If getting married in the rain is good luck, then how much better to get married in a hurricane?! Yep, today’s couple, Rachel and Mitch, made it official at a gorgeous farm venue in New York’s Hudson Valley in the middle of Hurricane Henri.
Lots of couples would’ve been thrown by the dramatic weather, but – thanks largely to their fabulous team of vendors – Rachel and Mitch took it all in stride. As you’ll see if you scroll through the gorgeous photos from Golden Hour Studios, the day could not have been more perfect, dramatic weather or no!
Rachel and Mitch are huge nature lovers, and their aim for their country chic Jewish wedding was for “the whole wedding to feel like just grew out of the landscape,” with shades of green and white abounding.
The nature vibes extended to the couple’s beautiful custom ketubah, which they knew from the start needed to include trees. After much online searching, when Rachel found Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Tallulah Ketubahs, she knew she’d hit the jackpot. Rachel crafted the most exquisite arboreal ketubah – after getting to know Rachel and Mitch, their love story, and their vision – which now hangs proudly in the couple’s living room!
Now over to the bride, who looked radiant in Blue by Enzoani…
How we Met
Mitch and I met on the dating app Hinge. Our first date was August 22, 2018 in Union Square Park and it was love at first sight! We fell in love that night and the rest was history. Mitch met my whole family a week later and we moved in together 2 months after that. Everyone thought we were crazy but we just knew we were meant to be together. We always knew we were going to get married on August 22, 2021 – 3 years to the day of our first date. Our anniversary!
A Hudson Valley Wedding
We fell in love with Glynwood at first sight! When you first get there, you drive up this 2-mile long dirt driveway that drives through this working farm landscape and I just knew right then that it was the one. The views are breathtaking, but their mission is what really hit home for us. The Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming is a non-profit organization serving food and farming changemakers from New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond. Their mission is to bring farming back to the Hudson Valley and Mitch and I were living in the Catskills for a few years and the Hudson Valley is where we fell in love.
Natural Vibes
Paula from Your Events makes wedding planning easy! We could not have survived planning a wedding during Covid without her! Especially on the day of the wedding when Hurricane Henri was hitting hard, she stepped up and handled the stress with grace!
Between Paula and my mother, they made sure every detail reflected our vision. Our theme was always nature. Mitch and I are huge nature lovers and wanted nature and greenery to be in every aspect. Our color scheme was green and white, and I suppose our wedding style was country farm chic. We wanted the whole wedding to feel like it has always been that way and just grew out of the landscape. It was important to us that the wedding was green and natural.
Invitation
We wanted our Invitation design to be simple and elegant. We chose Shine Wedding Invitations for their simple beauty. We went with their delicate elegance invitations with a soft green peony envelope lining.
Dress
I bought my dress at The White Gown in NYC. I chose A line Marie gown by Blue by Enzoani in all white.
Accessories
We got engaged on May 21st, 2020 during peak Covid. Mitch proposed with a wedding band because he knew I wanted to pick out my own ring. I always wanted an antique stone called an Old European, which is a round stone that came before the round brilliant, they were primarily cut back between 1890-1930. We searched for the perfect jewelry that specialized in these beautiful antique stones and found Adam from Old World Diamonds. He helped us find the most perfect stone and custom setting!
Mitch surprised me with beautiful Old European stud earrings on our wedding day from Adam at Old World Diamonds as well!
Hair + Makeup
At the last minute we needed to find a new hair and makeup team and found Sharon Becker from SB Beauty. Sharon and her team were amazing! Despite the hurricane, Sharon and her team got there on time and really helped us all during a stressful morning. Sharon specializes in low-key natural makeup, it was very important to me to feel like myself on my wedding day and not have a heavy face of makeup on. Sharon delivered and I truly felt like myself!
The handsome groom
Mitch had a custom suit made from Alan David in NYC. He wanted a classic black suit with a black bow tie. They were amazing to work with!
Ceremony
Mitch and I read our own vows that I think really made the ceremony so special. Our wedding was during Hurricane Henri and as we read our vows mother nature was more powerful than ever, the hurricane was at full force and we read our vows as the rain came down over our clear tent. It was magical! I think our ceremony was so special because we just bought our forever home in Chappaqua, NY and we decided to meet a rabbi from the community in Briarcliff NY. Rabbi Kane from Congregation Son of Israel and he was not only so down to earth but his Synogague has a 1-acre farm, which was right up our alley!
