Vintage Style Wedding in Brooklyn

We were left absolutely speechless with this Deity NYC Wedding. The flawless Vintage details of Michelle and Brody’s Brooklyn big day are absolutely stunning. Captured by the talented On the Times Photography, the scenes include smoke bombs, the Brooklyn Bridge, and a street car. Beautiful floral arrangements and decor by Wild Floral Designs only enhanced this already eye-candy overloaded event. We asked the couple themselves to describe how they felt about this beautiful occasion:

Describe your wedding day. It was everything everyone said it would be. A joyous, nerve-wracking, exhausting, dream-like, unbelievable whirlwind of a day. In some ways it felt so regimented with the order of events, but in those in-between moments there was so much love, excitement and support between both Brody & myself and all of our friends and family. There’s so much anticipation in the lead up to the big day, and it truly surpassed all our expectations.

Was there something that surprised you on your wedding day? Two things, I think. The first is, despite everyone saying how quickly the day will go by, I don’t think you can truly understand until you’re halfway through your wedding, wondering how a year’s worth of planning and build up is nearly over. I remember catching myself at various times during the day, and thinking “experience this moment – remember how you’re feeling right now.” The second is, despite everyone saying that something will inevitably go wrong (and mentally preparing myself for it), everything went off without a single hitch; in fact, it was all better than we even hoped it would be.

Whose help did you enlist the most? Your partner’s, mom’s, sister’s, friend’s, Deity? Honestly, our vendors. I definitely used Brody as a sounding board for a lot of my thoughts and vision, and luckily we were almost always on the same page – which helped reaffirmed the choices I was making. But we had some incredible vendors – some of whom turned into friends – that I really utilized because of their experience and expertise. Most of the time when I had a crisis or worry, they were there to give advice and/or comfort, and it was really evident in the way the day came together.

Was there a particular detail that a vendor did for you that was special? Again, I cannot overstate how lucky we were to have gotten to work with all our vendors, because they were all beyond spectacular; but I will highlight our florist Michelle of Wild Floral Designs. On the day of the wedding, beyond being incredibly flexible and showing up early with some fresh buds for our detail photos, she gifted us with the sweetest present to start our married life together, created the most beautiful and unexpected floral display in the ceremony space and stayed to reconfigure the decorations for dinner. Brody & I both gasped when we walked into the ceremony space – she listened to all my anxieties and created something truly magical.

I also want to mention Caio (owner of Deity), who potentially risked life & limb when he found a lighter and – without hesitation – lit one of our smoke bombs that had failed to detonate. Those were some of the shots we were most looking forward to taking, so we were understandably disappointed when neither of them went off. We wouldn’t have had those photos if Caio hadn’t stepped in, so we’re forever grateful!

If you had to pick one favorite memory from that day what would that be? Brody’s: The speeches – it was at that point that everything starting sinking in. It was just him & I, sitting together at the table, being addressed as husband & wife and tangibly feeling the love and celebration from our loved ones. It was us and the world, in perfect harmony.

Mine: The moments right before I walked down the aisle – hearing the music we had so carefully chosen and meant so much to me being played so beautifully, hearing the voices of our friends and family settling in, feeling the incredible wave of emotion taking over me as I realized I would be walking down to marry the person I cherish most in the world; it was incredible and completely overwhelming.

I also loved reading our vows – I labored so long over not only what I wanted Brody to hear, but what I wanted our friends & family to know about the kind of person Brody is, and the depths of my love for him. Hearing his vows that I know he worked so hard on was equally amazing.

How did you find and decide on Deity as your Wedding Venue? We both knew we wanted a wedding in a space with character – with all due respect, a traditional ballroom wedding was not a part of our vision. We started searching, as so many NYers do, for event spaces in warehouses, wineries or other unique locations. When we came across Deity, it immediately crossed a few things off our list – unique space with exposed brick, a cool cocktail lounge area with a speakeasy vibe, a beautiful bridal suite to get ready in that lent itself to great photos, an inclusive package which meant we didn’t have to search for a caterer, DJ or DoC, and its history as a synagogue which let us recognize our Jewish roots despite not having a traditional Jewish ceremony. Deity’s reviews were also all-around stellar, which gave us comfort that we would have a team onside that would work with us and help ensure our day was everything we wanted it to be. Truth be told, Deity was the only venue we visited; right after we had set up a time to tour the space, we were told that someone else had called about our date – luckily, it was held for us until we had the chance to visit, and we made the decision right then and there to book it!

What was your crowd like? Dancing crowd? Drinking crowd? We had such a varied guest list – from the Russian side of my family, to our friends from overseas (I lived in the UK for 6 years and Brody has a business based there as well), to our city crowd, it was truly an eclectic mix. The greatest surprise was how much of a dancing crowed it turned out to be – so many people were singing along, getting low during “Shout” and dancing with us until the end. We perhaps did underestimate how much of a drinking crowd we had – I think we might have broken the record for bar tab that night! – but we’ll chalk it up to our amazing signature cocktails and the amazing work of Deity’s bartender (who many people complimented).