Chic Weddings/Fashion

Stylish New York Wedding With Incredible City Views

Stylish New York Wedding With Incredible City Views | Bri Johnson Photography 1

It was the fashion and glamour that moved me to New York City, before I’d ever laid foot to this crazy little island. For me, today’s stylish couple, Melissa and Ivan, embody that big city allure. A stunning long sleeved dress with feathered sleeves, a dashing white tuxedo, and the most incredible cityscape backdrop set the stage for a glamorous night in the city that never sleeps.

Of all the wedding plans, finding a venue that featured New York City at it’s finest was their number one priority. Luckily for our couple, the new and hip William Vale Hotel (just a few blocks from my house!) had just opened, with incredible vistas of all of Manhattan, a lawn for the ceremony, and cool reception room for the party.

One of our favorite bits we’ve gotten out of following this fabulous wedding day journey is Melissa and Ivan’s sage advice, and maybe a new trending hashtag? Wedding Wednesdays! To keep sane throughout the week, our stylish couple dubbed the midweek hump-day as their all-thing-wedding day, having dinner together, getting things done, and leaving the rest of the week void of any planning stress.

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Our Love Story

The bride & groom first met through mutual friends at a 4th of July party in 2009. They became Facebook friends, but beyond that, they didn’t keep in touch. Then, 4 years later, they met again at the same mutual’s friend’s engagement party. That’s when the fireworks sparked when they took a romantic moonlit walk around the property. Melissa lived in Wilmington, DE at the time & Ivan lived in Brooklyn, NY.

They maintained their passionate relationship for 2 years long distance & then Melissa eventually moved to Brooklyn. In May of 2016, they attended a destination wedding in Santorini, Greece together. After the wedding, Ivan proposed & they celebrated their engagement on a private catamaran sailing trip the next day. Since being engaged, they’ve enjoyed the wedding planning process and are looking forward to starting their family with a four-legged, furry friend in the next few months!

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Special Moments

One of our favorite moments as a couple was our First Look. It was such a joyful and emotional time for both of us to see each other for the first time on our wedding day. It could not have been anymore perfect!

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The Venue

From the moment we got engaged we knew we wanted to have a modern NYC wedding overlooking the city. Now finding a venue that fit that vision was not an easy task. We spent three months exploring venues within the boroughs of NYC & finally chose The William Vale because of the modern design and stylish decor. Once our venue was chosen, our style to fit the venue fell into place. We took ample time to research and interview different vendors & the ones we chose surpassed all of our expectations on our wedding day!

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The Photography

As mentioned above, we spent weeks researching and analyzing vendors, especially our photographer and videographer. Bri’s work is phenomenal and we knew that we wanted her to capture our wedding day!

Not only was Bri amazing at organizing and keeping us on track during our wedding day, but she emailed us throughout the planning process and asked if we needed anything or how the planning process was going. We felt very comfortable asking her for advice on other vendors – it was a pleasure and honor to work with her!

Kiss the Bride Films also had fantastic work and a quirky editing style, which we loved. We are looking forward to getting our video soon!

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Our Advice to Other Couples

Our advice: Enjoy the process! Don’t forget why you are getting married & don’t let the stress of planning get in the way. We made a deal & dubbed Wednesdays “Wedding Wednesday.” This was so helpful for us to maintain a normal lifestyle throughout the rest of the week and still spend quality time together. Instead of letting the little things stress you out, enjoy the process together – you only get to do it once!

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