I started working on Sarah and Nico’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns wedding in 2019. Unfortunately, COVID got in the way, so they had a micro wedding in her parent’s backyard on their original date and postponed the party to the following year. Who would have known we would need to reschedule another year ahead? During that time they were blessed with a beautiful baby daughter. It was with great joy that everyone came together in June 2022 to celebrate their marriage and the newest addition to the family!
Sarah and Nico had considered having some sort of ceremony, but in the end we decided to go straight in the cocktail reception followed by dinner and dancing! Before guests arrived, we had Sarah and Nico take photographs around Blue Hill at Stone Barns. They were also joined by their bridesmaids and groomsmen (some of which could not attend the micro wedding). Family portraits ended with baby Phoebe joining and they had a wonderful time in the Dooryard Garden. Sarah’s bouquet was composed of coral pink antic garden roses, coral charm peonies, blush garden roses, spray garden roses, dark pink ranunculus and blue nigella.
Guests arrived at the vegetable garden side of the restaurant. They were greeted by a solo violinist from Hank Lane and a tray of refreshing beverage options. For their signature cocktails, they chose Pea’s Knees (a play on Bee’s Knees with pea, gin, fermented honey) and Strawberry Fields (chamomile tequila, strawberry, ginger). For hors d’oeuvres we had asparagus burgers, polenta fries and pastrami marmalade, donko shiitake donuts, harukei turnip and poppy seeds, farm potato bites, brassica and walnut tart, celeriac and tilefish ceviche and vegetables from the farm. A trio of keys, bass and sax played in the restaurant, and the violinist joined them later. On their invitation (which had gone out in 2019!) we had a sheep’s head peeking out on the envelope. This was brought back for the escort card envelopes. It gave me great pleasure to set them up on the lovely farm table and see the whole herd of very serious looking sheep staring back at me. We brought Sarah, Nico and Phoebe through the kitchen before they joined their guests at cocktail.
After cocktails, guests were invited through the courtyard along a lantern lined path to dinner in the upper Hayloft. The mother of the bride wanted lots of flower moments and Poppies and Posies definitely brought it. We had full arrangements of lush peonies, garden roses, spray roses, snap dragon and mini lilies on the bar, leading the way to dinner and on the silo lobby table. While guests were upstairs at dinner, we repurposed cocktail florals to the dancing area for later. I always like reusing florals when possible.
Most of the guests were seated at round tables, but we created a long table for the head table filled with juicy vibrant blooms and pale blue tapers enclosed in glass shades. Behind the head table on the windowsill Poppies and Posies created a lush installation of vibrant grass green salomon seal and geranium with garden roses in various pink and blush hues, coral charm peonies, tulips and blue delphinium. For dinner guests enjoyed:
1st course: Green garden gazpacho, Blue Hill farm yoghurt sorbet, rhubarb
2nd course: Maine Halibut, peas, pistachio
3rd course: Grass-fed beef, green garlic pistou, Eight Row flint corn polenta
We had some great speeches during dinner with lots of jokes about this being their third wedding (the second wedding being a church wedding they had last year). We ended with Sarah and Nico cutting their wedding cake, giving a thank you speech and inviting their guests downstairs for cake and dancing.
The mother of the bride wanted to make the lower Haybarn more festive with fairy lights and Pegasus did a great job creating 2 long walls of fairy lights along the sides of the room and hanging a drape of lights over the dance floor. It was so whimsical, magical and pretty! We also brought in lots of cozy lounge furniture from Patina for the Haybarn and courtyard. During dinner Pegasus setup the bistro lights in the courtyard and added uplighting around the perimeter. Wedding cake was passed and additional desserts of brown butter cake, rhubarb and hyssop donuts, and buckwheat brownies. Guests had a great time dancing to the Pete Saunders Band in the Haybarn and lounging outside in the courtyard.
It was wonderful to have Tory Williams document their backyard micro wedding in 2020, church wedding in 2021 and this bigger celebration in 2022. Thank you to all our vendors who stuck with us through the many changes and made such a great party for them. Thank you to Sarah, Nico and her parents (who did a lot of the planning) for being such kind and gracious clients. Needless to say it isn’t easy having to reschedule and replan, but I could not have chosen better partners to do that with. It was truly a pleasure to be a part of that journey with them.
planning: Ang Weddings and Events | photography: Tory Williams | venue: Blue Hill at Stone Barns | florals: Poppies and Posies | paperie: Fourteen Forty | band: Pete Saunders Band via Hank Lane Music | hair and makeup: Face Time Beauty | rentals: Patina | lighting: Pegasus