If you’re a fan of old-world elegance and you love that chic, vintage-inspired aesthetic, prepare yourself, because Stacey and Chris’s Jew-ish wedding is going to blow you away.
Bride Stacey describes herself as a type-A personality, which explains the absolutely extraordinary attention to detail, consistency in the beautifully executed wedding theme and fabulous choice of vendors.
The dreamy color scheme, incorporating dusky purples, pale pinks, ivory and hints of metallic gold, sat perfectly alongside the vintage travel vibe, celebrating the globetrotting couple’s shared love of exploring the world together.
Every last detail, from the tremendous floral-adorned chuppah to the looks-too-good-to-eat (almost, we’d still take a slice) cake, the luggage tag place cards to the personalized globe, was simply stunning.
Stacey and Chris’s Jew-ish ceremony celebrated the best, and most unique, parts of their relationship, with lots of humor, love and devotion along the way.
Sensational bride, Stacey, genuinely looked like an old Hollywood icon in her glamorous Pronovias gown and breathtaking hair and makeup.
Photographer Paul Francis Photography captured timelessly beautiful shots, while Stacey provided the eloquent, detailed writeup below. We’ll leave you in their capable hands – we just know you’re going to fall head over heels in love with everything about this beeeeeautiful big day!
How we met
Stacey, the bride: Chris and I met in high school back in 2005. Over the years, we have developed a great love for travel. In April of 2015, Chris and I traveled back to one of our favorite countries, Italy, for the Passover/Easter break.
Little did I know, Chris had tucked away an engagement ring inside of his luggage.
We had an incredible week traveling through Milan, Cinque Terre, and Florence. At the leg of our trip, Chris had arranged for us to visit San Miniato Al Monte, a basilica in Florence, overlooking the city. It was at this magical location that Chris got down on one knee and proposed. The proposal wasn’t the only surprise. Chris had previously contacted an Italian photographer, who was dressed as a tourist, to capture our proposal.
A venue with old-world charm
Chris and I got married at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, New Jersey. I had visited over 10 venues, and the Westmount was certainly the most memorable.
We fell in love with the old-world charm and timeless elegance of the cocktail hour room, the beautiful outdoor spaces, and the bright, modern feel to the reception room. Not to mention, we heard rave reviews about the service and food of our venue (which they certainly lived up to).
Our event manager was also highly helpful and accommodating every step of the way.
A travel-inspired wedding
Chris and I tried to personalize our wedding by incorporating our love of travel. For instance, rather than displaying traditional escort cards, we incorporated luggage tag guest cards, consistent with our travel-inspired wedding.
We found an amazing Etsy vendor, Porter Leather, who created beautiful leather luggage tags with the motto, “Let the Adventure Begin”. It was such a creative way for guests to find out where they were sitting, and they also doubled as favors!
We also named each table after a destination that we have traveled to together (Milan, Barcelona, Florence, and St. Thomas, just to name a few). We had custom postcards created, which was a fun way for guests to write their good wishes and they made fun keepsakes to look back on. My color palette included muted purple and lots of ivory.
My mother was my unofficial wedding planner. During our two-year engagement, I juggled teaching, being in graduate school, and planning a wedding. I certainly couldn’t have done it all without her help and support!
Looking our best
Knowing that my wedding day would be documented with photos and video, which I will look back on years to come, I wanted to make sure that my bridal party and I looked, and felt, our best.
I was so lucky to have discovered Jess, owner of BeYoutiful Bride, who did a phenomenal job styling our hair. One of the greatest investments I had spent on our wedding was having Jess come back to the venue after a long morning of bridal prep and bridal party pictures to provide touch ups right before the ceremony (tip for future brides).
I was equally as fortunate to have discovered Jennifer, owner of Jennifer Leigh Beauty, who did an incredible job with makeup. Both Jess and Jennifer were so accommodating and helpful throughout the planning process. Their accompanied stylists, who also helped to glam up my bridesmaids, mom, mother-in law and grandmothers, did an absolutely amazing job, and helped to keep the bridal prep running smoothly.
A dream Pronovias wedding gown
I purchased my wedding gown at Aleana’s Bridal in Paramus, New Jersey.
I wore the Prusia gown by Pronovias. I absolutely LOVED my wedding gown. It had everything on my wish list, including straps, beading, and lace.
A local jeweler
I purchased my hair accessory through my wedding go-to, Amazon! I wanted a hair piece that made a statement, but would be comfortable and not overpowering.
My wedding jewelry, including our weddings bands, was purchased at a local family-owned jeweler, Jewelry By Esther.
Comfortable wedge heels
I wore jeweled wedges by Badgley Mischka. Since I’m fairly tall (5’8), I didn’t want to tower over everyone. Most importantly, I wanted to be comfortable! They were actually so comfortable that I kept them on the whole night!
The handsome groom
Chris wore a classic black tuxedo from Biltmore Tuxedo, located in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Chris thought of the idea to personalize his bow tie and suspenders with a black, paisley pattern.
