The Ultimate Checklist for a Successful Memorial Day Party
When the floral designer behind Maiden Kind became a bride, she and her love knew a city celebration was in order. But rather than elope, they chose the next best thing – a wedding inspired by an intimate dinner party. They scaled down the guest list, reigned in the details and focused on the love, plain and simple. D’Arcy Benincosa captured each and every moment you’ll adore, epic first look included.
From The Bride…When Nick and I got engaged, we knew immediately that we wanted our wedding to air on the smaller side. Intimacy felt really important to us and we wanted to be able to really focus on one another. We also knew that a New York City location was a must, since we met in our East Village apartment building and consider NYC our home. We began planning a 75 person wedding which we thought was small wedding. But we found ourselves quickly loosing sight of what was important to us- each other. It became too much about the details and making everything perfect. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a big wedding and all of its details- I’m a wedding florist after all! But when it came down to planning my own wedding, I realized it just wasn’t for me. After considering eloping, we came to the conclusion that it was absolutely essential to be surrounded and witnessed by our immediate families. An intimate dinner party was in order.
The Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn had always been my dream venue. But with our original 75 people, their ballroom would have been too large. But in the end it worked perfectly! We rented one of their suites overlooking the Manhattan skyline for our ceremony and dinner. It was truly the best location and setup. The Wythe was incredible to work with and it really felt like a wedding…Just a tiny one! Plus their wine selection and menus were amazing.
Since we didn’t have a bridal party, we didn’t really think too much about color palette too much. We drew slightly from the environment, as we knew there would be the Wythe’s signature blue and white toile wallpaper, hopefully a sunset over Manhattan and lots of brick! We bought Nick’s suit first and wanted it to be something that he’d wear countless times. We chose a blue suit with very subtle pinstripe. I also felt that since our wedding was going to be intimate, I would want to be comfortable and non-fuss. I actually didn’t spend too much time on dress hunting. I went to J.Crew and then spotted my Rosa Clara in a magazine and went on a mission to find it. It had the sophisticated, urban appeal that I was after and I didn’t have to worry about extra tricep presses since it had long sleeves! For jewelry I wore my mother’s gold locket that she actually wore on her wedding day. It houses a baby picture of me and my sister. So that felt really special. If I have a daughter someday, I hope she’s want to wear something of mine on her wedding day. I also carried my grandmother’s handkerchief with me. It was beautiful and absolutely essential.
My mom, mother-in-law and sister helped me do the florals and it was truly the most fun!! We didn’t have a palette in mind when we arrived at the flower market. But we ended up choosing colors that mirrored my Mociun engagement ring. Everyone always asks, “did you find it stressful to be the bride and the florist?!” It wasn’t stressful…But that’s probably because I wasn’t flowering for a full-sized wedding! If that were the case, I would have hired out!
One thing we did splurge on were photos. Photography is really important to both of us and we wanted someone to capture the emotional aspects of our day. D’Arcy Benincosa was a perfect match for us and we were so glad we flew her out from Utah for our day. She also shot our engagement photos, they are fabulous!
My favorite part of our wedding was the ring warming ceremony during our ceremony. We played a beautiful piece of music by Andrew Bird and our rings were passed amongst our family members. They each held our rings for a moment while they infused them with love and well wishes for our future. It was so moving, I highly recommend it if you’re thinking about a small wedding.
We didn’t offer traditional favors. But we did bring gifts for our parents. As a way to thank them for getting us to this point in our lives. Nick and I were both born in 1985 and I’ve travelled to The Loire Valley in France with my family, so we gifted them each of bottle of 1985 Chinon. They loved the thoughtful gesture…And the wine too.
We were on the fence about having a wedding cake,as we hadn’t seen anything that really spoke to us. We would have been satisfied with desserts from the Wythe. But I’m sure glad we opted for cake because it was one of the most fun things we planned! I honestly don’t remember exactly how this came about…but at the time I was “internet pals” with the incredible food blogger Molly Yeh – who is known for her cakes with marzipan cutouts. We got to chatting about her coaching me to bake my own wedding cake and it turned out that she was actually in town a few weeks before our wedding. So I chose her recipe for chocolate tahini cake with tahini buttercream frosting and I baked the layers before she arrived. Then we assembled and decorated it together in my Brooklyn kitchen. Well, she did most of the decorating while I tried to soak up as much cake knowledge as possible. I am obsessed with pigs, and if I was ever going to have a wedding cake it would have to feature two piggies in love (dream cake)! Plus, it added a really playful element to our evening!
Photography: D'Arcy Benincosa Photography | Floral Design: Maiden Kind | Wedding Dress: Rosa Clara | Cake: Molly Yeh | Bride's Shoes: Manolo Blahnik | Makeup: Natalie Livingston | Hair: Troy Beard | Groom's Attire: Suit Supply | Venue: Wythe Hotel
