Sophie Barnett and Max Kling’s meeting was pure kismet. “My best friend, Grace, spotted him in the crowd at her cousin’s engagement party in summer 2019; he’d gone to college with the bride and groom,” Sophie remembers. She agreed to let Grace set them up. “I did no due diligence on him besides a cursory glance at his Facebook profile picture, and neither had he, so it was well and truly a blind date,” she says.
They were together for a little more than three years before Max’s low-key proposal. “I’m not big on PDA, so Max knew it had to be in our apartment,” Sophie says. “However, I had no idea it was coming and was not prepared. I went on a walk as I do every morning, and I actually texted Grace—my aforementioned BFF, who knew the engagement was coming—a photo of myself to show her how unkempt I looked. I walked into the kitchen, and Max was down on one knee with the ring. I was so shocked I still had one AirPod in when I said yes!”
“My wedding venue was a no-brainer. I’ve grown up between New York City and the Beaverkill Valley, and almost all of my childhood memories are from up there,” Sophie says. She went to day camp at Beaverkill Valley Inn, and her brother had been married there a few years earlier. “In terms of aesthetic, I wanted to capture the quirkiness, charm, and attention to detail of an English country wedding,” she says. Rather than pulling inspiration from actual weddings, though, she looked to interior design and tablescapes, and curated a vibrant palette of marigold and lavender, mismatched tablecloths and colored glassware. She enlisted planner Modern Kicks and floral designer Little Sister Creative to bring the vision to life.
It all started with the invitations, and Sophie worked with one of her best friends, Kate McElhiney, on the paper suite. “We’ve known each other for more than a decade, and she just gets my style; she didn’t get annoyed when I’d send her random hex codes to use for color-matching,” Sophie says. “The invites were whimsical but welcoming, which was the tone I wanted to set for the entire wedding.”
It was a fitting tone for a summer camp-adjacent affair, which started with two nights of lead-up events: A rehearsal dinner at The Arnold House and a welcome party at The Kaatskeller. Photographer Liron Erel was there to capture it all.
Much like with her venue, Sophie was incredibly decisive when it came to her wedding dress. “My first appointment was at Oscar de la Renta, so I browsed online and took a screenshot of a high-neck lace halter that I liked,” she says. “I went into the store for my appointment, found it on the rack, asked to try it on, and decided on the spot that it was my wedding dress. I canceled all of my other appointments!” She styled it with a low bun and enlisted Pre-Dame to give her elevated but minimal glam. “I borrowed an old pair of my mom’s sapphire flower earrings, which happened to have been made by the same jeweler, Valentin Magro, who made my engagement ring.”
On July 22, 2023, Sophie walked down the aisle with her parents to Max Richter’s recomposition of “Spring I” from The Four Seasons. “Our ceremony was incredibly special; there were very few dry eyes in the house!” the bride says. “We were married by Rabbi Benjamin Spratt of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City. He opened the ceremony with a poem by Mary Oliver and spoke so eloquently and thoughtfully about his observations of our relationship, and our observations of each other; we had shared 'vows' of sorts in a session with him a few months earlier, because I didn’t want to do them publicly. He delivered all of his profound wisdom with a light touch.”
For their reception, Sophie and Max wanted guests to view it as a dance party with food, rather than a dinner party. Still, though, they had to set the scene. Sophie envisioned quirky, cozy details like mismatched tablecloths. “My friend Charlotte—another Beaverkill bride—suggested block prints, and I let Bethany know, informing her I wanted multiple different patterns, so it wasn’t too match-y. She did the best job sourcing exactly what I wanted, and she helped guide my vision to make it much better.” Tortoiseshell flatware and green glassware topped the printed linens, and colorful menus by Kate McElhiney Studio added a pop.
Because of a dislike for slow dancing, the couple started the party with a lively horah, led by a DJ and floating sax and drums players from Remixologists. “The rest of the night was an incredibly epic dance party with a dance floor packed to the brim, which was all we wanted,” Sophie smiles.
The bride changed into a Costarellos mini for their after-party. “We wanted to create a New York City nightclub in a small room in the inn’s field-house,” Sophie says. “Bethany rented furniture from NY Lounge Decor. We had white leather couches, cube tables that changed color, faux bottle service, epic finger food, and a whole new setlist from DJ Taiga centered around club bangers. It was everything.”
The newlyweds honeymooned in London—“because apparently I hadn’t yet had my fill of English design,” the bride laughs—and Somerset for rest and restoration in the countryside.
