It is the greatest compliment to be asked to work with a family again. I planned Sarah and Nico’s wedding. When Sarah’s twin sister Katie got engaged, I got a phone call from Katie’s parents and I was overjoyed to be reunited with them to work on planning Katie and Jonathon’s wedding. We started out our planning process by looking at venues in NYC. After doing site visits are some of my favourite places in Manhattan and Brooklyn, they still couldn’t find anything they loved as much as Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The venue where Sarah and Nico had gotten married. Katie and Jonathon moved forward with a September date at Blue Hill, the beautiful transition between summer and autumn.
Suite Paperie designed the invitation suite, with rolling hills on the main invite card is letterpress. Two little red radishes on the envelope liner were so cute! We liked them so much, they made more appearances on the day of paperie on the escort cards and place cards. Katie wore a modern chic gown from Jane Hill. She carried a bouquet of creamy white and blush café au lait dahlias, dusty rose-hued garden roses, spray garden roses, blush ranunculus and pops of tangerine dream dahlia. Textured lace hydrangea and grass-hued geranium leaves were woven through. The bridesmaids wore Amsale gowns of different styles.
They had considered the shed lawn at the back of the restaurant for the ceremony, but due to the slightly sloping lawn, they settled on the courtyard facing the big tree. Flowers and textured grasses lined the aisle and large floral arrangements in sand-hued ceramic vases defined the ceremony area. Sterling Strings played for the ceremony with Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major by Bach (Eric’s solo!) for the wedding party and Pachelbel’s Cannon in D for the bride. The recessional was an interesting re-composition by Max Richter of Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Spring I.
The house band from Café Wha provided a jazz trio for cocktail hour consisting of keys, bass and saxophone. Guests were able to enjoy the beautiful weather outdoors on the terrace of the main restaurant. For their passed hors d’oeuvres they had donko donut, sausage and brioche, tomato tart, mushroom burger, tomato and eggplant, quail egg and caviar, spicy crab taco and potato croquette. For the signature cocktails:
TOMATELO
tequila, mezcal, sungold, lime, canteloupe, espelette, madeira
KURA COLLINS
sake lees vodka, cucumber vermouth, cardamom syrup, clarified lemon
For the dinner in the upper Hayloft, they had a head table of 30 people, so we thought it would be fun to do one dramatic 30 foot long table right down the center of the room and surround it with round tables at the sides. Poppies and Posies went all out with 10 lush floral centerpieces along the head table and parchment ribbed pillar candles in ceramic dishes in between. Textured glass votives added to the warm candlelight glow. Pegasus Production lit up on the north driveway trees, which was the backdrop for Katie and Jonathon. It worked so nicely to showcase the beautiful trees around the property. We decided not to do a big flower installation on the windows and decorate those more simply with pillar candles and lush smilax in between. The guest count minimum was 175, and we had 133 guests, so we added on some fun extras including a trio of passed desserts and a trio of late night savoury snacks. The wedding menu:
I
BEET & TOMATO GAZPACHO
olive oil ice cream
Peter Dipoli ‘Voglar’ Sauvignon Blanc, Alto Adige, Italy 2016
II
THIS MORNING’S FARM EGG
potato blini, mushroom
Presqu’ile Winery Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County, California 2021
III
GRASS-FED BEEF
corn, piperade
Château des Laurets, Puisseguin Saint‐Emilion, Bordeaux, France 2016
IV
WEDDING CAKE
chocolate & einkorn chiffon, chocolate mousse, fresh berries, honey buttercream
PASSED DESSERTS
s’mores, honey biscuits, raspberry & hazelnut ice cream sandwich
Café Wha provided a smaller rotating band for the dinner and their full 11 piece band was setup for dancing downstairs in the Haybarn. As guests were enjoying dinner upstairs, we were busy setting up for the dancing downstairs with Patina providing some cozy lounge furniture and Pegasus making the Haybarn and Courtyard look nice and festive. After the 3 plated courses upstairs, we invited guests downstairs for dancing. Katie and Jonathon danced to “Baby I Need Your Loving” by the Four Tops and then Katie and Claude (father of the bride) danced to “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder. Wedding cake and desserts were passed. Late night guests were offered mini cheeseburger sliders, grilled cheese and chicken & waffles. We had custom stickers for the 3 types of favours (chocolate chip cookies, kale cheddar scones and oatmeal raisin cookies) for guests to take home with them. We also wrapped the dinner flowers into take away bouquets for guests to enjoy a bit longer.
It has been a rainy year on wedding weekends. I cannot believe the great fortune that both Katie and Sarah had amazing clear days with not a speck of rain. It was such a pleasure to have been a part of your family celebrations of love!
Planning: Ang Weddings and Events | Venue: Blue Hill at Stone Barns | Photography: Tory Williams | Video: Mike Zhu Films | Flowers: Poppies and Posies | Stationery: Suite Paperie | Strings: Sterling Strings | Band: Café Wha | Hair and Makeup: Face Time Beauty | Rentals: Patina | Lighting: Pegasus | Transport: Red Oak | Officiant: Rev. Annie Lawrence
See more of our Blue Hill at Stone Barns weddings here: