Danielle and Alex had a black tie Cipriani 42nd Street wedding in the summer. Alpine Creative designed their classic invitation suite, with black engraving on ivory card, rounded corners and a silver bevelled edge. Danielle wore a lace and jewel encrusted gown by Berta Bridal and Alex wore a classic black tuxedo. Despite being in the middle of a very busy area of Manhattan, their photographer Michael Falco of Christian Oth Studio found a great spot for their first look, just a few steps away from the venue. It worked out beautifully and the happy couple also went to Grand Central Terminal for some pictures, before being joined by the bridesmaids and groomsmen for bridal party portraits. The bridesmaids wore black outfits of their own choosing, and I particularly like the jumpsuit that one of them wore! Danielle carried a composed bouquet of ivory roses, white calla lilies and show stopping pink phalaenopsis orchids. Alex’s boutonniere was a pink phalaenopsis orchid to match the bouquet. The bridesmaids carried blush rose bouquets and the groomsmen had white calla lilly boutonnieres.
I love working with By Yena Designs on florals and she really blew it out of the park with this wedding! Cipriani 42nd Street is such a grand space, with marble columns, stunning chandeliers, towering ceilings and intricate floor details. With how impressive the wedding venue is, we wanted to create a show stopping entrance. As guests walked through the front doors, they were greeted with a 10 foot glass and gold table from Luxe Event Rentals. Through the hole in the middle of the table, By Yena Designs setup tall glass cylinders of varying heights to feature phalaenopsis orchids, cymbidium orchids, dahlia and roses. The flowers were grouped in their own varieties to create a modern and striking installation. Manzanita branches were incorporated as well to create some height and textural interest. Pillar candles in glass sleeves on rose gold stands surrounded the hand calligraphy escort cards. Behind the magnificent escort table, we had Cipriani install their iron gate as the entrance to the ceremony area. This was also decorated with similar flowers, but in a loose airy style, so you could appreciate each bloom. I adore how the phalaenopsis orchids were cascading down the iron gate. Guests enjoyed signature Cipriani peach bellinis as they were waiting for the ceremony to begin, along to the wonderful sounds of the Sterling Strings quartet.
For Danielle and Alex’s chuppah, we actually went through many iterations of the design. I was planning the wedding with Danielle and her mom Carol, and both had different ideas for the chuppah. A great designer knows how to take all these ideas and figure out a design that will work for the space and also make multiple people happy! Yena was wonderful at taking in all the inspiration, and coming up with a design that worked beautifully. She used a dark wooden frame and decorated this with white hydrangea, white and ivory roses, white phalaenopsis orchids, pink spray roses, blush stock and café au lait dahlias. The flowers were grouped in areas to create a feeling that was lush, but light and not heavy handed. A family tallit was hung from the roof of the chuppah. Yena’s team also setup the clean pleated draping for the area behind the chuppah, which hid all the preset dining tables!
For the ceremony, the groom, his parents and the bridal party walked down the aisle to “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane. The bride and her parents walked down the aisle to “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton. The Kiddush cup was made for Danielle and Alex by one of her sisters. For the recessional the bride and group exited to “Simply the Best” by Tina Turner!
The cocktail reception took place in the chapel and terrace while we were all busy flipping the ballroom from the ceremony to the dinner setup. In addition to the passed hors d’oeuvres, guests also enjoyed stations including the Tuscan station, pasta station, Peking duck and dim sum display, and sushi display.
For the dinner reception, we made a dramatic 24 foot long table for the couple and their bridal party. Along the length of the table was a multi-piece installation of white phalaenopsis orchids in tall vases of different heights. At the base of these arrangements were smaller arrangements of white hydrangea, creamy white roses, pink stock and blush dahlia. White pillar candles in glass sleeves on rose gold metallic stands and votive candles cast the table aglow. The guest tables had 2 different types of floral installations. Design A had 3 extra tall mono-bloom arrangements of white goddess callas, white hydrangea and white roses. These were surrounded with white phalaenopsis orchids in fluted vases. White fringed tulips, pink stock, and pink roses gave the arrangement dimension and a fun pop of colour. Design B had more white phalaenopsis orchids in fluted vases, surrounded by lower arrangements of light pink stock, dahlia, hydrangea and roses.
We chose a pewter silver shimmer linen from Party Rental, so the white flowers would really pop in contrast to the linen. For the charger, we used the confetti style, which has such a celebratory feel to the metallic design. The napkins were horizon ivory texture with a similar dotted feel to the charger. Yena sourced a jewel encrusted ribbon to create an embellished napkin holder. It was such a stunning room to walk into; elegant, modern and striking.
Danielle and Alex walked in the ballroom into their first dance to “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain. Guests were invited to join them half way through and this went into a joyful horah. For their first course, Cipriani served a baby artichoke salad, with avocado and shaved parmesan. Main course was an option of pin wheeled braised boneless short ribs or salmon with zucchini sauce, both served with rosemary smashed potatoes and multi-colour cauliflower florets. For dessert, we had alternating desserts around the table so guests could share and sample different options. Cipriani’s vanilla crème meringue cake is out of this world and the chocolate soufflé was excellent too.
The wedding cake by Nine Cakes was a completely white square cake with modern fondant ruffles. White sugar flowers included phalaenopsis orchids and roses. You can even see the veining detail in the phalenopsis orchid. Such incredible attention to detail! Inside was my favourite flavour from Nine Cakes, mint chocolate chip, which is dark chocolate heaven.
For their after party, we ordered in 5 cheese pies and 5 pepperoni pies from Joe’s Pizza! Guests transitioned back to the chapel for the after party where a small dance floor had been setup during dinner. It was such a pleasure working with Danielle and her mom Carol on this celebration! Thank you to Michael Falco from Christian Oth Studio for capturing their wedding day so beautifully.
Venue: Cipriani 42nd Street | Wedding Planner: Ang Weddings and Events | Photographer: Michael Falco of Christian Oth Studio | Videographer: Mint Wedding Cinematography | Invitations: Alpine Creative | Rentals: Luxe Event Rentals and Party Rental Ltd | Lighting: Stargroup | Makeup: Ashlee Glazer | Hair: Anila | Gown: Berta Bridal | Strings: Sterling Strings | Band: Steve Delisi for Hank Lane | Photobooth: Mirmir
See more of our weddings here:
Francesca and Kuba at Cipriani Wall Street
Rachel and Garrett at Cipriani 25 Broadway