True love isn’t just for couples, it’s for wedding bloggers too. Because when I laid eyes on this beautiful Brooklyn wedding from Clean Plate Pictures, I was 100% mesmerized and there was no turning back. The way this adorable missus and her hip-as-can-be mister look at each other is positively heart melting. And the pics of him serenading his beautiful bride. Sigh. Then there’s that bouquet!?!? Beyond chic. Art actually. With planning by Shannon McCormick at Naturally Delicious, this New York soirée seriously knows how to bring out the swoon in SMP. You can check out all the rest right here in the gallery. After all, I’m sure I’m not the only one who fell hard for this music-infused lovefest.
From Clean Plate Pictures… Music is one of the most important parts of a wedding and the music at Eli and Kathryn’s wedding at The Green Building was a-mazing! Soul singer Roscoe Robinson sang during the ceremony and later a New Orleans-style brass band surprised all the guests by marching in and leading them in some crazy dancing. Eli (better know as Eli Paperboy Reed) is a singer himself and has a great voice, which we know because he serenaded his lovely new wife. The decorations and details were gorgeous and the couple were as sweet as they were stylish. It was a beautiful night.
From the Bride… Eli and I grew up in the same town in Massachusetts but didn’t meet until the last day of high school. Eli was sitting outside at a party and I walked up, sat down and introduced myself. It was really out of character for me to do something like that, but I don’t think anyone was more surprised than Eli! The two of us became close that summer, and kept in touch afterwards, but didn’t start dating for five more years. I moved to Brooklyn the following fall to study fashion design and Eli moved to Mississippi to pursue music. We reconnected at my 23rd birthday party in New York. He was living in Boston at the time but after about a year of dating and spending many hours traveling between Boston and New York we moved into our first place together in Brooklyn.
In August of 2011, Eli had just gotten home from a long European tour. We spent an afternoon walking around Brooklyn, visiting our favorite vintage shops. After we got home I wanted to take a nap, but he kept insisting we go and have a glass of wine in the park. He dragged me out and before we could even spread our blanket on the grass he blurted out The Question. I think the ring was burning a hole in his pocket! It was a total surprise but also a totally perfect moment.
We loved that the Green Building was a blank slate, and we could do whatever we wanted. It’s been so many things to so many different couples. Eli is a singer and I am a display coordinator so the ability to put our own personal touch on things was important from the start. I had planned on having a very DIY wedding but just as planning started, I went from freelance work to a demanding full-time position. I am so thankful to our friend and stylist Michelle Ferrara, our coordinator Shannon McCormick at Naturally Delicious and Eli for making everything turn out perfectly.
Before the wedding, Michelle and I went to the flower district in midtown Manhattan and walked through the lovely aisles in search of inspiration. We talked about what I was drawn to, as well as what I wanted to avoid. When it came to my bouquet I told Michelle that I trusted her, and wanted her to express herself. She asked me one question: “How crazy is too crazy?” I said “It can’t be too crazy”. On the day of the wedding she did not disappoint, creating a combination of dramatic shapes and unique elements that made me feel like I was carrying a piece of art down the aisle.
Eli and I collected vintage postcards from the early 1900’s showing Brooklyn landmarks for our save the dates. I typed each message out individually on an antique typewriter that was a gift from Eli’s parents. With bleach and a q-tip I was able to “erase” the old messages so the cards looked like new. I really didn’t plan on having wedding colors in the traditional sense. The raw space of The Green Building with its brass chandeliers and brick walls really spoke for itself. Tea lights along the walls and down the tables created a romantic glow. The rest of the décor was composed of soft whites with touches of peach and apricot along with metallic and natural elements to create contrast. We wanted to create a feeling of “discovery”; Everywhere our friends and family looked they found unexpected details. More than once we heard that the atmosphere was “dreamlike”. Eli sums up the broad theme of our wedding as “travel and home.” Travel, in that we’ve been fortunate enough to travel all over the world together so we incorporated some of our favorite things from places that we’ve been and used vintage suitcases, maps and globes as props around the venue. Home, in that Brooklyn is our first home together so we had the wedding at a very Brooklyn venue, served local whiskey and beer and took our photos on the beautiful Gowanus canal.
We wanted the ceremony to be very personal and unique, but also carry the weight of tradition. We incorporated symbolic elements from Eli’s Jewish heritage such as standing under a Chuppah and the celebratory breaking of the glass. A few weeks before the wedding, my mother gave me a handkerchief embroidered by my great-grandmother that she had saved for the occasion. I pinned it to the inside of my dress just before I walked down the aisle. The oldest guest at the reception was a cake topper that has been at every wedding in Eli’s family since 1885. We were so nervous about his aunt bringing it from Chicago because it’s made entirely of spun sugar! In addition to a regular guest book, we fixed up an old reel-to-reel tape deck and used it as an “audio guestbook” for guests to record messages on. We listened to the tape as soon as we get home from our honeymoon and got to relive the night.
The biggest surprise of the night was the band’s entrance. At just the right moment, The Green Building’s bay door opened and the brass band “second lined” in, with the sound of trombones, trumpets, tubas and drums filling the room. Nobody had any clue what was coming and immediately the whole room was on their feet. Later Eli surprised me by singing the song “Something You Got” to me with the band. He held my hand while he serenaded me and I blushed the entire time.
Photography: Clean Plate Pictures / Venue: The Green Building / Event Planning + Catering: Shannon McCormick at Naturally Delicious / Event + Floral Design: Michelle Ferrara / Invitations: Michelle Ferrara / Cocktail Music: Select Blendz Doo Wop / Reception Music: High and Mighty Brass Band / Dress: Ellis Bridals via Sposabella Bridal / Tuxedo: Michael Andrews Bespoke / Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade / Groom’s Shoes: Barney’s / Hair: Damian Monzillo of Scissor and Comb / Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Sung / Rings: Erie Basin