The Wedding of Kara Coyle & Paul Newmann

Their Vendors

Ceremony: Our Lady of the Rosary

Reception: Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Gown: Liancarlo

Photographer: Sullivan & Sullivan Photography

Makeup & Hair: Glamsquad

Florist: Atlas Floral

Cake: Patina Events

Band: Russ Bennett Band

Romance & Elegance

Paul and i met in Chicago when we both ended up working at the same public relations agency. For several years, we were just work acquaintances, then friends, and then one summer we finally realized we wanted more. We were out with friends and decided to leave to swin in Lake Michigan until sunrise. Fast forward five years and I am now a creative director at an advertising agency and Paul works in finance. We made the cross-country move from Chicago to the Upper West Side in New York. One warm day in February, Paul proposed to me during a walk in Central Park. I was surprised again to find our friends and family packed into our little 700 square-foot apartment waiting for us to celebrate.

Our reception was in The Palm House and our décor was classic black and white elegance. For a romantic touch, tea lights and goblet candels adorned each table. Our amazing florist, Wade Bernesby, created two stunning centerpieces that alternated throughout the room; one made of birch trees and dendrobium orchids tied to the branches and the other arranged with white roses, hydrangea, lysianthus, and dendrobium orchids. Dinner was delicious. We started with an arugula salad followed by a choice of branzino, roasted filet mignon, or a vegetarian option of honeynut squash. For dessert, we served our three-tier lemon cake strawberry mousse.

Our nine-piece band [Russ Bennett Band] got guests dancing as soon as they walked into the Palm House until the midnight countdown. We did our first dance to Van Morrison's "Someone Like You," and then the band kicked in the classics like Bruce Springsteen. Paul and I left the ballroom with a grand sparkler exit, leading everyone to the after-party at Franklin820, a bar in Brooklyn.