Venue: Ben and Lori had been looking unsuccessfully for just the right wedding venue for months in Massachusetts (where much of the family lives) and Maryland (where they live). They decided to try the Hudson Valley which is convenient to her parents' home in Poughkeepsie and found Onteora Mountain House across the river in the Catskills. The property was originally the summer retirement home of Richard Hellman of Hellman's mayonnaise fame. His doctor had told him he'd die in 6 months if he didn't retire. He bought a mountain top, built his Adirondack style "cottage" and lived to be 94! The property is now a luxurious bed and breakfast inn all year round with rooms in the original mansion and adjacent cottages. The current owners hired an architect to add a post and beam pavilion where they hold weddings on weekends in spring, summer and autumn. The rustic setting reminded Ben and Lori of Timberlock where we all vacation each summer. They were pleased to find that Columbus Day weekend was available and booked it in early February.
Sewing: When they called to tell us the good news, they said they wanted me to design their chuppah to include the names and wedding dates of their parents and grandparents with "something organic winding around the writing". The colors were to be deep purple and cool red. After several weeks of e-mail correspondence, Ben sent me this sketch of their concept and I used my Electric Quilt software to design this 60-inch square wall-hanging. Once it was well underway, I began looking for a suitable mother-of-the-groom dress. I wanted a short sleeve top and a jacket, assuming it could be cool in the mountains in October. After finding nothing I liked, I copied the top of an outfit in my own closet and made my dress and a quilted jacket from a deep cranberry polyester jacquard fabric I found at JoAnn's. I bought plenty of fabric and also made Bob's tuxedo vest and long tie. I still have enough to make a pair of dressy pants if I want to some day. I had a pair of garnet and gold earrings from my grandmother and designed a necklace with scallops to match the dress neckline of garnet and gold beads which I strung while on vacation at Timberlock in August. I had a brass purse frame saved on my attic from my grandmother and made a matching handbag large enough to carry our digital camera. I also enjoyed making Lori's wedding veil edged with narrow lavender satin ribbon to match the lavender and silver beading on her gown from David's Bridals.
Other Vendors: With help from Lori's parents and the owner of Onteora Mountain House, Ben and Lori chose all the other wedding vendors. Her parents reserved blocks of rooms in several hotels in Kingston, NY, just off the Thruway. The caterer was Ric Orlando of New World Home Cooking Company in nearby Woodstock, NY. He calls his style "Global Heritage Cuisine--- our interpretations of the healthy and assertive dishes of the American Melting Pot" and his blog is just as original. The band was The Saints of Swing who play "the best of swing, ballroom music, Dixieland Jazz and down-home blues", sort of a cross between New Orleans jazz and klezmer! They played as the wedding party entered, then had us all dancing from the end of the ceremony until they packed up at 10pm! The lovely floral arrangements came from Sara Gast and included several types of red and lavender roses and purple orchids. The ketubah they ordered online was signed and witnessed just before the ceremony in a cottage above the patio. The last vendor to be chosen was the bakery that Jonathan and Larissa had found from a neighbor who got married in the Springfield area. (Their leftover wedding cake was still delicious even after their honeymoon.) Ben and Lori compared prices and ordered their wedding cake from Cerrato's in West Springfield, MA. Despite the high price of gas, they were more affordable than bakeries in the Hudson valley catering to NY city clients. It was a chocolate cake with white chocolate filling and raspberries.
The People: Ben and Lori had always known that their friend Ami Margolis would marry them. He had been instrumental in their meeting at Brown University when he organized Kol B'Yachad, the Hillel a cappella singing group. Although Ami was never ordained as a cantor, he got an online license to perform the wedding ceremony. Ben's attendants were his brother Jonathan and his friend Steve D'Evelyn from college. Lori's attendants were her older sister, Karen and her best friend from high school Naomi Seiler. Karen's 21-month-old son Zachary, wearing the cutest tuxedo, was the ring bearer. In addition to many friends and family on Lori's side, our guests included both of Bob's sisters and all their families, his cousin Mark Reid and family, Martha's Uncle Jack and cousin Sue and family, and our neighbors the Wilhelmsens.
The Weather Cooperated: The first week in October just before the wedding was as hot and humid as mid-summer. On Saturday night during our out-of-town guests dinner, a cold front came through and it poured. When I woke up on Sunday morning it was still dark, cool and very windy. I worried that we'd come to a beautiful site for an outdoor ceremony only to be forced inside by rain. Fortunately, by lunchtime, the sky cleared and the sun came out. It was warm and comfortable for the ceremony, not too windy for the chuppah on the patio, and then cooled down after sunset. The reception pavilion has radiant heat in the floor and curtains to close off the open sides so we were comfortable during the dinner and dancing all evening. Stepping out onto the balcony, the sky was full of stars, with the Milky Way clearly visible so far from city lights. It was a perfect end to a very romantic day!
