Today’s wedding is such a beautiful invigorating wedding, that the pictures make me want to get up and dance. This wedding is a bit more traditional then many of the weddings I feature, but having a traditional wedding doesn’t mean that you can’t have a wedding just as vibrant and practical and inspiring as someone having a quirky and offbeat bash. You’d never guess from the pictures, but Betty and Juan had a limited budget, and got married in New York City (where TRUST me, everything is much more expensive). But they were not going to let that stop them from having one fantastic party. These photographs were taken by the talented Jen Huang.
You often hear people singing the praises of destination weddings, and people don’t often talk about the joy of getting married where you live. Betty and Juan married in their hometown – New York City. In this picture, Betty is getting ready in the lobby of her parents apartment building, something I’m sure she’ll remember every time she walks through the lobby. I love the idea of our weddings imbuing the ordinary with the extraordinary and the sacred.
The couple got married at Our Lady of Guadalupe church on 14th Street. The groom is a graphic designer, and made all the paper goods for the wedding, the bride made the decorations and the centerpieces, and the mother of the bride made all of the flowers. (a do-it-together wedding! yay!)
The bridesmaids picked their own dresses in brown and blue, and looked sassy and fabulous.
The couple took pictures walking around the Meatpacking district, which is far as I’m concerned is about the best decoration you can get.
If you are going to have a New York wedding, you might as well take a cab to your reception.
Betty is a dancer, and Juan is a soccer player, so they had this adorable cake toppers. In lieu of a expensive formal wedding cake they had a flourless chocolate cake (the first dessert they shared together) and cheese cakes (the quintessential New York desert).
Their reception was at a simple east village restaurant, and was packed with plenty of dancing, Mexican and Venezuelan food, and… wait for it… a surprise mariachi band.
I love a bride who really dances at her reception.
And you know you’ve got a real party when the groom gets thrown in the air….
…and the flower girl starts break dancing…
… and the bri
desmaids start getting down. Yes, please. This is my kind of party.
At the end of the night, Betty changed into a shorter going away dress, and had one last dance.
Congratulations to Betty and Juan! My all your days together be as vibrant and joyful as your wedding day! (As for me, I might just have to book my plane tickets back to visit New York today… and put on my dancing shoes).
Pictures by the amazing Jen Huang
