A (Not-So-Short) Wedding Recap

Choosing to wait a few months after our wedding to go on our honeymoon was by far one of the best decisions we made throughout the entire wedding planning process. We were able to fully enjoy our day without worrying about prepping or packing for a huge trip immediately after. I'm thrilled that we had the self-awareness to know that trying to pack for 2.5 weeks in Asia the week of the wedding would have sent me into the sun!! Plus, it gave us something else to look forward to after the excitement and chaos of our wedding ended. Highly highly recommend.

So, we figured now was as good a time as any to take a look back at our wedding -- truly the best weekend of our lives!!

Friday, July 26: The Day Before

Since we had friends and family coming in from all over the country, we both decided to kick off our wedding events on Friday morning. I hosted friends at Physique 57 for a barre class followed by yummy treats from Breads Bakery, and Max had the boys at Five Iron Golf. Easing into the weekend was definitely the right call-- I was already welling up upon walking into the lobby of Physique and seeing my friends!

After a blast of endorphins with pals, we headed over to the Smyth Hotel to get primped and ready for the night (mostly Max).

Our Friday night events took place at Anassa Taverna Downtown, a Greek restaurant in Battery Park. We started with an intimate rehearsal dinner for our bridal party and close family members. Dinner was not only delicious but highly entertaining as many of our friends shared heartfelt and hilarious speeches. Max's groomsman, Jon, was the emcee of the event and helped kick the festivities off!

We knew we wanted to keep the focus of the wedding itself on dancing and enjoying the party, so we prioritized speeches for the rehearsal dinner. We couldn't have been happier with how it turned out!

After dinner wrapped up, the party opened up to all of our wedding guests. We enjoyed light bites, desserts, and our signature cocktails: the East Village Cool and the Brooklyn Heights Heat, in honor of the neighborhoods where we were living when we first met in 2020. We chatted and cheers-ed the night away, feeling absolutely ecstatic to be surrounded by so many people we love.

Yum!!!

Our welcome reception not only gave people a jump start on celebrating but also allowed us to have time to chat and catch up with our guests. We knew the wedding itself would be busy and we'd be tearing up the dance floor, so we were elated to have even more time with our best people all in one place (I can't stop talking about how amazing that was!!!!)

Of course, this wouldn't have been a Max and Emily event without tons of hyper-specific, overly thought out details. From cocktail napkins with our own handwriting on them to the logo from our invitations reappearing on the menu cards, we tried to think of everything. And I think we pretty much did!

Most importantly, we took great care and pride in assembling the World's Best Welcome Bags (patent pending) based on years of wedding-guest experience as well as our own personal preferences. Just a sample of some of the contents:

• Nutella Banana Bread from the Hungry Gnome, a Brooklyn fave

• Diet Coke for me and seltzer for Max

• a handmade postcard designed by our friend Erin, depicting our love story

• an Apotheke charcoal candle and custom E&M matches

• custom Em&Ms candy (cute, right?)

Pro tip: give out your welcome bags at your welcome reception rather than relying on the hotel front desk to do it. It's easier, cheaper, and everyone gets one!

Pro tip 2: store your 100 welcome bags in your future in-laws' dining room, they'll love it!

Back at the hotel, we said our teary (for me, anyway) goodbyes and split up for the night. Max had a huge suite all to himself, while I had a slumber party with my maid of honor Specht and bridesmaid Hillary. We were filled with anticipation but still managed to get a decent-ish night's sleep.

weepily saying good night to Max

instantly forgetting my tears 30 seconds later

Saturday, July 27: The Big Day

The girls got up early to get started on hair, makeup, and breakfast. Bridesmaids and the moms trickled in, ready to get beautified and sporting their cute matching pjs and slippers.

Meanwhile, the guys were having a more laid-back morning, casually watching the Olympics and depuffing their dark circles with some under eye gel masks. Max gifted his groomsmen custom bobble heads that looked just like them!

The getting ready continued as flowers, photographers, videographers, and our amazing wedding planner Dominique started to arrive. We blasted music, sipped our Starbucks, and got glam!

Dress time! I got some help getting into my dress and jewelry, then first looks with Dad and the bridesmaids had me crying already.

Then the first look with Max! Did he cry? No. Did I? Take one guess.

Time to hit the streets! With our bridal party glammed up and ready to go in their sunset shades, we climbed into the shuttle bus bound for the Meatpacking District.

Getting to strut the streets of NYC on one of the most gorgeously perfect days ever was beyond dreamy. Not only did we feel like models, we got the celebrity treatment as random people cheered and honked at us in the street.

Before we knew it, the time had already come to head over to our venue at Chelsea Piers. We took an extremely unnecessary golf cart ride through the parking lot. Next we took more photos out by the water -- did I mention how PERFECT the weather was??

A quick bit of downtime led to one of my favorite moments of the weekend: our bridesmaids and groomsmen going around introducing themselves and sharing how they knew us. Friends becoming friends!!

We gathered together with our officiant Cantor Eric to sign the ketubah. A sweet and meaningful start to our wedding ceremony.

Our grandparents arrived and I held it together for ~0.0 seconds (not my fault they started practicing the aisle music right as they wheeled the grandmas in!)

Finally, the big moment. Time to line up and head down the aisle. Max walked down to This Year's Love, the first song he ever played for me on guitar, and I walked down to You Are My Sunshine, which my parents used to sing to me to help me fall asleep.

Our ceremony was so, so special. From the passing of the rings through the audience, to the beautiful words shared by Cantor Eric, plus our own vows, we felt beyond enveloped with love and joy under the world's most stunning chuppah. Not a dry eye in the house.

More details!!! Custom yarmulkes, tissues (necessary), programs, a memory table honoring our family members, luggage tag placecards, more signature cocktails, you name it!

We did it! Time to take more photos and party! Specht knocked over a champagne glass the instant the ceremony was over, but nothing could bring us down!!

We shared our first dance as well as dances with our parents, and listened to their sweet and thoughtful toasts. Cheers!

Hora time! Just as we had hoped, the dance floor was packed from start to finish. Thanks to the unbelievable Dane Wright Band, people were having a total blast all night. Their rendition of Shout really brought the house down (people are still talking about it).

A special highlight was Max's brother and dad sitting in with the band and performing 2 songs. The crowd went wild!

We also loved the photo booth, and we got to keep a book with everyone's photos and little notes in them too.

We ended the night on a high note, dancing to DJ tunes and enjoying some late night snacks.

What a night!! We're married!!!!!

Sunday, July 28: Brunch

Running on minimal sleep, we welcomed our guests to a casual brunch at the Smyth Hotel. Luckily we were staying right upstairs. Even though we were exhausted, we loved getting to catch up and relive the night with everyone.

We were completely overwhelmed by how beautiful and perfect everything was, and could not stop talking about the surreal feeling of being surrounded by everyone you know (and everyone being there specifically to celebrate YOU). It was so beyond special and everything we dreamed it would be!

Somehow, we eventually made it home feeling both sky high and totally drained. We couldn't stop staring at our shiny new rings and calling each other "wife" and "husband." (We are still constantly doing this, does the novelty ever wear off??). A quick trip to Nantucket for the rest of the week was the perfect way to wrap it all up. Maybe someday there will be a separate travel journal about some of the weird snafus from THAT trip but for now, we'll focus on the good stuff.

A mere 5 months later, we are on our way to Asia for the honeymoon trip of a lifetime. Thanks for reliving our wedding with us! Hope you had as much fun as we did :)