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Mike and I at our civil ceremony on September 12, 2021. We weren’t able to book an appointment at City Hall to make our marriage official before we left for Italy, so at the last minute, we asked his brother, Alex, to become ordained as a minister with the Universal Life Church in order to officiate. We exchanged vows on an overlook above Vanderbilt Gate in Central Park, with just our parents and Mike’s brother and sister-in-law, Miranda, in attendance. We FaceTimed in my sister Anna and my cousin Philip, too. My longtime colleague, Meredith, helped me find this dress a month prior, at an Ulla Johnson sample sale downtown. The shoes are Andrea Wazen; the bouquet is by Hudson Flowers; and the heart-shaped pearl and gold locket, my grandmother’s.
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It’s little surprise that as an editor and reader, I’m passionate about paper goods; so when it came to our invitations and save-the-dates, I really went all in. I’ve admired Crane for years, and these invites, which we ordered from them through Paper Source, were timeless and beautiful, with just a little pop; we went with French blue for the text, a nod to the seaside venue. (The liner, not pictured, was a gold-flecked print called ‘Florentine Garden,’ which rounded out the Italy theme.) Our envelope calligraphy was done by the talented Karissa O’Keefe of Pretty Written Things; and because art is another one of my personal passions, I chose the themed stamps accordingly. Our invitations featured Louise Nevelson, Emilio Sanchez, and Winslow Homer stamps, while our save-the-dates had Isamu Noguchi and Ellsworth Kelly. For the latter, we chose to use a photograph of our venue that was taken by Slim Aarons in 1984. I love his work, and this was too good an opportunity to pass up! A huge additional thanks to our Paper Source liaison, Lauren Sudbrink, for helping us to nail (and rush) the invites, and to my former colleague, Paulie, who trained her sharp eye on them, as well as on the save-the-dates (and myriad other details!).
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The view from our wedding venue, Hotel Santa Caterina, on the morning of our wedding. One thing that drew me to the idea of an Amalfi Coast wedding is that the locale is naturally beautiful; you need to do very little, if anything, to dress it up for your day. This photo alone is proof! But I’d also been nervous about the weather, since October on the Coast can be touch and go. When I woke up and saw the sun shining, I was so excited—and relieved.
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For our wedding favors, we chose these hand-painted bottles of limoncello from Antichi Sapori d’Amalfi, a souvenir store in the town of Amalfi owned by third-generation limoncello producers. Karissa created these hang tags out of place cards that I ordered and didn’t end up using (which, fittingly, were made in Florence by a company called Medioevalis, and are produced using Amalfi’s trademark paper making process). I loved the dreamy night sky scene, which paired well with the outdoor welcome dinner where we gave them out, held at a local spot called Pizzeria Donna Stella.
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I don’t wear makeup, save for the occasional Dior red lip, so it was important to me that my wedding day look be as minimal as possible. After all, I still wanted to look like myself—just a slightly more dressed up version! I turned down fake lashes, foundations, and bronzer, and probably put my makeup artist, Diego Salvati, into a panic; but in the end, he really nailed it.
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You can really see how beautifully Alessandro, my hairstylist, did my ponytail; I love the waves, which offered a little glamour to an otherwise low-key style. Here, I was taking in the day before I got into my dress; I couldn’t believe how glorious the weather was, and how lucky we’d gotten. The slip, which I found in this lovely Champagne color, is from Intimissimi.
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Taking in my mother in law’s full look, which I coordinated. She was such a good sport about it, and let me pick everything: the dress, the shoes, the earrings, and the hair and makeup. In the end, she really looked incredible. I loved how perfectly this Rene Ruiz dress worked with our seaside venue. The organza fabric moved beautifully, and the ombré blue-green really popped with all the greenery around the hotel.
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The dress! I bought it as a sample at Carine’s Bridal in Washington, D.C., in May 2021. Called ‘Fawn,’ it’s a Peter Copping-designed Oscar de la Renta dress from the Fall/Winter 2016 collection. I had it professionally cleaned at J. Scheer & Co., and tailored at Sew Elegant, both based in New York City.
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I ordered the veil through Etsy from a seller called Honeypie Bridal, and it might have been my favorite part of my look; it really made me feel like a bride. I loved that it brought a little drama to my outfit, since the dress didn’t have any embellishments. It was cathedral-length with a full-length blusher, and made of a soft, ivory Italian tulle that flowed beautifully.
