“The Age of Innocence on Acid” Was the Design Directive For This Wedding at the National Arts Club
Photo: Sasithon Photography of The Wedding Artists Co.1/49Our invitation suite was by the phenomenally talented artist Caitlin McGauley. We had fallen in love with her work after seeing her illustrations on the Ritz Carlton’s website and had sent a shot-in-the-dark email essentially begging her to consider doing our wedding. We were—are!—so honored and grateful she said yes. Caitlin, alongside our peerless wedding planner Rebecca Gardner, helped us conceptualize an invitation that was joyful and bold without veering into “cute” or “quirky”—two qualities we strained ferociously to avoid. For instance: The damask curtains and planter evoke Gramercy Park without being a literal drawing of Gramercy Park. We were really playful with scale, too: While our save-the-dates were tiny matchbooks, the invitations themselves were massive (8.5 x 11 inches) and were mailed in similarly sized envelopes. The gold silk ribbon—an inspired suggestion from Rebecca—literally tied the whole look together.
Photo: Sasithon Photography of The Wedding Artists Co.2/49There was never any question that we’d get married in New York. Our shared love of Manhattan—its energy, its pace, its smallness, its bigness—was one of the first things we realized we had in common and remains a fundamental part of our relationship. As far as venues go, we did not want an event space, and none of the restaurants or hotels we looked at were quite right. The National Arts Club, with its eccentric, artfully disheveled interiors, was exactly what we were looking for. Martin Scorsese filmed scenes from The Age of Innocence at the National Arts Club, so it doesn’t just look the part of Gilded Age mansion, it played the part.
Photo: Sasithon Photography of The Wedding Artists Co.3/49The ceiling of the National Arts Club ranks among the great ceilings of New York, right alongside Grand Central, the Public Library, and the monogrammed tin at C.O. Bigelow.
Photo: Sasithon Photography of The Wedding Artists Co.4/49The Paco Rabanne dress I wore at the reception and the Rodarte dress I wore to the ceremony.
Photo: Sasithon Photography of The Wedding Artists Co.5/49Mike’s rose gold ring from Van Cleef Arpels is inscribed with our nicknames for each other. My wedding ring is a platinum band of diamonds. My engagement ring is an Art Deco piece from the 1920s with an Old European Cut diamond, onyx, and emerald (my birthstone). They are both from Fred Leighton.