Our wedding day was so special because it wasn’t only our wedding day but our 3 year anniversary! Mitch and I got married 3 years to the day of our first date in Union square park where we fell in love at first sight.
Ketubah
Mitch and I had a very specific vision for our Ketubah, we knew we wanted a custom work of art that will be with us forever. We knew we needed nature and trees in the design, and I search far and wide to find the perfect artist. I found Tallulah Ketubahs online and Rachel’s work was truly amazing and exactly what we wanted.
When we reached out and told her about our love story and vision, we truly felt like we connected and knew she was the artist we had always wanted. She worked so hard to make sure we had exactly what we were envisioning. Her beautiful trees are so gorgeous!!! We plan to hang it in our new home in our dining room so every guest we have over will see our beautiful ketubah.
Flowers
I worked as a florist for years and so the flowers were very important to me. We found a local florist named Felicity Bontecou. I wanted a lot of greenery and textures, rather than lots of flowers. We chose a beautiful green garland for our farm table at the reception, with ferns and eucalyptus. In the tent, we had sapling trees covering the tent poles. My bouquet had greenery, white garden roses, and white anemones.
Photography & Videography
Meeting Jesse from Golden Hour Studios was truly one of the best parts of planning our wedding. I first found him on Instagram before we were even engaged, and fell in love with his amazing photos from all over the Hudson Valley! When we finally reached out and got to know him we knew right away he was the one who was going to capture our love story. We became fast friends! Jesse is not your average wedding photographer, he does things a bit differently. Mitch and I aren’t a cookie-cutter couple and we wanted a photographer who wasn’t either. His style and personality are what makes his photos so special.
We used The Candi Project for our videographer. Chris and Aenid captured my brother’s wedding a few years ago and I always knew they would do my wedding as well. They captured our love story so perfectly!
Food and Cake
We got our cake from Lady M bakery in NYC, they specialize in crepe cakes! Lady M is my favorite cake and always has been! Everyone told us we were crazy and to just get a normal cake, but we knew Lady M was for us. Everyone was blown away by how delicious it was!
Extra details
Our wedding took place during Hurricane Henri. Without our amazing vendors, our wedding would have been a disaster! Every single vendor not only showed up during the hurricane but stepped up to the plate and helped make our day truly magical.
We LOVE Carvel Ice Cream and had arranged to have a carvel ice cream truck come for dessert. By that point in the evening, it was STORMING out and we see light pulling up the Glynwood driveway. Mitch was across the tent from me and he saw the ice cream truck first, so he screamed at the top of his lungs “Rachel! Look!” and pointed at the truck pulling in during the storm. I started cheering and the whole party started clapping and cheering as the truck pulled in to the venue. It was such a treat.
Mitch and I had been taking dance lessons for months to make our first dance special, but we didn’t tell anyone that we had been practicing! We had been working so hard and it was SO worth it. I was a very competitive figure skater growing up, so at one point, Mitch lifted me and we did some twirls and everyone cheered for us, it was so special.
Mitch grew up in a very large family, he is one of 9 siblings. Having such a large family that lives all over the world they don’t get together as one family very often. They hadn’t been all together in over 6 years. The most special part of the wedding weekend was having Mitch’s whole family together making memories. A truly unforgettable experience!
RACHEL & MITCH’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photographer – Golden Hour Studios
Videographer – The Candi Project
Ketubah – Tallulah Ketubahs {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding Planner – Your Event by Paula Smith
Venue – Glynwood Farms
Dress – Enzoani found at The White Gown
Bridal stylist – Lizzy Polden
Bride’s accessories – Old World Diamonds
Groom’s attire – Alan David
Hair + Makeup – Sharon Becker Beauty
Flowers – Flowers by Felicity
Band – Elan Artists – Soundhouse
Cake – Lady M Bakery
Stationery – Shine Wedding Invitations
Ice Cream Truck – Carvel Ice Cream
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.
Great shots but its the final ice cream one that is just perfect 🙂