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I decided to carry bouquets of baby’s breath at both my civil ceremony and at our wedding in Italy; it’s simple and sweet. (It’s also a joke between Mike and I, spun out of that episode of Sex and the City where Carrie complains about carnations. I hate baby’s breath when it’s combined with other flowers, like roses, but not by itself.) The other key element was the pin, which was given to me by Sinem, one of the Sew Elegant seamstresses who worked on my gown. She’s Turkish, and the pin had a little glass bead on it to ward off the evil eye; it also became my “something blue.” The women there were so kind to me, and I loved working with them—so it was meaningful to have a little piece of them with me. The earrings were my late grandmother’s, and were a last-minute choice. The spiral felt very Schiaparelli-esque to me, and gave an otherwise-classic pearl earring a little something extra.
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Mike’s outfit was almost entirely custom-ordered from Alan David Custom Suits in New York City. We asked them to add his monogram to the cuff of his dress shirt to give his classic tuxedo look a little bit of flair. The shoes are by Magnanni, an Italian brand.
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Mike, reading the letter I wrote to him earlier that day. We decided not to write vows to one another at either of our ceremonies; we preferred to exchange something more personal, that just the two of us would see. The Swiss Legend watch was a gift I gave to him about a decade ago for his birthday.
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Our ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract, which we custom-ordered from the Jewish Museum store on the Upper East Side; the design is adapted from a ketubah in the Museum’s collection of marriage contracts, which happens to be from Trieste, Italy, circa 1774. I love how ornate it is—and also that its provenance aligned with our wedding location. The ketubah is an important part of a Jewish marriage and ceremony, and even though Mike isn’t technically Jewish, we decided we wanted one (albeit with more interfaith language). The pledge written on it, which we signed, is about cherishing, respecting, and sustaining one another, and that was meaningful to us.
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Mike walking his mom down to the ceremony site. They’re pretty much twins—minus the height and age difference!
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For our ceremony—and our wedding look in general—I wanted something that was timeless, elegant, and lush. I love the look Armando Malafronte and his team at Malafronte Fiori created, which included a chuppah with different kinds of white roses and ample greenery. The rose petals down the aisle and the chair details were also a nice touch.
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My father passed away from lung cancer in 2017, and I wanted to find a way to bring him into the ceremony—so I asked our planner to frame these snapshots, almost all from my parents’ wedding day in November 1981, to place on the table at the entrance to the site. It sat right next to the basket of custom yarmulkes we had made, printed with our names, the date, and the location.
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My mom and I begin our procession down the aisle. In Jewish tradition, the bride and groom are accompanied down the aisle by both parents, and even though my father wasn’t there, I never once thought about going it alone; I really wanted her by my side.
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Mike standing under the chuppah, watching us process down the aisle. He’s standing under two talittot, or Jewish prayer shawls: One belonged to my father, and the other, to my late uncle Norman, his brother. It was so meaningful to be able to incorporate these kinds of touches—out of respect for those who couldn’t be there, and for Jewish tradition’s sake.
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Mike and I both walked down the aisle to a live harp rendition of the song “Dawn,” from the 2005 movie Pride and Prejudice. I’m a chronic movie rewatcher, which is something he makes fun of—I could watch the same 10 films over and over again, and Pride and Prejudice is one of them. But the song is so lovely, light, and just a little sentimental, not to mention different—and the decision to walk down the aisle to it was the first definitive choice I made about the wedding, even before we knew when or where we’d have it.
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Some 13 years, 4 months, 15 days after we started dating, we finally made it to the altar! You can see it on our faces—we couldn’t believe it.
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It’s in the details—and there were so many small but significant ones that I’m grateful I could work into the day. I’m wearing my father’s high school class ring on my right middle finger, which bears his initials: M.B. Next to that is my late grandmother’s art deco diamond dinner ring, which I wear every day.
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If I could capture my vision for the look of this wedding in a single photo (minus the groom, of course!) it would be this one. Timeless, beautiful, and elegant.
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One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was exchanging our rings, during which we recited our Hebrew vows. The bride and groom’s are slightly different, and because we worked with Mike’s best friend’s father, Claude, to craft our own Jewish ceremony, I was able to pick a few important phrases that I really wanted to say to him in the presence of our family and friends: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” and “Let me be a seal upon your heart, like the seal upon your hand.”
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Here, during another segment of the traditional Jewish ceremony, we both sip from the same cup of wine. My mom bought us this kiddush cup, along with a set of matching candlesticks, from the Jewish Museum store as a wedding gift; both are mixed-metal, with a Tree of Life design.
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Looking at one another during the ceremony still managed to feel intimate, even as everyone looked on. Claude, our officiant, gave a beautiful speech about our relationship, with inspiration drawn from The Phantom Tollbooth: “Words and numbers are of equal value, for, in the cloak of knowledge, one is warp and the other woof.” Mike is a numbers guy, and I’m a words person; together, we’re a perfect fit.
