Carleigh & Ian = City Winery New York Wedding Day!

City Winery New York City  |  Wedding Day  |  May 29, 2022

We couldn’t have asked for a more EPIC day for our 175th wedding!!! Carleigh & Ian booked us way back in 2020 for their NYC wedding, and we’ve been looking forward to their big day and planning all the details for what feels like SO LONG! Ian & Carleigh’s wedding day was incredible in so many ways, and I’m pumped to share it with you! 🙂

(Side note – if you missed seeing their Engagement Session at Carleigh’s alma mater, click HERE to see their elegant session!)

We photographed Carleigh’s sister’s (Claire & Adam) wedding a few years ago (click HERE if you missed it) and was so amazed back then with how the Stiehm family is so incredibly generous to all their guests AND vendors. The exact same happened at Carleigh & Ian’s wedding – no detail went unnoticed and so much thought was put into making their guests (and vendors!) feel valued and special! 🙂

When we checked into our hotel, a beautiful custom Welcome Bag was awaiting us full of NYC goodies – subway maps, 5th Avenue bars, waters, aspirin, eye masks, and a card full of the weekend plans and ideas for sightseeing! (We tried Ian & Carleigh’s recommendation of Levain Bakery’s chocolate chip cookies – and wow – they were DELISH!) 🙂

The day of the wedding, we started off with NYC bagels and then arrived at The Standard to find all the bridesmaids in cute green rompers and getting all glam by the Beautini crew! Carleigh had spoiled all the girls by booking the Empire Suite that had the most INCREDIBLE 16th floor views of NYC for them to enjoy all morning. We photographed all of Carleigh’s very organized and beautiful detail items while the girls finished getting ready! First of all, one of my all-time fave TLC shows is Say Yes to the Dress – so when I heard that Carleigh’s dress is a Martina Liana from KLEINFELDS OF NYC… I was totally fangirling and felt so honored to photograph it! Carleigh & Ian had so many fun details for me to photograph. My favorites were of course their stunning Sarah O rings (a female & minority-owned business), Ian’s grandmother’s INCREDIBLE sapphire ring that she passed down to Carleigh, and the black/white/gold invitation suite (all my fave colors) with the vintage stamp set of all NYC landmarks.

All of Carleigh’s bridesmaids were so sweet & fun, and I also loved including Carleigh’s brand-new nephew, Everette, in some of the photos! The Empire Suite’s black/white interior was a perfect compliment to their wedding color palette! Next, we headed over to the venue to photograph all the Bridesmaids photos, and found the coolest black staircase to incorporate more of the black color scheme & city/urban vibes into the photos. (Plus thank GOD for the shade!!!) I just love how unique those photos turned out! 🙂

Phillip had so much fun photographing all the guys with the iconic NYC skyline in the background – but he was most looking forward to talking with Ian about all things SPORTS. Ian is an encyclopedia of sports knowledge, and Phillip could talk sports ALL DAY. So Phillip was in his element for sure! 🙂

City Winery was transformed from the night before being a concert venue – into a beautiful Jewish wedding ceremony space. The chuppah was covered in greenery & white roses, and I especially loved how the stairs up to the stage were covered in greenery – so romantic. We had educated ourselves in some of the Jewish wedding traditions, and were excited to experience our first Jewish ceremony. There is so much tradition and family included into the ceremony – making it so meaningful and special. All the guests laughed when Carleigh & Ian had chosen a line from a Beyonce song to be quoted during the ceremony – and the whole ceremony was just really custom to be 100% “them”. Ian was most looking forward to stomping on the glass (be sure to see their beautiful custom glass they had made especially for this!)

As they exited the ceremony to go upstairs for their ketubah signing, we got some of my FAVORITE portraits of the whole day as they went upstairs against the iconic wine bottle wall! I just LOVE how those turned out! After the ketubah signing, we went outside to photograph all their portraits with the beautiful Hudson River behind them. It was a really hot day in the sun, so Carleigh & Ian were great sports to sweat it out with us! (Especially because Carleigh’s dress literally weighs 30 pounds!) We were so fortunate to find a spot without tourists in the background, with such a cool view for their photos! LOVED it!!! (Plus they got congratulated like 198652 times by people walking by – so fun!)

They were most excited to enjoy lots of time spent with their guests – so the reception kicked off with a BANG thanks to The Gotham Project Band. Guests were served a plated dinner of steak or fish, they had a Photo Booth full of props that the guests enjoyed all night, an open bar, lots of desserts – including a wedding cake featuring the NYC skyline painted in gold, a live painter on site doing a beautiful job, late night food… but most of all – LOTS OF DANCING!!!!! Carleigh & Ian’s wedding crowd was SO MUCH FUN!!! They were all out on the dance floor all night just having the best time ever.

The night went by so fast – and the band ended the reception by bringing Ian & Carleigh up onto the stage for the last song. It was such a PARTY, and I loved how it felt like an encore. Then it was time for Ian & Carleigh’s exit! True to form, they had made a unique choice of using Green Bay & Packers pennants to wave for the exit along with a NYC taxi cab for their getaway car! It was an EPIC way to end such an incredible day! We feel so proud and honored to have captured this amazing wedding for such a sweet couple. 🙂

Enough of me talking – go ahead and start scrolling to enjoy seeing ALL the photos of Carleigh & Ian’s wedding! I hope you’ll love them too!!!

One last big thanks to all the vendors:
– Florist: Rosehip
– Hairstylist & Makeup Artist: Beautini
– Wedding Planner: Blossom Events
– Band: Gotham Project
– Wedding Venue, Catering, & Bartending: City Winery New York
– Cake Designer: Nine Cakes
– Invitations: Minted
– Officiant: Rabbi Emily Cohen & Cantor Melissa Berman, West End Synagogue
– Shoe Designer: Betsey Johnson
– Ring Designer: Sarah O
– Live Artist: Janet Howard-Fatta
– Dress Designer and Boutique: MARTINA LIANA, Kleinfeld
– Bridesmaid Dresses Designer: Dear Cleo
– Groom & Groomsmen attire: The Black Tux
– Transportation: The Checker Cab
– Black and White Cookies: Gold Lust
– Photobooth: Lodi NYC