We are floating into the afternoon with a luxuriously romantic garden wedding with a tropical flair. This botanical garden beauty by KasalNY is one part fairytale, one part exotic island dream and all parts gorgeous. Let’s start with the stunning bride who rivals any storybook princess in her Lazaro gown. I love her non-traditional bouquet of protea, orchids and larger than life greenery. The fun, tropical vibe continues throughout the decor and only enhances the beauty of the romantic surroundings. The full gallery is your go to place to check out the rest of this elegant, urban celebration!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
And for an extra special treat we have the amazing wedding film by Tweed Weddings to share as well!
From the Bride…I grew up in the south (Memphis, Tennessee) and my family currently lives in Akron, Ohio. I went to art school in Cincinnati, Ohio where I majored in painting and then moved to New York City in 2005 where I attended Columbia University and received my Masters degree in Art Education. This is when I met Karl. Karl was born in Malaysia, spent time in Singapore as a child and grew up in Sydney, Australia. He went to college in Australia where he majored in Law and Finance and began working as an investment banker for an Australian bank. His job then moved him to New York City in 2006.When Karl first moved to New York he connected with a friend of a friend who happened to be one of my friends. As I lived in the graduate dorms, I hosted a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as family visited in town. We invited many international students to this dinner, as they had never before experienced this American holiday. Among these was my friend who had brought Karl. We hit it off and became friends for a year. We then started dating and did so for four years before our wedding.
I continued to receive a second, advanced Masters degree from Columbia in Museum Education. I currently work as a freelance museum educator in modern and contemporary art museums throughout New York City. When the world financial crisis hit Wall Street, Karl decided to give up investment banking and started his own business. He took the concept of Groupon to his native Southeast Asia and developed it into his own company, Beeconomic. Groupon then bought this company so Karl is now the CEO of Groupon Singapore. He runs the business from our Brooklyn apartment but must make frequent visits to his constantly growing team of staff in Singapore.
We selected the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens as it represented Brooklyn but also supplied us with that healthy dose of nature we were looking for in our event. We had been to a wedding there before and knew they do a wonderful job. This is also when our idea of the classic meets modern/exotic theme began. We hoped that the classic feel of the botanical garden would blend well with the fun, tropical feel we would bring to it.
Karl wore a custom made suit that was also a cool gray. His name and our wedding date are embroidered on the inside. He wore a sage green tie and some of the buttonholes were made using bright orange thread to match one of our minor wedding colors. The tropical theme was carried throughout as his cufflinks were shaped as surfers on surfboards. Even with my own gown, I again chose the theme of classic meets modern. I selected a classic ball gown dress but I also loved the modern look of a birdcage veil. Numerous dress experts told me that a birdcage veil works best with short, informal and more A-line dresses. But I disregarded this advice and was very happy with the result. I had the veil custom made with the single flower to be worn on the side of my hair to add to the tropical look.
We selected all tropical flowers for the event which included green orchids, lush greenery and of course, birds of paradise. This matched our color theme which consisted of sage green, a variety of shades of bright green and a hint of orange here and there (including the inside of our invitation envelope). We chose to have the ceremony in the Cherry Esplanade area of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden where guests were surrounded by cherry trees in a green field. A serene fountain was in the background where we stood. Our pastors from our non-denominational Christian church served as our officiants and included our families in the beautiful service. The sun began to set behind us dipped beneath the lush trees of the gardens during the ceremony. In order to add to the Hawaiian feel, a ukulele player played our only music for the ceremony. We selected a number of our favorite contemporary songs with a tropical feel, such as the Israel Kamakawiwo’ole version of “Over the Rainbow” and Beach Boy love songs.
We decided that we did not want a wedding where guests were passive. We wanted everyone to be active participants having fun throughout the whole night. Rather than leaving out traditional favors for guests at the tables, we surprised everyone at the end of the night by lowering down a very large piñata from the ceiling. This piñata was in the shape of a palm tree and we stuffed it with hard candy I made myself. I used an old fashioned recipe but natural flavors. These were all tropical flavors such as coconut, mango and lime. These candies were created using our wedding colors and we created wrappers to match the text of our invitations and other stationary. Guests took turns being blindfolded and hitting the piñata. Finally, it burst open with confetti as guests gathered their favors at the end of the night.
Ceremony + Reception Location: The Brooklyn Botanic Garden / Rings: Rachel Beck / Wedding Gown: Lazaro via Kleinfeld Bridal / Veil: Bride’s Head Revisited / Bride’s Shoes: David’s Bridal / Florist: Seaport Flowers / Wedding Photography: Kirby Calvario of KasalNY / Wedding Videography: Louis Sparre of Tweed Weddings / DJ: Harold Johnson of Finer Touch Entertainment / Photo Booth: Magbooth / Wedding Cake: Ana Parzych Cakes / Groom’s Suit: Louis Purple / Groomsmen’s Suits: Men’s Wearhouse / Bridesmaid Dresses: Bari Jay via Pat Catan’s Bridal / Invitations: Umi of Kate’s Paperie / Tea Ceremony Dress: Wedding Garden / Cake Cutter + Champagne Glasses: Memories and Mirrors / Cake Topper: Lladro of Sanrio / Garter: Handmade / Mother of the Bride Dress: Jessica McClintock / Ukulele: Michael Leviton / Piñata: Pinatas.com