We’re smitten with the wedding we’re sharing with you guys today. Top of our list of wedding musts? A bride with a sense of humour, a groom who knows how to suit up and a kick-ass dance party. Read on…
Let’s dive right in shall we? Brooke, how did you and Kyle meet?
“Our meeting was completely serendipitous! (I love telling this story.) I worked as Studio Manager at a small design firm at the time, and Kyle as a developer at The Huffington Post in the same office building in Soho and we had a shared a common bathroom on the floor. For over six months I was fawning over a fellow I’d see in the hallways going to and from the loo. My then boss got tired of my lamenting over said mystery fellow, and urged me find him via the internet, since I knew where he worked. I found a profile on Facebook that touted a cropped in photo of a beard and glasses, him! Many FB messages later, we decided to grab some drinks, but the person who showed up at my office wasn’t the guy I’d been making eyes at in the hallway! For one of the first (and only!) times in my life, I played a complete poker face, and went out with him anyhow. And boy was I glad I did! I confessed the mix-up four months later, and he claims the guy I was ACTUALLY swooning after, was a big jerk.“
So, how did he propose?
“The proposal wasn’t anything grandiose. We started discussing getting married at a friend’s wedding in the Fall of 2010, via a whisper during a dance. And thus began crafting my engagement ring with local Brooklyn jewelry designer Fitzgerald Jewelry the February following. In classic Brooke and Kyle fashion, he came home one night from work and awkwardly pulled this ring out of his pocket at the same moment I stuffed a bunch of turkey jerky in my mouth. I said a mumbled yes. Classy gal. Haha.”
And so the planning begun…
“As a couple planning and financing our own wedding, we were super cost-conscious. I’ve read the harrowing statistics about the average wedding in NYC running around 40K.Clearly we didn’t want to drop that kind of cashola. I made every effort to circumvent big money sucks (like rentals) by purchasing our own linens and servingware, and using disposables (but pretty eco-friendly ones!) We tackled many elements ourselves, including the decor, flowers and printed collateral. I’m fortunate to have a wide network of friends in the industry and vendors from work who gave us substantial prices breaks on things. And doubly fortunate to have friends and family who were consistently available for little craft projects along the way, love them!”
“We fell in love with the Green Building the first time we saw the space (which funnily enough was before we got “officially” engaged.) We wanted it to feel Brooklyn-y, exposed bricks, lofty ceilings, kind of raw and edgy. We also wanted the ceremony and reception to occur in the same space, and the Green Building was the perfect space to accomodate. The building was also about ten blocks away from our house, which was an added perk!
The Green Building was such a beautiful raw space, Kyle and I barely needed to enhance what was already available to us in terms of decor. We wanted to keep a fresh modern aesthetic, and stay away from all the wedding tropes I keep seeing like, *shudder* mustaches on a stick. We wanted a classy and fun event, but overall wanted to throw a great party. Drinks were a-plenty, and our DJ played some awesome jams. We are HUGE BBQ fans, so the food was a no brainer!”
“I pined over the music for months. Again I wanted something that spoke to our Brooklyn aesthetic, but also to our roots (me hailing from the South, him from New Jersey.) Our processional was to Zebra by Beach House and the recessional (since it was a Friday wedding) to Friday I’m in Love by the Cure. Mine and Kyle’s first dance was to Fade into You by Mazzy Star, and my dance with my Dad was to Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You. We were also fortunate enough to have our dear friends Boyd Shropshire and Cassandra Ferland (also my MOH) of Wonderland Archives perform a few songs, including The Book of Love by Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields during the ceremony too. So sweet!”
We love this set-up as an alternative to a photo booth…
Brooke’s newly acquired sister-in-law made the cake. It was pistachio with buttercream icing. The cake toppers were custom by Bunny with a Toolbelt (Kyle and Brooke have a Dachshund.)
