Welcome to wedding week on ThePreppyMAG! In the countdown to our 1-year anniversary, I’m finally sharing ALL the details from our December 2022 wedding. Throughout the wedding process, I was overwhelmed with the planning + my full-time job so sharing the details here, was just TOO much. However, now that we have a year of marriage under our belts, I’m excited to share everything that made our wedding weekend so special as a way to reminisce.
I’ll be sharing everything from what the morning of our wedding looked like, our first look, reception details, and more. Today, we’re starting with our rehearsal dinner!
The Venue
Tom and I wanted a quintessential NYC Christmas wedding, which means the Bryant Park Christmas Market had to be a part of it in some way. This has always been our favorite Christmas market in the city and have a tradition of buying an ornament that sums up each year every Christmas. Bryant Park is also where Tom and I would meet for lunch every day while I was still interning in college and he was working his first job, so while it is beautiful it also holds special meaning in our hearts. That’s why the Bryant Park Grill was the perfect place for our rehearsal dinner.
In addition to Bryant Park being a special place for us, being on the backside of the NYPL made it a perfect place for us to walk to after our library rehearsal and was close for those who were staying at neighboring hotels. In a way, Bryant Park became our little wedding compound for the weekend.
The Run of Show
Since our wedding day had a rigid minute-by-minute schedule, we really wanted our rehearsal dinner to be relaxed while also feeling celebratory. We also were very mindful of making sure it didn’t feel like two weddings. We’ve been to so many welcome parties/rehearsal dinners that are a ton of fun but end up tiring us out before the wedding festivities even begin.
The evening started at NYPL for a very short rehearsal since we needed to do it in the few minutes right before the library closed to the public. I was happy to get my bridal party in the space for the first time and our planner, Amy, walked everyone through what to expect the next day. Given there were a lot of steps my bridesmaids had to walk down + the space wasn’t your normal church or something similar, I think everyone needed to have a feel for what to expect.
After rehearsal, the bridal party walked over to Bryant Park Grill which is only a few steps away from NYPL where we met some more of our family. At the Bryant Park Grill, we started with an hour-long cocktail hour and then had a full-seated dinner. We had an amazing 3-piece live band playing background music but made sure there was no room for a dance floor to break out. Not because we didn’t want our guests to have fun but because we knew our families too well and know the next day would be a doozy if we allowed it. 😂
Throughout dinner, we had speeches from Tom’s dad, my brother, and Tom and I said a few words. Tom & I shared our vows privately so instead of sharing them publicly with our friends & family, we decided to do something a little different and share vows with each other’s families instead. Tom made vows to my parents, brother, and sister and I made vows to his parents, his aunts + uncles, and cousins. From the start, we knew we wanted family to be at the heart of our wedding weekend and this was just one of the little ways we made that happen.
After the speeches, which were no more than 20 minutes, everyone just ate and mingled among themselves. In between the dinner and dessert course, our photographer, Roey, brought out out into the Bryant Park market for a little photoshoot, which was not only fun but created some of my favorite photos from the weekend.
Overall, the night was absolutely magical and the best way to kick off the weekend. Check back tomorrow for a peek at the morning of our wedding.
All photos by Roey Yohai Studios
