name of a city we want to travel to. The major decoration was the string lights with lanterns along the ceiling, which gave the place a magical glow. We also had a wishing tree and dream fountain for our guests to make wishes throughout the night. They even walked out of the wedding with something glowing — our wedding favor was a mason jar with a “firefly” inside (really a fairy berry LED light).

Our guests loved our photobooth on a park bench (we got engaged on a park bench) with fun props to pose with. We were excited for our first dance, which we performed to a song called “Into Eternity” by Jens Lekman. We danced the night away and even had an 11:11 countdown, which a friend suggested that made it feel like New Year’s!

Wedding Photography: Matthew Lee and Chung of CLY Creation / Wedding Venue: The Metropolitan Building / Catering: Sasha Odnoralov of Maia Pearl Catering / Wedding Cake: Jessica Binder, Groom’s Cousin / Makeup: Sunny Jun / DJ + MC: Scuba Steve + Charlie Kwon (stephen.hong@gmail.com) / Day-Of Coordinator: Jonna Hale (631-953-1520) / Photobooth Photographer: Joseph McKee (joseph.rwp@gmail.com) / Decorations: Mary Chung Design / Floral Design: Leo of Jenny’s Flowers / Bride’s Dress: The Bridal Garden / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Bridesmaid Dresses: ML Monique Lhuillier / First Dance: Choreographed by Leslie at NY Wedding Dance / Wedding Band Designs: Sophia Kuo (s.kuo86@gmail.com)

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Post tags: Charlie Kwon, Christian Louboutin, CLY Creation, Jenny's Flowers, Jessica Binder, Jonna Hale, Joseph McKee, Long Island City, Maia Pearl Catering, Mary Chung Design, ML Monique Lhuillier, New York, New York City, NY Wedding Dance, Sasha Odnoralov, Scuba Steve, Sophia Kuo, Sunny Jun, The Bridal Garden, The Metropolitan Building
Post categories: Casual Elegance, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings

Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

From Jen Huang Photography…Allison & Chris wanted a modern and romantic wedding, that played off the feel of fall. Poppies & Posies executed their vision beautifully with gorgeous fall inspired terrariums mixed with mushrooms, succulents and moss. Their wedding was held at the Foundry in Long Island City NY, an industrial setting juxtaposed against green ivy growing on the walls, with a view of the Queensboro Bridge off Manhattan. Allison & Chris were laid back and wanted their wedding to reflect an intimate style and subtle beauty. The large string lights set the mood for a fun dance party separate from the tented reception. The whole night glowed brightly despite the rain drops!

From the Bride…It was important to us to find a space that was raw enough to make our own, yet also stand beautifully on its own. We found beautiful places with a locked wedding aesthetic, and loft spaces that gave us the freedom to create our own wedding, but the Foundry offered the best of both worlds. The space is meticulously preserved, the staff always accommodating our sudden desire to show up, and we loved the way the light came through the skylight and large glass doors at the rear.

After our initial choice in the space choosing our caterer, flowers, photographer and DJ came from heavy research from numerous blogs trying to perfect our aesthetic. Their work and their attitudes about the work they did, heavily influenced our decisions to choose them. We really wanted something that reflected the time of year without being a fall themed wedding. We identified with the aesthetic that we saw in all our vendors, and thought in the end it really reflected our own personal taste.

In the end we were so happy to have worked with all these wonderful people and everything went so perfectly. We really couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Wedding Photography: Jen Huang Photography / Venue: The Foundry / Floral Design: Poppies & Posies / Wedding Dress: Watters / Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade / Music: Les Loups DJ / Wedding Cake: A Simple Cake / Catering: Sage Events / Film Work: Richard Photo

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Post tags: A Simple Cake, Jen Huang Photography, Kate Spade, Les Loups DJ, Long Island City, New York Weddings, Poppies and Posies, Sage Events, The Foundry, Watters
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

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From Talida Bakes…As a close friend of the bride, I knew Cheryl and Joe’s wedding would be great. Cheryl is a “Jill of all trades”, as she can make anything and everything herself. Cheryl and Joe were married last September at the beautiful Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, where they created the most tailored and romantic setting for a wedding. There was hardly a thing in the room that wasn’t made by Cheryl, Joe, or one of their friends.

