Sophisticated New York City Hall wedding (with the chicest bridal suit!)

Did you see our colorful bridal pantsuit feature? It had me scrolling through all of our favorite BM pant-suited brides and I just HAD to feature real bride Jodie’s sexy & sophisticated bridal look. Eloping at NYC City Hall, this is the perfect wedding inspiration of the moment…

At New York City Hall you can be yourself. You can wear a classic, traditional wedding dress, flannel and jeans, or hey even a stormtrooper costume (yes, it’s true, I’ve seen it myself!) It’s a beautiful cultural display of freedom to be yourself.

So it makes sense that Jodie & Jonathan (& their pup Alfie!) chose to celebrate their nuptials at Manhattan’s City Hall. “Simply do what feels right and authentic to you and that should always be your guiding star,” says Jodie, as we wholeheartedly agree. Jodie’s sophisticated all-white bridal pantsuit is so chic it’s hard to imagine wedding dresses are even a thing!

Another beauty of marrying at City Hall is the lack of stress, which our busy New York couple wholly embraced. Not interested in the whole wedding planning? All it takes is two taxi rides to the marriage bureau (at least one day apart) and bam – you’ve got a wedding! With all of that extra time & lack of ‘to-dos’, Jodie crafted elegant bouquets & floral arrangements for herself & their nearest and dearest.

Our Love Story

We met at an industry event in New York – it was quite accidental! We hit it off at drinks at the Andaz Bryant Park and then decided to grab dinner at Gemma at the Bowery Hotel. I guess all our important milestones happen at hotels…as we got engaged while we were in Tokyo at the Aman hotel!

The Wedding Plans

We both work in respective fields (Jodie in fashion, Jonathan in the hotel industry) that require a lot of orchestration, organization, and attention to details with events, so when it came to our special day at City Hall, we wanted to keep it very simple and stress-free. We had a very intimate contingent of friends and family with us, as well as our beloved puppy Alfie. We really started thinking about it in earnest maybe two weeks before – we didn’t want to put too much pressure on it.

Favorite Moments

Our puppy Alfie making it through security at City Hall with his little bow tie. Our ‘confetti committee’ waiting to shower us with confetti and love as we emerged from City Hall. The fact that it was middle of February in New York and we lucked out with one of the most unseasonably warm days (24c/75f) full of sunshine. We took full advantage and hightailed it to Washington Square Park for a couple more photos which made it feel even more like a special New York moment!

The Photography

I had worked with Natalie at my job before and knew well how to work with her and that she performed well under high-stress situations or short moments where you’re required to capture beautiful photos in a limited period of time. She knew the shots we wanted without much (if at all) instruction – she’s a very intuitive photographer. So I knew she was the perfect photographer for us, not to mention that I admired her aesthetic and her eye!

Advice to Other Couples

I really enjoy doing flower arrangements so I relished making my own bouquet as well as the small arrangements for the friends and family in my gang. I went to the flower market the day before, had everything arranged and took them out of the fridge the morning of.

My biggest thing is not to feel the pressure of what society or tradition might tell you that you ‘need’ to do or ‘have’ to do – simply do what feels right and authentic to you and that should always be your guiding star. I knew I wanted to wear a suit to City Hall – a dress hadn’t even crossed my mind!

The Never-Ending Honeymoon

In this age of travel and connectivity, it almost feels like every trip is a honeymoon. There also shouldn’t be so much pressure to ‘pack in all the fun’ on your honeymoon. Having said that, we did spend some time in the South of France where we had a bigger family lunch celebration and then Italy that summer to soak up the moment and continue the celebrations…and it is still going!