Ava & Josh | Super-glam Art Deco inspired Jewish wedding at 501 Union, Brooklyn, New York City, USA

Sometimes New Yorkers just reach a level of perfection mere mortals can only imagine. This is one of those instances. Ava and Josh married in the 501 Union space in Brooklyn and theirs is an Art Deco-inspired day, serving the associated glamour, luxury and exuberance in spades. It’s stylish and polished beyond belief, yet family and their own union remains as the focal point throughout.

As an event producer, it was no surprise that the Ava, the bride, decided to orchestrate the entire day herself. In her own words, Ava ‘liked the idea of balancing organic, lush greenery and florals with fancy champagne towers and glamour golds’ — Let’s face it, this is not a run of the mill bride here — this lady knows her stuff.

And of course Ava was spot on – the organic and the glitz do work spectacularly together — diametrically opposed but so complementary. Have a look at the family style dinner amidst glamorous palms and champagne towers. The simple chuppah (incorporating her father’s tallit) and the beautiful hanging florals in the ceremony room and then, in the evening, guests partied under a gold ticker tape/snow globe effect on the dance floor.

In fact, I’m going to have to track down one of those industrial gold confetti machines, I’m not sure I can celebrate my next birthday without it. How did I not know they existed?!

While I’m at it, I might have to pinch Ava and Josh’s leaving gift ideas too — bagged coffee, late night snacks and Berocca. How super cool is that!

Ava and Josh found their photographer by browsing various wedding blogs — that’s why I love STG — I get a chance to showcase the works of the most amazing photographers and you have the opportunity to reach out and snap them up for yourselves!

Check out Kelly Kollar Photography’s photos below – and remember Ava and Josh are a very discerning couple! 

an art deco style space

Ava, the Bride: We live in downtown Manhattan but really loved the 501 Union space in Brooklyn. A lot of wedding venues in Manhattan are either formal or too small and 501’s space embodied the art deco style we were looking for and could easily accommodate our party.

champagne towers and glamour golds

I didn’t believe in committing to a colour scheme, but liked the idea of balancing organic, lush greenery and florals with fancy champagne towers and glamour golds. Overall, the venue itself holds a lot of character and ultimately felt that less was more. The champagne towers and palm centre pieces set the tone for the decor and family style dinner brought everyone together.

an art deco style invitation

I created the invitation based on a mixture of different designs I saw along the way. Simple, art deco, and inviting.

hair + makeup

I wanted to look like myself on my wedding day and tried to keep my make-up minimal. I had a great hair/make-up person called Michiko Boorberg, along with my sister and BFF in the room while I got ready. After the ceremony, I let my hair down and added waves to change it up.

A Zac Posen wedding dress

The dress was a Zac Posen gown I saw some time ago on the runway. I knew it was what I wanted and with the help of some friends, I was able to locate the dress through the website, Moda Operandi. I never really had a “dream dress”, but was certain when I saw it. It was the only one I tried on.

accessories

I had my seamstress design my veil. I initially wasn’t going to wear one but I liked like idea of floor length flowy veil just for the ceremony. I also had my florist separate some flowers from the bunch to attach to the veil.

champagne Jimmy Choo’s

My shoes were the last part of my outfit and by that time all I was looking for was a champagne coloured sandal with a low heel. Finding that was a lot harder than you think but Jimmy Choo came to the rescue!

The handsome groom

Josh was head-to-toe in Ralph Lauren Black Label. No major surprises here, he had a styling squad made up of myself and my “bridesman”.

Men in tuxes and ladies in champagne

We kept our ceremony family only. I requested that all men wear tuxedos and chose champagne coloured dresses for the ladies. I knew we were going to have gold glitter confetti later in the night and envisioned the two shades working well together.

the ceremony

We kept the aisle and chuppah family only to simplify the procession and ceremony to keep things short and sweet. Aesthetically, I had an amazing installation team arrange hanging florals in the ceremony room, which turned in a lounge area later in the evening.

chuppah design

We used my husband’s fathers tallit as the roof of the chuppah. There was a lot going on in the ceremony room with the hanging floral installation, so we wanted to keep the chuppah, designed by Chuppah Studio, simple with black wooden poles.

vintage Reggae and 80’s and 90’s dance music

My husband and I curated most of the music for the evening. Right after the ceremony, we had a cocktail hour of vintage Reggae until we were formally announced as husband and wife. Once dinner started we played a mix of 80’s and 90’s dance music. Since we started dating, my husband has made me mixes, naming each one after me, Ava1, Ava2 (we are up to Ava17), so a lot of those songs were derived from those mixes which was special to us.

glamorous palms and fabulous flowers

I’m an event producer and have a go-to florist for all of my events. After many visits to the floral district, we decided on an organic feel for the ceremony and glamorous palms for the table centres that complimented the champagne towers. Dawn, our florist, immediately understood my direction. She spent most of our time together educating me on the different types of flowers and arrangement colours.

our wonderful photographer

Kelly Kollar Photography‘s work has been shown on multiple wedding blogs and I could tell she had a special eye. She was able to capture simple, elegant un-staged moments. Also a breeze to work with!

entertainment… and an industrial gold confetti machine!

We had an amazing DJ and an industrial confetti machine. The confetti was a surprise to all and got everyone on the dance floor. Till this day our friends still find pieces of in their home!

favours

My husband is huge on coffee, so we bagged up one of our favourite brewers (Gimme! Coffee) as a parting gift. We also provided late night snacks and Berocca on the way out.

advice to other brides and grooms

Planning can be super stressful! At the end of the day, it’s about creating a union with another person – not silly details.

Ava & Josh’s LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photographer — Kelly Kollar Photography
Day of Coordinator — Stephanie Yeh
Venue — 501 Union
Hotel — The Broome Hotel
Hanging Floral Installation — Bonika Caroline
Florist — La Fleur Event and Floral Design, Dawn Hubbard
Chuppah — Chuppah Studio
Wedding dress — Zac Posen
Shoes —Jimmy Choo
Groom’s tuxedo — Ralph Lauren Black Label
Make-up and Hair — Michiko Boorberg
Catering — Foremost Caterers
DJ — David Holland