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A Wild Woodland Wedding in Upstate New York

A Wild Woodland Wedding in Upstate New York

An enchanting love story inspired by summer meadows and spiritual traditions in the Catskills

Matthew and Luke's wedding was an immersive experience where sacred traditions, deep spirituality and the warmth of human connection came together to create something truly magical. Set in an intimate forest where the trees stood silent, their ceremony was a poetic tribute to love itself – a celebration of the glow of summer, the embrace of family and unbreakable love. The aisle, a vision of wild summer meadows, bloomed with textured foliage and flowers, leading the grooms, beautiful in their classic tuxedos, to their eternity. From a lively reception bursting with seasonal flavors to an after-party lit by the crackle of a bonfire, joy flowed uninterrupted. Immerse yourself in this symphony of love, a midsummer's dream where nature, music and spirit come together.

Our Love Story

^{The Day We Met}

We met at a friend's bonfire on a chilly November evening during the pandemic. We fell in love over foreign films, mystical poetry (Rumi, Walt Whitman, Rainer Maria Rilke, Marie Howe, and Christian Wiman), and a shared interest in spiritual practice.

^{The Proposal}

We proposed to each other two years after the bonfire. Matthew’s proposal included seven candles with seven hand-written notes recalling special moments from our two years together. My proposal included a morning visit to the Neue Galerie, a walk through central park, and a contemporary dance show. I proposed to Matthew in front of the Lincoln Center fountain.

^{The Engagement Ring}

We proposed to each other with two gold bands hand-crafted by Satomi Kawakita, a Japanese jeweler based in NYC. Matthew engraved my engagement ring with Greek text from the Gospels of Matthew & Luke: I will follow you wherever you go.

Our Wedding

^{The Vision}

We imagined an immersive experience where guests encountered the sacred through ancient ritual and our shared connection to the earth. The wedding was a celebration of summer, family, friendship, and our deep, abiding love for each other.

^{Our Team of Vendors}

We gathered a team of vendors dedicated to their craft. Food, photography, and sound were priorities. Katie Down’s sublime soundscapes created a transcendent atmosphere during the ceremony. Samm Blake captured many beautiful moments with her nostalgic, retro-yet-chique eye. Crisp catering’s delicious, seasonal flavors transformed our dinner service into a feast for the eye and mouth. A Wild Woodland Wedding in Upstate New York

^{The Location}

We experience the sacred most deeply in the natural world. We were drawn to Gather Greene by the intimacy of the venue’s forest glen where they envisioned the ceremony taking place. The modernist, Scandinavian pavilion also appealed to our sense of design and taste for organic minimalism. Gather Greene also has seventeen cabins on-site where we wanted our closest friends to stay. The venue offered the tranquility and beauty we believed would serve as a sacred container for our special day.

^{The Ceremony}

The wedding ceremony took place in a forest glen and was intricately planned and composed by us and our friend/priest, Reverend Lizzie Robbins. It was important to us that their loved ones be grounded and fully present in the sacred moment and that they play an essential, participatory role in the blessing of our union. An elegant aisle installation inspired by summer meadows lined the wooden benches with ferns, grasses, and other textural foliage and flowers. The installation crescendoed at the altar into an organically shaped arch.

As guests entered the clearing, they were transported to a tranquil, peaceful space by the soft sounds of singing bowls. A ceramic bowl engraved with Picasso’s dove, handcrafted by our close friend, Nantucket-based ceramicist Eve Wetlaufer, was filled with water and available for blessing. Guests were also handed ceremony booklets featuring our repeating motif of Picasso’s dove and bound with hand-dyed silk ribbons.

For the processional, the ceremonial atmosphere came alive as a live flute accompanied ethereal ambient music. Our siblings and three of our closest friends walked down the aisle holding crimson and ivory coreopsis posies, followed by Revered Lizzie Robbins in a black cassock. We walked down the aisle with our parents. Before moving to the altar, both families bowed to each other, a reference to our shared love for the Zen Buddhist ritual practices that often incorporate formal bowing as a way of reverencing the sacred in the other.

We met studying world religion and spirituality, so we wanted a ceremony that honored ancient ritual and contemporary spirituality. Following a structure inspired by an Anglican service, the ceremony incorporated elements from various spiritual traditions. Instead of traditional hymns, musician Katie Downs played meditative instruments such as the monolina, singing bowls, hand pan, and gongs to create a unique soundscape.

