Filled with loads of traditional touches yet with this couple’s own fabulous spin, this wedding held at the library of the New York Academy of Medicine captured by Karin VonVoigtlander is breath of fresh winter air. With Brilliant Event Planning at the helm, the entire evening went off without a hitch all while being perfectly pretty. What more can you ask for? There is more of this gorgeous library fête in the full gallery of images, so don’t forget to stop on by!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Groom…Dina’s from California and I’m from Canada, so I had the bright ideato take her ice-skating on our first date. She survived, time passed,and we decided to get married. (She said yes even though my proposal was a touch underwhelming. I had slaved in the kitchen all-day preparing a romantic dinner, but when she got home from work she was in a rush to get some errands done. I told her to slow down, because we were going to have a lovely dinner. She asked why, so I told her,”Because we’re getting engaged tonight!”)
In fact, my California girl turned out to like cold weather so much, we opted for a February wedding. As it happens, the NYAM is the perfect winter-time venue -something about libraries and books seems both grand and cozy. It wasalso the perfect venue for us because I’m an academic, and I’ve spent lots of time in libraries. Our families are also both full of academics and doctors, so the library of the Academy of Medicine felt right. Maybe even more importantly, Dina is a very elegant lady, and there’s nothing more elegant than a huge, wood paneled, book lined,reading room with tapestries, chandeliers, and huge windows overlooking Central Park. Dina had the stroke of genius to design ourescort cards as mock due-date slips like the ones in the backs oflibrary books (her mother generously printed and cut every last one ofthem herself!). The cards were a real crowd favorite, and put a personal touch on our library theme. I also loved the fact that the library checkout counter was our bar!
From Dina, the Bride: With my family on the other coast and Jacob’s up north, I knew we couldn’t plan the wedding without help. Our burden was lightened when we found Sarah Pease of Brilliant Event Planning. She used her creativity to give us ideas when we needed them and to build on our own ideas; her design was flawless. She worked within our budget and our 4.5 month timeframe. And on the day of, every thing went off without a hitch; there were no crises, no panics, nothing. And even if there were, we never would have known about them, because Sarah and her team took care of everything from the very beginning to the very, very end. Among other things, she helped us find a venue that appealed to us and could handle all of the elements of our wedding in one place – the tisches (both bride’s and groom’s), thebedeken (veiling), the ceremony and, of course, the party – the NewYork Academy of Medicine. Once we found the venue, things started falling into place.
My favorite part of the wedding was the ceremony itself. Jacob is athorough traditionalist and I’m a traditionalist who thinks tradition was meant to be played with. So we ended up with a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony with a few twists.
Wedding Photography: Karin VonVoigtlander / Floral Design: Blossom & Branch / Event Design + Planning: Brilliant Event Planning / Location: New York Academy of Medicine / Catering: Sterling Affair / Kosher Catering: Esprit Events / Hair: Stacy Pitt / Make-up: Sally Duvall / Band: Simcha All Stars