Wedding | Jennie & Kyle

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We are two adventure-loving people from the western US who fell in love in Brooklyn. Kyle is a rock climber and software engineer; Jennie is an artist and educator. We met in Bushwick in 2016, at the apartment building where Kyle lived and Jennie would soon move in.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

Kyle is from California and Jennie is from Colorado, but we met in Brooklyn. We share a love of nature and the western landscape, but have lived a city lifestyle for the last 10 years. Carroll Hall perfectly reflected that balance between the natural and the urban that we have in our relationship. The “warehouse” interiors are serene and inviting, with cedar wood planking and colorful custom mosaics.

The whole space is incredibly considered down to the smallest details, which was the same approach we took toward designing our wedding. Carroll Hall is also quite close to where we live, and we loved that it was an existing part of our neighborhood.

How many guests did you have?

80.

What was your budget? 

We spent about $60k for the entire wedding weekend, including a rehearsal dinner buyout at a local pizzeria.

Tell us about your outfits.

We had so much fun with our outfits! Each of us had multiple looks throughout the day.

Jennie’s first look: Vintage 90s-00s layered silk gown with cutout bodice detail from Gossamer via A Current Affair. Minimal, removable alterations were DIY’d, but it basically fit like a glove from the start.

For the veil, Jennie hand painted the flowers and added lace motifs from her mom’s wedding dress. Jennie’s nails were sculptured by Michelle at Akiko Nails, who embedded beach stones, sand, cat whiskers, cat nail trimmings, shells, and Jennie’s baby teeth.

Jennie’s second look: Jennie designed and sewed a second look made entirely from her mom’s wedding dress from 1992. It’s a two-piece outfit with a lace-up bustier and skirt. The dress was revealed to Jennie’s mom during the thank-you speech at dinner. This was paired with chunky platform heels, bracelets made with the beads from the 1992 dress, and a locket with photos of our cats.

Jennie’s third look: The third look included a surprise haircut of 18” into a chin length bob! This look also added fringe gloves, beaded mourning dove earrings, and cowboy boots to get ready for the line dance. 

Kyle’s looks: Jennie embroidered Kyle’s bolo tie with imagery from Half Dome in Yosemite, a significant place in Kyle’s life. Kyle’s sage green suit is a linen/wool/silk blend from Suit Supply and his penny loafers are from Brooks Brothers. Kyle second look swapped the bolo tie, button-up shirt, and jacket for a relaxed linen shirt with floral embroidery.

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

The design of our wedding centered on two things: reflecting us as a couple and considering the guest experience. We wanted the whole event to feel relaxed, joyful, meaningful, and fun.

Decisions we made to reflect us as a couple and consider our guests:

-Live raffle to choose our wedding certificate witnesses.

-Late night Taco Bell delivery straight to the dance floor.

-Custom crossword puzzle in our wedding zine with a themed sticker pack prize for finishers.

-“Festive cocktail” attire with a mood board to encourage guest creativity and flexibility with their outfits.

-Couple and family photos before the ceremony.

-Open bar with thoughtful non-alcoholic options.

-Rehearsal dinner with karaoke to maximize our quality time with guests.

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

We had so many small details that made our wedding special! Here are some of our favorites:

Our silver wedding bands were cast in oakwood from Jennie’s great grandparents’ farm in Michigan. In the silver you can see the textured imprint of the wood that gets imprinted during the casting process. Our jeweler, Rigby Leigh, also made us custom wooden ring boxes from the oakwood.

Kyle’s dad designed custom choreography for a collective “first dance” with our entire wedding. He taught our guests the lesson after dinner and we joined for the performance after Jennie’s haircut. He really leaned into the role with his cowboy hat, belt buckle, and headset mic!

Jennie is a K-12 art educator, so we incorporated her students’ drawings in the bar menus, zine, event signage, and giveaway sticker packs.

Any tips for couples getting married?

We were fortunate to not have additional pressure, constraints, or opinions from outside influences. This freedom really allowed us to include everything we felt was important and leave the rest behind. If you are lucky to have this kind of flexibility, consider distilling down the day to be reflective of yourselves and responsive to your guests. Also, the cost was so much more expensive than we ever thought it would be, so we recommend being prepared for that.

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

Our friends and family made up the majority of our vendors, which was really special.

Florals by Jennie’s longtime friend Mew Galyn Filsinger who formerly did floral design and arrangement at Saffron. Hors d'oeuvres by Ilana Goldstein, Jennie’s close friend and creative collaborator. She recently started a small business, Wish You Well, and we were so proud to see her cater an entire cocktail hour spread on her own!

Cakes by Katya is by Jennie’s friend and co-worker Katya Ekimoto, who made us a strawberry ube cake with turmeric almond frosting. It’s Jennie’s favorite color, chartreuse, which also made an appearance in other small details throughout the wedding day. The cake also featured plants and flowers from another friend’s backyard.

Photography by Ariana Mygatt of Outtakes Studio. Ari and Jennie have been art educator friends since 2019 and it was so cool to see Ari in her element! The photos really captured the essence of our love, the abundant joy throughout the day, and what it felt like to be there for every moment.

Other friends and family that made our day special: Michael Wong from Kick It Up for line dancing choreo and lesson, Angie and Zoe Wong of Dandelion and Hope for custom jewelry, Rebecca Guzman for custom jewelry, RJ Sansotta for our DJ set and emceeing, Melissa Calvo for an impressively fast haircut, Campbell Events for day-of coordination, Laura Wingate for pigeon illustrations, and Tanya Nakamoto for officiation. 

Lastly, our dinner was catered by one of our favorite restaurants, Bunna Cafe. It’s an all-vegan Ethiopian restaurant that happens to be right around the corner from our venue. The food is served family-style, with a spread of colorful curries on a large piece of sourdough flatbread called injera. The platter is eaten with your hands and shared by the table. For many of our guests it was their first time trying this cuisine, and we were happy to share a new culinary experience. Bunna Cafe’s staff were also so pleasant and lovely to work with.

Photographer & Videographer: Outtakes Studio @outtakes_studio with @edithhannphoto as second shooter | Planning: Campbell Events @campbellevents | Flora: Mew Galyn Filsinger @some.mewf | Ceremony & Reception Location: Carroll Hall @carrollhallgarden | Celebrant: Tanya Nakamoto (friend) | Rentals: Big Dawg  @bigdawgpartyrentals | Hair Stylist: The Bird House Salon @birdhousesalon | Haircut: Melissa Calvo @mlzacutshair | Catering & Beverages: (Dinner) Bunna Cafe @bunnacafe & (Cocktail Hour) Wish You Well @wishyouwell.nyc | Cake: Cakes by Katya, NYC @cakesbykatya.nyc | Stationery: Handmade | DJ: RJ Sansotta @dj__luvhandells | Ceremony Dress: Gossamer  @shopgossamer | Reception Dress: Handmade from mother’s vintage dress | Veil: Handmade | Getting Ready Robe: Vintage and hand-dyed | Suit: Suit Supply @suitsupply | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Rigby Leigh @rigbyleigh | Shoes: Sam Edelman @sam_edelman, Steve Madden @stevemadden, Zara @zara & Brooks Brothers @brooksbrothers @depop | Nails: Akiko Nails NYC @enterthenailrealm @akikonails_nyc | Locket: Jana Reinhardt @janareinhardt_jewellery | Sunglasses: Warby Parkey 

@warbyparker | Bracelet: Dandelion and Hope @dandelionandhope | Fringe Earrings: Rebecca Guzman @etsy | Fringe Gloves: Handmade