Real Long Island Wedding: Sarah and Brian

Our wedding was held on Black Friday 2012, which was roughly 6 weeks after Hurricane Sandy devastated the area.  We began planning our wedding over 3 years in advance and could have never foreseen the impact it would have.  We were so fortunate that all of our wedding vendors were spared and everything went as planned.

The theme of our wedding was “gothic elegance” and our colors were Purple, Black and Silver.  In the beginning, we had a bit of a hard time getting people to really envision our theme.  Most people think of modern gothic; however, I wanted to reincorporate a bygone era and make it feel more like the 1800’s.  The most important way for us to incorporate that was through our venues. 

Our ceremony was held at St. Patrick’s Church in Glen Cove and our reception was at the NYIT DeSeversky Mansion.  St. Patrick’s was built in the 1850’s and is the oldest Catholic Church on Long Island, so this was an obvious choice for us.  The weathered grey stone, beautiful stained glass and ancient gargoyles of the church were the perfect reflection of gothic for us.  As soon as we saw the NYIT DeSeversky Mansion, we knew this had to be the place for our reception; with their elegant ballroom, romantic library and grand staircase.  No other local Mansion would fit into our “elegant gothic” theme so easily. 

I was already envisioning having flowers and candelabras all over the house.  The sales team at DeSeversky helped us by lending their antique silver candelabras to use as our centerpieces, which looked fantastic with purple and pink flowers.  The candelabras were originally used in the home during grand parties and events before the Mansion had electricity, really bringing out the history of the Mansion.  We had beautiful silver and black damask linens for our tables, which looked incredible with our centerpieces.  We also used the Kate Aspen Black Baroque Frames as our seating cards and favors, which pulled in some of the gothic elements from the room.  Our wedding cake was elegantly decorated and incorporated the architecture of the Mansion, while the cake topper was Frankenstein dancing with his Bride.  But the biggest hit of the night was definitely the groom’s cake that I secretly ordered for my husband – in the shape of a zombie!

Many of our guests complimented the food and drinks, and of course, our unique theme and ideas.  I was really excited when it all came together and everything looked extremely elegant and classic - not “modern” in any way.  One of the best compliments I received was that I should be a professional wedding planner!  Of course, I can’t take full credit – I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish any of it without our fantastic wedding vendors.  I thank each and every one of them for their hard work and dedication in helping us plan the wedding of our dreams!  Thank you for reading!