So many fabulous elements to this wedding, so little time. This Prohibition Era inspired wedding by Patricia Kantzos Photography is bursting at the speakeasy’s seams with fun pieces of the couples personality. They mastered the idea of having a theme wedding without being themey, and the result was a weekend that had style for miles. The entire affair made for a Hudson Valley humdinger of a wedding, and there is even more in the full gallery!
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From the Bride… We had such a blast planning our wedding! We wanted the wedding to be a reflection of who we are and so we did not use a wedding planner. Although we had the expertise of my sister who is an event planner! We LOVED coming up with ways to make our wedding fun and unique but beautiful and elegant at the same time. We loved the fact that we had an entire weekend–starting with rehearsal dinner the night before and ending with breakfast the morning after. We kind of wanted to have a destination wedding, but without being too far from home. This gave our guests the choice to join us for the entire weekend (which most did) or to drive up just for the wedding. It really was the most special day of our lives, and sharing it with our friends and family was the greatest feeling. Moments we will remember forever. And just all the love in the room that entire day was overwhelming.
We chose Garrison, NY because it is 1 hour North of where I grew up, and because it is in the mountains. Jeffrey and I love the mountains and so we felt that it was a good reflection of who we are. We also realized that St. Basils Academy was located in Garrison. This was the academy that my mother lived at for a short time when she was a little girl. My mother had always told me her time at St. Basils was the happiest time of her life as a child, and once we visited we knew it was the place for us.
The Highlands Country Club is magnificent! The grounds were beautiful with the stunning chandelier, fireplaces, floor to ceiling French doors and windows! Plus, we had access to The Tavern restaurant that we turned into the Candy Room. Chef, Eric Gabrynowicz, was incredible! It was picturesque with the mountains and the Hudson River in the background from both St. Basils and The Highlands. We were going for a Prohibition-Era NYC theme. Most of the canisters I purchased for the candy room are vintage- antique straw holders, candy bowls and containers. For the photo area, I used things I already had and were in the family—the vintage suitcases, vintage accessories, mirror, and the vintage frames for the photos that we had displayed.
Along with all of the vintage touches, our Escort Cards were Metro Cards and the table cards were NYC subway maps. Each table was named for a location in NY that has meaning to Jeffrey & I, like Von Bar, where we met, Yankee Stadium, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park and Grand Central (where we had our engagement shoot with our photographer Patricia).
Our Greek Wedding Crowns were made by my aunt using pearls from a necklace that had been my Grandmothers when she was alive. It was really important to me to have crowns that were unique and custom-made.
Having a live Greek band and lots of Greek dancing was really important to us! We wanted to make sure that the guests knew that they could not break the plates – it is a Greek wedding. Hence the “These plates are not for breaking” signs that I had made for each plate.
We really love our wedding photos and cannot thank Patricia enough. Patricia was incredible. She made it easy to work with and everyone fell in love with her!
Wedding Photography: Patricia Kantzos Photography / Wedding Design & Coordination: The Bride / Wedding Ceremony Location: St. Basil Academy / Wedding Reception Location: Highlands Country Club / Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller / Wedding Veil: Custom by Nancy Sinoway Design / Bride’s Shoes: Vintage via Isobel Arnberg / Floral Design: Westchester Floral Decorators / Floral Broach & Pendant: Vintage / Wedding Cake: The Pastry Garden / Cake Topper: Fancy Flours / Groom’s Attire: Jones New York + Eisenberg & Eisenberg + Paul Stuart / Bride’s Ring: Seattle Diamonds + Somos Creations / Bride’s Necklace: Doyle & Doyle / Groom’s Cufflinks: The Missing Link at The Showplace / Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew / Bride’s Garter: Illisa’s Vintage Lingerie at The Showplace / Candy: Economy Candy