It was the ultimate DIY wedding since Cheryl sewed her own dress. Being in fashion, she had such a specific dress in mind that making it herself was really the only option. It took her 3 months, but she had the dress of her dreams. She also made the gorgeous necklace she adorned, as well as the jewelry worn by all the bridesmaids. And the bridesmaid dresses were bought from J.Crew, but Cheryl customized the dresses according to each girl’s style. Cheryl’s coworker tailored Joe’s suit for a perfect fit, and they recruited menswear line 3sixteen to design custom ties for the groomsmen.

Friends helped gather bottles over the months to contribute to the gathered look of the centerpieces. Cheryl purchased vintage wooden spools from eBay for the escort cards and spooled them with thread in their wedding colors. The favors, jars of button shaped chocolates, were lovingly made by Cheryl and friends. And on top of all this, Cheryl herself designed the entire suite of wedding stationery.

Not only did Cheryl and Joe have the eye for designing their entire wedding, but they had so many friends help pitch in to make the day happen as they dreamed. When asked what was the best part of the wedding, they said, “What made our wedding most meaningful was having so many people help out and share the day with us. We really couldn’t ask for better friends and family.

Venue: Metropolitan Building / Wedding Dress + Jewelry: Cheryl Szabo / Hair: Kenneth Salon / Groom’s Suit: J.Crew / Groom’s + Groomsmen’s Ties: 3sixteen / Documentary Photographer: Minnow Park Photography / Engagement + Portrait Photographer: Connie Wang Photography / Wedding Cake: Nine Cakes / Caterer: Fallier Catering / Day-Of Coordinator: Talida Bakes / Flowers: Hanaeflora

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Post tags: 3sixteen, Cheryl Szabo, Connie Wang Photography, Fallier Catering, Hanaeflora, J. Crew, Long Island City, Minnow Park, New York Weddings, Nine Cakes, Talida Bakes, The Metropolitan Building
Post categories: New York Weddings

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From Jill La Fleur… As soon as Matthew, the photographer, showed me images of the Metropolitan Building, inspiration for this shoot came rushing in. I fell in love with the location! The 9,00 square foot, 4 story building is filled to the brim with antiques, furniture and all sorts of collectibles that we were able to incorporate into the shoot. With huge wrap-around windows with beautiful city views, exposed brick walls with chipping paint & wood floors, we were able to create a unique, antique, ultra-romantic Victorian feel.

The colors for the table setting were ivory, creams and touches of light dusty blue/grey. I wanted the flowers to bring a pop of color to the table with shades of pink. The vibrant pink bouquet also played nicely off the lavender dress. For the escort card table, I had individual antique tea cups with a bloom in each one placed next to an antique door knob as the card holder. We also incorporated the antique door knobs next to the name tags on the table, along with ostrich feathers placed across the menus to add that bit of Victorian romance. The etched crystal with brass lids also added my favorite touch of Anthropologie to the table. For the linens, I layered a blue/grey natural linen with an antique ivory lace overlay, to give texture. I had a wonderful time visiting New York and being apart of such a wonderful shoot with such talented vendors. I can’t wait to plan a wedding at this amazing location!

Styling: Jill La Fleur / Photography: Matthew Lee and Chung of CLY Creation / Location: Metropolitan Building / Invitations: Ceci New York / Hair & Makeup: Mar for TEAM Hair & Makeup / Linens: La Tavola / Floral: Designs By Ahn / Cake: Magnolia Bakery / Dresses: Tadashi (Lavender Dress) + BCBG Max Azria (Ivory Lace Dress)

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Post tags: Anthropologie, Antique Tea Cups, BCBG Max Azria, Ceci New York, CLY Creation, Cream, Designs By Ahn, Dusty Blue, Grey, Ivory, Jill La Fleur, La Tavola, Lavender, Long Island City, Magnolia Bakery, Metropolitan Building, New York, NY, Ostrich Feathers, Photo Shoot, Pink, Queens, Tadashi, TEAM Hair & Makeup, Victorian
Post categories: Photo Shoot

