Category: weddings

katie + michael // Strathallan Hotel Rochester

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I can still remember the first time we met Katie. She drove all the way from Rochester to Buffalo just to meet with us and I can remember thinking that she was the best combination of quirky and adorable. We talked about photography (Katie is also a full-time wedding photographer!) and swapped stories. She told us all about her family and friends and how important it was to her to have them all together under one roof to celebrate their wedding day. I knew pretty immediately the we were the perfect fit for each other, and I’m so happy that she felt the same way! Getting to know these two over the past year has been so wonderful. (Click here to check out their engagement shoot!) We love them to pieces and we’re so excited to share our favorites from their wedding day, and a little bit of their love story to tie it all together!

Katie and Michael shared a few favorite memories with us from their wedding day! Read on as your scroll through their visual story :)

Katie: “Just hanging out on wedding morning with all the wonderful ladies in my life was so much fun, you can’t go wrong with best friends, mimosas, and a good playlist!”

Michael: “Getting ready with all of my friends and my dad at our house was a great time. And I loved seeing my beautiful bride for the first time on the rooftop.“

Katie: “I loved sharing our First Look on the rooftop at the Strathallan and seeing Mikey looking adorable in his suit.“

Katie and Michael met when they were both attending SUNY Geneseo as undergrads. One thing led to another and after a ton of dates at Applebee’s and countless movie viewings, (the standard Geneseo college student date), Michael decided that Katie was the girl of his dreams and started scheming up an idea for a surprise proposal!

Katie: “Mikey created this whole scheme where he reached out to me via a fake email pretending to be a bride inquiring about her wedding photography. Long story short, when I showed up to a coffee shop to meet this bride, Mikey showed up. I was very confused at why he was crashing my meeting, haha! But he got me to go out front and proposed right there with some very sweet words! I obviously said yes but it took a few minutes to understand that there was no client on her way. Afterwards we went out to celebrate with a nice dinner with family!“

Katie: “I loved entering the chapel with my dad, and seeing Mikey smiling huge at me from the other end of the aisle, as well as taking in all of our friends and family there with us.“

Katie: “I was surprised that the ceremony itself ended up being one of my favorite parts. That probably sounds like a given, but I was most excited about celebrating with each other and friends and family at the reception. The ceremony was just so emotional and happy and I loved every second of it, despite all the ugly crying I did! I was a bit nervous about sharing our vows as we wrote our own, but I’m so glad we did because it made everything all the more personal and special.“

Katie: “What we value most is being good people, to each other, to others, and in general. We also really value our relationships with the people in our lives, each other, our families, and our friends.“

Katie: “I love dancing so much and I barely left the dance floor. There was a moment early on when ‘SHOUT’ came on and it felt like every single person rushed onto the dance floor and never left.“

A quick tip from the lovely bride: “Really try to fully appreciate and enjoy every moment, the day really does goes by so fast! I felt like I blinked and it was over!“

We LOVE The Strathallan Hotel, don’t you?! It’s such an amazing venue! Click here to see another Strathallan Hotel wedding!

Wedding Vendors Include:

Ceremony: Chapel Hill
Reception: The Strathallan Hotel
Hair + Make-up: Bellezza Salon and Spa
Dress Shop: Lovely Bride
Dress Designer: Gabrielle by Leanne Marshall
Groom’s Look: Incognito Menswear
Cake: Scratch Bake Shop
DJ: Whirlin’ Disc

leah + dave // The Foundry Suites

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Leah’s parents had been begging her to sign up on a Jewish dating site and Dave had decided, after years of dating non-Jewish girls, he’d finally give it a try. Well, thank God he did! Leah was Dave’s first match. He emailed her right away, however, Leah was hesitant to respond. Finally Leah gave in and messaged Dave back. Their profiles were similar — Dave was looking for a quick, sassy woman who would keep him on his toes. Leah was looking for someone who gave great hugs, enjoyed her favorite hobby of going out to eat, and could take all the sass she dealt out! After emailing a few times on the site they decided to meet in person. With an incredibly successful first date under their belts they then became inseparable, and as the saying goes, the rest is history!

Leah: “My dad was tired of waiting for Dave to propose so he took him out to dinner and offered him a beautiful diamond ring that my grandmother gave to my grandfather, and said he would be honored if Dave would use it in his engagement ring for me. We later went to our family jeweler to look at rings and traded Grandpa’s ring in for a new one (I went back the following day to make sure Dave ordered the one I REALLY wanted). We had plans to celebrate Dave’s 30th birthday party with both our families and then were going to Florida shortly afterwards. I told Dave I think it’d be really great if we could be engaged for dinner and that I REALLY wanted to be engaged when we were in Florida. Dave got the message! He proposed on January 30th right when I woke up. He had snuck out to buy breakfast and roses and was on one knee when I came downstairs. It was perfect! Silly, slightly awkward, completely us!“

Dave: “I remember helping my best man Goldie get his life together that morning – button his suit, do his hair – when really Goldie should’ve been helping me. There was a lot of laughter in that moment and it was typical of our relationship.”

