New York Weddings

When I was planning my own wedding, I had this fantasy of hosting an all white soiree in some swanky loft in NY. Clearly, that didn’t pan out. But for some reason, whenever I see a really well done loft affair, I still get all giddy inside.

Today’s wedding, sent to us by the adorable bride and groom, was all about the chic. Sophisticated, elegant and yet fabulously New York chic. Plus, it was designed by one of our favorite Little Black Book members, Daughter of Design, which makes it even more special!

Before we get into all of the details though, I had to start off with these incredible shots of the bride’s bling. And by bling, I really mean, oh-my-gosh gorgeous, completely fabulous, all-the-good-words-in-the-dictionary beautiful bling…

photography by Heather Waraksa

SWOON. Aren’t you a little bit in love? And a little bit jealous? Well, the gorgeous bride who put all of this together is with us all day, sharing her perfect details and her totally down-to-earth perspective.

I guess you could technically call this a destination wedding. Eric and I live in Miami, but he was born and raised in Westport, Connecticut, and I have moved around so much in my life that I don’t really have a ‘hometown’.  We looked everywhere when we started our planning – here in Florida, out in Napa & Sonoma, in Connecticut – and finally decided that Manhattan would be perfect.  It’d be convenient for all his family and friends (he actually had quite a few that lived in the city), and we love Manhattan so much that we hope to buy a little a pied-a-terre there someday.

I wouldn’t say I’m the ‘typical’ bride in that I’ve dreamed of planning a wedding for my whole life.  Although I’m a big (obsessive) planner in general, and love design and entertaining, I’m extremely non-traditional and cringe at doing something that someone else has already done.  After having been to many weddings that were born out of the same mold, I wanted to make sure our wedding was a little different: not only reflective of us as a couple, but also fun, new and interesting for our guests.  We decided our goal would be a “fun, intimate party… that also happened to be a wedding”.  And every decision we made came from there.

So much more on the way!

Today’s featured Little Black Book photographers, Britney Gardner and Joe Rumore shoot weddings from coast to coast! This one ~ just happened to be in New York City on an unseasonably warm spring day. However, the bride, Melane, didn’t mind the heat one bit … she’s a Texas girl at heart!

She and Ryan asked 30 of their closest friends and family to fly to New York with them to celebrate their marriage in Central Park!

The morning of the wedding, Melane’s bridesmaids were busily putting the flowers together while hair, make-up and the final details were being attended to …

Meanwhile, at Camp Ryan …

… and then the final reveal … that romantic “first look”…

Melane and Ryan headed outside into the hustle and bustle of New York City for a flurry of photos to commemorate the day.

And then onto their final destination … Central Park. But first, a few more pre-wedding shots from Britney and Joe of turn loose the art …

What an unbelievably pretty wedding venue!!

Wow!

And then off ~ in true New York style ~ to an intimate dinner at Sarabeth’s Central Park South.

Britney asked Melane what the best part about the whole day was. She replied, “Saying the vows we wrote to each other … and involving our family and friends in the ceremony. My sister and brother-in-law led us in the traditional vows as we repeated after them and a friend officiated.”

Ryan and Melane’s wedding came in right around $8000 … a perfect example of how to pull-off a budget wedding in high style!  Our best wishes to you both!

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Thanks SO much to the very talented team at turn loose the art.  The front page of their website says, “There is art in your life.” SO true. And these two truly know how to capture it!

{ps … Congrats on the 1st place at the ISPWP contest in the Reception~Dancing category! Personally, though, I loved the Kids Will Be Kids 5th place winner!}

Ulysses Photography is listed in Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book in the NY Hudson Valley area. However, if you take a trip to their website and blog … you’ll see they don’t just hang around there! As is the case with most of our LBB photographers, they love to travel and have lots of wonderful examples of their weddings for you to peruse. In this case, a visit to Ulysses and Jenni’s blog will take you all the way back to August 2005 weddings! Now that’s impressive!! It’s SO fascinating to see how much has changed in the wedding world … and just how much will never change!

Ulysses and Jenni ARE Ulysses Photography. They describe themselves as crazy in love. How great is that? They go on to say that there is no popular catch phrase to describe their style. I like that, too, because I think that all photographic artists have so many many styles, depending upon so many many factors that it would be doing them a grave disservice to assign a style label. Suffice it to say that they are terrific!

