Weddings Ceremony: A Real New York Wedding - Told by the Bride

I love when brides share their wedding with us! It's such an intimate and special time and I feel super grateful they want to share this time with us and you.

Lara wrote in to share her wedding to Christopher.
Here is their story of their big day from the words of Lara.

Chris and I met through a mutual friend in the fall of 2006. We knew just a few months into dating that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Chris proposed in May of 2009 and I was beyond excited I was going to be his wife! He chose a beautiful round brilliant stone set in a micro-pave band that was exactly my style - simple and elegant! It was actually the ring that became the inspiration for our wedding planning.

It was important for us and our families to be married in a church. We found The Church of Saint Aidan and I immediately fell in love with the beautiful 80-foot-long black and white tiled aisle and the very dramatic altar.

When it came time to start searching for a reception location I knew I wanted something on the more intimate and romantic side. I kept thinking "simple and elegant" like my ring. As soon as I stepped inside the Royalton Mansion I fell in love. The mansion, a colonial built in the 1920s, is tucked away in a quiet residential neighborhood in Roslyn Heights, NY and was restored a few years ago. It is quite modest on the outside until you enter through the mahogany doors into the grand foyer of checkered charcoal grey and white marble floors, antique brass chandeliers, and a breathtaking curved mahogany banister. It was just perfect! What I loved even more than the entryway was the grand ballroom decorated with gorgeous crystal chandeliers and sconces and etched white marble fireplaces. The room was so clean and bright with its creamy white walls and pillars, yet so cozy and romantic, that I loved the idea of working with a blank palette.

Since we were being married Labor Day weekend, I felt like I was kind of stuck in between two seasons when choosing a color scheme: summer and fall. I decided to go with a deep purple being the main color (reminding me of fall) with touches of bright green, white, and ivory to lighten things up a bit.. My bridesmaids wore long chiffon gowns in aubergine and carried green hydrangeas, green dendrobium orchids, white stock, and purple lisianthus flowers. I was happy with the overall look and thought the flowers really brightened up and complimented the deep purple gowns well. We decided on black tuxes for the guys and wanted to keep the purple theme going for them as well. I was afraid that the deep purple would be too dark against the black tuxes and might go unnoticed so we chose a deep purple and lavender striped tie for them.

When it came to my gown I was all over the place: first I wanted all lace, then I thought I wanted satin, then I wanted a rouched bodice, then I reverted back to lace loving styles with lace detailing. In the end, and the 10th dress I tried on at Kleinfeld, I decided on an all lace gown. I honestly never would have picked my gown off the rack. My bridal gown consultant chose it for me and when I looked at it on the hanger I almost didn’t want to try it on. I told myself ahead of time I was going to be really open-minded so I went for it. As soon as I put it on I knew it was meant for my body-type and felt so elegant and beautiful. I loved the mermaid style and the gorgeous alencon lace and the low back. The only thing that threw me off was that it came with this thin satin ribbon around the waist that just did not look right. I knew I needed something bolder than that to accentuate my waist so after purchasing my gown I started looking into beaded belts. The prices were ridiculous (in my opinion) for something that looked so easy to make so I decided to try it out! I went into the garment district in Manhattan and purchased beaded appliqué and champagne satin ribbon. I used fabric glue that the salesperson at the trimming store recommended and recruited my mom to help me out, gluing on the appliqué and sewing on little clasps to secure the belt around my waist. It was a success and I loved how the vintage looking beaded appliqué really complimented the alencon lace of my dress.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to keep the grand ballroom of the Royalton bright and clean looking for our wedding reception. We chose ivory damask linens and white flowers for our centerpieces. I wanted the centerpieces to look airy and flowing so we decided on white hydrangea and white dendrobium orchids. I added just a tiny pop of color to the tables with the menus in ivory paper stock and purple print, with a lovely purple hydrangea as the design. We decorated the fireplaces in the ballroom with old family photos, some even dating back to the 1920s, complimented by white rose petals and loose greens.

We are both huge foodies so choosing our menu was really important to us and the quality of food was a huge factor in choosing our venue location. We wanted a more sophisticated menu with a wide range of choices similar to what you could find in a Manhattan restaurant. We chose a pan-seared Chilean Sea Bass accompanied by lobster risotto, filet mignon accompanied by truffle oil red bliss mashed potatoes, French cut chicken breast stuffed with spinach, sundried tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, and ricotta spinach gnocchi in a sage butter sauce for our dinner entrée options. We knew we were going to have a Venetian desert hour, with a wide array of deserts for our guests to choose from, so we decided that the flavors of our cake should be light and refreshing. We chose a white cake with butter cream frosting and blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. It was delish!

The entire day and evening celebration was just a dream come true for Chris and me. It was filled with love and romance and everything was just as beautiful as we ever could have imagined. The celebration was such a blast and our incredible band, Code Bleu, kept us, our families and guests on the dance floor the entire night. Like everyone tells you (although you never truly believe it until the day of) your wedding day goes by all too quickly. We both felt like we blinked and it was all over. Luckily, our wonderful and very talented photographers at Duet Photography and Video captured every moment so beautifully and with such style. I was floored at the artistry of the photographs and the emotions captured in each picture. I hope you enjoy them as well!