Today’s real Jewish wedding is just SO very NYC… which is appropriate, because this week Karen’s taking the Big Apple by storm! All of us at Team STG are VERY excited for her first official STG trip to the greatest city in the world – check out our Instagram Stories for the next few days to see what she’s up to!
But back to the wedding… wonderful STG Brides Club member Julie and groom Guillermo got married at the Gramercy Park Hotel, which is also where they went on their first date! The fact that it’s got killer NYC views didn’t hurt either.
Everything about this wedding was perfectly NYC chic, from the understatedly elegant floral chuppah to the simple, timeless ketubah the couple chose from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor (and East Village local!) The Ketubah to the artsy, creative photography by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si (who Julie and Guillermo loved so much they flew him in from Tel Aviv – and no wonder, his style was such a perfect fit for their big day). The pair even brought in quirky entertainment like a tarot card reader and a poet to write personalized haikus for guests!
And in true New York tradition, this wedding was delightfully multicultural, with all kinds of touches incorporating Guillermo’s roots in Argentina, from Argentinian dance music to late night empanadas.
As always, we’re so happy to hear that Brides Club helped make this wedding the smashing success it was – Julie loved our planning resources and vendor recs, and she was able to take advantage of a bunch of amazing discounts offered just to members of the club!
There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll let Julie, who looked stunning in Carolina Herrera, fill you in on the rest…
Venue
Julie, the bride: We got married at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. We chose this venue because it is where we had our first date! The story goes… I was moving from Boston to NYC, and while on a trip to NYC for work/apartment hunting, I stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel. We connected through an app the day I arrived in the city and arranged to meet one week later (my last day before returning home). I asked if he could meet me at the hotel bar, since I needed to grab my bags before heading to the train.
Two hours before the date, I got an unexpected job offer in London, which was a city I’d been dreaming of living for 10+ years. I debated with my friends if it was more rude to cancel last minute or to show up and say I was moving to London! Good thing I didn’t cancel 🙂 One year later, we celebrated our engagement with a night at GPH and dinner at the hotel restaurant where we had our first date.
Aside from its significance, we loved the venue because it provided stunning views of New York City and a unique floorplan. Rather than a standard ballroom, the hotel has an outdoor terrace surrounding multiple interior rooms. We did not want to follow the typical wedding structure (skip the long sit down dinner, and let’s get right to the party), and this venue naturally lent itself to something less traditional. Bonus: it is also covered in incredible modern artwork from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and more.
A Multicultural Wedding
My husband is from Argentina, so we wanted to include some of his traditions to create something that was welcoming and familiar for his friends and family. This included English/Spanish ceremony programs, Argentinian dance music, dance favors (boas, hats, sunglasses, etc), and late night empanadas (a surprise I planned for Guille!).
We used a wedding planner, AAB Creates, who we found on Smashing the Glass (but before we joined, so we didn’t get the discount, which was a huge bummer!). We hired AAB for event design + month of planning. For the design component, AAB created the overall vision and helped us with many things. To name just a few…
Event Flow: with our untraditional structure, AAB helped us think through timing and flow for all the components of the night.
Ceremony: designed and built a simple and tasteful chuppah with strung flowers hanging from all sides (which was my FAVORITE part of the decor). Since a huge flower arc was not my style, Kait from AAB helped us find something that was understated but that still had a ‘wow’ factor. It made for such a special and beautiful space to get married.
Flowers: GPH was already covered in greenery and plants, so Kait helped us identify flowers to complement the space’s unique floor plan and existing color scheme (black and white with pops of colorful artwork).
Vendors: AAB helped with all vendors, and also proposed creative entertainment ideas like a tarot card reader and haiku writers (who provided personalized haikus for our guests).
Custom Designs: we bought a very cool design from Katie Fischer Design of sketches that resembled Adam & Eve, Kings & Queens and other couples. These were printed on big boards that dressed up the DJ booth and bar.
WHAT ‘SMASHING THE GLASS’ BRIDES CLUB‘ DID FOR US
Brides Club’s biggest value to me was Karen’s content (full of creative ideas and answers to my many questions) and the trusted vendor list. I found my wedding planner, kippahs, photographer and ketubah through Brides Club. Some more details on the latter two…
Jossef Si Photography: Jossef is from TLV and came recommended from a friend in London. His work was so much better than what we were seeing from the photographers in NYC. My husband and I were hesitant to bring someone from Israel in case there were flight or equipment issues, but his work was so outstanding that we took on the risk! Jossef ‘sealed the deal’ by suggesting I join Brides Club for the 10% discount. This is what made me join, and what a good thing I did!
