BRIANA & BRENDAN

Briana and Brendan’s journey towards a shared life began with a simple
flick of the thumb on a dating app. A seven-hour date in Manhattan filled with laugh- ter and good food and drink lit a spark that grew into a great love.
The young New Yorkers love travel, and on one of their many trips, five years into their relationship, Brendan popped the question. One thing was clear: the wedding couldn’t be anywhere but the city that never sleeps.
The couple made a symbolic return to the Lower East Side neighbourhood where they first strolled hand in hand. This historic part of Manhattan
has its own distinctive atmosphere, and one of its most famous
buildings is the Savings Bank Building at 130 Bowery, an icon of the Classical Revival style. As Briana says, “It doesn’t get any more New York than this.
Walking in, you feel a mix of historic charm and New York energy.”
There, Briana and Brendan created their stylish modern wedding in Big Apple style. Like a proper team, they shared all the preparations.
While Briana’s profession as a creative director made her
the ideal person to come up with the masterplan, Brendan took care of lots of the details, including cutting out the wedding stationery by hand. As a result,
they can honestly say that their wedding was authentic to them. “We custom designed everything ourselves, from the invitations to the menus to the lighting in the event space. We even went as far as building our own DJ booth and seating chart.
Not only did this save us money, but more importantly, it allowed us to design our wedding exactly how we envisioned it,” says Briana.
The preparations took about a year, and by the end of it they couldn’t
wait for the big day to arrive!
It’s the end of November. The city may be gearing up for the holidays, but the chaos of Christmas hasn’t descended yet. The bride and groom are taking things easy as well. “I’ve been part of too many weddings where
the morning was just stressful – tight timelines, super-early mornings, everyone feeling rushed. Our morning was quite the opposite, starting with a leisurely wake-up and walk to get coffee. It set the mood for the entire day,” says Briana. And now look: here comes a yellow cab, and out steps the bride in a stunning dress, hand in hand with the man of her life. Come with us into
the ballroom with its imposing Corinthian columns, where there’s room
for two hundred wedding guests and the party will go on till dawn.

Text: Helena Stiessová | Photo: Tomáš Lazorik, Michaela Hynek