Wedding | Emma & Anna

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Emma was born in San Francisco but grew up primarily in Atlanta. Anna grew up in Kansas City, MO. We met planning a TEDx conference at Syracuse University, during the second semester of Emma’s senior year and Anna’s junior year. It wasn’t “love at first sight,” but our initial attraction grew into deep connection, trust, and care. Three cities, 9 years, and many iterations of ourselves later, we’re here! We’re really proud of how we’ve grown with each other.

Now, we’re both product designers that always have some kind of side quests in the works. We love to laugh, eat, cook, create, travel, and spend time with loved ones. We live in Brooklyn, NY with our two cats - Sushi and Boba (we adopted Boba after getting married).

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

So this is actually our second marriage ceremony! We were always planning on having a wedding. But in December of 2024, due to current affairs, we decided to elope with two other queer couples (our close friends) at the Manhattan city hall. We were all each other’s witnesses, and we had a beautiful day together.

That said, we still wanted to have a wedding with a wider group of family and friends. We started thinking about the Hudson Valley, inspired by our regular trips upstate with friends - the nature, the feeling of peace, and the ease of gathering people together. We then wanted a space that felt contemporary with natural elements, without being too rustic.

The The Caboose ended up having the perfect balance for us. It had a fantastic location; Hudson is easy to get to, walkable, and beautiful in the fall. The property itself also had the indoor-outdoor feel, with great “bones,” while still leaving room for us to add our own touch. We also love food, so we really appreciated that that was a priority for the venue.

How many guests did you have?

We had 98 guests. We specifically wanted less than 100, so it would feel more intimate, and we’d actually get to spend time with each attendee.

We also made it so there was no one that was “alone” / didn’t know anyone else.

What was your budget?

Our budget was 90k. We were really lucky to have family support, and we did a lot within that budget ourselves.

Tell us about your outfits.

Emma was already familiar with Bindle and Keep, so it was just a matter of choosing the right details. The staff there, especially Ashley, are incredible at working with different styles, budgets, and bodies - and making a potentially stressful process really enjoyable. We actually had our dads, officiant, and close friends get their suits there as well. For the final suit, Emma chose something with a classic feel, with a few twists of the burgundy color, slightly oversize lapels, styled with modern color-blocked loafers, pearl cufflinks, and a black bow for a tie.

Anna had a harder time finding her outfit - she wanted something felt modern and textured, without losing elements of whimsy and flow. After much searching, she found Megan at The Law in Philadelphia. Megan is a kind, creative collaborator, with a fantastic eye for silhouette, fabric, and movement; after several sessions, the outfit came to life. The final result was a custom 3-piece set - a hand-pleated square neck top and super-wide pants, with a removable, sheer, high neck overlay. Anna then added gold jewelry, multi-strand pearl earring, and burgundy, square toe block heels.

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

We wanted the wedding to a) feel personal to us and b) be comfortable and fun for our guests. Everything we did throughout the planning cycle was in service of that. We were perpetually asking ourselves “how will this feel?”

From a priorities standpoint, that translated into: Decor that reflected our personal style (colorful, warm, modern, and a little playful); Great food and drinks; Lots of time to celebrate / just be together; Seamless vibes (ie going a little nuts over the “back of house” details, so things really felt smooth).

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

Similar to the above, we wanted everything to feel like it came from our own lives and eye. We really did obsess over the small stuff, but we had a lot of fun doing that as designers (and hobbyist event planners and art directors).

Some details we DIY’d that we were extra proud of: Ikebana vases for the main table arrangements (Anna is a ceramicist and made these all herself); Designing all of the paper goods and any packaging (and hand assembling many of them!) and collaborating with Eileen/EMU on the hanging textiles; Paper party hats - we hand-colored these with friends one Sunday; Playlists / music selection; Our personal vows (our parents and friends really nailed their speeches as well!).

It was also important that our guests feel like a community because they’re a big part of our communities. We made decisions like family-style meals at conjoined tables, post-ceremony receiving line, joint remembrance table, extended dancing time, and interactive moments to help bring folks together.

Any tips for couples getting married?

As cheesy as it sounds, follow your heart and be honest with yourself about how you want the day to go. There’s a lot of pressure for weddings to look a certain way and have specific “traditions.” We spent a lot of time creating, but we also “edited.” And in the end, the things we opted out of - for example, we didn’t do a first dance, we didn’t do a formal cake cutting, we asked to “Irish exit” instead of pull us off the dance floor, etc - we didn’t miss at all. Removing the things we didn’t care about left more time for what we wanted to prioritize.

Also, make sure you really vibe with your vendors and communicate clearly. We picked our vendors based on their portfolios, but we also just really liked them all as people. This made the planning process and the actual wedding a lot more fun for us.

Finally, this may be decisive, but explain your dress code(s)! Wedding language can be obscure and leave a lot of room for interpretation. We made it clear people should put their own spin on their attire, but we made mood boards for people to get inspired and “de-mystify” what we were thinking. This helped our guests feel confident in their outfits; most people don’t want to show up and feel out of place. And everyone looked absolutely fantastically themselves at the wedding :)

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

We had the absolute dream team of vendors. Everyone was passionate about their craft, and it truly showed day-of. We had a specific vision, so thank you to all of them for their patience and for showing up and really executing even beyond our expectations.

Photographer: Daniel Bergin @danielcbergin | Planning: Good Graces Events @goodgracesevents | Styling: Emma & Anna @emma.herrera15 & @theleachiest | Flora: Long Weekend Florals @longweekendfloras | Videographer: Alicia Ramirez @alicia.ramirezs | Ceremony Location: The Caboose @thecaboosehudsonny | Reception Location: The Caboose @thecaboosehudsonny | Celebrant: Jessica Henderson @embrace_mess | Hire/Rentals: Columbia Tent via The Caboose @columbiatentrentals | Ceremony Space: The Caboose @thecaboosehudsonny | MUA: Bridal By Alexandria @bridalbyalexandria; Artist: Angela @authenticfacebridal | Hair: Bridal By Alexandria @bridalbyalexandria; Artist: Merita @meritadoeshair | Catering & Beverages: The Caboose @thecaboosehudsonny | Cake: The Caboose | Stationery: Designed & printed by Emma & Anna @emma.herrera15 & @theleachiest; Letterpress printing by DWRI Letterpress @dwriletterpress | Entertainment: DJ June Events @_juneevents_; DJ: Ksenya @dj_xenia_nyc | Installations: Emu Studio @emustudio | Bridal Outfit: The Law @thelawbridal | Suit/s: Bindle & Keep @bindleandkeep | After Party Shoes: Nike custom after party shoes @nike | Engagement & Wedding Rings: WWAKE @wwake | Shoes: Emma: Camper @camper; Anna: Jonak @jonak | Unique - Nails: Nailed By Cam@nailed.bycam | Unique - Ceramics: Lucky Cloud Clay @luckcloudclya | Lego Guest Board: Lego @lego | Unique - Tony’s Chocolonely: Tony’s Chocolonely @tonyschocolonely_us | Wedding Party Attire: Bindle & Keep @bindleandkeep