Minimalist Brooklyn Inspired Wedding in Ohio: Marni & James

The Oberports

December 19, 2014

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Marni and James wanted to bring their love of the big apple to their Ohio wedding. They kept things minimalistic in terms of décor, but everything that choose oozed New York cool. “I think the inspiration and theme for our wedding go hand in hand”, explained the bride. “We wanted minimalist chic. We also wanted it to feel like we were in Brooklyn, where we now live, recreated in Marietta, Ohio.”

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“Getting married in Ohio saves us a lot of money. The prices there are probably 25-30% of the cost of getting married in New York City. While we really wanted a Brooklyn wedding in many ways, we ultimately decided that it would be easier for our families to attend if we had it in Ohio. That was the most important thing. Plus, we knew that we could splurge on parts of the wedding that were important to us if we had it in Ohio. I never would have been able to afford two designer dresses, for example, if we had gotten married in New York!”

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“We chose our reception venue, The Adelphia Music Hall, because it reminded us of Frankies 457 in Brooklyn where we got engaged”, she continued. “We had simple vintage vases with single flowers, simple black tablecloths, and clear white votives. We used empty wine bottles to serve water, just like our favorite restaurants do. We had New York in our table numbers, our favors, and our cake.”

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“Our flowers were carnations, which many brides might scoff at, but those were the only flowers I considered. My hometown of Alliance, Ohio is the ‘birthplace’ of the scarlet carnation and as I didn’t get married in my hometown, I wanted to pay tribute to where I grew up through my flowers. My bouquet was a gorgeous ball of red carnations and there were scarlet ones at the ceremony and reception. loved the simplicity of having a single type of flower.”

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Marni wore two dresses. A white one for the ceremony by Amsale and a dramatic black one for the portraits and reception by Vera Wang. “I blame wearing two dresses on being a Gemini”, she laughed, “one for each twin. I loved both dresses, but wearing a black wedding gown for most of the event was very different and one of my favorite things!”

“Having so many loved ones in the same room at the same time was, of course, one of the best things for both of us”, she concluded. “It was so special. As were the actual vows, the heart of a wedding! James and I wrote our own vows to make them personal. Mine were pulled from an email I wrote when we first started dating with the subject line ‘Reasons I Love You.’ I reply to this every once in awhile with new reasons, and it was fun to look back on almost a hundred that I’ve sent over our time together.”

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“Beyond these very meaningful things, one of my other favorite things was getting ready with my best ladies, putting on my black dress, and meeting James for our first look. It was such a memorable moment for me. James’s favorite part was the very end of the reception. The DJ ended the night with a request James had for ‘Heaven’ by Warrant. He called me out to the dance floor, and for some reason our friends and family decided to make a circle around us as we danced. I felt like I was back in middle school as they were swaying to this cheesy monster ballad, but it really was a perfect way to end the night.”

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