Anna and Sam wanted a formal black tie wedding in Manhattan for 175 guests. As their wedding planner, I presented a number of wedding venue options and we did some scouting together. When they walked into the grand Cipriani 25 Broadway, they knew it was the right place for them. The soaring ceilings, ornate architecture, magnificent inlaid floors and hand painted frescos make it a really special location. It was originally built as the headquarters of the Cunard steamship line and Cipriani started using the space in 2014. This is the third wedding I have planned at this beautiful location and I feel so lucky every time I get to go back!
My day started at Cipriani as we had production, flowers, rentals, cake and custom cocktail ice loading in and everything getting set up. After you move past the beautiful lobby and library, the main space of Cipriani 25 Broadway is made up of 3 domes. Anna and Sam really wanted their wedding to have a separation of the diner and dancing. They wanted dinner to feel like you were at a chic dinner party. Leaving the dancing for after dinner. As opposed to interspersing the dinner courses with dance sets. We decided to have dinner in the center dome and the dancing and band adjacent in the west dome. During setup Cipriani preset where the dinner tables would be later, marking them off and then shifting them to the west dome to hide before setting up the ceremony in the center dome. It was my first wedding at Cipriani 25 Broadway where I got the chance to have the band in the west dome, which gave them a really spectacular stage and backdrop to play from! Once the setup was moving along nicely, I left my team onsite to continue with setup, while I went to Anna’s getting ready location at her family’s home in Chelsea.
Anna wore a stunning Galia Lahav gown encrusted with beads that shimmered so beautifully in the light as she moved. Her bridesmaids were in a myriad of champagne and blush tones that worked perfectly together. Sam wore an elegant Zegna tuxedo. Ink and Nibs designed their invitation suite with a hand painted watercolour crest using a monogram that was continued through the wedding day. The suite included an illustrated map showing the wedding venue, their home, some favourite places and their dog Daisy. The fresh green watercolour accents were perfect for this spring wedding. Anna and Sam did some portraits near City Hall Park before we brought them to Cipriani 25 Broadway to meet back up with their wedding party. Their photographer Nato Tuke had scouted the venue the day before and loved the library for portraits. Cipriani 25 Broadway shifted the furniture out of the library for the wedding party and family formals and put them back before guests arrived.
When guests arrived, we kept the main space draped off and they enjoyed champagne and peach bellinis in the lobby and library, before we invited everyone through the candle lined hallway around the side to the center dome. Denise Fasanello did an incredible job with the flowers. Lush and overflowing flowers in fresh whites, pinks, peaches and greens to compliment Cipriani 25 Broadway’s dramatic interiors. Denise used seasonal crabapple, spirea and dramatic local French tulips for the flower arch. The result felt airy yet full and bouncy. She called the whole evening “garden-luxe”. The new carpet was richly patterned, so for the ceremony we covered it with a simple white runner to match the white ceremony platform. Anna walked down the aisle with her father to "Sweet Child O' Mine" Jasmine Thompson sung by Andrea from The Hudson Project Band. She wore a cathedral length veil which was embroidered with “HAPPILY EVER AFTER”. After a heartfelt ceremony officiated by her father, their first kiss ended with a “particle build up” on the walls. Moment Factory has created video mapping on the walls of Cipriani that can bring such a unique burst of creativity throughout special points in the evening.
Cipriani always offers an impressive range of stations. Anna and Sam didn’t want to go too heavy on the cocktail stations, so they opted for lighter choices with their tuscan station, jumbo shrimp and sushi. In lieu of a big pasta station, we passed baked tagliolini on small plates. For passed hors d'oeuvres, they served Croque Monsieur, Spinach and Cheese in Phyllo Pastry, Cocktail Franks in Puff Pastry with Mustardm, New Zealand Baby Lamb Chops, Prosciutto di Parma wrapped Grissini, Skewers of Tomato and Mozzarella with Basil, Lobster Salad with Cucumber, Chicken Club Sandwich Bites, and Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bites
Signature cocktails were Aperol Spritz and Classic Margarita. These were decorated with custom cocktail ice from Okamoto. We had one design of their dog Daisy and another with their monogram AS. Custom matchboxes and cocktail napkins were also found at the bars. I have always liked the arches in the corners of the domes, so this time we placed the escort display there. With two gold shelves from Patina Rentals decorated with spring greenery to display the pistachio coloured escort cards. Patina also provided the Wavelength bars with a wrap around fluted facade.
