Diana and Ken

Ken and I first met in April 2017 via a dating app. At the time I was 34 and, if I'm being truly honest, was totally discouraged by the New York City dating scene. As I watched friend after friend get married, begin families, and generally proceed onto the next phases of life I resigned myself to being the "fun aunt" (a role which I do love!). But then at the end of April I met Ken for a drink on the Upper East Side and in that moment, it all changed.  At that point I'd been, by my rough calculations, on over 120 first dates. But that night after Ken and I said goodbye, I texted a girlfriend and said "I think I'm going to marry that guy". I had never said or felt that way ever before. And Ken felt the same way; our relationship proceeded quickly and on March 16, 2018 he proposed in my apartment. Our whirlwind courtship was followed by a whirlwind engagement; we set the date for New Year's Eve, only 9 months after our engagement. But it HAD to be New Year's Eve. My grandma and grandpa had gotten married on December 31st and as a little girl I always dreamed of sharing a wedding date with them. My grandma was my absolute favorite person, my best friend, and just the coolest lady you could ever hope to meet. She passed away in January 2018, so ending the year we lost her by celebrating my and Ken's marriage seemed like a fitting way to honor her.
And our wedding was a dream come true. We got married in my childhood church in Ridgefield, CT and our reception was just over the boarder in New York at Le Chateau in South Salem. My mom and I planned the entire wedding ourselves and it was so.much.fun. We used all local vendors or vendors we had a personal connection to (for instance, our photographer Christopher Duggan had photographed two of my cousin's weddings), so everyone felt like a big family. My friend Kim designed our entire invitation suite and all our paper goods, and a logo for us, so they were completely unique and personal to Ken and me. My favorite color is red so that was incorporated everywhere. And we were lucky to get married a week after Christmas, the alter at the church was still all decorated! As the date and family are so important to us, we had other family wedding photos set up at the reception, and sewn into my dress were pieces of each of my two grandmother's wedding dresses. As a surprise to my new husband, aside from the wedding cake I had the bakery make cupcakes with Guy Fieri's face on them (Ken LOVES Guy Fieri); they were a big hit! Since it was New Years Eve our escort cards were tags around party horns for everyone to use at midnight. At 11:30 we brought out a table full of NYE gear and we all rung in the new year together with a champagne toast and a countdown from our DJ.

Despite the rain, it was pure magic. I am so deeply lucky to have found my sweet Ken :)

Designer Lines

• Lazaro

Styles

• Style 3810

Services

• Photographer Christopher Duggan Photography
• Makeup J. Kinford Beauty Group
• Hair J. Kinford Beauty Group
• Reception Venue Le Chateau