Real Brooklyn wedding: Michelle + Jonathan
To us, our wedding was like a fun day with a bunch family and good friends. The only difference was that we got to dress up! We did most of the planning ourselves and had the help of family and friends. We chose the green building because it was in such a beautiful open space and we loved the fact that it was right in the neighborhood we lived.
We were on a bit of a budget so we put together most of the decor ourselves even though the green building is pretty enough by itself. The top three priorities for our wedding were photography, music, and food. We are so blessed to have found LES LOUPS because they are rock star team of photographer and DJ. We were overjoyed at how beautifully she captured the day. Kenan did an awesome job spinning the songs we love as well as pleasing the crowd. We couldn’t have picked a better DJ. Jonathan and I has so much fun dancing we probably forgot we were at our own wedding! The best part was having a photo booth set up because that’s where we got to see the guests have fun.We are so happy with how our wedding turned out especially because we actually got to enjoy it. The best part was when my husband surprised me with a song while playing the ukele. His friend harmonized with him and it was so sweet I was speechless. The guests loved it!My advice for couples on their wedding day is to try to relax, eat, and really spend time hanging out with all our family and friends. Oh yes , and sparklers add a really nice touch for pictures.
[images from Les Loups]
Real Brooklyn wedding: Sarah + Sam
If you haven’t been to BLDG 92 in the Brooklyn Navy Yards yet, you should definitely look it up as a potential wedding venue, because its pretty damn awesome (as these photos can attest). Its got the rustic, its got the modern, and this couple really worked both in perfectly.
VENDORS
[images from Isabelle Selby]
Isabelle Selby is a sponsor of Brooklyn Bride
Real wedding: Meghan + Paul
From the bride:
Paul and I met at a show where the band he was tour managing, and the band I was working with, were playing together. The meeting was brief but he struck me as warm and kind, making sure that our friends were taken care of with goodies from backstage while still running around looking after his band. Our second, proper meeting was after an Arcade Fire show that I went to with my friends, one of whom proposed meeting up with their friend Paul at a bar afterwards as he had a bit of a layover in town while on tour. This series of events kicked off our whole wonderful, exciting journey together, and three and a half years later, we were planning a wedding! Our ceremony was held at the beautiful Church of the Transfiguration, an amazing, historic church in Manhattan. We had a dinner primarily for the families and out-of-towners at Dos Caminos. We had a large number of family and friends flying in from far-away lands, especially with Paul’s immediate family all living in Ireland; what better way is there to thank the Irish than with Mexican food? It’s safe to say that we turned a great deal of people on to guacamole that night! After dinner, we packed friends and (adventurous) family into Bowery Electric for the cake cutting and some live music and dancing. We were so excited to have Charm City Cakes (of Ace of Cakes fame) create our most delicious dream wedding cake, complete with mini piñata cake topper. My 10 year old self would have been super stoked to know that I had a smores-flavored cake at my wedding. Mariachi El Bronx played an awesome set while the movie “Purple Rain” was projected on the wall next to them, and then Gogol Bordello jumped on stage to play a couple songs (one of which being a cover from one of Paul’s favorite bands, Clutch, who were also in attendance – Paul turned into a teenage fan-boy when the singer jumped onstage to finish the song with them). The wedding was what I always wanted it to be. Us.
Makeup & Hair Stylist: Jackie Schneider Beauty
Floral Designer: Floresta
Reception Venue: The Bowery Electric
Dress Store: Lovely Bridal Shop
Cake Designer: Charm City Cakes
[images from Brandon Chesbro]
Real wedding: Summer + Adam
Its hard to not love this wedding, with its ultra bright colors and rainbow bridesmaids…every bit is perfection!
From the bride:
It’s safe to say I am not the kind of girl who has been dreaming about her wedding since she was six. So when we started planning, we didn’t really come into it with a vision, except that we wanted our wedding to be a great party. I wanted it to be bright, beautiful, and full of color, music, love, and joy. And we wanted to get to enjoy our friends and family for longer than just the 8 hours of the wedding. We were so fortunate to come across the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, which made all of that possible, and also just happens to be the coolest hotel on the planet. And every single one of our vendors was unbelievable. “Vendor” doesn’t seem like the right word at all; Wonderful-People-Who-Made-Our-Wedding-Amazing is probably better.
I like to think of myself as non-traditional, but I came to see that the process of planning a wedding shows you which traditions do matter to you, and which don’t. We didn’t do a cake or a bouquet toss, but the ceremony was really important to us. We asked a dear friend to marry us, which was the best idea ever, and the three of us basically wrote the ceremony together, which made it feel completely ours. By far the most important and memorable moment of the wedding was when we read the vows that we had written for each other. In the end I felt like we had taken this ritual and made it a very personal expression of who we are as individuals and as a couple, and it could not have been more perfect.My number one piece of advice is to get a coordinator. We hired Courtney as a month-of coordinator, but she was available to answer our questions via email from the moment we hired her and there is NO question that we could not have done it without her. She was 100% on top of everything, and it just gave me complete peace of mind and let me actually enjoy the day. Although there were definitely moments of stress throughout the planning process, I ended up being completely relaxed once it all began. I really had no idea how incredibly joyful an experience it would be, and having someone there to handle all of the logistics left us free to enjoy the moment. My other advice is not to scrimp on your photographers. As you can see from these pictures, ours were INCREDIBLE, and looking at their pictures is like reliving the whole experience all over again. You honestly can’t put a price on that, so whatever you pay for a great photographer will be a bargain in the long run. And finally (and everyone will tell you this but it’s worth repeating), just enjoy! Focus on what matters, which is the two of you. Stick together, enjoy every second, and it will be perfect in all the ways that matter.
VENDORS
Photographer: Jesse, Whitney, & Jenn from Our Labor of Love
DJ: Smiles Davis via The Flashdance
Planner: Courtney Tibbets, After the Engagement
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs, CA
Florist: Primary Petals
Wedding Cake or Dessert Baker: Desserts by Ace Hotel (King’s Highway
Restaurant)
Caterer: Ace Hotel (King’s Highway Restaurant)
Linens: Provided by the Ace Hotel
Lighting: Classic Party Rentals
Paper Products:
• Invitations & menus: Wedding Paper Divas
• Place cards & table numbers: e.m. papers
• Programs: Wide Eyes Design
Bride’s Gown: Garbo by Elizabeth Fillmore (via Kleinfeld Bridal)
Bride’s Hair Accessories/Veil/Jewelry:
• Hair accessory: LoBoheme
• Earrings: BHLDN
Hair Stylist: Christine Choi
Makeup Artist: Flor Hunt (bridesmaid J)
Bride’s Shoes: Miss Albright (from Anthropologie)
Bridesmaids’ Dresses: ModCloth and BHLDN
Groom’s Attire: Suit: Jones New York; Tie: Nordstrom; Custom cufflinks
(his wedding gift – they were both maps, one of the spot where we met, and
one of the spot where we were getting married): Uncommon Goods
Groomsmen Attire: Suits: their own; Ties: Nordstrom
[images from Our Labor of Love]
Real wedding: Anna + Ben
We started with their engagement photos a few months ago, and now we’re full circle with the wedding!
[images from Two Birds Photography]
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