Good morning, lovelies! Today we have an absolute stunner of a Jewish wedding to share with you, and also a special treat for you US brides and grooms: the fab photography and videography studio behind today’s super-glam shots, NYC-based Fred Marcus Studio, is offering members of our VIB Club a free engagement shoot (just click here to become a VIB [Very Important Bride] and enjoy ALL the benefits!)
Fred Marcus Studio is just one of hundreds of vendors, handpicked by me, who offer VIB’s a 10% discount or special gift. There’s also a wonderful private VIB Facebook community, too, where me and my team are on hand to advise you with your wedding plans, day or night — however and whenever you need assistance, along with SO much more goodness — it’s a hive of activity! If you haven’t joined yet, don’t delay as we’ll be closing membership for this quarter shortly.
So now, onto today’s EPIC wedding. This ultra-chic Jewish W Day is basically a big fat love letter to one of the greatest cities in the world: New York. Having spent their entire relationship in the city, there was no question that Kira, a grad student, and Mark, who works in finance, would wed anywhere else.
The pair got married at Liberty Warehouse in super cool Redhook, Brooklyn, with an outdoor ceremony looking out on the water–and onto the Statue of Liberty! How much more quintessentially NYC can it get?
Well, let’s see… Kira found her gown, a show-stopping custom Pnina Tornai, at Kleinfeld, the ultimate New York wedding dress shopping destination–just like on Say Yes to the Dress.
And the couple had a six-layer cake from NYC cult favorite Momofuku Milkbar, which you may know for such iconic creations as Crack Pie and Cereal Milk Soft Serve.
Even their invitations got in on the act, with a map of NYC lining the envelopes and the city skyline adorning their rehearsal dinner invite.
The couple wanted a party where no one sat down, and thanks to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Hank Lane they found their fab wedding band, led by Bobby Attiko, who kept their guests dancing all night–it is the city that never sleeps, after all! Now I’ll turn you over to bride Kira for all the details…
An NYC Wedding
Kira, the bride: we got married at Liberty Warehouse in Redhook, Brooklyn. We really wanted a New York wedding since our whole relationship has taken place in NYC, and we also wanted somewhere on the water since water is always our happy place. When we found out the only date left at LW for a June 2017 wedding was our 5th anniversary of meeting, we knew it was meant to be!
A Rustic Garden Theme
We loved that Liberty Warehouse offered such a beautiful rustic space, but that we could make it our own with how we chose to decorate. Our vision was to have a very romantic, rustic, almost mystical garden feel. We knew we wanted lots of candles, whites and greenery for flowers, and antique mirrored tabletops. We used an amazing wedding planner, Dominique Bell.
Pegasus Production did our lighting and they were beyond amazing.
NYC-Themed Invitations
Our invite suite was something that was unique to us because we added some custom touches to it — the lining of the envelope was a map of New York City, we tied in lavender to the floral detailing because it was my grandmother’s favorite color and has become my favorite color, and we had the New York skyline on the rehearsal dinner invite since it was in Tribeca. We worked with Ceci New York, and we couldn’t be happier!
A Trusted Stylist
My hairstylist was Joseph Maine — he has been doing my hair for years and is the only person I trust with it! My makeup was done by Christiane Gendry — she is incredible.
A Pnina Tornai Dress
My dress was from Kleinfeld and was custom designed by Pnina Tornai, an amazing Israeli designer. There were a few Israeli designers I was interested in, but once I met with Pnina and she was able to sketch me the dress I was describing (a combination of three of her dresses I found at Kleinfeld), I knew it was the dress I wanted.
Diamond Earrings
I borrowed gorgeous hanging diamond earrings from our jeweler, Suzy B, and I wore a hair clip for the ceremony only made by Lelet NY. My veil was from Kleinfeld as well.
A Last-Minute Change of Shoes
I originally was wearing 4-inch Jimmy Choo heels for my wedding in a champagne color, but shortly before the wedding I ended up fracturing my foot and needed to change my footwear last-minute. I took a few pictures in the Jimmy Choos and then changed into a pair of Miu Miu heels that had a platform and a block heel, and my doctor was able to put an insert in under my break. I felt no pain on my wedding day!
The handsome groom
Mark wore a dark navy blue suit by Lanvin — we picked it out together, but seeing him in it for the first time on our wedding day brought instant tears to my eyes. There was so much going on that day and so much excitement, but when we did our first look it was just the two of us and was a moment I will never forget.
Bridesmaids in Black
I had 7 bridesmaids and they all wore black gowns of their choice as well as heels of their choice. I loved the way it looked with chic black dresses against the rustic/whimsical theme we had created for the reception.
