Intimate Wedding at Prospect Park Boathouse in New York

December 10, 2023

Oliver and Nick’s elegant and intimate gay New York wedding was as bright and vivid as the spring bloom. It was a charming fruition of bliss for their love, celebrated with an intimate 32 guests. The decor and details were an awakening of the senses; a romantic dinner party with a garden party vibe.

The Couple

The wedding couple met in college through mutual friends, and their love blossomed through the toughest Covid-19 pandemic moments with Nick working as an ICU nurse. Oliver seized the opportunity to pop the question during a vacation in San Francisco. Thus, he proposed to Nick on the private beach of the Ritz Carlton Resort, a place “so beautiful and intimate and everything we’d wanted.“

Invitations and save the dates by Ivory and Fine Co. and Silver Sun Paper Co. reflected the couple’s intimate New York wedding theme. First, the save the dates featured a gorgeous dark green tasseled velvet enclosure with a watercolor of the Brooklyn Bridge and Prospect Park Boathouse. Second, their invitations echoed the same theme. Vis a vis, reflecting an elegant garden party wedding theme.

Elegant Gay Wedding Prospect Park Boathouse New York - Modern Fashionable Couple - Larisa Shorina Photography

The Ceremony

The Prospect Park Boathouse is immersed in nature, and emits a timeless and romantic Beaux Arts ambiance. For this reason, the grooms chose it because it “reminded us of our favorite place and where we had our bachelor party, New Orleans. The venue looks right out of a painting and it’s in the middle of a giant park in the city.” Furthermore, art deco lamps with circular bulbs sit outside the perimeter. Thus, highlighting exquisite arched windows and French doors that open to the outside terrace. Finally, green herringbone tiles on the floor and ceiling perfectly complemented their fashion, wedding colors, and decorative details. In conclusion, the architecture was already in place for their intimate, gay, New York wedding.

Set on a waterside dock and terrace, the ceremony was a sight to behold. Every floral detail made this an elegant and intimate New York wedding made of dreams. “For our ceremony, we wanted a big and lush floral arch to add [life] to our setting but also enhance the natural elements surrounding our venue. Stems Brooklyn blew this out of the water defying notions in the floral industry, and creating a completely foam-free arch and design. Layered with lacy hydrangeas and hundreds of David Austin Roses for a romantic, spectacular finish.”

The florists designed matching arrangements along the aisle, as well as the wreaths that adorned the necks of their bulldogs. The grooms reflected: “The most special moment was having and seeing our French Bulldogs (Preston and Theodore) be part of our ceremony – it brought us both to tears when we saw them, and will be a core memory we have for life.”

The Reception

The couple fell in love with pop and soul singer Najah Moeser’s vocals when they heard her perform at a work event. Thus, on the wedding day, the grooms “remember hearing her playing [while they] were getting ready upstairs, which brought [them] chills.” The singer was set up on the upper tier of the terrace with a view of the Lullwater Bridge and Prospect Park Lake.

As the orange sun set over the lake during the reception, guests enjoyed cocktails such as the couple’s specialty P&T (for Preston and Theodore) with tequila, soda, and pineapple juice. Consistent to the wedding theme, Andi Mejia Co. designed the bar menu with an emblem of their French Bulldogs.

In sum, the details of the flowers, the singer, and the cocktails equate to a most elegant and intimate New York gay wedding.

The Fashion

The couple’s attire reflected luxury with a personal touch for an intimate wedding. In line with the grooms’ romantic garden party vibe, “guests were asked to wear floor-length greens, nudes, blushes, and whites. These colors were incorporated in our invites, save the date, and day of details (including our cakes).”

The grooms opted for personalized custom attire by Luis and his team at Bode (2022 American Menswear Designer of the Year) to represent them individually and as a couple. “We have very different personal styles but wanted both to be represented. Nick is more casual and classic, whereas Oliver prefers bold colors and textures.”

Groom Nick wore a custom off-white dinner jacket with a white tuxedo shirt and dark green pants. The outfit was balanced against a black Tom Ford bow tie, and black velvet Christian Louboutin loafers. To finish, Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum completed the ensemble.

Groom Oliver wore a double-breasted dark green suit jacket with jeweled flower embellishments, a white tuxedo shirt. In addition, a black Gucci bow tie, beige socks embroidered with better and worse, and black tuxedo shoes by Christian Louboutin. Finally, Baccarat Rouge Eau de Parfum by Maison Kurkdjian complemented the bold style.

To conclude, the couple both wore boutonnières with white hydrangeas and roses. Their rings were by luxury powerhouse Cartier, and provided the perfect finishing touch to their elegant looks.

Decor and Details

For dinner inside the Boathouse, Stems Brooklyn really “leaned into the garden party theme and designed this delicate growing garden down the center of the table. Spring tulips, ranunculus, garden roses, candles, and sweet peas burst forth to give a new meaning to ‘garden party’”. The large community table featured glass enclosed candlesticks, tealight candles, and exquisite silverware and plates.

Food was provided in-house by the Purslane crew who specialize in local, sustainable, and seasonal dishes. They made sure to incorporate delicious greens to match the couple’s intimate garden party wedding theme.

The grooms were thrilled that Andi Mejia Co., “really understood our vision and created signage, menus, name cards, and bar signs that were so unique and stunning…everything was so beautiful.” We ended up enhancing our rentals (chairs, plates, cups, silverware) with Broadway Party Rentals to ensure colors and details fit our theme.”

The Cakes

With their unique tastes in food, the couple wanted their guests to share in their delight on their special night. The absolute highlight of their romantic garden dinner party was their three specialty cakes provided by small Brooklyn-based bakeries: 99, Gigi’s Little Kitchen, and YIP Studio.

The first cake had an abstract conal shape decorated with plantlike greens, white flowers, and butterflies coming out as if alive. The second cake was a two-tiered white feature with an abstract pattern of green fondant throughout, with beautiful flowers protruding. Finally, the third cake had a classic three-tiered green beauty speckled with white bows and seashells.

Magical Ending

To end the night, the wedding couple sped away in a vintage yellow New York taxi. It was a fitting end for Oliver and Nick’s garden party, reminiscent of the socialites of the roaring 20s. Definitely the epitome of an intimate, gay, New York wedding!

The Couple’s Advice

Their advice for future couples are: “Listen and trust your wedding planner, we had a phenomenal team at Cherish. Give your vendors artistic freedom, tell them your vision and trust their process and craft. Have a color (dress) code for your wedding, as it helps bring things together. You will go over budget (we tripled ours), make sure you compromise and pick priority items – ours were photography and floral. Lastly, it’s your day, make your decisions as a couple – our wedding was perfect because it was everything WE have ever wanted.”

Post wedding, we followed up with the grooms. The grooms stated: “We’ve only been married for a couple months and after being together for 8 years, we didn’t think much would change. We were very wrong, it feels like our life together has just begun and everything you do is for you as a couple, it’s the best feeling in the world.”