While guests were enjoying cocktails, many teams were busy flipping the center dome from ceremony to dinner. The floral team moved the flower arch off the platform, so production could remove the platform, chairs were removed to place the tables and then all the finishing touches on top. I greatly appreciate the enormous and excellent team that Cipriani 25 Broadway provides. They manage to move all those tables fully decorated so seamlessly and quickly! After the ceremony, I gave Anna and Sam some private time alone, then popped in to bustle her dress with my team. It had 18 bustle ties because the train was so long! When I emerged from the bridal suite, the tables were already set and we were able to finish setting up on top. Working behind the servers, who were pouring water (paper and water don’t mix) We placed the menus at each place setting. The menu that Ink and Nibs designed makes my heart sing! Anna wanted to add a fun and chic art-deco vibe and this modern gatefold menu with inside and outside Cipriani 25 Broadway illustrations was so special. It had a luscious ecru menu inside, wrapped with a thin black silk ribbon and individual pistachio name cards were tied on the outside. On the back of the gatefold, Anna and Sam included a note of love to their families, their parents and their loved ones who could not be with them that day.
The room was setup with a pair of 24 foot long tables down the center with a variety of low mixed floral arrangements in gold vases and tall tapered candles. The surrounding round tables either had a tall candelabra with flowers growing up the base or a low and lush centerpiece surrounded by votives. Flowers included roses, sweet peas, ranunculus, tulips, lilac, lisianthus and peonies. A textured neutral cream linen from Party Rental Ltd completed the tables. When we opened the doors into dinner, we had a 60 second video mapping show from Moment Factory which beautifully highlighted the architecture of the space. This went seamlessly into The Hudson Project playing Bitter Sweet Symphony. The floral team had moved the ceremony flowers in front of the band stage and the lighting team had projected their crest on the back wall to look like it was etched into the stone. For dinner, guests started with tuna tartare and for their entree had a choice of prime roast ribeye or branzino al forno.
When we moved into dancing after dinner, Moment Factory projected an “empire gilded age” look onto the walls. We kept this look for the band performance and changed it again at midnight to a “stained glass” look for the after party with the DJ and sax. We had brought in two different curved lounge sets from Patina to flank the dance floor. I really liked how they hugged the dance area and guests were able to use it through the evening for a break from dancing. Denise Fasanello brought in some towering palm trees to decorate the lounge area. The S curve in the white lounge set allowed me to fit the wedding cake table perfectly behind it. Nine Cakes designed a five tier white cake with modern white spring petals falling down the tiers. Inside was vanilla cake with two layers of chocolate buttercream and a center layer of cafe au lait buttercream. Sliced cake was passed around the dance floor. It was such a crazy dance party and The Hudson Project Band and DJ 6 really killed it! There may or may not have been the wedding party dancing on stage and the guests crowd surfing too.
For the after party, we wanted to bring something in for late night food that felt quintessentially New York. Anna and Sam decided on square pies from Prince Street Pizza in four different flavours. We passed these on the dance floor and they were a big hit with the guests who needed to refuel after their nonstop dancing. Thank you to Anna and Sam for bringing me on for their wedding. It was truly a pleasure to help create this joyous celebration! Thank you to Nato Tuke for documenting their special day.
planning: Ang Weddings and Events | venue: Cipriani 25 Broadway | photography: Nato Tuke | videography: Mike Zhu Films | florist: Denise Fasanello | music: The Hudson Project and DJ 6 via The Band Method | lighting: Wistar | video mapping: Moment Factory | rentals: Patina Rentals and Party Rental Ltd. | cake: Nine Cakes | paperie: Ink and Nibs | cocktail ice: Okamoto | beauty: Willow House Beauty | gown: Galia Lahav | tuxedo: Zegna | late night pizza: Prince Street Pizza
See more of our Cipriani weddings below. I have had the pleasure of working at three different locations of theirs over the years and multiple times at Cipriani 25 Broadway.