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We’ve known Claude for nearly as long as we’ve been together, and it was really special to have Claude officiate our ceremony. Not only did he do us an enormous honor by undertaking this (very intimidating!) task—he did a beautiful job, too.
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Claude knew exactly the jokes to crack to make us laugh.
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Crunch! In Jewish tradition, we smash a glass to commemorate the destruction of the Jewish temples. It’s actually a somber custom, meant to insert a moment of reflection into an otherwise joyful occasion.
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We’re married! Spoiler: We practiced this kiss a few times.
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We recessed down the aisle to “All You Need Is Love,” by The Beatles. The song is timeless—but it also nodded to the wedding scene in one of my favorite movies, Love, Actually.
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We couldn’t believe we’d pulled it off. We were over the moon, as they say!
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My mom and I. She looked so beautiful, and I loved the contrast of our dresses next to one another: pearly white, and shimmering black and gold.
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Posing with my sister and best friend, Anna, who’s only 14 months younger than I am. She looked beautiful in this baby-blue BCBG gown.
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The full family lineup: My sister-in-law, Miranda; my brother-in-law, Alex (who officiated our civil ceremony in New York); Mike’s father and mother, Bob and Deana; us; my mom, and my sister. I love how rich the colors are in this tableau; we look like a Renaissance painting!
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Under the chuppah. I still can’t get over how perfectly executed it was!
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After the ceremony, Mike and I, along with our officiant and our friends/witnesses, Rachel and Elliot, went up to the hotel lobby to sign the ketubah. (Normally, you do this before the ceremony, but I didn’t want to see Mike before walking down the aisle.) We’re laughing because my signature always takes up too much space. I like a flourish!
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After signing the ketubah, we went with our photographer to take some more photos down by the water before the sun set. This turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the day (and also one of my favorite photos); it was an intimate moment, just the two of us in the minutes after our ceremony. To me, this photo feels like a secret.
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The seaside setting was spectacular—so of course we had to do a photo session by the water. The pool area at Hotel Santa Caterina closes in the late afternoon, but they opened it up just for us.
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Just the two of us. I always think Mike looks handsome, but especially here. We felt so much love for one another in this moment.
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One last embrace by the sunset before heading up to meet our guests for the cocktail hour.
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Taking it all in.
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Looking up at our guests, some of whom watched our photo session from the cocktail hour balcony. We couldn’t wait to join them!
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This photo always makes me think of Botticelli’s painting, The Birth of Venus. It’s so dramatic and artful—and makes me love my veil even more.
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The gorgeous venue. It really does look like a postcard.
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This was the banquet table of my dreams. Because our wedding was so small—just 18 people, including us—I really wanted the dinner to feel intimate and warm, and for everyone to feel as close to one another as possible. We rented this imperial table, along with these Tuscan wood x-backed chairs, and let Armando and his team do the rest. I asked for lots of candles and mixed-metal holders, so that everything would glimmer, and lush, almost baroque flower arrangements. And how incredible are these hanging candle baubles? They were such an understated detail, but made a huge difference.
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We chose to use the menus and dinnerware provided by Hotel Santa Caterina, and I couldn’t have been happier with that decision. The handmade menus were printed on Amalfi paper, produced locally, and had our names and wedding date printed on them in a delicate, dark-brown script. Karissa drafted these gorgeous place cards for us, which are also Crane & Co. I love the simplicity and elegance of the silver chargers and flatware, and the unadorned glassware. Visually, it all felt so seamless—it sounds so corny, but it was like a reverie.
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The table, photographed just as the sun was setting. The candles and soft yellow light were the perfect combination; we totally achieved the warm glow we wanted.
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Our wedding cake, vanilla sponge cake with Chantilly cream and strawberries, and coated in buttercream frosting. I wanted it to be a decent size—not too big, not too small—but to otherwise be simple and beautiful. I loved how the leaves encircle the layers, and the crown of white roses that tops it all off. So classic!
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Posing for pictures at our cocktail hour. I’m sipping on a Bellini, the hotel’s signature drink.
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Our big entrance! We walked in to Fifth Dimension’s “Wedding Bell Blues,” negronis in hand. Not only do we love this song, but I always used to joke with friends at Brides (formerly a Condé Nast publication) that I wanted to propose to Mike with it, and switch out the word “Bill” for “Mills”( his last name) in the line, “Won’t you marry me, Bill?” It’s a song about a woman who wants to know when her boyfriend is finally going to take the plunge—and since we’ve been together for such a long time, it’s a perfect fit for us (and very much a joke!).
