If we were giving out awards for the most adorable duo of all time, these two sweethearts would most definitely be in the running. Their First Look alone is enough to cause some serious heart palpitations… and the fact that the beautiful bride just so happens to be the ever-so-talented Laura from Laura Remmert Events (see here and here)? Well, that’s just the icing on an already FABULOUS cake. Add in bundles of vibrant colored blooms from Fleurtacious Designs and an entire gallery of gorgeous images by Joe Elario Photography and we’re calling this THE perfect Friday morning. See it all right here.
From Laura of Laura Remmert Events (The Bride)… As a wedding planner and wedding designer, I’ve been thinking about what I would do for my wedding for many years! Of course, throughout the years, I have changed my mind many many times in regards to the color scheme, time of year, type of location, etc. With a January engagement, I decided to go with a slightly longer engagement and wait for a spring wedding the following year (so that peonies would be in season!). We had decided to host the wedding in Upstate New York, Saratoga Springs to be specific, near my hometown (Joe and I have been living in New York City for many years at this point).
After years of working for a wedding venue with dark wood walls, high ceilings and a very “Old New York” look, I always thought I would want a clean, open, modern space, but I quickly changed my mind when viewing venues. I had worked on weddings at the Canfield Casino before moving to New York, but I never really pictured it for my own wedding until I walked into it as a potential bride. The design scheme didn’t all come to me at once, but at midnight after viewing the venue, everything clicked! Joe and I are not super formal; we wanted something fun, modern and whimsical, yet classic and beautiful at the same time. I had already set my mind to using gray as my base neutral color and knew that I wanted my bridesmaids to be in short, dark grey dresses. I have always loved using bright and/or deep colors for weddings. With a spring wedding date, I decided to go with bright, fun, saturated color! It was the perfect season for this color scheme with the abundance of pink and coral peonies available locally as well as lilac, tulips, roses and we managed to bring in a few ranunculus towards the end of their season. I wanted to keep the bright colors a little bit of a surprise, obviously not a total surprise due to the beautiful bouquets my bridesmaids carried at the ceremony, so I kept the cocktail reception more bridal using white, ivory and blush tones, including one of my favorite flowers, the Juliet garden rose. The result was absolutely stunning and totally unexpected when the guests walked into the room! The bright colors made the formal space feel a little more whimsical and modern, and the grey rattan linens gave the tables a more casual feel.
We had absolutely perfect weather that weekend. After ten years of planning other people’s weddings, I know that you can’t expect perfect weather and that it’s better to plan for the worst and hope for the best, but we certainly lucked out with the best weather I could possibly ask for! We had an amazing wedding weekend with friends and family coming into town a couple of days before the wedding and really taking advantage of all that Saratoga Springs has to offer. It was so nice to have everyone in one place celebrating with us for the entire weekend. We could not have asked for anything more!
Wedding Photography: JP + Joe of Joe Elario Photography / Ceremony: St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa, New York / Reception: The Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs, New York / Event Design: Kris Ann Elario of Fleurtacious Designs + Laura Remmert Events / Event Planning: Laura Remmert Events + Katie O’ Weddings & Events / Floral Design: Kris Ann Elario of Fleurtacious Designs / Catering: Brian Palazzolo of Classe Catering / Wedding Invitations: William Arthur / Entertainment: Naked Soul via Perrone Bros. Entertainment / Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet via Priscilla of Boston (Now Closed) / Shoes: Jimmy Choo + Badgley Mischka / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J.Crew