Wedding | Frannie & Chad

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Frannie was born and raised in Miami. She went to college in Boston and, since then, bounced around from Boston to London to Miami to Chicago and back to Boston before settling in New York City four years ago, where she currently practices as a corporate attorney. Chadd was born in Columbus, Ohio. He moved to New York City when he was 18 for film school and has lived in the city ever since. We live in Brooklyn and love hanging out in our neighbourhood (Bed-Stuy), watching movies, going to comedy shows and plays, and spending time with our friends and family (especially Frannie’s nieces who live in the city).

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We knew we were going to have a big celebration in Miami, where most of Frannie’s friends and extended family are based, but we wanted to have a more intimate wedding ceremony in New York City, where we met, fell in love and live.

How many guests did you have?

We had about 75 people at the morning ceremony and lunch immediately following, and about 150 people at the party later in the evening.

Tell us about your outfits.

The one thing Frannie knew she would wear on her wedding day the moment she saw it was the Antonio Melani x The Nat Note satin and velvet star and moon print suit that she wore while getting ready for and lounging between events. Both festive and comfortable, totally her style, and designed by one of her childhood best friends.

Frannie otherwise really didn’t have any preconceived notions about what she wanted her wedding dress to look like and tried on what felt like a million dresses. Ultimately, her aunt, Jossie, made both of her looks, which were informed by the season, time of day and locations during which and where the wedding events took place. Together, they designed a suit/dress combo for the morning ceremony and wedding lunch, which was inspired by Bianca Jagger’s wedding suit, and an easy slip dress for the evening party.

Frannie accessorized her morning look with a coat, jewellery and purse, all borrowed from her incredibly elegant and stylish mother. She dressed down her evening dress with adidas Gazelles (something blue!) and a flammable feathered jacket that she ordered off of the world famous website amazon.com the day before the wedding.

Chadd wore a classic navy blue suit from Paul Stuart for the morning events, with a Ferragamo tie and loafers. He changed into a more casual Ted Baker suit and t-shirt for the evening party.

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

While most of our guests are based in the city, some came in from out of town. Because we were going to have three separate wedding events on the same day, we wanted everything to be near each other and easy to navigate for the out-of-towners. It was important to Frannie to have Father Enrique Salvo preside over our wedding ceremony at the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral downtown, so that was our anchor, and everything else came together from there. We wanted to celebrate our wedding in familiar, cozy spaces that we frequent and truly love, but we also wanted to take the opportunity to truly celebrate the incredibly special milestone that getting married is. Torrisi and The Flower Shop checked all of those boxes.

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

Frannie had always looked forward to working with her longtime friend Elisa Faye on the design elements of the wedding. Elisa designed everything from the wedding website, to the save the dates, to the invitations, to the church programs, to the cocktail napkins, to our party favors (t-shirts!) – and beyond! She is such a talented artist and has the best taste. Working with her was fun and made the process so special. Every keepsake from our wedding reflects us so well and holds dear sentimental value thanks to Elisa.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Identify the handful of key aspects that are most important to you and let other people help you with – or let go – of the rest. There are so many details and opinions when it comes to planning a wedding and nothing will ever be “perfect,” so embrace that you won’t be able to make everyone happy and just enjoy it! Remember how lucky you are to be able to pause and take a moment to celebrate your love among friends and family amidst everything else going on in the world, and that nothing else really matters.

Also, we ended up finding a lot of our vendors through another one of our vendors – our photographer introduced us to our wedding planner, our wedding planner introduced us to our florist, one of our venues introduced us to our DJ, and so forth. Having a whole team of vendors who know each other and like working together is underrated!

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

All of our vendors were amazing – professional and easy to work with. To highlight a few not already mentioned above:

Our photographer, Harper Cowan, was the first vendor we hired. We were dead set on Harper and chose our wedding date around her availability. We could not be happier with the pictures – but that was going to be a given. More importantly, she and her team brought the best vibes and were a pleasure to have around throughout our entire wedding day (which went from 8 AM until well after midnight).

Our wedding planners, Emily and Julia at Gatherings by Emily, executed our vision perfectly and did so much coordinating behind the scenes, which made planning fun and stress free. They are so sweet and have amazing taste.

Our florist, Rachel of Blxxm, took our initial vision and enhanced it beautifully while staying within budget. She was flexible and super helpful throughout the entire process.

The food and service at Torrisi was exceptional, as always. The vibe at The Flower Shop was perfect, as always. Both venues were extremely accommodating.

We knew Acquolina would supply the most amazing food for our evening party, but they truly went above and beyond. Not only was everything delicious, but the way they presented everything was next level beautiful and artistic. They also helped design the layout and flow for the whole space, which we really needed – in typical NYC fashion, we were a lot of people in a small space. The team made us feel so special all night.

Our DJ, Kieren Taylor, caught the vibe from one short playlist that we shared with him before the wedding, and the music throughout the entire night evolved perfectly. He also made some suggestions with respect to lighting design that I never would have thought of and ended up adding so much to the space. No notes. I am still fielding inquiries for his contact details 6 months later.

While we would love to gatekeep Saint Street Cakes, our favourite neighbourhood bakery, you’re missing out if you don’t pop in to see them in Fort Greene. The owner, Morgan, is so sweet, professional and talented. They made both of our cakes – I can’t tell you if I think they looked better than they tasted or vice versa. Everything else they make is also insanely delicious.

We ended up having some calligraphy and illustration needs at the last minute – both traditional and untraditional – and were so impressed with Allyson AKA Bambolina. Can’t believe some of the drawings she brought to life!

Photographer: Harper Cowan @harperpix | Planning: Gatherings by Emily @gatheringsbyemily | Flora: Blxxm (Rachel Wayne) @blxxm_ | Ceremony Location: The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral @oldcathedral | Reception Lunch Location: Torrisi @majorfoodgroup | Evening Party Location: The Flower Shop @theflowershopnyc | Celebrant: Very Reverend Enrique Salvo | MUA: Skin By Gwynn @skinbygwynn | Hair Stylist: Cristen Mignano @crismignano | Catering & Beverages: Acquolina @acquolina.catering | Cake: Saint Street Cakes @saintstreetcakes | Stationery: (Design) Elisa Faye @elisafayemakes; (Print) Sesame Letterpress & Design @sesameletterpress | DJ: Kieren Taylor @kierentaylor_ | Calligrapher: Bambolina @bambolina | Dresses & Veil: Jossie Couture @jossiescouture

| Suit:(Ceremony) Paul Stuart @paulstuartny; (Reception) Ted Baker @tedbaker | Getting Ready Look: Antonio Melani x The Nat Note for Dillard’s @dillards @thenatnote | Engagement Ring: Vintage | Wedding Rings: Zoland Jewelers @zolandjewelers | Shoes: (Bride) Manolo Blahnik @manoloblahnik & Adidas @adidas; (Groom) Ferragamo @ferragamo