Midsummer Night’s Dream Wedding

What isn’t to love about a wedding inspired by all things starry and celestial? The newlyweds in this wedding, sent to us by Kelly Kollar Photography, wanted their wedding to incorporate a love of the night sky and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a vision which translated into a reception full of hazy pastel colors, numerous chandeliers and pointed stars, and plenty of whimsical touches.

From the bride: Our friends and family were an important consideration in many aspects of our planning. In trying to make the experience as pleasurable and otherworldly for them as for ourselves we settled on two major themes, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Cosmos. We wanted to combine the feminine, enchanted, light-hearted, whimsy of the play with the more sophisticated, edgy, celestial, all-encompassing feeling of the night sky. The imagery and materials used to achieve this centered around flowers, multi-pointed stars, antique prints, star charts, chalkboard, reclaimed wood, theatrical drops, chandeliers, and mercury glass. The color palette was soft pastels and bright jewel tones, balanced with chocolate browns and black.

Since summer is our favorite season and our wedding was to be a midsummer night’s dream, we chose the end of August, with warm days and cool nights. Trees are nature’s cathedrals so we knew it had to be an outdoor ceremony. A shady grove of elm trees on site was the perfect spot, our friend and local tree guy, Kevin Corti, trimmed all the dead branches from the October storm. To make it feel more enchanted I grabbed a stack of eggshell white card stock and enslaved family and friends to hours of cutting, punching, and stringing thousands of paper flowers. The end result was ethereal, surrounded by loved ones, the soft breeze caught the flowers and let them fall gently around us. Our friend Kat of Kat Wright & the Indomitable Soul Band sung vocals for Gillian Welch’s “Dear Someone” accompanied by our friend’s band the String Fingers.

When choosing bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen clothes we wanted each to represent and be chosen by the wearer. The girls chose their favorite color from a palette I provided, the only criteria was that it was a solid color, had texture, and was out of a light, floaty material, such as silk or tulle. The groomsmen were asked to wear colors from a different palette, but were able to chose what pieces they liked best, from thrifted Brooks Brothers vests to Allen Edmond wingtips. The wedding dress, like my mother’s was Priscilla of Boston. After going to several bridal stores and turning up empty handed, on a whim, we tried a different approach. A few of my girls took me to Boston where we wined and dinned all night, waking up to wait in line for six and a half hours at their warehouse closing sale. It was worth it, I bought the dress and veil of my dreams, yards of English net and lace. Not only was it a fraction of the retail price but I have the wonderful memories to go with it. I love the romanticism of old wedding photographs, the delicacy of the brides lace dresses and veils was inspiring to me.

We built many pieces of furniture and props for the wedding. My favorite being the paper moon my father and Matt made out of plywood which I then giddily covered with handfuls of German glass glitter. A word of warning, but to my slight satisfaction, the glitter was everywhere and on everyone. The cloudy backdrop behind the moon was painted by my friend and bridesmaid Cristina and myself. For a final touch we hung metallic paper stars that we cut and folded. Cristina also drew all the chalkboard signs and artwork. Throughout the gallery, where the dinning room and dance floor was set up, I hung more stars, quotes in antique frames, and giant flowers I made out of dyed tissue paper, coffee filters, and q-tips.

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We also built a bar, six pub tables, and five coffee tables out of reclaimed wood and fabricated steel legs, we now sell them full time on our Etsy shop, New Antiquity. Several family members helped set up tables, string lights, place flowers, table cloths, and sea foam green napkins. Each table was named after an August constellation, I designed and made the table signs using vintage metal frames and antique artwork. The favors were clear rock candy placed on index cards, mimicking a scientific specimen, each was printed with a carefully selected quote. Looking back we couldn’t have done it without the help, love, and support of our friends and family. Having their hand in it as much as we did made us feel cherished and connected. They really did help make our fairy tale come true.

Wedding Location: New Fairfield, CT / Photographer: Kelly Kollar Photography / Event Coordinator: Paisley Events / Venue: The Sculpture Barn / Makeup: Done by the bride / Hair: Friend of the bride / Cake/Dessert: Made by friends / Caterer: Carl Anthonys Trattoria / Florist: Annabelle Haines of Avant Gardens / Officiant: Bride’s Uncle Pat / Music: Kat of Kat Wright & the Indomitable Soul Band; String Fingers / Contra Caller: Bill Fischer / Wedding Dress and Veil: Priscilla of Boston / Hair Accessory: Anthropologie (refashioned by the bride) / Jewelry: Bride’s earrings designed by Stefan Otter / Stationery: Designed by bride & groom