Erin and Joseph were married on a spring day in May at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The day began at the Aloft Hotel where Erin’s family and friends helped her get ready.
Erin’s Vera Wang wedding dress was STUNNING!
Two special commemorations were made in honor of Erin’s grandmothers. The necklace Erin wore was a gift to her grandmother on her mother’s side from her cousin Russell. She also carried a blue handkerchief with her that was made by her grandmother on her father’s side.
Rain covered the gardens in the morning, but ended just in time for the guests to close their umbrellas and enjoy the ceremony.
Erin walked down a stone aisle at the Brooklyn Botanic Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden.
Erin shares, “I walked down the aisle to June Hymn by the Decemberists, my all time favorite band. Their sound reminds me of home–I’m a Pacific Northwest girl.”
“One detail that was special for us was that Joseph came to meet me to finish walking me down the aisle. Both he and I have lost our fathers and I didn’t want anyone else to take my dad’s place walking me down the aisle. It felt right to have Joe come and meet me half way. Its something we were entering into together. I think both our fathers were there with us in the garden that day. “
The intimate ceremony was filled with joyful tears and lots of emotion.
Erin shares the story of how her Siberian Husky puppy, Freja, brought her and Joseph together, “A few blocks from my apartment was a cafe that Joseph was managing. They happened to have a walk up window so I didn’t have to tie Freja up outside while I got coffee. Naturally, Joseph fell in love with my dog immediately. The second time I came back he asked me, ‘So I know your dog’s name, but I never got yours?’ The rest is history.”
“We would sit outside the cafe and talk for hours while Freja rested. We were so attached that I would get severely sunburned because I wouldn’t leave that bench. I only wanted to talk to him.”
The celebration continued with a brunch at Park Slope’s Watty & Meg’s.
Union Square is a very special place for the couple. Erin shares, “Our first real date ended after an evening in Manhattan. We walked the city and talked until midnight when we ended up in Union Square. For some reason we both felt the urge to dance with each other, even though there was no music around us at all.
As we were dancing, our foreheads together, he told me he was falling in love with me and I told him I felt the exact same way. So, naturally, almost two years later he proposed in the exact same spot with his grandmother’s engagement ring.
Since we knew we wouldn’t be having a traditional wedding with dancing, I still wanted to have a first dance. I’m a professional dancer and it felt wrong to not dance at all! And, of course, what better place to dance than in the place where we first danced together two years ago. I sang The Shins Simple Song into his ear, although I couldn’t get much past the first verse and chorus and just let the sounds around me take over.”
Congratulations Erin and Joe!
For more photos check out the slideshow:
Song: The Crane Wife by The Decemberists
Officiant: Scott Royael (close friend)
Suit: Calvin Klein
Groom’s Rings: Tiffany & Co
Bride’s Ring and Necklace: Family Heirloom
