Wedding | Cassie & Scott

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We met when we were 16 through a mutual friend and quickly became best friends. After years of growing up alongside each other, we finally admitted we had feelings for each other and started dating.

Since then, so much of our relationship has been about building a life together. We’ve lived in Los Angeles, Chicago and now New York City, figured out our careers, developed our personal styles, travelled, moved apartments, raised our two corgis, Brioche and Ciabatta, and learned how to grow up together without losing the friendship that started it all.

We both love cities, art, design, fashion, food and travel. A lot of our favorite memories together are very simple: walking around a city, finding something beautiful or strange, taking photos, shopping, eating an incredible meal and talking about everything we saw. In many ways, that is exactly what we wanted our elopement to feel like: a day in our favorite city, dressed in a way that felt like us, celebrating the life we’ve built together.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

New York is our favorite city in the world and it truly feels like home to us now. It has always felt like a place where you can be weird, ambitious, expressive, quiet, loud, stylish, messy, whatever, and somehow still belong. What we love most is that everyone is doing their own thing, but it still feels connected. It can be overwhelming and imperfect, but it also feels real, alive and accepting.

Because we chose this city as our home, it felt meaningful to get married here. We wanted the day to feel simple and personal, like a more dressed up version of how we already love spending time together.

How many guests did you have?

Just us. We are having a larger celebration with our friends and family in the fall, but before that, we wanted something that was only for the two of us. It was important to us to celebrate our relationship together first and let ourselves fully enjoy being married before celebrating with everyone we love later.

What was your budget?

We didn’t have a strict budget because the day was intentionally small. Since it was just the two of us, we focused on the things that mattered most to us: photography, outfits we loved and a really special dinner at Joo-Ok.

The biggest priority was finding the right photographer. Once we found Molly Meets Magic, we loved her work so much and knew she was the perfect person to capture the day.

Tell us about your outfits.

Fashion was one of the most important parts of the day for us. We didn’t want to feel like we were wearing costumes or buying “bridal” things just because we were supposed to. We wanted to look like ourselves, just a little more dressed up, and wear pieces we would still love after the day was over.

I’m drawn to tailoring, structure and classic shapes, but I like when they are made a little strange through texture, proportion or unexpected details. I like pieces that feel interesting without feeling like a costume, and feminine without feeling too traditionally pretty.

I first saw my dress while keeping up with Paris Fashion Week and came across Aje’s Summer 26 show. I didn’t know the brand well at the time, but I saw that dress and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I kept looking at other options, but always came back to that one. The pleating, sheer fabric, black beading, high neck and floral shoulders felt sculptural but still soft. It felt bridal in spirit but not traditional, which was exactly what I wanted.

I styled the dress with my Maison Margiela Tabi boots and Bianchetto bag, which are two of my favorite pieces I already owned. I didn’t want to style myself around being “bridal.” I wanted to wear the dress the way I would for any special day out. The dress gave me the bridal feeling, but the accessories made it feel like me. Instead of a traditional bouquet, I added fabric flowers to my bag so I could keep that detail forever.

Scott loves fashion just as much as I do, so his outfit was equally intentional. He has always loved Issey Miyake and had wanted one of the pleated suits for a long time, but never found the right reason to buy one until the elopement. He chose a double-breasted Homme Plisse suit that felt classic in shape, but still special enough for the day.

Shoes have always been one of his favorite parts of getting dressed. He actually found the Stefan Cooke derbies before he had the suit. The shoes brought in the unexpected detail he loves and made the whole look feel more personal.

Together, our outfits felt like a reflection of our love for fashion, New York and having fun with what we wear. We weren’t trying to reject tradition completely, but we also didn’t want tradition to be the thing making the decisions for us. We wanted to look back and feel like we dressed as ourselves.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

The most important thing was creating a day that felt entirely focused on us and our relationship. Weddings can become so much about everyone else, and of course celebrating with loved ones is important, but we wanted one moment where we could slow down and really take in what this commitment meant to us.

We wanted it to feel intimate, fun and creatively fulfilling. More than anything we wanted it to feel like a day we were actually living, not performing.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

Self-expression was really important to us. The day was less about following wedding traditions and more about building a memory around the things that already feel like us.

We wanted the photos to feel like a real day moving through the city we call home, not just a wedding shoot. Walking around New York, finding beautiful corners, taking photos in outfits we loved and ending the day over an incredible meal felt very true to how we already spend time together.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Try not to get too caught up in what other people think your wedding should be. Weddings take so much time, energy and money, so at the end of the day, you should prioritize what feels right to you instead of worrying too much about other people’s opinions or what is trending.

It can be hard to figure out what feels like you when there is so much wedding inspiration everywhere. Before only searching wedding keywords, take the time to think about what you actually love. What do you love wearing? What makes you feel confident? What cities, films, art, objects, restaurants or places make you feel something? Start there and let the inspiration come from your own taste and your own life.

I also don’t think every choice needs to feel timeless forever. It is okay if a trend or two makes its way in, or if one day your wedding feels like a time capsule. There will be so many versions of you throughout your life, and the version of you that gets married is special. As long as the day feels true to who you are in that moment, I think you’ll look back with joy.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Our photographer, Molly of Molly Meets Magic, was the most important vendor for us. Since our elopement was just the two of us, we knew the photos would be how we remembered and shared the day. We loved Molly’s eye and the way her work feels cinematic and intimate without feeling overly posed or precious.

She made the day feel easy and natural, and captured exactly what we hoped for: the city, the clothes and the feeling of being fully present with each other.

We also ended the day with dinner at Joo-Ok, which felt like such a special way to close the night. The space was warm and intimate, almost like being invited into someone’s home, and the team made us feel incredibly celebrated. They even printed the menu from that day and had everyone sign it for us, which we’ll keep forever.

Photographer: Molly Meets Magic @mollymeetsmagic | Flora: Etsy / LacefabricArt | Ceremony Location: Manhattan City Hall + Chinatown/LES | Dinner Location: Joo-ok @joo.ok_nyc | Dres: Aje @_aje_ | Suit: Homme Plisse / Issey Miyake @hommeplisse_isseymiyake | Purse: Maison Margiela @maisonmargiela | Engagement Ring: Frank Darling @frankdarling | Shoes: Maison Margiela @maisonmargiela (Cassie); (Scott) Stefan Cooke @stefan_cooke