An eighteen-strong bridal party
Our bridal party was a small village! We had nine bridesmaids and nine groomsmen. My bridesmaids wore chiffon gowns in Wisteria purple by Bill Levkoff.
I wanted my bridesmaids to look, and feel, their best so I provided them with different neckline options, which also added diversity and uniqueness. The bridesmaids dresses tied in with the subtle hints of muted purple in the floral centerpieces and table signs.
A stunning floral chuppah
I always envisioned standing under a large, organza chuppah.
Our florist, Dalsimer Spitz and Peck did a wonderful job bringing my vision to life and incorporating stunning florals.
A beautiful Jew-ish ceremony
My favorite part of our wedding day was our wedding ceremony. Our officiant, Cantor Beth Garfinkle Hancock, helped us to craft our custom, Jew-ish ceremony (I am Jewish, my husband is Catholic).
Cantor Beth captivated our guests with her beautiful words and singing. Prior to our wedding, Cantor Beth had asked me and Chris to separately e-mail her three to five attributes that we admire about one another and two or three promises that we will make to one another.
We had the best belly laugh when our officiant revealed one of those promises. I promised to minimize the amount of online shoe shopping that I partake in, and Chris promised to bite his tongue when 10+ boxes arrive at our door.
We are forever grateful to Beth for creating and officiating such a beautiful ceremony that we will cherish forever.
Romantic music
We had a talented piano and cello duo perform at our ceremony and cocktail hour.
For the processional, our bridal party walked down to Photograph by Ed Sheeran. I walked down to Make You Feel My Love by Adele. Our recessional song was Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran. You can obviously tell we’re big Ed Sheeran and Adele fans!
Phenomenal flowers
My bouquet was made with ivory peonies and roses.
Our florist, Dalsimer Spitz and Peck, did a wonderful job of tying in muted purple flowers to match the bridesmaids’ dressed. Our centerpieces had lots of ivory, with subtle hints of green, purple, and pink.
Our fabulous photographer…
As I did will all of our vendors, I put a great deal of research into my photographer and videographer. We had met with a number of really great photographers. However, we were highly impressed by Paul of Paul Francis Photography.
For starters, we loved the natural and timeless elegance of his photos. Also, being that I have a type A personality, I found comfort in knowing how organized Paul was. Paul was so helpful throughout the planning process, answering any question that we had and helping me to craft a wedding day timeline.
…and videographer
Our videographer, AJ of AJ Ingoglia Films, was incredible to work with, as well! During our two-year engagement, I would avidly watch all of his wedding trailers and be in complete awe of the quality of his films. Upon our initial meeting with AJ, we were captivated by his talents and his outgoing personality.
Sweet tooth heaven
Our cake tasted as good as it looked! We worked with Calandra’s Bakery in Caldwell, NJ. We chose a pound cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting. It was light and fluffy, and absolutely delicious.
Cake wasn’t the only way to satisfy a sweet tooth at our wedding. We also had a viennese service with every type of dessert you can imagine. The Westmount didn’t disappoint when it comes to food and service! We were able to bring Italy to us by having a gelato cart as one of our viennese stations for guests to enjoy.
A first dance mashup
Our DJ, Jay from Elite Sound Entertainment, did an amazing job keeping everyone on the dance floor. We definitely wanted to appeal to the masses, so we played lots of music through the decades.
Jay also helped us to create a custom first dance mashup. Our first dance was The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. We surprised our guests with a choreographed dance, which started with Sinatra and then jumped into Are You Gonna Be My Girl by JET, Jump Jive An’ Wail by the Brian Setzer Band, and Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars.
Chris and I started taking dance lessons back in January. It was so much fun to see our hard work come to life and to have our closest loved ones cheer us on!
Our unplugged ceremony
Chris and I decided to have an unplugged ceremony. We wanted our guests to be fully present and enjoy this special moment in our lives.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Although future brides hear this time and time again, it is so important to take time to soak everything in and to truly enjoy yourself!
I also made a point to not be one of those brides who said that they barely ate anything. During the cocktail hour, Chris and I took about 30 minutes to enjoy our first meal as husband and wife, and taste a ginormous sampling of the cocktail hour dishes.
I also made sure to enjoy some of the delicious desserts and our wedding cake.
Stacey & Chris’ little white book
Photographer – Paul Francis Photography
Videographer – AJ Ingoglia Films
Venue – Westmount Country Club
Bride’s dress – Pronovias purchased at Aleana’s Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka
Bride’s accessories – Amazon
Groom’s attire – Biltmore Tuxedo
Bridesmaids – Bill Levkoff
Hair + Makeup – BeYoutiful Bride and Jennifer Leigh Beauty
Flowers – Dalsimer Spitz and Peck
Live Musicians – Alexandra and Ensembles
DJ – Elite Sound Entertainment
Cake – Calandra’s Bakery
Invitations – Rockland County Invitations
Cantor –Blessing by Beth
Ketubah – J&B Judaica
Leather tag – Porter Leather
What a beautiful and creative wedding! The couple looks perfectly stunning! The gown is perfection!
Great photography and congratulations to the lovely couple!