Grandeur and intimacy. Planning and chaos. A quiet cake cutting and a packed dance floor. People looking impossibly elegant, then proving they are willing to sweat through their clothes. That is the multiplicity I love in weddings.
Babi and John got all of it. They wanted a wedding that felt unmistakably New York without turning the city into a prop.
So the day moved through several versions: Babi getting ready at home in Tribeca, John overlooking Midtown, the monumental interior of St. Jean Baptiste, a vintage yellow cab, Park Avenue, Central Park, and finally The Boathouse glowing at night. Every location was elegant. None of it felt impersonal.
That balance takes a lot of people working very hard to make the experience feel easy.
Claire Letourneau and the WedWell team kept a complicated Manhattan wedding moving smoothly enough that Babi and John could remain inside it instead of managing it. Inbal Sivan came in from Austin to photograph alongside me. Mati Gonzalez came from Chile to create the video under the Ryan Brenizer Photography banner.
It was the sort of full-team collaboration I love: many people with different jobs, all quietly building one coherent story.
And then the reception began.
When Babi twirled in her ballgown, the entire room sparked to life. Handfuls of guests had traveled from Brazil to share this special day, and the energy in the room reflected the uplifting joy of long-distance family reuniting for the first time.
John may be analytical, deliberate, and deeply resistant to anything that feels forced. He is also apparently willing to leave every remaining molecule of dignity on the dance floor. His wild dance with his mother was one of the highlights of a night when all the careful elegance gave way to something just as real: people laughing, spinning, shouting, and celebrating without restraint.
Planning: Claire Letourneau and WedWell
Ceremony: St. Jean Baptiste Church
Reception: Central Park Boathouse
Photography: Ryan Brenizer Photography
Videography: Matias Gonzalez, Squad Art Studio
Florals: Fiore Designs
Band: Around Town Entertainment, A-List Band
Vintage Taxi: Film Cars NYC
Cake: Empire Cakes
Hair: Bridal by Alexandria
Makeup: Makeup by Danielle
