This elegant Catskills wedding uses sparklers in such a fun new way!

Warm Fall Catskills Wedding With Ceremony Sparklers – Christina Lilly Photography – Buds of Brooklyn 12

Are you in desperate need of some cozy, Autumny feels? As the new season quickly approaches (time to celebrate, all you Fall brides!) we thought it would be the perfect time to share this rustic yet elegant Autumn wedding – featuring the Catskills’ changing colors and a new twist to our beloved sparkler send-off.

Just a few hours North of New York City is the blissful Catskill Mountains – a quaint region of idyllic farms and a growing hip food culture thanks to the nearby Culinary Institute and a growing influx of trendy city folk. Erin and Christopher, New Yorkers who dream of that upstate home, both new instantly after getting engaged that they were destined for a rustic, mountain Fall wedding.

While the venue may be rustic (and oh-so-scenic) the fashion was far from it. Juxtaposing elegant formalwear, and classic blooms (from the city’s own Buds of Brooklyn!) against the countryside scene, Erin and Christopher show that a farmland wedding can be just as classy as a city fête – especially with that fur shawl, swoon!

A new, strikingly simple twist on the sparkler send-off arises in this countryside wedding and we’re so excited! After their “I dos” the newlyweds waltzed back down the aisle through rows of sparklers while Christina Lilly captured the most joyous and vibrant of photos. Ceremony sparklers mean no “send-off” followed by an all-night wedding bash.

Our Love Story

Chris and I met in New York City back in 2013 while I was working at an advertising agency and Chris was at a mobile ad tech sales company. Chris and I knew of each other from covering the same account, but it wasn’t until a mutual friend and colleague of ours set us up on a double date that we began dating. Chris took me to the Ace Hotel on a Monday evening. He claimed that Monday night was the only night he was “free,” but I had too much of a crush on him to pass up the opportunity. We spent the evening laughing, talking and getting to know each other. Once the night wined down, Chris hailed me a cab in a true NYC native fashion and kissed me goodnight. We like to say the rest is history because from that night on, we spent most of our time together, summering in Fire Island, dancing to live music, and exploring the city on Chris’ vespa!

Flash forward to October of 2017, Chris proposed in front of the “Yes” graffiti wall in Dumbo, Brooklyn and captured it in the best way he knows how – with our GoPro. Following the proposal, we celebrated with family and close friends at The Ace Hotel, where we had our very first date. It was the most magical night and a special memory we will cherish the rest of our lives!

The Venue & Style

After getting engaged, Chris and I found out rather quickly that we shared the same vision for what our wedding would look like. The most important thing to us was creating a warm and comfortable environment where our 200+ family and friends could travel from near and far for a full weekend. We wanted our wedding weekend to be a celebration of our love for each other and our families intertwining. Full Moon Resort was the perfect canvas for making that vision come to life. We’ve always been in love with the idea of eventually having a second home in upstate New York, so when we found Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, it just felt right.

After locking in our date, the details of the weekend started to slowly come together. Throughout the planning process, we really tried to stay stubborn on our vision of “mountain elegance” and simplicity considering we would have the beautiful foliage of the Catskill Mountains as our backdrop. This led us to choose natural white and champagne tones with pops of deep burgundy and gold. We both really love contrast so the juxtaposition of elegant formalwear with raw nature was something we wanted to shine through.

Warm Fall Catskills Wedding With Ceremony Sparklers – Christina Lilly Photography – Buds of Brooklyn 10

Warm Fall Catskills Wedding With Ceremony Sparklers – Christina Lilly Photography – Buds of Brooklyn 6

The Photography

I’ll never forget looking at my colleague’s wedding photos about a year before I even got engaged and being in love with them. When it came time to start booking vendors for our wedding, I immediately asked that same co-worker about her experience with her photographer and she couldn’t have given a better review. Christina was everything we were looking for that I didn’t even know we needed!

As a first time bride, you don’t always realize how important it is to work with a trusting, professional and talented photographer. It’s so important to find someone you feel comfortable and natural around. From the first phone conversation, Christina was just that. She was warm, friendly, professional and confident. After our engagement shoot, I was even more thankful to have Christina because she made Chris and I feel so comfortable just being ourselves.

By the time our wedding weekend came, I felt like I had known Christina for years, that’s how personable she is! I remember Chris and I were so nervous see each other at our first look and Christina really made me feel at ease. She gave us direction when we needed it and took control when I needed her to. Did I mention she even took a foot to the face when Chris was getting lifted into a chair for the Hora? Now that’s dedication. We couldn’t be happier with how our photos turned out.

Warm Fall Catskills Wedding With Ceremony Sparklers – Christina Lilly Photography – Buds of Brooklyn 11

The Ceremony

Both of my parents walked me down the aisle to the instrumentals of “Here Comes the Sun.” We had a rabbi and my childhood priest marry us under a birchwood chuppah that was held up by four of our closest friends. After the ceremony, our guests lit sparklers to lead us down the aisle as husband and wife. A surprise bag piper led us up towards the front lawn for cocktail hour under a huge, beautifully lit tree.

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Favorite Moments

There are too many special moments from that weekend to count! One of my favorites was from our first dance to The Black Keys, Everlasting Light. Chris and I practiced dancing a few times in our apartment leading up to the wedding, and I would always tell him he really needed to learn how to dip me better! He would laugh and every time we would practice, his dip would be mediocre. Well he must have been saving up because the night of our wedding, he surprised me with the best dip ever. He literally took my breath away because I was so shocked at how far he dipped me – I think I was literally parallel to the dance floor. The icing on the cake was when we watched our first dance back, we saw my Grandmom in the background beaming with pride and excitement when he dips me.

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The DIY Details & Decor

My mother, father, brother and sister are all so creative and together we managed to build a teepee, a chuppah and hand painted wooden signage on our own! My mom decorated our thank you bags with a vintage Catskills postcard and added our hashtag #CampPirks which matched our custom baseball caps given to our guests. Everything truly came together so perfectly and the best part was that we actually had so much fun setting everything up together the night before the weekend began. The ambiance was another area of focus for us – we wanted candles everywhere, ribbons in the trees and rose petals on the ground!

Warm Fall Catskills Wedding With Ceremony Sparklers – Christina Lilly Photography – Buds of Brooklyn 18

Advice to Other Couples

Map out a timeline of events from the time you arrive to your venue to the time you leave. This process helps you catch any little last minute details that you may have not thought of otherwise – it really helps you cover all the bases! Quality inputs lead to a quality output!

Make time for just you two to be alone after your ceremony. This short window of time is the most special and to take it all in together and reflect is so crucial. Be in the moment at your reception! If you are having fun, then so is everyone else.

My other tips in wedding planning (and in life) is to always read the reviews! Whether you’re choosing your vendors or purchasing something on Amazon, customer reviews typically give you the information you need to make the best decision. It’s more than likely that someone else has already gone through the exact shopping decision you are, so save yourself some time and defer to what the masses have to say.

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The Honeymoon

Immediately following our wedding, Chris and I took a mini-moon to our favorite city, Paris. It was the perfect romantic getaway to relax, recap the best day of our lives and of course, eat as many baguettes as we pleased. We stayed at a lovely, quaint 5-star boutique hotel called Relais Christine located on the Left Bank and basked in all the city has to offer. That was a magical week! We are in the midst of planning a proper honeymoon to Greece this Fall!