A Minimalist Floral Chuppah
We wanted it to be minimalist on the poles and then lots of greenery and white flowers hanging down from the top. We felt that against the backdrop of the water, this would look really cool. We did a white calla lily-themed cocktail hour that turned out really beautiful.
A Personalized Ketubah
We were married by a rabbi who means a lot to my family — my grandparents listened to his talk show every Sunday for years, and he did both of their funerals and unveilings — he is an incredibly special person and took the time to really get to know us as a couple. Aside from the traditional Jewish ceremony, we chose 7 people to come under the chuppah and give us their own blessing, and then we both recited vows that we had written.
We are really close to our families and friends and wanted to make sure everyone felt included. The Seven Blessings during the ceremony allowed another 7 people to be involved, we each had a friend sign our ketubah, and then another two friends signed our marriage license.
Our ketubah is very special to us because it was custom-designed by an artist in Chicago and has elements of our relationship embedded in it. The bottom of the ketubah is the Amalfi Coast (one of our favorite places in the world); the top is the mountains of Killington, Vermont, where my family has a house; there is an eagle on one tree for my husband’s serious love of the Philadelphia Eagles and an owl on another tree for my grandfather who collected owls; and a lavender hamsa for my grandmother’s favorite color.
A Sky Full of Stars
Mark walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of Mirrors by Boyce Avenue, the wedding party walked down to an acoustic version of Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran, I walked down to Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goudling. After we were married the recessional was Love Me Now by John Legend. We walked into the reception to A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay and then went right into our first dance which was All of Me by John Legend.
Florals in White and Cream
Matthew Kolins at Atlas Florist was the fabulous florist who really brought my vision to life. My bridesmaids all held white calla lilys with long green stems, and I held a mix of white calla lilys, purple ones, and some white roses as well. We had two different looks for the table set-ups since some of our tables were round and others were rectangular. On the rounds we had these gorgeous white orchid arrangements in crystal vases surrounded by candles, and on the long tables we had lots of different beautiful white and cream flowers and candles.
Our fabulous Photographers and videographer
After a lot of research we ended up meeting with Brian Marcus from Fred Marcus Studio, and we KNEW he was the person we wanted to photograph our wedding. Brian had such great energy and everything he showed us we loved. We ended up have 3 photographers from Fred Marcus — Brian Marcus, Leslie Farinacci, and Anton Martynov — as well as a videographer. We can’t thank Brian and his team enough — we LOVE the pictures and really feel that they captured everything.
A Momofuku Milkbar Cake
Our cake was from Momofuku Milkbar because it’s one of our favorites — we did six layers, alternating from our favorite confetti cake to the delicious German chocolate. Liberty Warehouse has its own in-house catering and it was AMAZING.
Music to Party By
We had Bobby Attiko and his band from Hank Lane — when we initially met with Kim Kaufman, a producer at Hank Lane, we told her we wanted a party where NO ONE sat down at all and boy did Bobby and his team deliver. The music was absolutely incredible and really made the party. My husband even got to play on the drums with them for a few songs!
A Pretzel Truck
At the end of the night we had a Sigmund’s Pretzels food trunk giving out delicious pretzels in custom bags that had our initials on them. It was the perfect touch while people were getting on the buses.
A Shot Ski for the Speeches
Speeches were done by both sets of parents, the MOH, and best man, as well as the bride’s brother.
The bride’s father brought out a shot ski that lives in their ski house and is a tradition in their family — at the end of his speech he did a shot ski with the new bride and groom and the room went wild. Our bridal party members all wanted to speak at the rehearsal dinner which made for a really fun kickoff to the weekend.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
We both feel so lucky because we really didn’t stress leading up to the wedding and we really had the best night of our lives. Stressing over little details can really take away from the big picture — at the end of the day you are hopefully marrying your soulmate surrounded by your closest family and friends and that is what makes it so amazing.
Kira & Mark’s little white book
Photography and videography – Fred Marcus Studio
Wedding planner – Dominique Bell
Venue – Liberty Warehouse
Bride’s dress – Pnina Tornai purchased at Kleinfeld
Bride’s accessories – Suzy B., Lelet NY and Kleinfeld
Bride’s shoes – Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo and Converse
Groom’s attire – Lanvin
Hair + Makeup – Joseph Maine
Flowers – Atlas Florist
Band — Bobby Attiko from Hank Lane
Cake – Momofuku Milkbar
Favors – Sigmund’s Pretzels
Invitations – Ceci New York
Lighting – Pegasus Production
