A New York City Urban Fairy Tale

Raquel & Xavier
September 27, 2008
Featured in Brooklyn Bride

Xavier and Raquel married civilly three years ago but they longed to marry through the Catholic Church. After going over many options they decided on an intimate and casual afternoon affair, with about 85 guests. They married on the day of their eight year anniversary since it was conveniently falling on a Saturday. The problem was that it left us with one month to plan the entire wedding.

Theme

It all started with selecting a venue. We recommended a restaurant located in Brooklyn called MyMoon since we felt it was an ideal place for an intimate wedding. Xavier and Raquel fell in love with its urban ambiance and its exquisite Turkish cuisine. We suggested deep hues of purple that would perfectly complement the browns and oranges of MyMoon’s décor. The couple wanted to pay homage to a theme that was close to their hearts. While Raquel’s godmother is a breast cancer survivor, Xavier’s aunt had recently lost her battle to breast cancer and they asked us to incorporate pink in their honor.

Stationary

We designed and created the wedding stationary suite. The wedding invitation was a square card in an antique blush color with purple font and a matching blush colored envelope. The wedding information was printed on the right side of the card and layers of purple raffia decorated the left side for a simple and elegant look. The RSVP card, program for the wedding ceremony and place card all complemented the invitations and gave a stylish representation of the affair.

Ceremony and
Reception Site

The ceremony was held at Mt. Carmel St. Anthony Church in Yonkers, New York. The afternoon reception took place in the Mediterranean restaurant, MyMoon, located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Having been a former boiler room of an old factory, elements of the neighborhood’s industrial past added to the NYC feel that guests could experience. Its bare brick walls and exposed pipes definitely made it an incredibly unique venue.

Gown & Attire

Raquel wore a gorgeous, off white dress from BCBG Max Azria with a sequined bodice and beautifully layered skirt of tiered lace. Her hair was styled in a soft up-do with an antique hair comb and her mother’s vintage pearl necklace with matching earrings. Xavier wore a sand-colored, Perry Ellis three–piece suit that complemented the vintage inspired gown. The bridesmaids wore eggplant colored dresses by Calvin Klein while the groomsmen wore dark brown, Oscar de la Renta suits with matching ties that kept with the deep purple color scheme.

Decor

MyMoon needed very little decoration since the couple wanted to keep the industrial feel that exuded from it – but they still wanted to give the reception their own personal touch. We designed small flower arrangements to be placed on top of the bare wooden tables. MyMoon provided the place settings with its corresponding menu and ivory linens; each favor, which also served as a seating card, was set on top of each plate. Tables were named after NYC landscapes; with names written in deep red ink, black and white postcards with images of different city sights were placed at each table. For the seating arrangements, we created 8”x11” cards with each table name followed by the guests that were assigned to each specific table. Each card was inserted into a wooden frame; all frames were tied together with a purple colored string and the entire montage, surrounded by flower petals, covered a long table that was placed right at the entrance of the restaurant. Tall floral arrangements surrounded different areas of the restaurant including that of the guestbook table which was placed towards the front of the venue. The guestbook, a coffee table book of black and white photos of NYC, sat open on a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge where guests were invited to add to the couple’s NYC memories.

Flowers

The first thing the bride told us when we were brainstorming the décor was that she wanted different, non-traditional flowers. We created modern arrangements of burgundy coxcombs and dahlias, with hints of sparsa, in clear glass vases of varying sizes and shapes that were lined with burgundy banana leaves. The bridesmaids’ bouquets were composed of black calla lilies and burgundy dahlias tied with a purple wired, taffeta ribbon. The bride’s bouquet was crafted with ivory roses and white ranunculus tied together with ivory taffeta ribbon adding the perfect detail to the romantic style of her dress.

Cake

Since Raquel and Xavier wanted to stay away from the traditional tiered cake, we suggested red velvet, carrot and vanilla cupcakes with butter cream frosting in various shades of pink from Anna Artuso’s Pastry Shop. To add a little spark, the cupcakes were sprinkled with a hint of sparkling sugar on top. They were placed on a white, wooden cupcake stand that we covered with leaves dyed in a burgundy color.

Music

The couple decided to keep it simple and played music from their very own Ipod; Xavier made a smooth playlist that complemented the relaxed atmosphere. The music ranged from some of their favorite English artists such as Corinne Bailey Ray, Babyface and oldies like the Beatles to Spanish artists such as Juan Luis Guerra who played as we swayed to our first dance.

Favors

Since Raquel and Xavier wanted to give their guests something meaningful, they decided to honor their loved ones by pinning each guest with the emblematic pink cancer ribbon. For favors, they joined the Pink Envelope Project and made a donation to the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation on behalf of each guest. We inserted the pink favor cards into small straw bags and tied them with purple string; the same string was then used to tie printed labels with each person’s name thus doubling as a place card and adding to the creative flair of the event.

Photography

Raquel and Xavier were very anxious when it came down to choosing a photographer since after the wedding is over, pictures and memories are all that remain. We recommended Robert Sukrachand and after seeing his work, their anxiety quickly dissipated. Robert truly captured the essence of all the memorable moments utilizing a documentary style. The portrait session, which took place at an old, abandoned lot in Brooklyn while raindrops were falling, really exemplified the photographer’s talent. Against a backdrop of bricks and cement, each photo tells its very own story and brings forth the joy that everyone felt on their wedding day.