Today’s featured wedding is from last July and took place at Catlin Gardens NY.

Kristina wore a Nicole Miller gown … the bridesmaids dresses were by After 6.

Many of the special touches seen throughout the day were made by Kristina, her mom … and even her dad!

This pretty cake was from The Pastry Garden.

from Kristina …

My Mom and I (and my Dad, too!) spent a lot of quality time making many of the small things the guests found at their tables, such as the menu cards, place cards, and the wedding cake cookie favors. The cookies came out great but were A LOT of work. By the end of it, I didn’t want to see another cookie for the rest of my life (unfortunately, that didn’t last long!) I think we all had a great time working together to come up with creative ideas that would make our guests feel special. I especially loved the air fresheners, with the poem attached, that were left by the valets in our guests’ cars. Hopefully, it was a pleasant reminder of the fun they had at the wedding and how much we all appreciate that they were there to share that day with us.

The staff at Catlin Gardens made sure everything ran so smoothly. It was great to know that everything was taken care of so that my family and I could just enjoy ourselves! Sometimes, when I’m really craving something sweet, I think of the wedding cake from The Pastry Garden and regret that I only had one bite of that delicious cake. Brides: enjoy the cake on your wedding day and maybe even have two pieces!

I recommend going to Nicole Miller as a stop on your hunt for the perfect dress. They were so friendly, helpful, and gave me their honest opinions. They also have a great selection of beautiful dresses that are perfect for the beach, garden, or big white wedding of your dreams. My dress was exactly what I wanted. It was so comfortable and not too fussy but made me feel beautiful all night.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather or better vendors. We love to show off our wedding album to anyone who stops over at our home, and without fail, people are totally blown away. The pictures are really beautiful!

Congrats to Kristina & Cory … fantastic wedding!

And a HUGE thank you to Ulysses and Jennie for sharing their fabulous photos with us!!

You know, sometimes, when we look thru the photos of a wedding from one of our great Little Black Book members, something just jumps off the page. Sometimes it’s the beautiful setting, sometimes it’s the color palette, and pretty much everytime … it’s the emotions that they’ve captured. But the images from this wedding, from Lauren Rutten Photography … in addition to all of the above … exemplify the magnificence of traditional beauty.

First, the subtle but rich bundles of exquisite  flowers amassed in elegant, old-world silver vessels. Followed closely by one single, simple bloom. A ‘catch your breath’ kind of moment …

… bunches of joy … simple love …

Lauren had this to say …

It is one of the great privileges that I am blessed with the opportunity to share very intimate moments of my couples’ lives. I mentioned to Michele that she reminds me of Ali McGraw in Love Story…such down to earth, graceful beauty …

She & Chick are the sort of true New Yorkers who love their city for all the old romance it continues to embody.

from the beautiful bride …

“The setting of our wedding was the Council on Foreign Relations ~ the Harold Pratt House ~ and we were lucky enough to have access to all of the wonderful rooms of this classic Park Avenue limestone mansion. The mansion represents old New York at its best, lots of mahogany, marble and understated elegance. I wanted guests at our wedding to feel as though they were guests at a very fancy dinner party, right out of an Edith Wharton novel. We loved being able to celebrate different portions of the evening in different rooms, ceremony in the drawing room, cocktails in the library, dinner in the ballroom, dancing in the study, dessert in the living room, etc. While our wedding was a very formal black-tie event, it was very intimate and cozy, with candles and fireplaces everywhere. There were tons of flowers, ranunculas, peonies, hydrangeas, roses, tulips, etc, no two arrangements were alike, and the goal of this late fall wedding was to incorporate as many rich jewel tones as possible. The food was delicious and included many local and seasonal ingredients. This evening surpassed all of our dreams and I really owe it all to my mom, who worked tirelessly to make everything absolutely perfect. And it was!

{from eddye … hooray for Michele’s mom!}

more from Lauren …

What resonates most with me as a photographer are the rituals of a ceremony, a couples’ body language, and how people find comfort within a space. Seeing Chick tear up at the first sight of Michele brought me to tears…and then again, under the Chuppah, the way in which Michele gently embraced Chick’s face just as they are about to kiss…this gesture I had seen before when we spent some time shooting their engagement photos. It tells me they are so at ease and gentle with each other. My preference in shooting is always to be in the midst of the goings ons…no long lens and off to the side for me. I want to feel immersed in the space & the emotion of what is happening. Often I find myself in very tight little spots in order to capture a truly unique perspective of what’s going on. I pride myself on being like a very stealth cat and not disturbing the setting…scooting in and out for just enough time to catch a few frames.

