Wedding | Sophia & Mike

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We met at work ten years ago, right after I (Sophia) moved to NYC. After a year, we started dating, and, after seven years together, we got engaged in Central Park. If you haven’t noticed the theme yet, we clearly love New York and have celebrated some decently momentous occasions here.

Our primary shared hobby is eating delicious food, and that was a major focal point of our wedding.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We wanted to maximize convenience for as many guests as possible. A ton of our friends and family live in and around New York so we kept it local. Beyond that, there’s nothing like the summer in NYC.

Our decision to throw a wedding celebration was contingent upon two things: 1.) that we could take everyone to a Mets game, and 2.) that we could have dinner at Red Sorghum. We got married at the courthouse with our parents as witnesses a few days prior to the guest events, both to maintain the intimacy of the ceremony and also to give the rest of our guests more free time during the day.

We live in Queens, thus we remain loyal to our team through thick and thin. For our welcome party, we booked two suites at Citi Field for a Mets game on Friday night. We wanted our guests to enjoy some entertainment and (selfishly) root for the Mets to win (miraculously, they did).

Then we wanted to host a nice dinner with dancing on Saturday. Red Sorghum is one of our favorite restaurants of all time; we’ve probably eaten there over 100 times. It’s such a gorgeous space, the food and drinks are incredible, we love everyone who works there, and, last but not least, it’s across the street from where we live. They served everyone the most delicious 11(?), 12(?) course feast. It felt like a decadent medieval banquet.

How many guests did you have?

We had 90 wonderful guests.

What was your budget?

100k.

Tell us about your outfits.

I did not go wedding dress shopping. The only real vision I had for my outfit was that I wanted to look like I was going to a really extravagant party or red carpet type of event. I found my amazing Marmar Halim dress on sale at Moda Operandi. It actually does look pretty bridal which was a nice plus. A few months later, I was looking online for something to wear to the courthouse, and I found my red Aknvas dress instead. I wasn’t planning on having an outfit change, but when I saw that dress I changed my mind. I wore red Loeffler Randall platforms that I’ve had for 9 years. They just happened to match perfectly, and they were comfortable enough to wear all night.

Once I found my main reception dress, I got it in my head that it would be cute if Mike and I had coordinated black and white outfits. He was on board and found an ivory Brooks Brothers jacket that is almost an identical color match to the top half of my gown. He paired that with his black tuxedo pants from Bonobos and black velvet slippers from Ralph Lauren.

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

The main question behind all of our planning decisions was “will our guests like this?”. Mike and I cherish above all and are most proud of the relationships we have with our friends and family. We wanted to make the weekend as convenient and enjoyable as possible for those we love. Essentially, if our guests had these weekend plans agnostic of our wedding, would they be happy with the experience? With that being our focus, it cut out a lot of the noise of wedding planning, and centered on providing a few key things: a comfortable atmosphere, amazing food and drinks, and great music. Everything else is a bonus for the couple.

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

For our party favors, the most talented ceramicist, Shapeshift by Meg Fu, handmade individual NYC pizza rats wearing Mets hats. We love New York City and we especially love Queens. We wanted to incorporate that into a one-of-a-kind souvenir that we placed at everyone’s seat. It was one of the few extra touches we added to the event that felt both extremely specific to our interests but also universally likeable (because they are so cute). She even made us a special bride and groom version!

Any tips for couples getting married?

If you are having a wedding, find an exceptional wedding planner. Unless you already specialize in event planning, an expert will make this so much easier and more enjoyable. Even if you already know your wedding vendors and vision, a good planner will be able to execute on this at a superior level. This was our best wedding investment. Shoutout to Aisle Ai!

In a similar vein, we were not super prescriptive with any of our vendors and everything turned out better than we imagined. The wedding industry is filled with very talented people, and trusting that talent to create something amazing for you will alleviate a lot of stress.

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

Shapeshift by Meg Fu (mentioned above) creates beautiful, hand-made works of art (both large and small) that can be used to personalize and/or elevate a special occasion.

Our wedding planners at Aisle Ai were beyond incredible. We could not imagine a more organized team who thought even more about our wedding than we did.

We really just want to highlight all of our vendors. Cherry Le’s makeup artistry, Cote de Ji’s gorgeous floral arrangements, Khaki Bedford’s creative vision and photography, Taela Naomi’s supreme musical taste, and Pip & Bits’ incredible baking talent. They each took the barest of input from us and created something outstanding. Thank you, all, so much!

Photographer: Khaki Bedford Photography @khakibefordphoto | Planning: Aisle Ai Weddings @aisleaiweddings | Flora: Cote de Ji @justjito | Ceremony Location: New York City Marriage Bureau | Reception Location: Red Sorghum @redsorghumlic | Hire: Broadway Rentals @broadwaypartyrentals | MUA: Cherry Le @mscherryle | Hair Stylist: Denzel Morgan @ohdenzel | Catering & Beverages: Red Sorghum @redsorghumlic | Cake: Pip & Bits @pip_n_bits | Stationery: Aisle Ai @aisleaiweddings | Entertainment: Taela Naomi @taelanaomi with Non-Traditional Wedding DJs @ntweddingdjs | Favors (Pizza Rats): Shapeshift by Meg Fu @shapeshiftbymegfu | Dresses: Marmar Halim @marmarhalim from Moda Operandi @modaoperandi; (Red Mini Dress) Aknvas @aknvas | Suit: Brooks Brothers(Jacket);

Bonobos (Pants) | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Serpentine Jewels @serpentine_jewels | Shoes: Loeffler Randall @loefflerrandall (Hers); (His) Ralph Lauren @ralphlauren | Watches: Rolex @rolex (Hers); Patek Philippe @patekphilippe (His)