There is something about an intimate, DIY affair in an urban setting that makes me positively giddy! Throw in gorgeous wildflowers, a simple but chic design captured by Jason Walz Photography and I will forever be a fan. This clever bride and groom show what can be done with some wonderful friends and family and a little bit of creativity. Keeping their wedding small also means they get to enjoy a remarkable trip later on that will bring them closer to loved ones around the world. Click here to see it all!
Click here for the FULL wedding!
From the groom… More than a color or style or theme, we really wanted our guests to experience a feeling of inclusion, togetherness and celebration. We wanted everyone to know that they are important to us, and so we did our best to make all our guests feel welcome and a part of things. We love to entertain, so we thought it would be perfect if we could have everyone feel as though they were at an extra-large dinner party, thrown by us. To achieve this, we used our own recipes (including the cake!), incorporated our favorite libations, recruited our friends and family for help and generally made or sourced whatever we could ourselves. This kept the whole effect very “close to home,” as nearly every detail of the wedding is directly from us or our friends and family.
But our wedding also has another interesting twist. When we first were engaged, we started looking at the traditional NYC venues like the Boathouse. Nothing seemed to sit quite right, and most were much more expensive than we had bargained for. We were relaying these travails to our friend Mike Karg, who gave us a BRILLIANT idea: Throw out the big white wedding – have a small party here with family, then take the rest of our budget, visit our friends around the world, and celebrate with each of them! He said, “For the price of a wedding, where you only see each guest for five minutes, you can visit your friends and take them out to a full dinner.” We still wanted to get everyone we love in one room (there is NOTHING that can replace that feeling!), but after having talked to Karg, we decided to really scale back our expenditures by producing the wedding (almost entirely) ourselves. What we ended up with was a wedding that was more personal and intimate than we had even hoped for, at almost 1/4 the cost of what we were expecting from the traditional venues. We had a budget of $20k for the whole thing, but we went over by $1800, so our total was $21,800.
We see the big trip (probably 4-6 months) as an extension of the wedding (rather than a honeymoon), where we get to see our loved ones and continue celebrating with them. To get our guests involved in helping us plan our trip, we set up a guest book/travel log area at the wedding where they can let us know where to visit them (anywhere from the family home, a study-abroad city, a planned vacation that we crash or an exotic locale). We have some amazing places to visit! So overall, we really tried to make the wedding feel welcoming, inclusive and intimate – I think we achieved it!
Wedding Photography: Jason Walz Photography / Wedding Location: Parlay Studios in Jersey City, New Jersey / Wedding Decor: The Bride, Groom + Mitchell Turnbough / Bouquets + Flower Arrangements: Christopher Knight + The Bride / Wedding Cake: The Groom + Christopher Knight / Truffles: DIY by the Bride, Groom + The Groom’s Mother / Catering: Simon Solis-Cohen of the Culinary Institute of America, the Bride + Groom / Printed Materials: Designed by Carlos Aponte + Printed by the Groom / Band: Manouche Bag / DJ: DJ Kevlove / Serving Dishes: Fishs Eddy / Table Cloth Fabric: Gift Fabric / Beer: River Horse / Wine Bottles: HomeBrewIt.com / Huppah: DIY by the Bride / Ketubah: Stephanie Caplan / Bride’s Dress: Renella De Fina / Bride’s Shoes: Brian Atwood / Maid of Honor’s Dress: The Bride + Maid of Honor / Groom’s Suit: Sam Leung of Classic Tailors (212-327-2789) / Rings: Custom Made by Groom, A Silversmith + Jeweler