New York City Winery Wedding

We just totally love how many personal details bride Renee was able to inject into her big day. The couple’s cake topper was the same used by the groom’s parents, there were family inside jokes littered throughout the decor, and there were wedding portraits from various generations scattered throughout the reception venue. So sweet! Thank you to photographers Turn Loose the Art for the sharing these images!

From the bride, Renee: We wanted a rustic city chic wedding with personal elements incorporated throughout. We wanted to find a venue that incorporated our personality and where guest felt they were really part of the celebration. Elements like vintage seltzer bottles, wooden high ceilings and square tables made the venue feel unique and intimate. The color scheme reflected the colors you’d find in an Indian Summer sunset with elements of early Fall coming through. There was a mix of raw elements like the burlap table runners against the white linen table cloth and the beautiful flower arrangements in mason jars that gave the venue a polished yet accessible and intimate feel.

There was no specific theme, even though wine was a given direction. Some elements were very reflective of the venue we chose, like our invitations, menu cards and place card holders. But other details reflected the colors and elements that we wanted to include in our day. Some things I was very specific on, like having all the guys in grey tuxes. But for the girls, I wanted them to pick out their dresses so that each dress reflected their personality and style. They had to stay in a color range but other then that, had free range. Plus I got to go shopping with each of them and make a great day out of it. All the girls ended up getting one shoulder dresses, except for my maid of honor who was strapless. When you put the dresses together all the colors worked great.

We had lots of DIY! We hand tied the programs with ribbon to save on assembly costs. I bought vintage handkerchiefs online and put them in a basket with a sign that read “for your happy tears”. The place card holders were made from recycled wine corks that friends and family saved all year. The extra corks were used as accents on the tables. The wine labels were designed closely with our venue and their in house designer.. We named our homemade wine “curly tail red” which represents a family joke. Each wine was carefully selected for our cocktail hour wine tasting. The wine tasting also included a stand for our homemade wine four guests to sample along with the other wines showcased.

I searched forever for white small gourds that were placed on each table along with the flowers. The white gourds represented the September month but the white color still had a feeling of summer. We wanted to showcase our grandparents’ and parents’ wedding pictures and placed the frames in front of a window along with our guest book and framed wedding poster (a gift from my bridesmaids). I gave each parent a handkerchief with a special note along with the wedding date as a special keepsake. Our cake topper was actually my husband’s parents cake topper from their wedding 41 years ago. They said it would give us good luck… let’s hope so!

My husband’s dad sang us an Elvis love song that we danced to which was really special. He was such a hit that guests clapped him on for an encore song! We also had an Italian singer from Naples come in and perform classic Italian songs like “mama” that The groom and mom danced too along with fun dance songs we all danced too. Having those moments in our reception added to the uniqueness of the day.

See Also

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Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Follow your gut! Everyone will have an opinion. When I told people my bridesmaids were wearing different colored dresses, I got strange looks. But don’t let someone else’s vision or opinion affect yours. It’s your day and that means you can do what you want, because whatever you do reflects you and your personality and that’s what matters. There is no right or wrong as long as you follow your heart and everything will come together perfectly in the end.

Wedding Music:
First Dance: “Something,” The Beatles
Father/daughter Dance: “Summer Wind,” Frank Sinatra

Wedding Vendors (New York City, New York):

Ceremony Venue: Regina Pacis Roman Catholic Church, Brooklyn / Wedding Venue: City Winery / Wedding Photographer: Turn Loose the Art / Wedding Dress: Ivy and Aster, “In Bloom” / Bride’s Sash: Untamed Petals / Bride’s Shoes: Ivanka Trump / Wedding Hair: Mark McAlpine / Wedding Makeup: Lynette Broom / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: BCBG, Alice + Olivia, and Tadashi / Wedding Flowers: Jerome Florists / DJ: Scratch Weddings / Wedding Desserts: Momofuku Milk Bar / Videographer: Wellspun Weddings / Transportation: Settembre Limo