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From Katie of Aisle Candy… The inspiration for our shoot was bridal fashion with a vintage New York flair. We shot at The Metropolitan Building in Long Island City which has got to be one of the coolest and most unique spaces I’ve even seen. It served as the perfect backdrop for our shoot, providing soft and warm hues to compliment our color palette of muted gold, neutral and blush tones. The shoot was all about vintage elegance and gorgeous imagery. The fashion styling was done by Dara of Preston & Olivia who brought together all the looks flawlessly with gowns from BHLDN and Marchesa.

The table scape was created by New York event stylist Ara Farnam of Rock Paper Scissors Events and featured vintage plates, glass and stemware all from Anthropologie, gorgeous floral arrangements by kat flower and sweet little placecards hand calligraphed in gold ink by Love, Jenna. Ara added texture and warmth to the eclectic mix of colorful tableware by pairing it with lace ribbon and soft flowing linens. We also had some adorable macarons made by Nine Cakes, which we ate at the end of the day – they were delicious!

The shoot was so much fun and I think everyone involved really enjoyed working together. It was truly an honor to collaborate with such amazing vendors! Everyone worked so hard on this shoot and it shows. The images are just breathtaking!

Location: The Metropolitan Building / Photographer: KT Merry / Hair: Takahide Tokuyama for Patrick Melville Salon / Makeup: Hiro Yonemoto for MAKE UP FOR EVER / Models: Click Models / Dresses: BHLDN + Gabriella New York / Hair Accessories: ban.do + Preston & Olivia + Jennifer Behr + Jannie Baltzer / Jewelry: BHLDN + Amanda Pearl / Floral Design: kat flower / Cake & Macarons: Nine Cakes / Event Design & Styling: Rock Paper Scissors Events / Calligraphy: Love Jenna / Tableware: Anthropologie / Models: Click Models / Fashion Styling: Dara Kent-Cobb of Preston & Olivia

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Post tags: Anthropologie, BHLDN, Click Models, Gabriella New York, Gold, Grey, Hiro Yonemoto, Jannie Baltzer, Jennifer Behr, KatFlower, KT Merry, Long Island City, Love Jenna, MAKE UP FOR EVER, New York, Nine Cakes, NY, Patrick Melville Salon, Peach, Photo Shoot, Preston and Olivia, Rock Paper Scissors, Takahide Tokuyama, The Metropolitan Building, Vintage Chic, White
Post categories: Photo Shoot

{click here for more from this completely and totally fabulous wedding}

Originally my fiancé and I had wanted a destination outdoor wedding, but then decided to have our wedding in New York, which is where we met and now share an apartment together. We wanted a mix of a city wedding and the beautiful outdoors and found the perfect place to have our reception and ceremony at The Foundry, a restored industrial space in Long Island City. It had a beautiful blend of city with the factory feel and a view of the Queensboro Bridge and also the lush green courtyard. The weather that day was gorgeous and we were married in the ivy-lined courtyard surrounded by an intimate gathering of our closest friends and family, all while the two flower girls were blowing bubbles. We chose greens and blues as our color scheme, which was reflected in the different colored bridesmaid dresses and the paper pom-poms, which the bridal party decorated the bridal suite with earlier that morning. Our florist helped incorporate the outdoorsy feeling throughout our wedding by making the indoor area green and airy by lining the indoor railings with smilax and arranging the tables with succulents and vintage jars and vases filled with blue and green flowers.

To us, having an unforgettable menu at our wedding was extremely important. We had one of our favorite restaurants, Blue Smoke, caterer our wedding with BBQ. During our cocktail hour guests snacked on sliders, deviled eggs, sausages and smoked lamb while taking photos with instant cameras. Guests sat down at long tables with burlap runners made by the bride’s mom, dishtowel napkins, place cards written out by the maid of honor and table numbers stuck to BBQ sauce bottles. Guests chose their dinner entrees from a menu designed by the groom’s best man, who also created the letterpress invitations. There’s nothing more fun than eating ribs and mac & cheese in fancy wedding clothes! The cake was a delicious combination of red velvet cake and nutella frosting and was topped with gumpaste succulents. Throughout the night, our dog had a great time walking in and out of the tables looking for any leftovers! After drinks and dancing, our guests finished the night with monogram-stamped takeaway boxes of bite-sized cupcakes, whoopee pies and cookies as favors.