What else I remember of the day?  How beautifully illuminated the rooms felt…the Chuppah appeared as though it was bathed in a lovely white glow…and the dinner in the ballroom had a sparkle of rich color everywhere.

from Lauren’s blog …

As I’ve look through the photographs during my editing process, what strikes me most are the joyful expressions on Michele and Chick’s faces. I could tell you all about how elegant everything was, how much fun everyone was having, how delicious the food was, but mostly I want to tell you about the smiles I saw radiating from this couple…

Presenting … Michele and Chick …

What a totally awesome couple!

And for a change, we’re going to give you each and every wedding vendor that we know of!

Catering: Abigail Kirsch Events; Event Designer: Frank Alexander, NYC (Flowers, Chuppah & Candles); Music: Hank Lane Productions; Lighting: GG Productions; Gown: Monique Lhuillier; Shoes: Rene Caovilla; Hair: Mahogany at Bergdorf Goodman; Makeup: Mercedes at Bergdorf Goodman; Gown Assistant/Dresser: Anna Tenorio from Kleinfeld ( she was truly wonderful!); Groom Tuxedo: Ermengildo Zegna custom made at Bergdorf Goodman; Stationery: Vera Wang; Cake- Carl Dean Heddon (designed it to look similar to Michele’s gown).

Thank you SO much Lauren & Michele and Chick for sharing all of these fantastic images from your phenomenal wedding day!!

We are SO happy to be featuring Erik Ekroth’s beautiful images from David & Rochelle’s winter wedding today … this very special day!

We are in LOVE with SMP’s new site design and are so eager to bring you lots and lots and lots {!} of new galleries of stunning weddings from the best of the best … Style Me Pretty’s fabulous Little Black Book Vendors!!!

I’m also really intrigued by Rochelle and David’s wedding venue! It’s amazing … like being encased in a fairytale come true.

So I had to do a little digging … Here’s what I read, “The Angel Orensanz Center itself is a neo-gothic building which was designed as a synagogue in 1849 by Berlin architect Alexander Seltzer. He drew inspiration for his design from the cathedral of Cologne and the German romantic movement of Heinrich Heine and Beethoven. This structure witnessed the birth of the Jewish reform movement in America, but after the decay of the Yiddish Lower East Side – after World War II – dozens of synagogues and other significant structures disappeared. Angel Orensanz bought this venerable structure in 1986, first for his own studio, and then to make it again a beacon of education and culture in the city of New York. The Foundation produces every year several cultural events such the Heinrich Heine Festival, the West Belfast-New York City Festival, Berlin Transfer (a symposium of philosophers and scientists with the Senate of Berlin), the Installation Art Award and publishes Artscape, a quarterly of the arts.”

David & Rochelle certainly found a stunning site for their wedding and celebration!

Catering by Simply Divine … Superb Event Coordination by In Any Event ~ Eyal Tessler and Leslie Price. The wonderful floral decor was byMichael Thomas Platos. And as we’ve been telling you … one of our newest Little Black Book Photographers, Erik Ekroth is responsible for the fun and festive fotos documenting a truly glorious celebration of love, life and family!

Erik’s blog is filled with so many gorgeous weddings! And just in case you missed it on our earlier post, he has a couple of NY bridal fashion runway shoots on his blog too … from April {Oscar, Christos, Ramona, etc.} and from last October {Vera!}.

Thanks SO much, Erik for joining us in our illustrious Little Black Book and for sharing Rochelle and David’s wedding with us!

Congratulations Rochelle & David from all of us at Style Me Pretty!!!!

Michelle and David were married on a very chilly December day at the magnificent Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York.

Erik Ekroth captured these beautiful images from this so-so-so perfect winter wedding!

The cold was no match for this couple …

… or their beautiful family …

More of Rochelle & David’s wedding in a bit …

We have a positively stunning wedding sent to us by one of our newest Little Black Book photographers, Erik Ekroth, that we’ll be featuring on Monday morning. The venue, Rochelle’s Vera-gown, the chuppah … nothing short of magnificent! A quick peek …

Until then … here’s a link to a NY runway shoot that Erik shot in April {click} and another Vera Wang runway show that he shot back in the fall {click}! Enjoy!

