Erin + Thomas by Outtakes Studio - Together Journal

We stayed at a romantic little hotel called The Hotel at the End of the Universe and got back together soon after.

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

Thomas: I love science fiction books, dumb international thriller movies, playing geography games online, drinking beers outside, and tooling around Brooklyn on my bike. I work in affordable housing finance, and I’m very motivated by my conviction that investing in housing can make people’s lives better.

Erin: I love cooking, fashion, Survivor, word games, throwing parties and drinking wine. I grew up in Seattle and while I miss the beauty of the West Coast, I’m firmly glued to New York. I work for a fund that supports grassroots efforts to address human trafficking and get to work with some incredibly courageous activists.

We both love our friends, music, cities, travel and modernist architecture.

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

We first really met as members of a singing group in college. Thomas had previously tagged along as an only vaguely-invited guest to Erin’s 20th birthday party (glasses themed since both the hosts were turning 20), and remembers thinking she was very pretty. Erin unfortunately has no memory of his attendance. We chatted during parties thrown by our brother-sister a cappella groups (it’s embarrassingly giving Pitch Perfect) and really got to know each other through a classical music ensemble.

From the start, Thomas thought Erin was fun and lovely and somewhat intimidating, Erin thought Thomas was cute, funny and kind but likely too good to be true. We had our first kiss after an 80’s themed dance, wearing colorful spandex.

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

For Thomas, it was realizing how much happier he was on a daily basis when they moved in together in Washington, DC. He wasn’t going to rush into anything, he and Erin are both deliberate people, but he could tell that happiness was there to stay.

For Erin, it was a slow process but over time it just felt right. The seriousness really sunk in when, after a year-long break-up, Thomas came to visit Erin where she was living in Nepal. We stayed at a romantic little hotel called The Hotel at the End of the Universe and got back together soon after.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

Even though we’d talked about marriage for a while and had resolved to get engaged, Thomas knew that Erin wanted a surprise. The time came on a trip to Sun River, Oregon with Erin’s family. Thomas convinced his parents to fly out in secret and picked the perfect bend in the river for the proposal. Erin became suspicious when her whole family was unusually dressed up, but gracefully said nothing. In the end, a child was fishing at Thomas’s chosen spot when they arrived, so they had to improvise. Following a minor slip-and-fall by Erin in the mud of the riverbank, Thomas got down on one knee and proposed with a ring that was originally his grandmother’s. Erin’s sisters were the documentarians.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.

The best way to describe our vision is “floral brutalism”- think wildflowers growing through cracks in the concrete- with both modern and retro touches. We wanted a venue that was firmly urban juxtaposed with a natural beauty. We took our engagement photos at the Barbican in London and wanted to continue that theme, and Brooklyn Grange was perfect. For colors and fonts, we were inspired by 60’s and 70’s graphic design. We drew our colors from a painting of wildflowers outside of a brutalist building and used a motif of a martini glass full of skyscrapers from a cocktail napkin Erin found on Pinterest. We used the same font from Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends for our stationary and signage. For textures we wanted to incorporate ceramics and were fortunate to get to use vases by Erin’s cousin Emma Ritchie.

In terms of vibe, we wanted a colorful, joyful party filled with music, dancing and good food. We love when our friends become each other’s friends, so we wanted to create moments of connection and warmth. Many of our friends and family traveled from out of town so we also wanted it to feel distinctly New York without being overly themed. Our table numbers were subway stations and we even found a children’s subway car toy that ran around our seating chart on a track.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

We ended up splurging on the venue! We looked at a bunch of them, and couldn’t get Brooklyn Grange out of our head. In the end it really paid off with an amazing sunset looking out over the water towards Manhattan. Our food came in a close second- everyone kept talking about how delicious it was. We wanted flavorful, spicy food that was actually something we’d order at a restaurant.

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

This is truly very boring but essentially everything went off without a hitch! Thomas got a little too enthusiastic while jumping to a Carly Rae Jepsen song and nearly knocked over his aunt, we guess that counts.

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

Thomas: I knew I wanted a green suit. Following advice from my most fashionable friend, I went to P Johnson to choose a fabric and get a custom suit made. The gecko tie pins me and my groomsmen wore came from Ebay and were an homage to our pet leopard gecko, Milton.

Erin: I love clothes and I particularly find myself drawn to big sleeves and bows. I knew I wanted something dramatic and sculptural and ended up looking into a lot of European and Australian designers. When I found Harriette Gordon’s lantern gown, I put it on my mood board as my main inspiration, assuming I wouldn’t be able to find or afford it. The wonderful owner of The One Bridal didn’t carry it but eventually was able to track it down from Australia. Once I tried it on I decided I was willing to splurge. I also knew I wanted to go vintage for my shoes, and spent what might have been hundreds of hours searching resale sites late into the night. The second I saw these pink Manolos with red velvet bows I was in love – I haven’t been able to find evidence of them anywhere else online and I feel so lucky I found them.

I wasn’t going to wear a second outfit because I loved my gown so much, but this red Sandy Liang mini dress came out about a week before the wedding and I rushed over to the store in Soho. I got the last one in my size just as the store was about to close. I loved the cape – it’s very Little Red Riding Hood – and it made dancing a lot easier!