Photography: Wayne Yuan / Venue: The Foundry in Long Island City, NY / Florist: Denise Fasanello Floral Design / Caterer: Blue Smoke / Cake: Alice’s Tea Cup / Desserts: One Girl Cookies / Wedding Coordinator: Sook Yee Yeung / DJ: Cat Hartwell / Invitations and paper goods: done by the Bestman /Wedding Dress: Vera Wang / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Hair Accessory: Jennifer Behr / Suits, bridesmaid dresses and flower girl dresses: J Crew / Hair and Makeup: Hatsumi Toshima /

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Post tags: Alice's Tea Cup, Blue Smoke, Cat Hartwell, Christian Louboutin, Denis Fasanello Floral Design, Hatsumi Toshima, J. Crew, Jennifer Behr, Long Island City, New York Weddings, One Girl Cookies, Sook Yee Yeung, The Foundry, Wayne Yuan Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Real Weddings

I think the best way to describe what it was like when Aaron and I met is that it felt like we had come home to one another. It may seem crazy, but we both knew we were going to marry each other after only two weeks. We managed to wait a year and a half before Aaron “officially” proposed, but we were permanent from the beginning.

I lost my job about six days before Aaron proposed, which was a really tough thing for me. I had a significant amount of time on my hands, which was a blessing in disguise. We decided to forgo the wedding planner, because if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s planning.  From the outset, we knew our wedding had to be in New York City. We’re definitely NY city people! We found The Foundry online and, not unlike other things in our life, knew it was the perfect place for us. It read like our dream apartment: landmarked building, exposed brick, beautiful light, courtyard, ivy-covered terraces, and a phenomenal view of the 59th Street Bridge. Plus, the staff was incredibly accommodating and professional – they were so relaxed and totally on point with everything, knew a lot of the vendors we were deciding on and offered us advice on whom they had worked well with in the past.

I think one of the most difficult things we came up against was trying to figure out a “theme” for our wedding. It was frustrating, because everything is grouped into “themes” in the wedding world: urban, casual, classic, country, elegant, etc, etc. We didn’t have a theme!! We’re not “theme” people. We have very particular taste that can’t be categorized neatly, so instead of making everything fit together, we focused on finding the best (within our budget) food, music and “aesthetic” – when you have the best, it doesn’t have to all look the same, each part makes sense on its own.

Above all else, my husband and I love to cook and entertain, so we decided that our wedding had to be, essentially, the best party we ever threw. I found our photographer, Karen Wise, online and was enamored by the vibrancy of her photos. I mean, just look at the colors! Also, the way she makes posed pictures look journalistic is fantastic.

It was rainy and cold the day of the wedding, so we ended up doing the photos inside, kind of like a photo shoot and I absolutely love the way they turned out. The photos from the wedding are phenomenal – super colorful shots, beautiful shadowy black and whites, just plain awesome.

We are big time foodies and people know that about us, so our caterer had to be really special. We went with Naturally Delicious in Brooklyn because they offered menus that were seasonal, simple but perfect and above all else, tasted GOOD. We had Shannon McCormick as our go-to woman for everything at Naturally Delicious and also hired Shannon to be our week-of and day-of coordinator, which made everything so easy. I cannot speak highly enough of the fantastic staff Naturally Delicious provided us.

We’re kind of lucky when it comes to music – Aaron, a.k.a. Ming, is a professional DJ and record producer, so we kind of had our pick of DJs. Aaron DEFINITELY didn’t want a band, which helped save a significant amount of money, so, keeping in the friends “theme” we hired $mall Change to DJ the wedding. We also asked our friend Michael Lynch, a.k.a. Big Mike  (of American Idol fame) to sing as we walked down the aisle. Aaron and Mike are like “brothers from another mother” – they have worked with each other for several years and Michael and his wife Christa are regular fixtures at Aaron’s mother’s Thanksgiving feast (Mike makes a ridiculous mac-n-cheese), so it was extra special for us to have Mike perform.

