Jamie + Nate by Helaine - Together Journal

We leaned into the Miami / Little Haiti vibe.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, how you love to spend time together.

We live in Brooklyn with our dog/child Jack, a 5-year old rescue pup from South Korea. Nate works in infrastructure private equity, working on the energy side of data center development, and Jamie started a company last year called Podium Automation in the industrial automation space. We’re both music lovers and spend a lot of time in the city going to concerts and shows ranging from classical music to our favorite DJs, but also enjoy quiet Sundays walking around our neighborhood with Jack and cooking our favorite meals.

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

We met in business school at MIT in 2018, and were friends for a while before we ever considered dating. First impression of Nate was that he was extremely intelligent and knew a lot about renewable energy, but it wasn’t until we were on a business school trip to Miami together that I got to see how dynamic and fun he was too. I loved that he had so much range and depth and it’s one of the things I appreciate the most about him still.

How did you settle on Miami for your location?

Nathan was born and raised in Miami, we spent COVID lockdown together in Miami, and it’s become a very special place for our relationship as we visit family and friends frequently (especially during the winters!). There was really no better place to have an outdoor wedding in the middle of the winter. Our first dance song is a song by Voxtrot that we love and saw them perform live a few years ago called “Warmest Part of the Winter” and we thought that fit perfectly.

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

The overall theme we were going for was elevated, tropical, colorful and fun. We leaned into the Miami / Little Haiti vibe and wanted to use alternative styles and venues like ZeyZey and the Vagabond to bring our vision to life. The dress code was Tropical Formal and our guests were encouraged to wear colors and prints, our florist leaned into color and our linens were a mix of pistachio green and a crazy flamingo print that we used for the cocktail hour tables.

What did you love most about the design of the day?

Meredith and Monica from Simple Florals did an amazing job with the floral centerpieces and matching them with the colors and lighting of the venue. They were unique, colorful and fun and perfectly matched our vibe for the evening.

What did you love most about the guest experience of your day? What did your guests tell you they loved?

Despite it being a larger wedding, we wanted the day to feel intimate and close. We hosted the ceremony in a private backyard in Morning side and served dinner family-style with farm-to-table dishes, similar to how we would want a dinner party to feel. The dance floor had to be electric because our friends are party people, and Cortadito, DJ Hottpants and DJ Tian DELIVERED (yes we had three different musical acts).

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

We opted to go off the beaten path with non-conventional venues that hadn’t previously hosted weddings. I would say that even though there were moments where we had to do more work, it was so worth it to have our wedding feel authentic and like a true reflection of us as people and as a couple. Don’t compromise on authenticity.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout vendors you would like to make special
mention of?

We loved working with Chaise and Cait from Helaine. A piece of advice that a few friends gave us during wedding planning was to select a photographer that we personally liked spending time with and felt comfortable around, given that a substantial portion of the wedding day would be spent with them. Chaise and Cait totally delivered on that front. We felt comfortable the entire time and they gave us space and breaks from photography when we needed it.

Tell us about your outfits, what was unique, and is there a story? If not, why did you choose the guest attire that you did?

Tropical Formal guest attire, why not? Loved seeing all our guests in color, prints, everyone looked amazing.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Nate did an incredible job with the engagement ring without any input from Jamie because he wanted to keep the engagement a total surprise. The diamond is a very special family heirloom from Nate’s mom, who passed away in 2018. It was originally given to her by Nate’s grandmother. He worked with the incredible jewelers at Erstwhile in New York City to get a custom gold band and setting, and we went back to Erstwhile for our wedding bands as well.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

Venue, music, and food in that order. We knew that we didn’t want a cookie cutter wedding venue for any event, and ZeyZey delivered (plus we got to be the first ever wedding hosted at ZeyZey). We wanted a blend of live Cuban music and a DJ that had a long inspo Spotify playlist from us, ranging from 90s emo to modern electronic and disco.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

The morning of our wedding day, we woke up and sat by the pool at the Vagabond, just the two of us and said our vows privately in the quiet of the morning. Then we shared those same vows in front of our closest family and friends during our ceremony, and it was a moment we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.