The Ketubah: We wanted a ketubah that was simple and timeless, and so many of the designs we saw on other websites were very busy and colorful. The Ketubah had a ketubah with such a clean and beautiful design that it was the obvious choice.
Invitation
I LOVED our invitation and save-the-date card! I found the design online when searching on Google for “Gramercy Park Hotel wedding invitations.” I was curious to see what other people had used. I found an invitation with a hand-drawn design of the hotel and its adjacent park, along with the details in hand calligraphy. We used one version of the design for the STD and another for the invitation.
Hair + Makeup
I wanted to look like my natural self, but better.
Hair: I hate updos passionately. I also have super thick hair, and it’s tough to find a style that works well. I knew from the start that I wanted a simple ponytail. When I look at the runway models, they don’t have wild braids and curls and twists… everything is chic and simple. I wanted the same.
Makeup: I don’t wear makeup usually, so it was important that on the wedding day I still looked like myself. I was so pleased with how this came out.
A surprise last minute addition to the wedding day was my first ever IV pack. I came down with a horrible cold and barely slept the night before the wedding. One of my closest friends coordinated for a nurse with an IV pack to show up in my bridal suite! While I was getting pampered with hair and makeup, I also had an IV in my arm pumping vitamins and zinc!
A Carolina Herrera Dress
My dress was from Carolina Herrera, and I bought it at the NYC showroom. CH is known for simple, elegant lines with a little splash of style (in my case, the bow at the waist). I absolutely loved it, and it couldn’t have been more “me.”
Fun back-story… I never envisioned wearing a wedding gown. Instead, I wanted a white designer dress. I bought a white and floral two-piece dress at Dolce & Gabbana right after the engagement with the expectation of wearing that to my wedding.
However, 8 months later (and 4 months until the wedding), I had a change of heart and a fashion wake-up-call, realizing that floral was not the right look for an evening wedding in New York City. I also wanted to feel a bit more glamorous, and only a gown could do that for me.
I saw the Carolina Herrera dress online when in Argentina with Guille’s family, pinned it on Pinterest, then realized I had pinned that exact same dress 8 months earlier. I immediately emailed CH, made an appointment, tried it on and bought it that week!
Accessories
Keeping with the clean and simple look, my accessories were minimal. I was so lucky to wear my grandmother’s beautiful pearl bracelet (my something “old”), along with a stunning pair of diamond earrings from the jewelry shop where my engagement ring and wedding bands are from (my something “borrowed”). I chose not to wear a veil or any hair accessories.
Manolos
For the ceremony, I wore the lowest heel I could find above a kitten. Guille is an inch or two shorter than me, so I didn’t want to tower over him. But, I also didn’t want to miss the chance to have a great shoe. I wore gold linen Manolo Blahniks. I found them in Saks the day after I went to Carolina Herrera (before the dress was even ordered).
For the party, we dialed up the cheese-factor a bit. Guille and I went to the Converse store in Soho and made customized sneakers for dancing. We always sign our cards “te amo hasta la luna y de vuelta” (I love you to the moon and back), so we decided to put that on our shoes. His said “hasta la luna” and mine said “y de vuelta.”
The handsome groom
Guille was more excited about his outfit than I was! He had a custom blue suit made at a shop in our town. He must have gone in 50 times for fittings! He also had THREE white shirts lined up and ready to go, because he knew he was going to sweat through them from dancing!
He paired the suit with a beautiful navy tie with a green and ride stripe at the bottom that we bought it in Paris. He loved the tie so much and was afraid it got ruined during the wedding, that he bought a second one when we got back from our honeymoon!
I surprised him with a Hermes Brides de Gala pocket square just before the wedding. He loves fashion and design, and I knew he’d feel special wearing such a classic design like this. It was the perfect final touch!
No bridesmaids
I have never been a fan of bridesmaids and felt strongly about not having them. Guille did not care, since the bridal party tradition doesn’t even exist in Argentina. Instead, a few of my close friends joined me for hair/makeup and to spend time together before the big night, and they all participated in the wedding with various honors (readings, ketubah signing). I wanted to keep things very small and calm on the wedding day!
Ceremony
The ketubah and chuppah ceremonies were my favorite parts of the night. They were so beautiful, personal and loving. Our rabbi was incredibly warm, and he opened up by sharing our love story with the guests. We also wrote our own vows. I loved hearing his words about our love, and my heart melted watching him hear mine.
