This wedding was a beast to put together. Not for lack of detail or sentiment. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I found myself struggling between showcasing the many beautiful elements woven into the day or scrapping it all and going with the take-your-breath-away moments that Elisabeth Millay captured. So I settled for a bit of both. Wild, gorgeous florals by Saipua next to the butterfly-in-your-stomach seconds before the Bride walked down the aisle; vintage key escort cards and a million other thoughtful details crafted by the Bride and executed by Green Apple Weddings intermingling with that crazy good first kiss. It’s love like this that makes me fall head over heels for my job time and again. A palpable kind of love that shines through in each and every image in the gallery and right on through to the sweet film by Tree of Life Films.
From the Bride… Adam and I are by so much love and so many mutual friends, and over the course of a slow courtship, a friendship was built on solid foundation. We are so grateful to the people along our journey that served as examples of love, support, patience and open-mindedness, and we hoped the thought put into our wedding could be a gift back to them and a show of gratitude for all we have been given. The Metropolitan Building was the first venue we saw, and we knew instantly it was perfect. As a designer and art director, the regal, yet undone setting inspired me, and I knew there would be opportunity to create many beautiful projects to suit the space and surround our guests with details that reflect us.
A part of the wedding experience that I had not realized would be such a gift were the relationships we made with such a talented and professional vendor team. We quickly booked DJ Gaza who was reviewed extensively and who delivered exactly what we asked for: to have all ages on the floor, all night. Adam and I both liked the dreamy, soft, documentary style of Elisabeth Millay’s photography and were so comfortable with her presence and with her work. We had spent a lot of time in Long Island City, which is why we were happy to have been led to this perfect venue right in the neighborhood and we had also enjoyed a few intimate lunches at Sage General Store and were so happy to hear they catered weddings. Leslie at Sage was wonderful to work with and very flexible with our budget and our ideas. And their food was absolutely delicious!
Although we love being outside and near water, we decided to have our ceremony at the venue to make it easier for our guests. Plus, we loved the Metropolitan Building so much we wanted to extend the time we would be there! Our florist Saipua sourced gorgeous gold chenille curtains with a bit of tooth to them for our backdrop, which were flanked by two rustic wood pillars that held loose arrangements of flowering spirea. Adam and I were so grateful to have made Jeddah Vailakis our interfaith minister. There was an overabundance of joyful tears shed by us and by our friends and family and the love in the room could not be measured. The tables were dressed in pale gray linens with an assortment of mercury glass vases of varying sizes, tapers and votive candle holders. Our florist, Saipua, used lush blooms in pale pink, coral, aubergine, cream, and dusty greens for the arrangements that were placed in silver, footed bowls. The table numbers were hand-drawn by Antiquaria and placed in pressed paper frames I had purchased from BHLDN. I designed the menus and printed them on silver, foil-stamped card stock and hand set small pearls to separate menu items. These were tucked into hemstitched napkins.
The day was beyond what we had hoped for and our guests are still talking about the wedding to this day saying it was the best they had been to from food, music, ceremony, to all of the loving details. We are so grateful to our incredibly talented vendor team and for all of the love our friends and family surrounded us with that day. We could not be happier.
Wedding Photography: Elisabeth Millay Photography / Assistant Photographer: Kelly Kollar / Wedding Venue: The Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, New York / Wedding Planning: Kate O’Donnell Diaz of Green Apple Weddings / Floral Design: Saipua / Officiant: Jeddah Vailakis / Wedding Cinematography: Tree of Life Films / Catering: Bartleby & Sage (Formerly Sage Events) / Wedding Cake: Collette Foley / Cannoli: Caputo’s Pastry Shoppe / Wedding Stationery + Guest Book: Nicole Caputo (The Bride) / Album: Velvet Raptor / Calligraphy: Antiquaria / Music: DJ Gaza of 74 Events / Thumbprint Tree: Bleu de Toi / Wedding Dress: Le Spose di Gio / Bride’s Cathedral Veil: Peter Langner / Bride’s Birdcage Veil: Tia Mazza / Hair + Makeup: Tiffany Bednash