Wedding | Lila & Geoff

2 hours ago
5 min read

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We met in 2021 and our affinity for each other moved at a New York pace: our first date was a gallery visit and stroll through Chinatown, followed up a few days later by a sunrise walk on Rockaway Beach before work, and a nightcap at Lovers Rock after work that same day. Safe to say we’ve been inseparable ever since.

Geoff is a native New Yorker and sound designer with a die-hard tennis obsession. Lila is the designer behind HIGHDIVE, a hats and accessories brand based in Brooklyn. We live in Bushwick with our rescue dogs Lola and Sofi.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

Every New Yorker knows that Fall in the city is our most romantic season, and ever since we got engaged I had envisioned an intimate outdoor ceremony followed by a long, leisurely lunch. When my best friend asked, “Like a Sex and the City wedding?” I knew the vision was on track.

We got engaged in July 2025 and gave ourselves the summer to enjoy being engaged and not think about wedding planning. After our summer travels we returned to New York in September, and started talking about the wedding. It was my dream to have a Fall wedding—the most romantic season in New York. We weren’t sure if we could pull it off, given that it was already September—but on September 9th we sent out a poll to our 17 guests and by the 11th we had confirmed a date where everyone could attend. The wedding was on for November 15th!

Then we started looking for a venue (we may have done all of this a little backwards, but it all worked out). After a few different venues fell through, Geoff had the idea of The Hotel Chelsea. Why didn’t we think of it sooner!! The Rose Room was absolutely perfect for us; 20 people seated at one long table with the unmistakable, lived-in New York elegance of the iconic Hotel Chelsea.

Once we confirmed the Chelsea, we started looking for ceremony spaces. This consisted of us taking long walks together to scout out the many little green spaces around Chelsea and Flatiron. We found the perfect corner of Madison Square Park, on the north side just behind the monument. It was the perfect backdrop for our ceremony: there happened to be musicians playing live at the fountain that day, so music was wafting over our ceremony as park-goers shouted congratulations to us. I love that we get to walk through the park weekly and forever and remember that special moment.

How many guests did you have?

We had 17 guests: our parents and their partners, our siblings and their partners, one special cousin visiting from Singapore, and six of our best friends. My forever best friend’s 4 year old son made a special appearance to be our ring bearer. As hard as it is to make that tight of a guest list, I’m so happy that we opted for small and intimate—you could really feel the palpable love in the room. It was perfect and such a special day for us.

What was your budget?

We didn’t have a budget in mind, but we agreed early on that spending a fortune on our wedding was not aligned with who we are. We took this into account with every decision, focusing most of the budget on the food, reception space, and photography. We tried to let things happen naturally: our friend’s friend is a florist so we recruited her services, and in October we attended a birthday party with the tastiest cake, so we opted for that bakery.

Tell us about your outfits.

The most fun part!

Geoff and I are avid thrifters who rarely buy retail. We took the same approach to finding our wedding outfits.

Geoff wore a green corduroy jacket from J. Press, and vintage pants, shirt and shoes—per his normal everyday style. He also wore a very special Tag Heuer Monaco watch gifted to him by his late uncle. After the ceremony, Geoff surprised me by changing into a tie that said TAKEN across it, a perfect eBay find that became one of the many special details of the day.

My wedding dress search took me all over NYC: from hole in the wall vintage stores to high end stores that would normally be out of my budget. I was walking through Soho with my mom one day and we popped into Khaite just to take a look (famous last words). They had one white dress, so I decided to try it on. The gasp I gasped when it fit me like a glove. The deal was sealed when I exited the dressing room, and a lovely southern woman turned to look at me and said “now that's a ‘marry me’ dress!” I completed the look with a 1996 Versace silk jacket in a black and white zebra stripe and Manolo Blahnik snakeskin d’orsay heels (In my family, animal prints are a neutral). Being a hat designer, I of course had to make my own veil. I was inspired by Audrey Hepburn and our daytime lunch wedding to have a very lady like look, and I love how the silk chiffon wrapped veil completed the look.

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

The most important thing to us was that all the most important people in our life could be there. And with such a short timeline from confirming our wedding date to the actual wedding, we were so lucky that every person could attend. Once we knew that, everything else was icing on the cake. That was a constant reminder throughout wedding planning, as venues fell through, hair stylists no-showed, and things got complicated (as they do with even the tiniest wedding!). In the end, all that matters are the people there to share the day with you.

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

It was important to us to have our friends and family contribute their talents to make the day uniquely ours. My sister, a miniature artist, found vintage wedding cake toppers that she customized to wear the same outfits as us (teeny tiny plaid pants for the groom! a scarf veil for the little bride!). They were the perfect addition to our insanely delicious Saint Street wedding cake.

Geoff’s sister is an illustrator for the New Yorker, and made the most special illustrations of Geoff and I as cherubs, paying homage to the ceiling of our reception room at The Chelsea which has a cherub mural on the ceiling. We used her illustrations on our Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) and matchbooks.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Have fun and do what you want. There is no right or wrong way to get married.

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

All of our vendors were absolute dreams to work with and I can’t thank them enough for embracing the vibe and vision we wanted for the day, and making it exactly that.

Photographer: Weddings By Nato @weddingsbynato | Flora: Trang Tran @gotranggo | Content Creator:

Austin Wyatt @austinwyatweddings | Ceremony Location: Madison Square Park | Reception Location:

The Hotel Chelsea @hotelchelsea | Makeup Artist: Hinana @hinanamagic | Hair Stylist: Lia Saint Pierre @l.saint.pierre | Catering & Beverages: The Hotel Chelsea @hotelchelsea | Cake: Saint Street Cakes