Our Design Aesthetic …

We found a florist we really loved and let her do her thing. My mother was pretty vocal on florists, so we let her make the final call on Bridget Vizoso of THE DESIGNERS’ CO-OP. My two requirements were that one, there was not to be a single rose anywhere in the entire place; and two, COLOR. I described a “Bollywood meets NYC” color palette and Bridget graciously re-worded my vision to “gem tones”, which was precisely what I meant. Luscious, vibrant and unabashedly vivid was how I pictured the flowers, although I didn’t want anything traditional or obnoxious. And really, we just let Bridget work her magic.  When we walked into the Foundry, Aaron and I were floored by the amazing job Bridget had done – there was bittersweet draped from the balconies and over our huppah, riotously colorful bouquets on the cocktail tables, votives hanging in the vines and candles everywhere… and that was just in the main room. In the tent where dinner was to be served, the tables were simply gorgeous. A mosaic of flowers covered the tables, paired with antiqued votives and gold candelabras; bright table clothes and napkins; swathes of pink, saffron and orange cloth hung across the tent with large Chinese paper lanterns lighting the room. It was really the perfect décor for the Foundry and, when paired with the food and the music, created the exact ambiance we were trying to achieve.

What I am most proud of looking back at that night is that our wedding really was a total reflection of our life as a couple. That wasn’t too hard to manage because we knew we couldn’t compromise on the fact that we wanted our wedding to be a celebration of the start of our marriage. For us, that meant bringing together everything that is good and beautiful in our lives and sharing the night with the people that mean the most to us and having a few well-placed personal touches. In our program, we wrote a little anecdote/personal joke about each person in our wedding party; our officiant was a judge that has known me since I was a baby in my crib; and of course, we had Big Mike singing “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz when Aaron came down the aisle and “Could This Be Love’” by Bob Marley when it was my turn. We also made bags of our “marathon granola” for our guests to take home with them at the end of night. Aaron and I were running the NYC marathon three weeks after our wedding and we had been eating this homemade granola throughout most of our training, so we thought it would be fun to share part of our training experience with our friends and family.

I chalk it up to two things that made the night so fantastic: we hired great vendors – really nice people who are excellent at what they do and we tried not to interfere (too much) in what they wanted to do; and we were adamant about keeping the wedding traditions to a minimum and making the night, above all else, a great party. People still tell us what a fun time they had at our wedding and looking back, I don’t think we would have changed a single thing. Aaron and I are still both in awe about what an amazing night it was for both of us – everything really was perfect.

Beautiful!! Thanks so much to Jackie and congratulations to you and Aaron!! To see lots more from their wedding, take a look at Karen Wise’s fantastic blog ~ Part 1, Part 2.

Photography ~ Karen Wise, Floral ~ Bridget Vizoso, The Designer’s Co-Op, Wedding Coordinator – Shannon McCormick from Naturally Delicious Caterer, Dress Designer ~ Matthew Christopher from Gabriella New York Bridal Salon, Bridesmaids Dresses ~ J. Crew, Aaron’s Suit ~ Burberry, Hair & Makeup ~ Hatsumi Toshima, Officiant – Bruce L. Kaplan, DJ ~ Small Change, Special guest and friend of the couple, Michael Lynch a.k.a.”Big Mike” of American Idol was there too! He sang beautifully as the couple walked down the aisle

Another wedding filled with bold beautiful colors that we spotted on Karen’s blog was that of Anar & Dale in Alabama: Part 1 and Part 2. SERIOUSLY SPECTACULAR colors!

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Post tags: Chuppah, Gabriella New York Bridal Salon, Hatsumi Toshima, J. Crew, Karen Wise, Long Island City, Matthew Christopher, Michael Lynche, Naturally Delicious, New York Weddings, Small Change, The Designers' Co-op
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography