Sleepy Hollow Country Club Wedding from Sara Wight Photography

Abby Capalbo
November 15, 2013
Categories: The Blog

Plain and simple, this Sleepy Hollow Country Club wedding from Sara Wight Photography is beyond stunning. It starts with the Brides jaw-droppingly gorgeous Vera Wang gown and then just keeps the gorgeous going until the very end. It’s a soiree that has style for miles (and miles), and it’s surely a day their guests will talk about for years (and years). See why here.

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From Sara Wight…From the moment I met Samantha and Mike, I knew their wedding was going to be spectacular! Not only are they the sweetest couple, but Samantha is very creative and knew exactly what she wanted – a wedding that no one would forget. Perched above the mystical Hudson River sits a remarkable Vanderbilt mansion, now part of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club. I can’t imagine a more magical setting for their swanky affair. You’ll swoon over her stunning Vera Wang dress and amazing Jannie Baltzer headpiece. And those Aperlai shoes! The bridesmaids wore sage Jim Hjelm dressed with custom hairpieces and necklaces.

The ceremony took place outside on the lawn overlooking the Hudson River. The bride and groom stood under a gorgeous rustic canopy created by In Full Bloom Floral Studio with a harpist providing the elegant music.

Not a detail throughout the day was left unnoticed, from custom cocktail straws with cutesy message banners, to programs with the message “All you need is love” printed on the base, to handmade limoncello favors made by the bride herself provided to the guests . Avid wine enthusiasts, wine bottles spelling L-O-V-E and others utilizing photos from their engagement shoot decorated the lobby table. Corks served as holders for the escort cards. Game baskets filled with toys were provided to all of the children in attendance.

Around Town Entertainment kept the crowd dancing in to the wee hours, while late night snacks such as popcorn, cotton candy and pretzels were served to the guests.

From the bride… Michael and I wanted to create a unique, romantically sweet celebration for our wedding, with a touch of vintage elegance. We pulled inspiration from our Italian honeymoon and tried to include personal touches of our love of travel. It was important that we added a sense of our own personalities into the details, to help create uniqueness to our special day. When we were searching for venues we knew we wanted a vintage mansion setting, which would allow us to carry out our vision. Sleepy Hollow Country Club was an absolute dream location, and once we found the old Vanderbilt mansion, everything just seemed to fall into place. Our color palate was inspired by a farmer’s market wooden crate filled with ripe peaches. The soft peaches, greens, and pinks encapsulated the overall feel we wanted for our late June wedding. As a bride I knew exactly what feeling I wanted to capture, and I can truly say that everything turned out better than I could have imagined.

The outdoor ceremony had the feeling of walking through a European garden in the early 1900s. The Around Town Band provided an amazing harpist and flutist to help add to the romantic ambiance we wanted to create. With the amazing backdrop of the Hudson River, and the gorgeous trees, it was easy to get lost in the scenery, so the flowers and ceremony space were minimalistic, romantically soft, and simply… perfect. The white birch arbor was an idea created by myself, and carried out by our amazing florist, In Full Bloom. We wanted to create a unique, lighthearted ceremony, which would show the importance of our two families being joined together by our marriage. We wrote our own vows, had a few close family members/friends perform romantic readings, and got our guests involved through pledges and our personalized sermon.

Following the ceremony our guests moved to the outdoor cocktail hour, which gave one the feeling of being in J. Gatsby’s backyard during one of his elegant afternoon soirees. Personal touches were added with personalized cocktails for the bride and groom, as well as vintage paper straws and cute personalized stirrers, courtesy of MissPrissyPaige. Our guests ate, drank, and walked around the amazing grounds with one another, which was exactly what we had hoped they’d do… A perfect start to our perfect evening.

Inside, our guests were seated at their tables with handmade cork escort cards, made by the bride and groom, to capture our love of wine, wineries, and our upcoming honeymoon in Italy. Our tables were named for different cities in Italy, and the guests had to match their corks to the wine bottle labels, also handmade. Our centerpieces were 3-4 multilevel arrangements, intertwined with candles, and vintage stands. Our handmade limoncello favors were also placed at each guest’s seat. The children’s table was equipped with table top games, disposable cameras, and silly props for taking pictures. Pictures of us over the years, our families, even loved ones we’ve lost, were placed throughout the rooms inside the mansion. We had a puzzle piece guestbook, and a card display which was created to capture our love of travel. Even the ladies’ restroom had handmade lip-glosses, which was made by the bride and a bridesmaid. Our guests were able to roam around the mansion, as if it was our own home, and take in all the personal details we had created. They enjoyed a 3 course meal, two types of out-of-this-world cupcakes, created by Lovely Cakes, and late night snack vendors supplied by Funtime Amusements. An authentic cigar roller was also stationed on an outdoor veranda to allow for guests to flow inside and outside.

Guests have been talking about our amazing day for weeks now, and that was exactly what Michael and I had hoped for; an evening where we could celebrate our love of one another, with our closest family members and friends. Our wedding was created from our vision, with our guests in mind every step of the way. Michael and I felt overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we received on our special day, and we believe our guests felt equally appreciated through the personal details we’d created with them in mind.