Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, and the unofficial start of wedding season! I had four weddings, each unique and different, and I get a lot of questions, from my couples and my colleagues, about what a multiple wedding weekend is like on my end, so I thought I’d take some shots and share my days!
My weekend started with a low-key Saturday morning and afternoon, where I caught up on some ceremony writing (finishing a wedding for July and a baby blessing for June!), and then got ready for my evening wedding! It was a backyard wedding, and a very simple ceremony – which was good, because it wouldn’t stop drizzling! We pushed through anyway, and just as the bride made her way to the front, the rain cleared up for the few minutes we needed for the ceremony.
Reading over the ceremony before hand.
Sunday was a two wedding day! I headed into the city to celebrate with Lesley and Perry, who were married at 91 Horatio Street. The space was so beautiful, awash in draped fabric and vintage-styled peach flowers. I met Lesley at the Lovesick Expo in January, and was so happy I could be a part of her wedding – her smile and gregarious attitude are just so inviting!
There was NO traffic on the way into the city, so I took a little walk along the High Line before heading to the venue.
The couple were married in a Humanist-styled, Jewish-centric ceremony, under a chuppah made from the bride’s great grandma’s tablecloth.
We signed a ketubah, the Jewish marriage certificate, before the ceremony – we had the moms sign the Ketubah, and the dads sign the legal marriage license.
I headed home after the wedding, and snuck in some time for lunch, a short nap, and an outfit change!
And some kitty snuggling, of course!
Connie and Don, my second couple for the day, requested that I wear all black, so I swapped my grey blazer out for a soft black draped cardigan, and touched up my make-up before heading to Red Bank. They were getting married at the Molly Pitcher Inn, overlooking the water, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that the rain would stay away!
Their beautiful ceremony arrangements!
The marina
We were lucky, and we got a beautiful, not too hot day on the water. I didn’t get a photo, but the bride’s bouquet was studded with grape hyacinths, my favorite flower!
Connie and Don’s ceremony was light-hearted and fun, with two great readings (Sandol Stoddard Warburg’s I Like You and Dr. Seuss’ Oh! The Places You Will Go!), and had a fun little shout out to their dog, Zooey, too! Their ceremony included two rituals: the wine ceremony, and the wine box ceremony.
Ceremony props, all ready to go!
On the Monday of Memorial Day weekend, we started off by having a very nice lunch with my parents, before heading down the Hamilton for my evening wedding at one of the most amazing venues I’ve ever worked at, the Grounds for Sculpture. I asked my husband to tag along, as he had never been, and I thought he would love the sculpture and art exhibits that are there.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have an opportunity to take any photos! There was a small emergency situation before the ceremony, with a missing marriage license (don’t worry! it has been located!), and it was 95 degrees outside! The ceremony took place at the Nine Muses, this beautiful sculpture surrounded by a moat, and it was a beautiful ceremony. The couple had reconnected, twenty-eight years after they had originally met, via Facebook, so we thanked not only the mutual friend who introduced them, but also Mark Zuckerberg (also a newlywed himself!). I hopefully will have a full blog post coming on this wedding, because it was really that awesome, as soon as I can wrangle some photos!
Lessons learned: bring a lot of water, band-aids, and double check the marriage license has made it to the venue.
