I want to become a society lady Rockin' a new rock?!

Alex and Sarkis wanted a relaxed, casual, but elegant backyard feel to their wedding. What better way to accomplish that than with a brunch, complete with all the comfort food? Coordinator and Stylist Hailey Yeager with Two Roads Event Co.  orchestrated a perfect brunch setting in the beautifully rustic Millwick – Marvimon. Megan Gray with Honey and Poppies carried the rustic feel of the venue with the gorgeous and deeply colorful florals. And how genius to have a bar for the guests to create something at the end of the day so the flowers wouldn’t go to waste? We think you’re going to love all the images captured by Alexa Miller of Bright Bird Photography.

What made the wedding special and unique?

We wanted our wedding to be really fun, comfortable, casually elegant and relaxed – as if you were opening up the doors to your backyard, if your backyard was a lush secret oasis, and feasting on the most delicious food and drink, while bumping the perfect playlist. With that in mind we ended up having a Sunday brunch wedding, because who doesn’t love brunch?! We had chicken and waffles, mini egg mc-muffin-style sliders, and avocado toast to name a few that was all washed down with champagne cocktails and a build your own Bloody Mary bar. Keeping with the brunch theme we had donut holes and mini pop-tarts along with cake for dessert. I also didn’t want our flowers to go to waste at the end of the day, so our venue coordinator, month of coordinator, and I came up with the idea of having a flower bar. At the end of the wedding our guests could make their own bouquets out of the arrangements and take them home to enjoy. It ended up being a big hit!

Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!

My gown was the Rue de Seine Florence gown that I found at Lovely Bride in TriBeCa. I had gone around to a few different dress shops with my mom, aunt, Matron of Honor and a friend and ended up with a handful of dresses that I liked but wasn’t quite sure was the one. I decided to go back and retry on the favorites by myself. When I was back at Lovely, I did a quick look through the racks and spotted Florence which wasn’t in the shop on my first visit. They had just had a Rue de Seine trunk show and had some new dresses in stock. Florence ended up being a top contender and it came down to her and one other dress which had a very different vibe. I knew it was important to my mom to be there for this moment so I made a follow up appointment, which also gave me some time to debate my two options. What a problem to have two gorgeous but totally different dresses to chose from! Ultimately Florence was the dress I kept coming back to in my mind when I envisioned myself on my wedding day. I just felt very much like myself in the dress. I also studied abroad in Florence, Italy (which is where I met my Matron of Honor) and I took the dress being named Florence as a bit of a sign that she was the one for me.

What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?

It was important to us that our wedding was a reflection of us and therefore we wanted to include some personal touches throughout the day. Our dear friend Rachel officiated our wedding which felt extremely fitting as we met through her. Sarkis’ dad built our chuppah and his late grandmother had made the beautiful table cloth which we used as the covering. The chuppah symbolizes a home and it was so meaningful that Sarkis’ dad built our new home for us. I used my grandmother’s ring to be married in which was also used by my great aunt and my cousin, all women who had/have long loving marriages. As my something old and blue I wore my mom’s engagement ring which is a Tiffany’s band of diamonds and sapphires. It felt very special to have all these touches of family with us on our wedding day as we came together to create a new family.

What was the most memorable part of the day?

My goodness it’s so hard to choose just one. It was such a beautiful and magical blur, truly the best day. One moment that stands out is actually after the wedding ended. We were back at The Line Hotel hanging out when some friends had Dominos pizza delivered. We all feasted in a little corner of the hotel patio wrapped in Mexican blankets, as it had gotten chilly. It felt like the perfect way to close out the best day; eating generic/let’s be honest tasty pizza, with people from all aspects of our lives that we love, because no one was ready for the day to end.

Tell us how you met and became engaged.

As I had mentioned earlier Sarkis and I met through our mutual friend Rachel. We had seen each other through the years at various gatherings Rachel had hosted (although Sarkis claims he doesn’t remember me) but we finally had a conversation at Rachel’s birthday in December of 2010. After that night we became Facebook friends and exchanged phone numbers, but what really got us to hang out was a friendly nudge from OkCupid. We were “quick matched” with each other and I texted Sarkis, because I thought it was funny since we already knew each other. It was the only OKCupid date either of us had ever been on and needless to say our last.

We got engaged on March 21, 2015 in Paris. I had no clue that it was going to happen, although in retrospect there were some clues that I was totally oblivious to. We had just finished a delicious meal of steak frites when Sarkis suggested we walk back to our Airbnb. I kept asking Sarkis if he was sure he knew where we were going because I felt like we were going in circles; he said he did. As we continued our stroll being silly and making up songs we entered the Marais, our favorite neighborhood in Paris and the one where we were staying, when Sarkis pulled me into a little courtyard. I was about to exit when he told me to take a seat. I said ok, but that I really had to use the bathroom, all that wine at dinner (clearly I still had no clue), and then he got down on one knee. We then went back to our Airbnb and drank champagne and called our families. Sarkis chose March 21 to propose because the numbers break down to, 3-2-1 here we go!

Alex + Sarkis from Daniella Hovsepian on Vimeo.

Wedding Coordinator + Stylist: Two Roads Event Co., Hailey Yeager // Bride + Planner: Alex Leitner // Photographer: Alexa Miller of Bright Bird Photography // Videographer: Daniella Hovsepian Wedding Videography // Venue: Millwick – Marvimon // Florist: Honey and Poppies, Megan Gray // Catering: Schaffer’s Genuine Foods // Alcohol: Liquid Catering // DJ: Dart DJ // Dessert: Portos / Semi Sweet Bakery

 // Hairstylist + Makeup Artist: Nicole Chew // Rentals / Decor: La Pinata // Rentals: Classic Party Rentals // Transportation: Jeffrey Valet