Don’t forget to get your entry in so you can win a fabulous flower hair accessory from Fascinate Me! The giveaway is going on now through May 14th at 11:59 p.m. PST, and you can enter with a comment about your favorite piece on the Fascinate Me Facebook page AND The Wedding Yentas post here for a maximum of two entries! The winner, who will be chosen at random, will be announced May 15th. Read here for all the juicy details!
Anna’s goal was to do something really incredible, but keep the wedding on a tight budget. She has always been a “frugalista” with a great eye for making inexpensive things look much more high-end. Her overall inspiration was the Great Gatsby summer party – she wanted to keep a slightly old-world feel, while making it relevant and low-key.
She and her husband, Phil, fell in love with the venue as soon as they saw it. They had always wanted to get married outdoors, and this was the perfect setting. Their color palate was a joint decision – as hard as it may be to believe, lilac is Phil’s favorite color! Anna loved the ivories and gold tones to make it feel warm and welcoming.
Anna had a definite idea in mind when it came to flowers and actually shopped that idea around until she found a florist that met both her vision and budget. She loves orchids wove the flowers into all the arrangements. She also wanted to continue the vintage feel in the flowers – and so each arrangement was clustered with pearls and small rhinestones, and the branches were gilted. Anna also hand-wrote all the placecards and table numbers, and made the bridesmaid’s necklaces.
The couple also wanted to find a way to bring in Anna’s Ukrainian heritage. The cocktail reception featured an ice bar with the couple’s monogram (designed by her cousin Gary Pikovsky!) and a selection of Russian vodkas, with the traditional accompaniment of pickled vegetables. The couple also had two wedding cakes – one a traditional American wedding cake – and other a traditional Ukrainian cake, appropriately named Kievskiy.
Mazel tov, Anna and Phil!
Venue: Pierce House
Photographer: Henry Photographers
Engagement ring: Alex & Co.
Wedding ring : E.B. Horn
Entertainment / Music: Horns In The House
Caterer & Cake: Swartz Catering Company
Dress: David’s Bridal
Makeup Artist / Hair Stylist: Dellaria Salons and Spas
Favors: Donation in honor of our guests to the Alzheimer’s Association since both families have been affected
Yarmulkes: Kippah.com
Ketubah: Ketubah.com
Honeymoon Travel: A national Geographic adventure to the Galapagos
From The Bride:
We had just come to New York after a week in Mexico, and were planning to go to a friend’s New Year’s Eve party themed “Party Like it’s 1929.” Phil suggested, very casually, that we should go to 11 Madison Park, the restaurant where we met for the first time, for a quick bite before the party. I really thought nothing of this – although this place has a lot of memories and significance for us, this was such a casual, last minute decision, that the possibility of anything more than dinner did not even cross my mind!
So we went to a very early 6 p.m. dinner on New Year’s Eve, dressed up in costume for the party (me in a flapper dress, and Phil in a tux). We were seated at a beautiful corner table, and the Assistant Manager came by our table to introduce herself, since we had been there a few times before and since Phil was good friends with General Manager of the restaurant. She offered to introduce us to the chef, since we are huge fans of the food at 11 Madison Park – and I was thrilled! I could not stop telling Phil about all the dishes I wanted to ask the chef about!
We had a delicious meal, with wonderful wine – and right before desert, the assistant manager came by and said that the chef, who was setting up for the staff holiday party in the upstairs private room, had some free time to meet us at that moment. We followed her upstairs, and I was bounding ahead telling her how I excited I was to meet the chef. She opened the door to the private dining room, which was a gorgeous room filled with balloons, that overlooked the 2-story high main dining room. She left us alone, and in anticipation of meeting the chef I could not stop staring at the staff door.
Suddenly I heard, “Hunny, turn around.” I turned around to face Phil, and he was down on one knee with a small jewelry box open in front of him. And then, of course, I realized what was happening! I started crying and could not stop repeating “oh my god, is this really happening?!” Phil had to calm me down and tell me he hadn’t even asked anything yet!
And then he said: “I had a whole speech prepared, I promise, but now I can’t remember any of it. All I know is that you are my best friend, my home, my love – and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes!!”
Because of my focus on meeting the chef, I had overlooked the fact that the room was set up with a table for two, with beautiful white flowers and champagne. We finished the wonderful evening with desert at our own little private table! Although at that point, I was too overwhelmed and excited to eat!
