We love a good New York Jewish wedding, and this one is really something special! Kat, an obstetrician-gynecologist, and Marc, an emergency physician, got married at Weylin in Brooklyn, and we can’t get enough of all the gorgeous details this historic building has to offer (including a breathtaking frescoed dome!).
Kat and Marc wanted their day to be a solid mix of the traditional and the unconventional, opting for a classic ceremony followed by an offbeat reception. Throughout, they drew inspiration from nature, from their wonderful chuppah adorned with greenery and florals to Kat’s Maggie Sottero dress to the couple’s exquisite tree ketubah by Shell Rummel, found at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com.
Take one look at the beautiful photos by Megan and Kenneth and you’ll see that this was one joyful day – read on for all the details!
How We Met
Katharine, the bride and Marc, the groom: We met on the very first day of medical school!
A Brooklyn Wedding
We got married at Weylin in Brooklyn, NY. We were looking for a unique secular space and definitely found that! Kat loves historic buildings and fell in love with all the little details of the space, which was formerly the Williamsburgh Savings Bank. We weren’t planning on a large wedding, around 75 people, so the option to have our ceremony under one of the domes and transition downstairs to the 1875 Bar and the Gallery for cocktail hour and the reception was perfect.
Perfectly Planned
We wanted to have a good mix of tradition and unconventional. To that end, we decided to keep our ceremony quite classic and leave the offbeat for the reception. We chose a burgundy, blush, champagne and evergreen color scheme, which went beautifully with the frescoed dome at Weylin. All of this would not be possible without our wedding planner Justine and her team at Avalinda. She helped us to have the wedding that we wanted, that did not have to fall into any tired tropes or aspects of wedding planning that were not meaningful to us.
We wanted to include our two cats, Cali and Heathcliff, who preferred to stay home on our wedding day. Weylin created a specialty cocktail for each of them, and we brought cardboard cutouts of their faces to the dance floor!
Hair + Makeup
The team at Willow House Beauty did a wonderful job with hair and makeup for the bridal party.
A Maggie Sottero Dress
Kat wanted to feel like an elven princess and fell in love with a nature-inspired Maggie Sottero dress at Bridal Suite of Centereach.
Accessories + Shoes
I wore an heirloom tennis bracelet, as well as a love letter charm necklace from Catbird in honor of my parents. I found super comfortable wedding flats at The White Ribbon.
Bridesmaids
Kat had three bridesmaids who wore burgundy velvet dresses from Jenny Yoo, as well as a man of honor who rocked burgundy Converse for the ceremony and transitioned to rainbow sequin Converse for the reception!
Ceremony & Chuppah
We decided to have our ceremony in the round to make the moment more intimate while still enjoying the grandiose space. We lined the aisle with candles and garlands leading up to the chuppah, which was decorated with even more greenery and flowers. We both did the circling (3 led by Kat, 3 led by Marc, and 1 together).
Ketubah
We continued the nature-inspired theme for our ceremonial items (rings and ketubah). We found a beautiful ketubah by Shell Rummel at ketubah.com.
Our music choice
It was important to us to have a live music component to our wedding, so we chose a wonderful harpist, Kirsten Copely to play during our ceremony and cocktail hour. She also accompanied us during our private first dance!
We have very different music tastes and where we overlap is hardly traditional, so it comes as no surprise that we chose Ben Boylan at Non-Traditional DJs for our reception! When we mentioned to Ben that we wanted a Taylor Swift-90’s-John Williams-Legend of Zelda-Punk/Alternative dance party he took it on as a challenge with excitement. He proceeded to deliver a perfect evening of expertly curated music to celebrate the best night of our lives.
Flowers
Hanato did an amazing job finding beautiful florals that were in season and matched our color scheme!
Photographer
As already mentioned, we are big believers in keeping things classic but adding a bit of flare to make things different and unique. We are also strong believers that photos invoke memory and nostalgia and transform over time. Ultimately we just wanted photos that were classic, timeless and with a little silliness thrown in there. Megan and Kenneth are an amazing couple (literally, a husband and wife duo) of photographers that pride themselves on capturing the candid and important moments, big and small. The beautiful photos speak for themselves!
Food and cake
We knew we needed to find a kosher caterer to accommodate a number of our guests, and Prestige Caterers did a phenomenal job! We love dessert so we opted for a dairy wedding, and everything, including our lemon-raspberry wedding cake, was delicious. Our guests could not stop talking about how good all the food was! We’re still thinking about the grilled cheese sliders with tomato soup shooters from our cocktail hour.
Honeymoon
We did a mini-moon in Upstate NY at Mohonk Mountain House which was a perfect getaway.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
We found an amazing piece of advice while stressing a few weeks before the wedding and scrolling through Instagram: on your wedding day, remember that you are not the hosts, you are the guests of honor!
KATHARINE & MARC’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Megan and Kenneth
Ketubah – ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Weylin
Planner – Avalinda
Bride’s dress – Maggie Sottero found at Bridal Suite of Centereach.
Bride’s shoes – The White Ribbon
Bride’s accessories – Catbird
Bridesmaids – Jenny Yoo
Hair + Makeup – Willow House Beauty
Flowers – Hanato
Catering – Prestige Caterers
DJ – Non-Traditional DJs
Harpist – Kirsten Copely
Honeymoon – Mohonk Mountain House
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
