New York Weddings Blanketed in White
“It was more intimate than expected, and it made it even more special,” said Stephanie Schneider of her wedding to Matthew Schwartz during the storm on Saturday. Credit Sasithon Pooviriyakul
When Stephanie Schneider of Brooklyn began planning her wedding eight months ago, she knew that a January event presented the risk of inclement weather. But it never occurred to her that she’d be married in the middle of a blizzard — what Mayor Bill de Blasio called “one of the largest snowfalls in the history of New York City.”
As a lawyer, she had given her wedding contracts a careful read. The paperwork for her photographer included a clause on canceling or rescheduling “due to acts of God or nature or terror.”
Well, Saturday’s whiteout was certainly an act of God, or nature, dumping over two feet of snow in some parts of the city. Then New York State imposed a travel ban for part of the weekend, including the window of time on Saturday evening when Ms. Schneider and Matthew Schwartz were meant to be exchanging vows.
“It wasn’t until Friday that we started to realize just how big the storm was going to be,” said Ms. Schneider, who until that point had 186 guests confirmed for the wedding.
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For Amanda Mott, the blizzard gave her her dream of a white wedding in New York. Credit Terry de Roy Gruber
She received a phone call Saturday morning from Battery Gardens, their Manhattan event space, offering to postpone the wedding until the next day. They declined, she said, because “I was going to be dolled up, I’d have my husband there, I’d have my photographer there, and I was bringing my family.
“I was like, ‘We got this!’” she added. “I didn’t care.”
So they sent a mass text message to their 186 would-be guests: “Wedding still on! Please come if you can.”
The photographer, Sasithon Pooviriyakul, turned up as expected during Saturday’s snowstorm. The bride’s hairdresser, Kerry-Lou Brehm, who lives in New Jersey, slept in her Manhattan salon on Friday night so she could make it Saturday morning.
The couple, who live in Brooklyn Heights, managed to hop into a minivan, arriving at Battery Gardens just before the traffic ban went into effect. By the time they walked in, the centerpieces were ready, the wedding canopy was almost up, and the cupcake tower — complete with vanilla, chocolate, carrot cake and red velvet — had arrived from Long Island.
The bridesmaids and groomsmen also soon appeared, albeit in snow boots and heavy jackets, but only half of their guests were able to make it.
“The people who didn’t show up were mostly from New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester,” Ms. Schneider said. “The people who were from farther away were more able to get there because they had flown in Thursday or Friday.”
“But this was our wedding,” added the bride, who stood bare-shouldered in the snow while Ms. Pooviriyakul, their photographer, snapped away. “It was more intimate than expected, and it made it even more special.”
Other couples — after news of the travel bans circulated — decided to postpone instead.
“We were determined to get married yesterday until the bridges and tunnels were officially closed,” Danielle Borovoy said in an email. Her Saturday marriage to Daniel Greenberg was moved instead to Sunday. “The biggest challenges were spreading the word to all our guests as quickly as possible and coordinating logistics all over again for today.”
For Amanda Mott and Michael Gunn, South Carolina residents who had planned their destination wedding for Saturday at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan, making a last-minute decision to postpone the ceremony and reception until the next day became an opportunity for the couple and their wedding party to let off some steam.
“Everybody was already done with their hair and makeup, and that’s when they announced that the wedding was off and that it’d be on Sunday,” said the bride’s mother, Charlotte Mott. Between the weather and the date change, their 207 guests, who were flying in from California, Alabama, and North and South Carolina, dwindled to roughly 140. But that didn’t dampen the mood.
Their photographer, Terry de Roy Gruber, had already shown up, camera in hand, at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, where the wedding party was prepping. “This was the first wedding I’ve done that was canceled because of a snow emergency, and it was kind of wonderful,” he said. “There was this amazing sense of relief once they made the decision. They were so giddy. Like: ‘Let’s go out and practice and have fantasy photos in the blizzard. I don’t care about my dress; I’m going to brave it and do it.’ Not very many brides in my experience have wanted to get their dresses wet and stand in 20-degree wintry weather.”
Mr. Gruber added: “The train of her Heidi Elnora dress, covered in ostrich feathers, looked remarkable against the snow. White on white.”
The weather changed the bride’s dark hair to match. “She was covered in snow,” her mother said. “And her hair was white.”
The groom, Mr. Gunn, said: “She’s always wanted a white wedding in New York. This is what she’s always dreamed of.”
Her mother added: “She loves the snow. She said, ‘Mommy, I know it’s going to snow on my wedding day.’ We all laughed and said, ‘Well, she prayed just a little too hard because she got a blizzard!’”
Forrás: http://www.nytimes.com/
