This New York wedding at Stonewall Estate is overflowing with timeless details and custom moments that guests will cherish for years to come! In addition to wanting a timeless and fun wedding this couple was also focused on wellness and sustainability. They were able to serve their guests wholesome meals from local farms and had sustainable florals all throughout.
Keep scrolling to see all of the beautiful photos by Lindsay Lazare. All the Best Moments planned every detail, Stems Brooklyn Weddings created all of the amazing florals. All the images are in the full gallery, so be sure to click through and read on to hear more from the bride.
I am a wellness coach/influencer and entrepreneur, founder of Live Healthillie. I met Matthew 3 years ago and we've been inseparable ever since. He is the current Co-founder of our business and handles all the behind the scenes. We are both Albanian and hold strong to our values and wanted a timeless, fun BUT wellness focused wedding that felt true to who we were in all aspects.
We picked a barn in the Catskills called Stonewall estate and all the food is seasonal and farm to table. Since wellness is our absolute focus it was nice being able to serve our guests with wholesome meals from local farms. Our planner Kaitlin from All The Best Moments kept this in mind when picking vendors for us. She found Brooklyn based florists Stems who focuses on sustainable floral. We focused on floral that was in season for mid September which made our wedding colors completely timeless. Not only did we have some fall tones and branches but also pops of color to celebrate summer coming to an end.
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For wardrobe Matthew went for a custom local tailor Carlos Amorin. We wanted neutral tones for himself and the bridal party to allow our floral to really be the focus as well as add a modern touch opposed to the super classic black suit. For myself I went for a timeless long sleeve silhouette by Berta. I wanted something sexy yet classic but also fun. It had 3D floral all over which I felt brought out that end of summer vibe while the long sleeve, capped shoulders kept it classy and unique. Along with the nude underlay that matched Matt's neutral suit. Hair was done by the incredible Diana Dodic and makeup was done by BeautyByBana. Earrings I rented from Verstolo - you don't hear much of people renting jewelry but didn't want to buy something I may not wear again. Shoes were Loeffer Randall.
Welcome newspapers explaining all the details, our love story, and shuttle times that was created by The Ceremony Club with a photoshoot done by Lena Nikollaj Photography. It was a major hit and many of our guests ended up using them but also saving them as a souvenir. We kept one for ourselves to frame. We also handmade our own traditional Albanian grapa the year prior that we bottled and labeled with the help of The Ceremony Club. It was a nice touch that the whole family helped with and everyone absolutely loved it. I am sober for 2 years now so that wasn't changing on my wedding day. I gave up alcohol for my health - it was no longer serving me but I wanted to still enjoy my wedding. We offered 2 specialty cocktails. Matthew kept it simple with a Moscow mule, sub Tequila while I offered a non alcoholic Apertif from Drink Ghia with sparkling water and rosemary sprig. It was a hit, tasted delicious and many of our more religious family that doesn't drink truly appreciated it. We also had custom pizza boxes so no dessert or other food went to waste. We offered an after party snack called Burek which is a traditional Albanian dish. The boxes said "don't BUREK my heart" kept it true to our relationship and corny things we come up with.
Decor we had a floral organic looking arch for our ceremony that was absolutely a dream out of a Pinterest board. We didn't want to take away from the mountain backdrop and we feel it blended perfectly. The arch was re-used behind our sweetheart table. On our sweetheart table was fruit (that people were picking on all night as they danced). Our aisle floral for our ceremony was also reused not only to the entrance of the barn but the morning after for an intimate brunch with family. Each table had led candles, floral above the table and a burgundy napkin and custom black and white menu from Etsy. The black and white menu matched our timeless black and white dance floor. Above the dance floor hung a beautiful floral chandelier that kept it super romantic and intimate despite being a 220 person wedding. For music we had a live band, DJ and traditional tupan (drum) players that kept the party going all night. Dollar bills were flying - another tradition Albanians do which is meant to 'shower the new couple in wealth and prosperity". The money actually goes to the band for throwing an amazing party.
For dessert we had two options, Matt's favorite a berry tart cake or also known as a traditional Italian Millefoglie cake while my favorite homemade carrot cake was offered. The end of the night i changed into a short bow dress from Revolve and we snuck away for a cute photo shoot behind the barn on the patio. highly suggest. Our wedding day truly went exactly the way we wanted from keeping traditional Albanian aspects from music, to the grapa wedding favors, to the after party snack but also wellness focused by picking a farm to table venue, seasonal/local floral, and offering a mocktail option for our guests. We knew we had a large guest list but we still wanted people to feel it was an intimate gathering where they felt they were truly celebrating with us and we were thinking of everyone. The details ARE important and we are so happy that we had custom moments our guests will appreciate for years to come.