Photo: Deborah Barak
Couple:
Victoria Hagman, 37, Red Hook, Founder/Broker, Realty Collective (Bride)
Jesse Alexander, 36, Bed Stuy, NYC Public School Teacher in Bushwick (Groom)
Wedding Date:
Friday, July 6, 2018
Wedding Location:
The 50-person ceremony took place “guerilla-style” at Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY and the reception was held at Spillian in the Catskills. The couple paid for everyone’s admission at Storm King, and rented picnic tables to have a place to congregate before and after the ceremony.
Photo: Deborah Barak
Cost Breakdown:
Ceremony Venue/Storm King…………..$1430.00
Reception Venue/Spillian ………………$4098.39
Food/Beverage/Staff…………………….$5000
(Also at Spillian)
Cake by Monsoon Sweets ………………$354
Decorator (Nikki Szefc/Nova Zef)………$1211
Florals by Rebecca Shepard…………….$899.21
DJ Brent Fierro…………………………..$1200
Photographer’s accommodations…………$239
Invites/RSVP Cards………………………$51.20
Wedding favors……………………………$350
Winkworth dress + accessories……………$610
(now closed)
Brides hair/makeup………………………$1120
Winkworth Grooms’ attire…………………$250
Dshields Grooms’ attire…………………….$400
Rings…………………………………………$300
Total cost: $17,512.80
Photo: Deborah Barak
How We Met:
We met through a dating app called Happn which I now hear no longer exists. The app matches you with people that are or have been within a certain proximity to you and that match increases by how frequently you are near each other or cross paths. Prior to meeting we had hung out at the same locations several times, but had never actually bumped into each other.
We spoke online for 3 weeks and then sort of drifted off. I went back through my messages and said hi to him and then we finally met in real life.
We had an epic 8-hour first date where we took a walk through Prospect Park, went to The Brooklyn Museum for the opening of the Faile and Sneaker exhibit, watched the sunset at Valentino pier, had dinner at Grindhaus and then went and ate ice cream sandwiches and sat in the backyard of Ice House and talked.
Photo courtesy of Victoria Hagman.
Tell us a little more about your vendors
The venue did the catering. We ordered our rings on the internet. Jesse’s best friend from college officiated. We both got our wedding outfits made by local small business owners, Susie from Winkworth, and Derron Shields, owner of Dshields clothing. Monsoon sweets in Brooklyn made our Geode Cake. Brent Fierro was our Brooklyn DJ, he was amazing. Rebecca Shepard was our Brooklyn florist and she made our matching air plant necklaces. Ruby’s House of Crystals provided all the crystals.
Our designer friend executed our vision on the day of, and our friend, Deborah Barak, photographed the wedding as a gift.
What did you feel you got the most value out of?
The DJ was totally worth the money and our outfits were the best value. We also didn’t pay for an officiant since Jesse’s friend married us.
Photo: Deborah Barak
What were the best and worst moments of the wedding? Any surprise crises?
The best part of the wedding was our ceremony; which we made up ourselves, and was far from traditional. The ceremony took place under a wrought-iron pyramid, with the guests standing in a circle around us. During our vows, instead of using ring bearers, we passed our rings around the whole circle of our friends and family, and had a group hug at the end.
The reception at Spillian was perfect, I only wish all of my family could have stayed for the weekend instead of just our friends.
The worst part was that we were on vacation the weekend before the wedding, and our plane was delayed a day on return, so we arrived home Tuesday instead of Monday and lost a whole day we desperately needed for rest, last minute errands, and preparation. We spent the 4th of July stressed instead of watching fireworks.
The day of our wedding, I sat in the grass and got stung by a bee on the butt. Here’s the photo.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
I would have had the makeup artist come to my house earlier.
I would have liked more time to walk around and explore Storm King.
I also would have booked a real honeymoon at a hotel to get pampered because I was exhausted and got sick afterwards while hiking around in the Catskills.
