I love this Bride and Groom. I love them for the obvious reasons, yes. You can tell they are head over heels for each other, and I just adore that. But what really rocked my socks off about this duo is their way of making their big day 100% them. It made for a day that was not only perfect but personal – and thanks to Agaton Strom we can see every moment of their stylish day here.
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From the Bride…My name is Shawna and my husband’s name is Wes. We met a decade ago on the streets of NYC and after a 10 year courtship, in jobs that kept putting us in different cities, we finally were able to move in together in Long Island City, NY. We loved it there so much and on a walk one day found this incredible oasis in the midst of the city – The Foundry. An old metal mill that still had many of the iron work and exposed beams intact! It was as quirky and unconventional as we are, but beautiful enough for everyone to appreciate. It was home, literally and figuratively, and it represented all the love, the work and the time we put into our relationship to finally be able to get marries. Wes is an advertising art director so he created an arch logo to mimic the foundry’s arches to put on all our stationary, such as the seating labels and the menu. We also had the string quartet play a Death Cab for Cutie song that meant a lot to us at an important crossroads in our relationship as my walk down the aisle song, and we printed that out so everyone could read the words. We also had them play The Pixie’s “Where is My Mind” as our song to walk down the aisle together, because we thought this whole day was pretty crazy after a decade of being together.
My bridesmaids are all so unique and beautiful, I chose a Jenny Yoo dress that they could wear any way they’d like (with long panels that could be tied a plethora of styles). I also had 2 of my closest male friends in my bridal party, and had them wear pocket squares that matched the color of the bridesmaid dresses.
Our families are incredibly diverse and we wanted that to be reflected in the wedding. Wes’ mother is Chinese but he grew up on a farm in Vermont. So we asked our caterer to have Chinese inspired cocktail hour hors d’oeuvres but to have desert platters with Vermont staples like their ocal maple syrup. My father is retired FDNY so we had the FDNY pipes play for us right after the ceremony. One of my bridesmen is a classical pianist and The Foundry tuned their old piano so he could play a special piece for us. Wes and I have been together so long I wanted to name the tables after the years BEFORE we met (since most everyone thinks of us as a duo) – and I put pictures of us during that year as the table setting. Im a broadcast new reporter, and instead of a videographer, I wanted the day to be captured like a documentary so our caterer set up a time lapse camera in the space and just sped it up to the music of our procession, first dance etc etc.
The table settings were elegant and simple with lots of white flowers and hanging candles. Our ceremony was unconventional – we kept it short and gave our own vows and chose to tell funny stories about moments in our relationship that everyone in the room could identify with. It made for a laugh filled ceremony, which was important to us because our strange sense of humor is what has always marked our bond. At the end of the day we wanted everyone represented in our wedding because they’ve all helped to make up who we are and why we love each other so much.
Photography: Agaton Strom | Wedding Planner: Exquisite Affairs Productions | Floral Design: Atlas Floral Decorators | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Cake: City Sweets & Confections | Shoes: Brian Atwood | Catering: Marcey Brownstein Catering & Events | Lighting: Prestige Lighting Events | Officiant: Jesse Hendrich | Hotel: Sixty LES | Birdesmaids Dresses: Jenny Yoo | Clutches: Snap Handbags | Event Space: The Foundry | Groom's Attire (bowtie): Richard James from Mr Porter | Mother Of The Bride Dress: Carolina Herrera