There’s just so much to love about Lisa and Ben’s charming Brooklyn wedding – the vintage dress, the skateboarding bride and groom, the city hall ceremony. From the bride:
We were married on May 5, 2010 at City Hall in Manhattan. 2 guests, 2 photographers. Our friend, Chris’tine stopped by on her lunch break to join in on the wedding fun. We couldn’t imagine planning a big event and we decided to make it a relaxed fun day, ambling over the Brooklyn Bridge on our way to City Hall. Just me and Ben having fun, like we always do.
Lisa found her vintage dress just two weeks before the wedding, at Bopkat Vintage. “Like a museum, the selling floor only displays part of the entire collection. Just ask and dresses will appear. The owner pulled out handfuls of gowns from the back. I scored mine, an authentic 1950s prom dress for $150 and it fit with no need for alterations. The hat was customized to match the dress by Margaret Duncan of Bridal Veil Falls. Margaret (being super talented!) was super detail oriented and would not let me take the hat home until she had had a look at the dress first. She designed the flowers on the hat and added the net to give it more pizazz. She was very accommodating and had the hat ready for me within a day. So couture! And only $90. (I secretly LOVE hats. If I ever win the lottery, I’m going to buy lots and lots of vintage HATS).“
Ben and I are skaters, so our photographers, Charles and Tatjana of Wrinkle in Time Photography, suggested incorporating our longboards into the wedding day. We were all for it!
I picked up some white peonies from the Flower District on West 28th Street for 1/3 the cost had I gone to a conventional florist. Bound them up with ribbon for the bouquet. Then a stop at Key Foods grocery store to pick up an orchid to make Ben’s boutonniere.
City Hall had their chapels renovated so you can plug in your iPod or iPhone and walk down the aisle to the tune of your choice. We walked down the aisle to “Let’s Get Busy” by Rocket From the Crypt.
My favorite moment was putting that ring on his finger!
We had a gold airbrushed opera cake from Almondine Bakery in Dumbo. Because we were walking across the bridge before the ceremony, we didn’t want to bring our own wine, so we bought some at a corner pizza shop. Buying it at the last minute meant that it was still nice and chilled when we served it.
Everywhere we went, we were greeted by enthusiastic tourists and locals alike, giving us their well-wishes and congratulations. New Yorkers often get a bad reputation for being rude, but we only received smiles. We were even cheered on by large groups walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Our family and friends are happy for us, but how amazing to feel on that day, that the entire city was happy for us too! Receiving that wave of happiness was an awesome way to begin our lives together.
Bride’s dress / hat: Bopkat Vintage / Bridal Veil Falls
Bride’s heels / skateboarding flats: Annie / Rocket Dog
Groom’s suit: Joseph Abboud
Cake: Almondine Bakery
Congratulations Lisa and Ben! Wishing you all the best, and thank you for sharing your sweet wedding with us. And thank you to Tatjana and Charles from Wrinkle in Time Photography for sharing these beautiful photos.