We sought out a more traditional liturgy from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer because of the beauty of the vows, but also to make the point that these traditional rituals can be reimagined for non-traditional couples and our modern times. The ceremony was inspired by the idea that rituals have the power to bring people together and to make guests feel like they have a sacred role in the unfolding story of the couple’s love. The truly radical act is not to abandon the past, but to reimagine it in a new way.

A Wild Woodland Wedding in Upstate New York

^{The Reception}

After the ceremony, guests were invited up the hill to a cocktail reception under a sailcloth tent. The five-piece band, Fleur Seule, played a curated compilation of bossa nova and Latin jazz. Waiters from Crisp Catering passed spicy margaritas and negronis, as well as hors d'oeuvres including Crispy Hudson Duck Drumette, Cauldron Fritter, Mini Lamb Slider on Firebread, Ahi Tuna + Compressed Watermelon, Prosciutto and Cornbread BLT, and Yakitori.

In place of a traditional escort card table, Heart & Soil Flowers created a Bonsai-inspired wall installation on the outer wooden wall of the dinner pavilion. Guest names were hand-calligraphed onto tags and tied onto the branches with hand-dyed silk ribbons. Dinner was held in Gather Greene’s indoor-outdoor structure, the Pavillion. The Pavilion sits on an open field overlooking the Catskill and Berkshire Mountains with 28 ft ceilings and geometric wooden walls. The reception was designed to seamlessly blend the covered “inside” of the pavilion with the surrounding outdoor landscape.

The central cement wall was adorned with meticulously placed mountain laurel branches to create a large-scale, bonsai-inspired tree installation. Below the tree installation stood a 24-foot mango wood contemporary bar. Guests were seated opposite the installation at four long banquet tables covered with organically textured custom forest green linens. Tablescapes were clean and minimalist and featured centerpieces of wild and untamed seasonal, textural flowers and foliage inspired by summer meadows. Flowers were displayed in unique, handmade ceramic wabi-sabi inspired vessels. At each place setting bold, typographic menus designed by The Letterist was placed on a simple taupe linen napkin and warm gray ceramic china. Tables were set with minimalist matte gold flatware and sleek glassware.

Heartfelt toasts were made over dinner by both our mothers, Matthew’s sister Julia and my best friend, Sofia. Fleur Seule played dinner music between toasts until DJ James Mulry opened the dance floor. Me and my mother Lori danced to an acoustic version of Nelly Furtado’s “I’m Like a Bird” and Matthew and his mother Susan danced to Bruce Springsteen’s “Save My Love.” We choreographed their first dance to “Song for Zula” by Phosphorescent. The dance floor stayed packed for the remainder of the evening. The setlist featured 1980s Italian disco and British post-punk favorites. It was a brat summer, with guests doing a choreographed ode to Charlie XCX on the patio. Servers passed espresso martini shooters and toasted brioche squares with bourbon caramel cream and Brûléed peach. A Wild Woodland Wedding in Upstate New York

^{The Special Touches}

During the ceremony, Brutus Stools by Danish designer 101 Copenhagen and a modernist eucharistic table added a contemporary contrast to the natural setting. On the table, the priest blessed the elements from a text supported by a book stand designed by London-based artist Louie Isaaman-Jones. For communion, we served wine and sourdough bread from Crisp on chalices and plates made by our close friend Eve Wetlaufer. It was an intimate moment for us to look into each of their guest’s eyes and engage in the most primordial of human acts: eating and drinking.

^{Our Favorite Moment}

Our favorite moment was the exchange of vows: "I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you. What a gift to make a commitment to the person you love in the presence of everyone you love."

Our Style

^{The Grooms Looks}

We wore custom Brunello Cucinelli tuxedos adorned with vintage Tiffany brooches. I wore a Calla Lily brooch while Matthew wore a brooch of interlocking feathers. Matthew wore Snowdon Whole-Cut Glossed-Leather Oxford Shoes from Manolo Blahnik. I wore Rainer Boots in Smooth Leather from Saint Laurent. Our rings were matching bands studded with Alexandrite stones crafted by Japanese jeweler Satomi Kawakita.

I changed into a vintage lace long-sleeve shirt from Bode. My shirt was made from a filet lace tablecloth from the 1930s, a particular kind of lace thought to have originated in fishing communities who adapted their net-making abilities for decorative use. I wore Bode trousers cross-stitched with garlands of roses. Matthew also donned a lace long-sleeve shirt made from a vintage tablecloth. His shirt was from Bode’s One-of-A-Kind Shoppe on the Lower East Side.