Tara and Adam took the reigns on their own wedding planning and—with some help from our friend Instagram—they perfectly customized their Hampton’s nuptials at Wolffer Estate. As luck would have it, it rained on the couple’s big day, but they “were determined to still embrace the beyond gorgeous vineyard setting which meant walking through the rain (and a little mud!)” Rain-or-shine, Tara and Adam’s day is lovely and their extensive vendor research paid off with beautiful paper by Sesame Letterpress, gathered florals by Roses & Rice and photography by Alexander Thomas who perfectly captured the serendipity of the rainy day in these images.
What made the wedding special and unique?
First and foremost the location was very special to us as we have spent a lot of time together as a couple in the Hamptons and we both have childhood memories of Eastern Long Island. One of our earliest trips together as a couple was New Years 2015/2016 that we spent out there … this was actually the weekend we “fell in love” and knew we were going to marry one another (even though we didn’t tell each other that weekend, ha!). We spent New Years Day 2016 drinking champagne at Wolffer Estate, it was perfect.
Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!
The dress was from an up and coming French wedding designer Rime Arodaky. Tara has worked in the fashion industry for 10+ years and never wanted a traditional style wedding dress. After living in Paris for a short period of time, Tara holds all things French near and dear so when she came across Rime on a blog she knew she wanted to wear something from her collection. Tara only went to one dress shop (The Mews showroom) and tried on 3 Rime dresses. It took about 15 minutes and Tara instantly knew this was the dress. She loved how it looked like a skirt and top … and the buttons down the front felt incredibly sophisticated and vintage. It made her feel like the “bride” in a cool, laid-back, elegant way.
What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?
Everything! Honestly Wolffer Estate hosts a lot of weddings (they are booked every weekend May, June, September and October) and has a long list of preferred vendors to work with … but we wanted it to feel like “our” wedding and not just another wedding out in the Hamptons. So we spent a lot of time in the Instagram “black hole” researching vendors that looked and felt like our vibe starting with the photography and then followed by the flowers. We did not have a wedding planner so every detail was our own.
Some of the personal highlights were the letter pressed coasters on everyone’s place setting that Tara’s mom individually wrapped with ribbon the week of the wedding and the laser cut menus hand crafted by a family friend.
Perhaps the best touch was the guests’ welcome bags … Tara used to work for Outdoor Voices and all of the guests received a pair of sweats in their welcome bag that many wore to the Sunday brunch (including Tara, Adam and Tara’s dad!) as well as a box of famous Tate’s Southhampton cookies.
What was the most memorable part of the day?
This is a tough question … the highlights include our vows that we wrote (Tara almost had a teary meltdown!), the speeches from Tara’s father, Adam’s brother and Tara’s best friend, and both of our parents crushing the hora. We would both agree though the most memorable moment was walking from the Wolffer House (where we stayed with family) through the vineyard to the estate. As luck would have it, it rained on our wedding day … but we were determined to still embrace the beyond gorgeous vineyard setting which meant walking through the rain (and a little mud!) to the wedding. Good thing Tara ordered 20 large white umbrellas the week of the wedding … they look amazing in the photos :)
Coming full circle, we along with about 30 of our friends walked back to the Wolffer house after the wedding through the muddy, wet vineyard with nothing but the moonlight guiding the way. The evening ended with us all jumping in the pool (Adam in his wedding gear!), drinking champagne and eating lots of pizza.
Tell us how you met and became engaged.
We met on Bumble! Funny enough Adam “extended” our match since it was about to expire and Tara had not messaged him within the 24 hour period (so many rules!).
Adam proposed about 15 months after we first met in Tribeca on a side street near the Greenwich Hotel. Tara used to live in Tribeca and her parents still do so it is a place near and dear to her … Adam wanted it to be a surprise so he told Tara they had lunch reservations with a work colleague at Locanda Verdi (the restaurant in the hotel) although instead of having the cab drop us off in front, Adam stopped the car on a side street and popped the question. We then went over to the hotel for the evening to celebrate and have a ‘staycation.’ Since both of our parents live in the city, they each came over to celebrate the big day.
Photography: Alexander Thomas // On Site Coordinator: Sue Calden (With Wolffer Estates) // Planning: All done by Adam & Tara // Stationery: Sesame Letterpress // Florals: Roses & Rice // Venue: Wolffer Estate // Dress: Rime Arodaky // Dress Salon: The Mews Bridal // Suit: Michael Andrews Bespoke // Catering/Cake: Fresh Flavors // DJ: DJ Dave from Jarrell Entertainment // Ceremony/Live Cocktail Music: Jason Liebman