Thank you so very much to Brian Marcus of Fred Marcus Photography for sending us today’s featured wedding. Your photographs have inspired us to no end! And of course, to Erik and Melissa for sharing their absolutely gorgeous celebration with us!

We’ve featured two totally different weddings today…the first a crisp, sophisticated beachside affair with AMAZING flowers by Karen Tran. And this one, shot by Brian Marcus…a romantic, rustic/chic style with a sense of warmth and intimacy that I love.

Two completely unique styles, two completely different weddings and yet they both evoke the same sense of romance and unabashed beauty. It just goes to show that if you let your own personality shine through, your day will be perfect…filled with a sense of style and grace that suit you and your love to a T.

We had a few really great touches that made our wedding so special for us…we gifted the women pashminas (the rolled up fabric in basket) just in case they got chilly. We had guests take B&W photos of themselves with a vintage photo booth. Because of Erik’s music connections, our band went out of their way to do special songs just for us…like David Bowie – Modern Love.

More on the way!

For those of you that don’t know about Fred Marcus Photography, it’s one of those studios where the focus is always on the couple, always on the emotion. Capturing the simple but innate beauty of the day.The perfect details and the absolute joy behind each image. And when I saw this wedding that they recently photographed, I think that I fell in love all over again.

All photographs by Brian Marcus

From the absolutely gorgeous (and by gorgeous I mean that I am a little jealous of her) bride…

We held the ceremony right in the middle of the vineyard which was such a breathtaking moment….right in the middle of the grapes! In the hours before the wedding, it poured and poured and poured, then right as I walked down the aisle the sun came out!  Such a magical moment.

My gown was by Monique Lhuillier and had a beautiful ombre (gradation effect)…  went from ivory to latte.  An absolutely gorgeous dress. Erik wore a tux by John Varvatos, a tie by Ralph Lauren and a Vest by Duncan Quinn (who also made his cufflinks). Classic elegance.

I loved this wedding the minute I laid eyes on it. Shot by the amazingly talented team at Fred Marcus Photography, the style is all about rustic, warm elegance. With some chic thrown in for good measure.

This couple is one of those really creative, fun couples that you just know threw a pretty great wedding. Erik is a partner at Hank Lane Music (who of course did the music for the event) and Melissa works in product development for Victoria’s Secret.  The wedding was held at the Wolffer Vineyard in New York.

So much more to come!

We are featuring the loveliest NYC real wedding today, where purple hues are threaded through every element. And in such a way that seems completely natural, unbelievably chic and forever timeless. Loving every bit of it.

A bit more from the lovely bride…I felt really lucky that I had such amazing wonderful vendors to work with that made my day very special and run seamlessly. Our photographer, Shawn Connell for Christian Oth, our amazing cake designer, April Reed, our florist, Kampo Floral Design and our perfect favors by Meli & Angi Cookies.

Ahhh…simply beautiful. Thank you so very much to Jina and Andy for sharing their GORGEOUS day wit us. Congratulations on creating a day that was romantic, personal and all about the pretty!

Okay, on to the absolutely gorgeous wedding that the color palette from today’s earlier post inspired. When I saw this wedding, I nearly fell out of my chair. It’s rare to see a single color be featured in such a way that every detail comes alive. Where every little touch seems to have been born straight off the desk of a style editor.

Jina and Andy were married in June with their reception on the Tribecca Rooftop in NYC. Here are a few details from the GORGEOUS bride…

I’m an art director/designer that loves orchids, anything purple, and polka dots so I incorporated that into our wedding theme. My husband, a born & bred New Yorker really wanted to get married in New York City, so we really felt that the loftspace of Tribeca Rooftop and the stunning views were perfect for us.  Our wedding was very simply modern with personalized details.

all of the stunning photographs are by Shawn Connell for Christian Oth Studio

More from Jina…I  wore a very subtle swiss dot wedding dress (to fit into the theme) and the groomsmen wore black ties with little white dots. I designed everything from the invites to the coasters!  I also designed personalized pins for all the guests with their place cards so they could wear them (if they chose to) and fit right into our theme. Our wedding was very simply modern with personalized details.

We know that everyone is looking for something new … something just a tad bit different from the norm. Right?

