I first met Emily and Craig back in 2019 when they booked for me a documentary-style extended family session. They currently reside in Boston, MA with Craig’s two sons, but Craig’s parents still live in WNY and they have a family cabin that holds a special place in all of their hearts. They were all coming together for Thanksgiving and were looking to have photos of the family taken at the cabin. We did posed portraits of course, but I also had the opportunity to photograph them making breakfast together, coming together around a campfire, looking through old photographs, and so forth. To this day it gives me goosebumps (in allll the good feels ways) reliving those moments that were shared, and it brings a tear to my eye knowing how cherished those images are to them.
Fast-forward to 2021… Craig surprised Emily with a proposal and they decided to plan an intimate wedding at the family cabin in… get this… just a matter of months. They planned to celebrate at Craig’s family cabin on the date of Emily’s parents’ wedding anniversary. When she inquired with me for availability, I was so over-the-moon excited to let her know I was available, and we had an amazing conversation full of excitement for their big day. In those early days of hitting the ground running booking vendors, Emily asked me for a few recommendations, and I sent her along my favorite caterers, hair stylists, and videographers. And wouldn’t you know it… my favorites were all available. Talk about the stars aligning for an incredible team of vendors!
When their wedding day arrived, it was forecasted to downpour rain the entire day. Not ideal for a completely outdoor wedding celebration. But they were ready to roll with whatever Mother Nature gave us, and so were we! Sure enough, it poured the entire morning. We changed plans for their first look to be at the beautiful air BnB Emily was getting ready at instead of outdoors at the cabin as originally planned, and then we ventured to the cabin for the ceremony – which would now take place under the tent instead of out in the open lawn. This was similar however, to Emily’s parents’ own wedding day, which I felt gave it an extra special meaning as Emily’s mom has since passed on. When guests arrived, they were greeted with Yeti mugs engraved with their names for their beverages, and at each table setting, a hand-written letter to each and every guest was placed, written from Emily and Craig individually – Emily to Craig’s family and friends/Craig to Emily’s. The ceremony was heartfelt and joyous – lots of tears and laughter – and included personal touches like a close friend officiating and Emily’s dad playing them a song he wrote! When the ceremony ended, the rain – surprisingly and miraculously – let up. Guests were able to mingle and have drinks and food out on the lawn, while the videographers and I took Emily and Craig to create some beautiful portraits and video footage of the two of them around the cabin property. During cocktail hour, their guests also were able to participate in adding to a personalized piece of art that turned out beautiful and brought tears to Emily and Craig’s eyes. Talk about an amazing and unique wedding guest book – having the hands of every one of their loved ones playing a part of such a beautiful piece of art they can now hang in their home as a memory of their wedding day. While this was happening, we also took a variety of family and friend photo combinations – giving special inclusion to all the guests who were able to make it to celebrate them on their wedding day. When dinner was ready, guests were seated back under the tent, and toasts were given by the Maid of Honor and Best Man. And then Craig invited others to come up and speak as well. His mom shared some beautiful, heartfelt words. Emily’s dad made everyone laugh retelling wedding advice Emily gave her own parents on their wedding day so many years ago. Even a group of Craig’s fraternity brothers came up to each share words of their own. After toasts, dinner was had, drinks were shared, a sparkler exit took place, and then they danced the night away. It was the perfect day.
Following the wedding, Craig sent out a personalized email thanking everyone – even including me! – which was beyond meaningful to me and I’m sure to their guests as well. It truly was a personalized day that FELT just as amazing as it looked. So it was perfectly fitting that Emily shared this Maya Angelou quote with me after their wedding day: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Emily and Craig’s wedding day is one I will carry the feeling of with me for years to come, and it makes me so excited to share so many of the moments we documented on this very special day in their lives.
Cheers to you, Emily and Craig, and all the amazing memories and adventures, and feelings of love and joy that are ahead! Thank you again for having me as part of your celebration.
But first, a few thoughts from the happy couple!
How would you describe your wedding vision/theme?
Every detail of our wedding was truly planned by me and Craig. Crafted Around You did day-of-coordination to bring our vision to life. We wanted to design a feeling of hygge... cozy, intimate and magical. We were more focused on designing how people felt vs. how it looked.
(Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.)
Craig and I were the perfect blend to make this happen with my background in design and his background in engineering. We're both equally creative and insanely organized. :)
Favorite moments/memories from the wedding?
Too many to mention...!
We loved the first look to get solo time together.
Then family solo time to give the boys their watches engraved with "Family" and chains.
We loved that we wrote our vows and that we didn't read each others or hear Lynn's words until the ceremony itself.
We have received lots of feedback on how personal the day felt. People really loved the handwritten notes placed at the seat of each guest. I wrote notes to Craig's friends and family. He wrote notes to my friends and family. The boys wrote notes to all of the kids.
Do you have any recommendations for future couples planning a wedding?
Focus the most on how you want people to feel. It's really about designing an experience. People won't remember the colors of your flowers or how the napkins were folded... yet they will always remember how they felt.
Special thanks to all the vendors:
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Family Cabin in Burt, NY (owned by Craig's parents)
Wedding Planner/Coordinator: Crafted Around You (Eliza was our day-of-coordinator)
Officiant: Rev. Lynn Horan, childhood friend of Emily and the pastor at St. Peter's Presbyterian Church in Spencertown, NY
Photographer: Dawn M Gibson Photography (with second shooting by Brittany Sikora)
Videographer: Shaun Swanson, Filmwell Studios
Florist: Brenna Hanrahan & Jamie Sherwin, high school friends of Emily (they did an amazing job!)
Caterer: Zambistro
Cake/Bakery: Wedding cake (1-2-3-4 cake) made by Craig's mom, Jean Galloway
DJ/Band/Entertainment: First dance performed live by Chris Trapper (with bass guitar from Craig's Uncle, Rob Galloway). Rest of the music via Spotify.
Transportation: Late night rides by 716 Limousine
Invitations: Designed by Emily
Hair & Makeup: Ashley Fox
Bride/Groom, Bride/Bride or Groom/Groom Attire (dress, suit, etc): Emily's dress purchased at Thistle Rose Bridal and made by Moonlight Bridal. Leather jacket by LaMarque. Craig's sport coat made by Canali.
Shoes: Emily: Sam Edelman, Craig: Bruno Magli
Accessories (jewelry, hairpiece, cufflinks, ties, etc): Earrings made custom by Rachel Mulherin (Emily knows Rachel through another high school friend)
Wedding Party Attire: Best Man and the boys wore Robert Graham. Emily’s dad wore Tommy Bahama Hawaiian shirt (he always wears Hawaiian shirts!)
Decorations/Decor Design or Rentals: Vintage furniture from Revival Rentals
Favors: Custom Yeti's with first names, and beer koozies that said "s'more love" and "cabin fever"
Any additional vendors used you'd like to mention:
– Emily’s dad wrote and performed a song in the ceremony called, “May Your Dreams Be Revealed"
– The family unity bowl was custom made for us from Naxos, Greece by the Fish Olive Gallery (Alexander Reichardt and Katharina Bolesch)
– Tiffany Manning led an amazing collaborative artwork with 80 guests and it turned out stunning
