Jennifer Mandelbaum and Andrew Nitkin were destined to have a historic, artistic wedding. Their love flourished amidst canvases and culture—from meeting at an art collector’s home during a Shabbat dinner to dates at The Whitney, The Guggenheim, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Andrew’s proposal was an ode to art, too. Jennifer’s favorite space in New York is the Charles Engelhard Court in the American Wing of The Met—so, right around the couple’s 18-month anniversary, he brought her there. “He let me know that we were having a romantic date night to celebrate this milestone and that I should dress up,” Jennifer recalls. “He first brought me to the Contemporary Wing to view some of my favorite artists, such as Helen Frankenthaler and Sam Gilliam. After what felt like the longest hour of his life, we made our way to the Charles Engelhard Court. Andrew brought me up to the balcony overlooking the court, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him.” They celebrated with a Shabbat dinner with their families, just like the night they’d met.
“Given how central art and architecture have been to our relationship, we naturally began looking at museums and art-adjacent spaces ,” Jennifer says. “Living on the Upper West Side, Lincoln Center had long been part of our daily landscape, a cultural cornerstone we both cherish.” It checked their two biggest boxes for a venue: It was in New York, and it felt truly unique, as it is a space not traditionally used for weddings.
“When we stepped inside the theater, designed by Philip Johnson, something clicked,” Jennifer says. “Known as the ‘jewel box’ of Lincoln Center, the theater, with its soaring travertine arches, elegant symmetry, and golden, light-filled auditorium, offered a rare combination of modernist precision and classical beauty.” The moment that sealed the deal was finding out the couple could host the first ever ceremony on the David H. Koch Theater stage—gathering 400 of their loved ones in the space reserved for the world's top performers.
They planned the wedding in a little more than a year. “With the venue secured, my mother, Sheree, and I embarked on a 14-month journey, pouring our hearts, creativity, and meticulous attention to detail into every element, and collaborating closely with the Rafanelli Events team and their partner vendors to transform our dream into a breathtaking reality," Jennifer says. Over The Moon The List Photographer Corbin Gurkin and Over The Moon The List Videographer Current Films lensed every moment.
Jennifer’s fashion inspired some design elements, and vice versa—some design elements inspired her fashion. “For the wedding, I wore the Lily of the Valley faille ballgown by Oscar de la Renta from the Fall 2025 Bridal Collection, and had the distinction of being the very first bride to wear it,” Jennifer says. She worked with Couture Atelier by Blanca to weave extra lily of the valley fabric into a veil to pull the look together. She entrusted her longtime beauty team—Dhariana Suriel for makeup and Vanessa Cevallos for hair—to create a soft, romantic, and timeless bridal look. Bridesmaids wore varying dresses in shades of ballet pink, and the groom’s sister stunned in custom Markarian.
“For the second look, I changed into a completely custom dress made by Naeem Khan,” Jennifer says. The designer pulled elements from the wedding invitation and venue to inspire the design, and traveled to India to work with his team on hand embroidering the Koch Theater’s ceiling pattern and musical notes into the hem with metallic thread.
On June 8, 2025, the stage was set. The Rafanelli Events team studied dozens of Balanchine’s ballets and pulled together components that most beautifully encapsulated warmth and intimacy. “Layers of soft, ruched voile curtains hung from the ceiling,” Bryan Rafanelli shares. “As guests approached the stage, they were met with a 70-foot-wide meadow of peonies, leading to a grand chuppah composed of layered baby’s breath.” Plush pink carpeting was laid across the stage, and a 66-foot-wide-40-foot-tall illustration of the Lincoln Center Plaza served as a backdrop for the bride’s walk down the aisle.
Preceding her was the ring bearer, who carried the rings in a vintage music box that played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” the song Jennifer would walk down the aisle to, played on strings by Curtis Music. “During the ceremony, we felt a surprising sense of calm—like everything had aligned just right,” Jennifer says. “After Andrew stomped on the glass and we kissed, we walked down the aisle to ‘Dancing Through Life’ from Wicked. Just as the music swelled, a perfectly timed petal drop rained down from 40 feet above. Confetti shaped like Aspen leaves and musical notes fell around us in a gentle cascade reminiscent of the snowfall in The Nutcracker.”
In the transformed box office lobby for cocktail hour, guests picked up their “tickets”—embossed escort cards made to resemble a ticket to the ballet before indulging in 55 feet of artistically styled grazing tables crafted by Acquolina Catering. Then, they made their way into the Promenade for dinner and dancing. “As guests approached the space, their eyes were drawn to the iconic balcony rings that tower above the space, which were dotted with dozens of silk flowers ranging in size from four to six feet tall” Rafanelli explains. The team at David Beahm Experiences carried this motif into the room, creating meadows of organza flowers around the iconic Elie Nadelman statues and atop select tables. The bride has a love for table china, and worked with Maison de Carine to source pieces for three different tablescape styles throughout the room.
“The evening unfolded with our first dance, a medley that perfectly captured our love story,” Jennifer says. “Guests savored an exquisite menu that included whimsical touches like musical note-shaped butter and challah wrapped in pink ballerina ribbon.” The encore was an elaborate dessert spread of cakes and treats; anchoring it was a six-tier masterpiece by Ron Ben-Israel, adorned with lily of the valley embellishments and topped with a piping baked Alaska, the bride’s favorite dessert.
Before guests hit the custom dance floor to music by Élan Artists’s Project M, there was one more surprise in store: a breathtaking performance by American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Skylar Brandt and Aran Bell. “Usually, they grace the stage while we sit in the audience, but this time, they were right there on the dance floor with us, making the moment all the more intimate and extraordinary,” Jennifer says. The final song was a rendition of “Return to Pooh Corner,” a memorable childhood anthem. “Then, we retreated to the upper balconies with our bridal party and late-night guests,” Jennifer says, “to continue the celebration and let the evening gently wind down.”
