Vintage glam with a romantic twist, this ridiculously stunning and intimate Gramercy Park Hotel wedding captured by none other than Christian Oth Studio is just New York City wedding perfection. With sweet personalized details and two of the most adorable dogs ever, this gallery of images is just as good as it gets. See even more in the VAULT.
From The Bride…Michael and I met eight years ago in New York City through a mutual friend. Though we dated long-distance for three years between London and New York City before we both finally called the Big Apple our home, it was our love for traveling and our two puppies that kept our spark alive. True to form, he proposed during our trip to Costa Rica and I immediately started our wedding planning!
From the moment we walked in, we knew Gramercy Park Hotel was going to be our wedding venue. In fact, it was the only venue we visited. We wanted a classic New York wedding that was glamorous and chic, yet intimate and cozy at the same time. The rooftop terrace at the GPH provided us with just that and more. From the candlelit lanterns that lined the terrace to the lush, green garden throughout to the fireplace in the light bulb room, it was a beautiful, stunning venue. Not to mention it had an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline as well as eclectic works of art (Damien Hearst, Andy Warhol), all of which set a romantic, yet playful tone for everyone. As food lovers, we were even more excited when we found out Union Square Hospitality, a Danny Meyer company, would be catering our event.
Given the venue, we knew vintage glam would be our theme but with a romantic twist. I chose a mermaid Vera Wang dress that had a stunning train and a beautiful jeweled sash to go along with it. My bridesmaid wore rose champagne sequined dresses that I found from Australia. My mom and I also decorated two birdcages for cards and well wishes with feathers and pearls. She’s also into figurines so she made two Hello Kitty bride and groom figurines. Table signs and escort cards also had tints of gold on them, which complemented well with my flowers of white, rose pink and gray.
Personalizing the details to our wedding was a lot of fun. My favorite was the inclusion of our dogs, Cuba and Harvey, in their tuxedos in the wedding photos and the walk down the aisle. They are such a huge part of our family and we love them so much! We even had a reading titled “How Falling in Love is Like Owning A Dog” by Taylor Mall.
As romantics, we also decided to choose to do a wine box ceremony, to help us remember the reasons why we got married by writing love letters to each other sealed in a special wine box. To honor my Chinese heritage, I also changed into a traditional red Qi Pao for dinner and my father/daughter dance. The day prior at the rehearsal dinner, we performed a Chinese tea ceremony at an Italian restaurant named Valbella in order to infuse and honor Michael’s and my culture together.
As wine lovers, we also brought in our favorite champagne and wines to accompany our wedding. In particular, one of the Bordeaux bottles (Calon Segur) had a label with a heart on it, which helped us symbolize our love on the day. Because of this, we incorporated the wooden wine case into the display during cocktail hour. And instead of a traditional wedding cake, we went with an ice cream cake from a local Brooklyn ice cream shop to reflect our love for Carvel when we were kids!
Finally, as a tribute to our travels, the tags to our wedding favors from Macaron Cafe were printed like passport stamps. Michael and I love to collect passport stamps from around the world.
In the end, it was a really magical day for us. For all the work brides put into making this day a perfect day, a great photographer is extremely important to help document this special moment. Jack Jeffries from Christian Oth Studio did a fantastic job for us, getting beautiful shots that looked editorial as if they were to be placed in a magazine. And no matter how much brides plan, there will be stress in the days leading up to and on the day of the wedding. Having a good on-site event manager and/or a month-of-wedding coordinator can help brides alleviate a lot of the stress. Kay from GPH and Kristin Beckler certainly did for me. After all, it’s the biggest day of most girls’ lives and brides should enjoy and remember every moment of it.
Photography: Christian Oth Studio | Cinematography: Jaylim Studio | Event Planning: Kristin Beckler | Floral Design: DESIGNS BY AHN | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Cake: Ample Hills Creamery | Invitations: Paperfinger | Bride's Shoes: Christian Louboutin | Bridesmaids' Dresses: White Runway | Catering: Union Square Hospitality Group | Hair + Makeup: Keri Berman | DJ: Generation Events | Favors: Macaron Cafe | Venue: Gramercy Park Hotel | Rehearsal Dinner Venue: Valbella