We LOVE it when we can show you something that … we’d be willing to bet …. no one else has done! Do we have your attention yet?

Sharrone Calafiore is a film-maker with pizzaz! Lots of edgy ideas and tons of fresh films in her collection. Today’s “Save The Date“ is just one of her brilliant ideas.

from Sharrone …

Sivanne came in from NC solo for a three day fitting at Kleinfeld. I thought what a perfect opportunity to create a unique Save The Date! Rather than the usual … bride and groom walking in the park blah blah blah … I thought … It’s all about the bride and her dress!

Couldn’t agree more. Without further ado, a new take on a Sivanne & Omer’s Save The Date from Fiore Films …

The photographs (above) were taken by the incredible Spencer Lum, principal photographer for 5 West Studios, who just happens to be working on “Labors of Love,” a photography book about the preparation and planning behind the American wedding. Can’t wait to see the finished product!

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Unfortunately, but for totally obvious reasons, we can’t show you Sivanne’s final choice. (But believe us when we tell you it’s “the one”!)

~ ~ ~

Fiore Films has very unique and out-of-the box ideas for those of you who are ready to take the plunge and do something different!

You can see some recent examples in their THEATRE of wedding shoots as well as their edgier, a little more Hmmmmmm passionate work. Seriously, take a look!

Thanks Sharrone! You know this means we get first dibs on the wedding, right!?

Karen Wise is a frequent contributor to Style Me Pretty. Something about her pure approach to each wedding, as if she is photographing each wedding with a completely clean slate, just speaks to us. Plus, she always scores the prettiest weddings, so we can’t help but love her!!

And thank you so much to Carmelita and Dan for sharing their day with us. Carmelita was sweet enough to share all of her wonderful details and it’s clear that so much love went into building this gorgeous day. Here are a few last minute thoughts from the lovely bride…

We ended the evening by hailing a New York City taxi to take us to our hotel.  We did not realize until we saw the photos that the advertisement on the roof of the cab read “The Love Guru.”

If you are just now joining us, we are featuring the absolutely fabulous wedding of Carmelita and Dan…which took place in New York City at Studio 540. Karen Wise shot the affair and did a beautiful job telling the story of the day.

From Carmelita…

Baked created a combination of a mini-cake for the cake cutting and cupcakes for our guests.  We chose Baked because they promised that the cake would be baked the morning of the wedding.  The result was adorable and so delicious.  No leftovers!

Our wedding favors were sweetriot cacao nibs.  We were happy to patronize a mission-based, fair trade company.  And we loved the potent chocolate.  Also we glued personalized labels on to water bottles that read “hydrate!  we love you.”

I love the white palette of this wedding. The pops of bright pink are stunning against the simple, clean background. They bring warmth without taking away from the contemporary raw style of the building.

And as the party began, the glow and intimacy added even more style to the gorgeous affair….

I told you that Karen Wise was genius. Wait until you see the rest!

The bridal party from today’s affair is nothing but elegant. Perfect for the stark white backdrop of Studio 450 and for the simple, modern (but incredibly lush) wedding style…

From Carmelita…The dress code was “fabulous.”  For the wedding party, the best man wore a black suit and each of the bridesmaids (and groomswoman) picked out her own black dress.

all photographs by the ridiculously talented Karen Wise

Love, love, love. More to come in a bit!

A bit more eye candy from today’s ceremony, shot by the unbelievably talented Karen Wise…and while you’re devouring these, can we all just take a moment to pay our respects to the GORGEOUS flowers that the girls are carrying!

The florist, Michael Davis of Elan Flowers, created lush, low centerpieces of orchids, callas, peonies, and spray roses.  For the bouquets, the girls held solid, rich pink callas. Stunning.

When I first saw this wedding, it was the ceremony that honestly took my breath away. Something about the simplicity of the style, the perfect silhouette of the bride’s gown, the joy that is radiating from everyone. It’s just pure beauty.

From Carmelita…

It was important to us to represent our cultures (Jewish and Filipino/Irish) in a non-denominational ceremony.  Daniel’s father created our chuppah from green bamboo and my mother sewed the fabric for the canopy.  We also incorporated the Filipino veil ceremony.  (The Irish side was most clearly represented by the variety of whiskey offered at the reception.)

Karen Wise is the genius behind the photographs and she has so much more in store for you guys today. Back in a bit!