Fun fact… the sun was shining on us during the ceremony. It was so hot, I thought I was going to pass out! I actually asked the rabbi to skip one part of the ceremony because I could not withstand the heat any longer!
Our music choice
Processional – violinist
Family: ‘Better Man’ by Leon Bridges
Groom: ‘Adios Nonino’ by Astor Piazzolla. This is an incredibly famous Argentinian song, and it was played at the royal wedding in the Netherlands (the Queen is from Argentina). Guille was so excited about this!
Bride: ‘Moon River’. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of my favorite movies, and this song has been playing during many significant moments in my life. I love the lyrics, and it always gives me a sense of calm. I could not have imagined walking down the aisle to anything else.
Recessional – ‘All You Need is Love’ by The Beatles
First Dance – Simply the Best by Tina Turner. We love this song because it is super loving and powerful, but it also makes you want to dance! After attending a free trial ballroom dance class and then learning it was $2800 for the wedding package, we decided to watch YouTube and choreograph a few moves on our own! It was so far from Dancing With the Stars quality, but we had fun(ish) preparing!
Flowers
Peonies, roses, and whatever white flowers went well with those! I really left this up to the wedding planner. I just wanted them to look clean, elegant and complement the space well. The vendor was Rumphius, and AAB found them.
Photographer
Jossef Si was incredible. We both loved his style. He is more artsy and creative than your traditional wedding photographer. I could not have been happier with the photos! Everyone who saw them commented on what an amazing photographer we had.
Food
The food was catered by Danny Meyer (famous NYC chef) known for Gramercy Tavern, 11 Madison (before he sold it) and of course Shake Shack. We don’t enjoy the concept of sit, eat, dance, sit, eat, dance – so we opted for reception style party with passed food and stations at all hours.
Stations: sushi, gyro and carving (prime rib!)
Passed: Lobster rolls, sliders and lots of other gourmet appetizers.
Late night: Empanadas.
Dessert: Cake (from Magnolia Bakery) and meringues
Entertainment
The evening started off with an acoustic violinist for the welcome and ceremony. Once the cocktail hour kicked off, the musician switched to an electric violin and played over the DJ’s beats. It was awesome!
We couldn’t have a band (not enough space in the venue), but that was no problem since we preferred a DJ anyway. We had a lot of Argentinean party songs that we knew not even the best NYC band would be able to cover.
With the venue’s unique floorplan, the dance floor was not the centerpiece of the room. There were a handful of smaller, interior rooms that we wanted to make use of and provide our guests with some other fun things to do! We brought in the Haiku Guys & Gals to write personalized haikus for the guests, and a tarot card reader to predict their futures!”
Welcome gift
We gave welcome bags (in I <3 NY totes!) to people who stayed in the hotel and filled them with snacks and beverages along with a welcome note that thanked them for coming and explained the significance of the hotel in our love story. We had friends give toasts at the welcome party the night before, and Guille spoke on the wedding night.
We had also customized Coca Cola bottles (idea came from Brides Club member Catherine Richman!). These were ~$5/bottle and were a HUGE hit.
Guest book
Guille loves tennis (played ATP for years) and sneakers, so we bought this amazing Stan Smith photography book and used it as our guest book! It now proudly sits on our coffee table at home.
Honeymoon
We had a minimoon in Anguilla, because we needed some easy and immediate R&R after the wedding. Anguilla is known to have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It has a reputation of ‘the place you go not to be seen’ which is exactly what we wanted. Seclusion, quiet, relaxation!
The honeymoon is still TBD… We originally booked Greece and Italy, but we had to cancel it due to some important work conflicts. Hoping to still make the trip in the spring!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Remember that you invited everyone to witness and enjoy your special day. This means a lot of the moments you share with your spouse are not going to be private!
Julie & Guillermo’s little white book
Photography – Jossef Si {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – AAB Creates {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Ketubah – The Ketubah {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Gramercy Park Hotel
Bride’s dress – Carolina Herrera
Bride’s shoes – Manolo Blahnik and Converse
Groom’s attire – Hermes
Hair + Makeup – Once Upon a Bride and Face by Kase
Flowers – Rumphius
Entertainment – Haiku Guys & Gals and Jarrell Entertainment
Cake – Magnolia Bakery
Invitations – Paperfinger
Bar Design – Katie Fischer Design