It is always an honour to get the opportunity to plan a wedding at an iconic venue like The New York Historical Museum. The stars aligned with Emily and Martin and it was such a fun collaborative process. On their wedding day, I started at The New York Historical with L&M Sound and Light loading into the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. Our team had the earliest access to that space and then the other event spaces opened up for setup closer to the invite time. Party Rental Ltd had loaded in the day before, with one of the captains from Acquolina checking in all the rentals. For a museum space like this, you have to bring in all the wedding rentals. I handed off the setup to my associate planner and headed to the bride getting ready.
For this wedding, the bride got dressed at The Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side. We were planning to take portraits at Central Park, but the weather had other plans. The front of the hotel and hotel suite worked out nicely for some rain plan portraits with the wedding party before heading to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the wedding ceremony. The bride wore a Justin Alexander Signature gown in an elegant silk mikado with an embellished cathedral length veil. The groom was in a tuxedo from Martin Greenfield. The bridesmaids wore hunter green velvet and carried creamy white bouquets. The bride carried a bouquet of muted fall colours of roses, ranunculus and lisianthus.
After sending the wedding party down the aisle for the ceremony, I left my other associate planner at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, while I dashed back to New-York Historical Society to see how things were going there with the setup.
The New York Historical closes to the public at 5:00pm, so we were able to setup the escort card table after that. A hunter green velvet linen was a great backdrop for a magnificent statement urn arrangement from Fleurs. It wouldn’t feel like a Fleurs wedding to me without one giant arrangement somewhere and this one definitely hit the mark! It was a gorgeous welcome to the The Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History. For an additional fee, you can customize the artwork being displayed on the museum column monitors, entryway board and the screen in the elevator. The couple chose some photos of themselves, including extra adorable pictures of them as children. Guests picked up their escort cards and were invited up the elevators to the fourth floor.
The cocktail reception took place in the Gallery of Tiffany Lamps. This is a breathtaking room filled with 100 Tiffany lamps over two levels. The space is lit dramatically and showcases a glass staircase in the middle of the gallery. For the high cocktail tables, we used a Van Gogh printed linen from Party Rental Ltd. It seemed perfect for a museum and the blue tones in the gallery. As guests entered, they were offered a fall inspired apple cider spritz. For the passed aperitivi, Acquolina curated a delicious selection including a lamb tagine tartlet, caviar on a crispy beet chip and cute mac and cheese croquettes presented in little cones.
Guests were invited down the grand staircase to the second floor Dexter Hall for dinner. As they entered they were greeted by Le Tricorne on the gallery wall, a painted stage curtain that is the largest Picasso on display in North America. The special gallery offers guests a view into the permanent collection at the museum. It made for quite the stunning backdrop for the head table. For this long gallery, we set up long dining tables along the length with a rich and earthy linen called Florence Emerald Print. On each charger, the deep blue menus included a note to guests explaining the magnet favours. The New York Historical houses one of the world’s largest collections of Tiffany lamps, oft attributed to Louis C. Tiffany, the son of the founder of Tiffany & Co. However it has recently been revealed that Clara Driscoll and her staff of “Tiffany girls” anonymously designed many of these jewel-like leaded glass shades. The magnets at each place setting shone so beautifully in the room. Fleurs used a combination of ceramic bowls, glass bud vases and three different types of votives along the length of the tables. They created an interesting undulating flow to the decor. We are not allowed to use live flame in the museum, but the special decorative LED votives worked out nicely. Table numbers with a dramatic foil pressed border brought a sparkling metallic touch. The dinner from Acquolina was a feast for the eyes as well. The salad course may be one of the most beautiful plates I have ever seen!
Amuse bouche: carrot cappuccino, ginger cookie
Salad: vegetable crown of multicolour beets, turnip, radish, pumpkin seed vinaigrette
Main course: beef tenderloin, black truffle potenta, treviso leaves, dolcetto jus
Dessert: mont blanc, chestnut chantilly, marron glace, meringue, whipped cream or fresh fig tart, mascarpone creme, caramel gelato, gold leaf
For dessert, the bride and groom could not decide between both options, so we did alternating desserts down the table. As most guests were in couples, they could share or swap their desserts as they wished.
The couple had curated special playlists for cocktails and dinner, and we were able play these on the inhouse sound system in the museum spaces. It was a great way to personalize the evening to their musical tastes. A german chocolate cake from Lulu’s was decorated with intricate sugar flowers on the 4 tiers. The couple cut the cake in Dexter Hall and slices were passed later during dancing.
Across the hallway from Dexter Hall is the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. After enjoying a delicious dinner and special toasts, we invited guests to the Library for the couple’s first dance. A black and white dance floor was centered in the room with silver linen cocktail tables and black bentwood chairs around. For lighting, we had kept Dexter Hall in a very natural candlelight glow for dinner. For dancing, we went with a more fun lavender to uplight the columns in the Library. A hybrid band with DJ MKL and 5 live musicians from Jarrell Entertainment kept the dance floor going until midnight! The bride changed into a shorter faux feather trimmed dress for dancing, took out her bun, threw her hair in a ponytail and danced the night away with her love. A quintessential black tie New York City wedding in the fall.
Venue: The New York Historical | Planning: Ang Weddings and Events | Caterer: Acquolina | Photography: Anna Gianfrate | Videography: Mike Zhu Films | Lighting staging and sound: L&M Sound and Light | Flowers: Fleurs | Rentals: Party Rental Ltd. | Music: Jarrell Entertainment | Draping: Drape Kings | Dance Floor: Dance Floor Kings | Beauty: Face Time Beauty | Transport: Leros | Cake: Lulu’s | Ceremony: St. Patrick’s Cathedral | Paperie: Minted | Gown: Justin Alexander Signature | Tuxedo: Martin Greenfield
The New York Historical Museum Wedding Venue at a Glance:
Location: The New York Historical Museum (née New-York Historical Society)
Address: 170 Central Park West, New York, New York 10024
Phone: 212-485-9201
Email: specialevents@nyhistory.org
Venue website: https://www.nyhistory.org/host-an-event
Capacity: The space works well for 150-200 guests for a seated dinner. Dinner and dancing will take place in separate rooms for this size. With a more intimate wedding of 80-100 guests with a DJ, you could do dinner and dancing together in the Library.
Events: Ceremony, cocktail, dinner and dancing.
Amenities included: New York Historical staffing for security, maintenance, and basic A/V support. The galleries have inhouse sound that can be used for background music and microphones for toasts during dinner. For a real dance party, you would need to bring in a more powerful sound system from outside.
Dining style: Catering is brought in from outside. Passed hors d’oeuvres, plated dinner, plated or passed desserts.
Exclusive vendors: L&M Sound and Light provide lighting, staging and sound. They will provide the sound for your music entertainment (live band or DJ). I would estimate $15,000-$25,000.
Rentals needed: Everything will need to be brought into the raw space from a rental company like Party Rental Ltd. I would estimate $40,000-$50,000 for rentals. You will also need to rent a dance floor for the carpeted Library and draping for the Library and Dexter.