Nothing better than guests who know how to throw some shapes…
Brooke’s favorite part of the wedding day? “The feeling I had when we were wrapping up the event. It was Kyle and I, closing down the Green Building at 2am, alone for the first time in over a week. We were without all the crazies of families and friends and the wedding hustle. I had my shoes off, my dress tied in a bajillion knots to keep it from dragging on the floor, and I was flooded with this feeling of peace, and sheer happiness at all the love we’d had poured on us all week. It was really surreal. And we were married! “
Any advice for newly engaged brides starting their big journey? “Stay true to you! Don’t lose sight of your overall vision, but realize perfection is the enemy of the good. I put myself under an IMMENSE amount of stress planning this thing myself and had to be reminded on occasion to step back, and realize I couldn’t control everything. Also, delegating tasks is key! No bride should be pureéing three gallons of cucumber juice the night before the wedding like I was, just sayin’…
But… am I crazy that I’d want to do it all over again?! I love weddings, and planning and executing our wedding was a personal accomplishment. (I secretly would love to get into event planning.) It was also other-wordly amazing to have all of our friends and family together under one roof. Like- holy cow, we felt so loved.”
Photographers: Danny & Celia The Lovely Lens // Venue: The Green Building (Brooklyn, NY) // Day-of-Coordinator: Andy Tonken of Cake Walk Wedding Coordination // Stationery: We had a snazzy portrait done by Rifle Paper Co. and used it on most of our printed collateral, from invites to program fans, and our website. // Florist: Brooke! (I moonlight doing flowers) // Music: DJ Ryan Rasheed // Dress: ”The Brooke” by Ivy & Aster, purchased at Lovely Bride NYC. My little white blazer came from Bloomingdales, my earrings were by Kate Spade, and my ruffle sandals were by Loeffler Randall // Suit: Kyle’s suit came from J. Crew, his tie from Paul Smith, and his shoes Cole Hahn // Catering: Mable’s Smokehouse Williamsburg // Cake: My newly acquired sister-in-law made our cake. It was pistachio with buttercream icing. The cake toppers were custom by Bunny with a Toolbelt (Kyle and I have a Dachshund.) And the beautiful pies were from my very favorite Gowanus-based pie shop Four and Twenty Blackbirds. // Makeup artist Ruthie Weems // Hair by Marcel Dagenais (also the creative director of Brooklyn-based Working Class Mag.)
On the blog: The beautiful Brooklyn wedding http://t.co/C77Vv7ZO of Brooke & Kyle, shot by The Lovely Lens
On the blog: The beautiful Brooklyn wedding http://t.co/C77Vv7ZO of Brooke & Kyle, shot by The Lovely Lens
A touch of humour and a touch of vintage in this gorgeous Brooklyn wedding http://t.co/C77Vv7ZO
Oh my. Some acquaintances of mine have possibly the most gorgeous wedding I've ever seen // http://t.co/4dJdqAjV
The fine folks at @ReverieMagazine wrote up our wedding http://t.co/ccIwv5Wn cc @fameandfrippery
The fine folks at @ReverieMagazine wrote up our wedding http://t.co/ccIwv5Wn cc @fameandfrippery
We love the story of how this couple met http://t.co/C77Vv7ZO a truly modern romance!
We love the story of how this couple met http://t.co/C77Vv7ZO a truly modern romance!
@VintageStyleMe The cake http://t.co/W5p1cckl
Did you catch this beautiful Brooklyn wedding? http://t.co/C77Vv7ZO shot by The Lovely Lens
Love this wedding!! RT @ReverieMagazine: Did you catch this beautiful Brooklyn wedding? http://t.co/0lWTr3Nf shot by The Lovely Lens
Thanks @reveriemagazine for posting our pics from Brooke and Kyle's great wedding at @GreenBuildingNY http://t.co/9d8lVhna @fameandfrippery
hm, tak jestli se budu někdy vdávat, tak doufám, že mi to danny přijede nafotit… #zastava_dechu http://t.co/7EKrws7j
RT @reveriemagazine: A touch of humour and a touch of vintage in this gorgeous Brooklyn wedding http://t.co/eCFBcuuz
These two are fabulos. I love their style, and Brooke looks crazy great… love that Blazer, so classy! Can you please do it again and invite me?!
xx from Berlin, Germany!