Leah: “My dress was the first dress I tried on. My mom and I were driving to Silk Bridal in Rochester and I told her I wanted a long, straight fitting gown with detail but not too flowy or delicate and nothing in satin. The first dress I tried on was THE ONE! It fit almost perfectly and they even gave me a discount for buying the floor model. I loved the way it fit, that I could still move around, that I didn’t need a bra, and that the train came off instead of having to do a bustle.“

Leah: “The kippot were crochet by Dave’s mom. She worked on them for the 14 months that we were engaged and even sewed in tags with our names and date on them. My mom made the challah cover for us. It is needlepoint and she won first prize for it a few years ago at the Erie County Fair!“

Leah: “I was honored to have such beloved family members sign our Ketubbah. Dave’s witness was his mom’s cousin Paul who is a Holocaust survivor and mine was our cousin Socki who took me under her wing when I moved to Florida in my 20s. She is the matriarch of our family.“

Leah: “We value our relationship above all else. It has taken a lot of years, time, tears, sweat, and smiles to get where we are today and neither one of us ever wants to lose that.“

Leah: “I loved standing under the chuppah with Dave that my dad built, and under the tallit that was worn by our grandfathers. Our parents and best friends flanked our side, watching as we took our vows and exchanged rings. They cheered us on the whole time and you could feel how happy and excited they were for us.”

Dave: “I loved standing under the chuppah with Leah and looking back at all of our friends and family who had come together to support us.“

Dave: “Leah’s mom always said she should marry the man who is her best friend. We are best friends. Being around each other never gets old, and we’re always excited to see each other at the end of the day. We share common beliefs in religion, family, culture, value, and politics but allow one another to have their own thoughts and opinions. We are each other’s lobster.“

Leah: “I loved the painting we had everyone fill in of the Foundry. Instead of doing a traditional guest book (which just collects dust) we had a local artist sketch the courtyard of the Foundry in black and display it on an easel with paints and brushes for everyone to fill in. we ended up having a beautiful custom painting of our wedding night that now hangs in our dining room.“

Leah: “We danced to Van Morisson’s ‘Into the Mystic’. We wanted to pick something timeless, but not cliche. We are both a little off beat and quirky and didn’t want to go with the traditional songs.“

Leah: “Dave is the baby of the family and his mom has a special place in her heart for him. She threatened that there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house when she dances with her ‘Tati’ (term of endearment for Dave that his family calls him by).“

Leah: “My dad and I did a dance medley. We have such a close and special relationship but are both so awkward, so a traditional slow dance would’ve been uncomfortable for us. This dance gave us an opportunity to bond before the wedding during our dance lessons and really gave everyone a good laugh!“

Dave: “It was awesome watching everyone be amazed and devour the dessert display. The line went from one ballroom into the other ballroom. People ate everything including the crumbs and said they’d never seen anything like it before.“

Leah: “Our hora was amazing! I think it lasted for 13 minutes. Most of our friends had never been to a Jewish wedding before and it was awesome to see them embrace this part of our culture and join in with us. It just kept going and going and….going!“

Leah: “No one ever told me how sweaty I’d be as a bride! Make sure to have a handkerchief, face wipes, hair band, and fan close by at all times!“

Some words of advice from the adorable newlyweds:

“Remember that the day is for YOU and your fiance. Don’t stress about what others may think of your day, what they like to eat, or what they like to drink. It’s a day for you to celebrate your love and future together. People who love and support you will come to your wedding no matter what you serve or how you choose to celebrate your day.

Working with Jenn and Ben was a dream. It was like hanging out with friends all day. They are lovely and understanding of what a stressful and important day it can be and easily calmed us down, made us feel relaxed and had smiles on their faces the whole time.“

Looking to add an incredible dessert spread to your wedding day like Leah and Dave’s??

Click here to learn about the artist behind it all, B Sweet Designs!

Wedding Vendors Include:

Venue: The Foundry Suites
Make-up: Emily Perez
Hair: i Du Pretty
Dress Shop: Silk Bridal Boutique
Dress Designer: Pronovias
Shoes: Betsy Johnson
Bridesmaid Dresses: Adrianna Papell
Groom’s Look: Men’s Wearhouse
Florist: Costamagna Design
Sweets Table: B Sweet Designs
Linens: McCarthy Tents and Events
Band: JoyRyde