Emma + Padraig by Madison Katlin - Together Journal

We wanted it to feel stylish, chic, and timeless while celebrating NYC itself.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

We love spending time outside, especially going for long walks. We love cooking at home and playing the daily New York Times games with each other. We just recently moved out of NYC to the suburbs in Pennsylvania. The wedding was a great send-off from the city we loved before our move the following weekend. Quite stressful getting married and moving, but we did it!

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met while both working our first job out of college at Yelp in NYC. We were both the early birds to the office, showing up to get a head start on the day, and we caught each other’s eye. We lived a few blocks from each other and enjoyed exploring NYC. We spent our early weekends dating bopping all around NYC to Governors Island, Roosevelt Island, DUMBO, Redhook, and more! NYC was a really fun city to begin our relationship in. We spent the last 2 years living together in Battery Park City, enjoying long runs and walks on the West Side Highway.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

During COVID! We had to spend some time apart, which actually improved our communication with one another and brought to the forefront how we wanted to spend time together.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

We wanted to keep it intimate with only close family and friends. It was an extremely hard decision to narrow the guest list down to 30 people, but we didn’t want it to balloon beyond our initial vision. Good food and drinks were top priority! A strong dirty martini was a must. We wanted it to feel stylish, chic, and timeless while celebrating NYC itself. We also loved the idea of getting married in the winter, though we lucked out with a 50-degree and sunny February day. We wanted guests to have this to look forward to for February, which can be a drab month in NYC.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

Lafayette was a beautiful, cozy wine cellar that worked visually. Our hotel, the Beekman, was also a great backdrop for the timelessness of NYC.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

We enjoyed planning an event that truly felt like us. It’s so fun when you go to different weddings and can really see the bride/groom reflected in the execution. Advice: Think about what’s most important to you so you can prioritise easily. Don’t let other people’s opinions cloud your vision- do what YOU want to do! Lean on friends and family for help! We did our own florals from Trader Joe’s, which was a huge cost saver, and had friends help set up the room for us.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

Nothing unique. We were just happy to dress up; it was fun! We worked hard to fit the whole wedding into our budget, so the shoes and veil were actually $30 on Amazon; both came out great!

What was one, or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

Food and photography were our most important! We also spent a bit more on the hotel to ensure a fun getting ready morning for the bride. Bridal suites were very expensive to find in NYC, so the Beekman ended up being an excellent option.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

We didn’t have a ring for the groom! We figured it out, but it was stressful at the time.