This bride lives and breathes Manhattan every day, so for her most special day, she wanted something a little more organic. Something fresh and alive. She got just that. With a floral design that almost lives and a venue so perfectly natural, the day was absolutely gorgeous, especially when offset by the almost architectural Peter Langner gown. Captured by Erik Ekroth, it’s a wedding that fills a gallery in the best way possible. Click here to see it!
From the gorgeous bride … Taka proposed on our third “First Date Anniversary” at our home. He gave me a placement ring on the day of proposal and the real gift was for me to design (I have BFA in Oil painting) my engagement ring with the jewelry artist from scratch! It was fun looking for the right stone and sketching the designs. Truly a one and only design.
Because I work and live in Manhattan, I wanted to be out of the city and breathe. Lyndhurst had everything that Manhattan couldn’t offer. Serenity, smell and feel of nature. The venue was a blank green canvas that stimulated my inspiration.
Early on in the planning, I got lost in the information and lost sight. So I had to find my vision by creating a collage of magazine cutouts. It resulted in a beautiful collage of different yet similarly themed objects and colors. I used that collage when I communicated with the vendors because often times, it’s hard to convey exactly what you are looking for through words. It really helped to convey what vision I had.
Since Taka and I are both from Japan, we wanted to incorporate Japanese touches to the wedding. We invited the Japanese drum group for opening stunt and later, we did the traditional ‘kagami-biraki’ ritual which is to crack open the lid of the wooden sake barrel (wishing prosperity). We gave our guests the custom made wooden cup as their take home favor. Guests loved the entertainment and the ritual!
I was tired of seeing flower arrangement styles that were unnatural and abusive to flowers. Then, I came across my flower artist, Ariel Dearie’s, flower design which was so airy and “alive” in all arrangements. The style that worked with the innate beauty of the flowers. I loved it, and it was elegant.
I then looked for the cake that will have the same natural feel and settled with Ron Ben-Israel after seeing tons of his creations that were just speechless and moreover, elegant. Ron created intricate sugar flowers for the cake that matched Ariel’s selection of flowers and shades of flowers used at our wedding to give entire reception the consistent theme. The cake was gorgeous.
When it came to the dessert choice, Taka and I are opposite. While I enjoy cheese or anything savory, he loves anything sweet and sugary. So, reflecting our personality, we set up farm tables for both sweets and savory items. We gathered our favorite sweets from all over NYC. We also created a lounge area next to the farm tables so that the guests could mingle with guests from different tables and enjoy the sweets and cheeses.
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Photography: Erik Ekroth | Flowers: Ariel Dearie | Catering: Le Moulin | Band: 747 Orchestra | Event Design + Planning: bride | Day of Coordinator: NY Engagements Inc. | Venue: Lyndhurst | Invitations: Elum Designs | Cake: Ron Ben-Israel | Sake: Hakutsuru Sake | Dress Designer: Peter Langner, Mark Ingram Atlier | Shoes: BCBG | Makeup & hair: Atsuko.Shimizu from Dlala Salon | Bridesmaid Dress: Vera Wang White | Men’s Fashion: John Varvatos | Men’s ties: Brioni | Officiant: Rev. Ron Sheppard | Sweets & Cheeses: Levain Bakery, Bluebird Coffee Shop, Momofuku Milk Bar, La Maison du Macaron, Dessert Club by ChikaLicious, Murray’s Cheese