Mackensie and Tyler | Governor's Island, NYC
We are incredibly excited to share Mackensie and Tyler’s show stopping wedding with you! With over a dozen performances throughout the weekend, this couple truly pulled out all the stops for their guests! A huge thank you to Emma Cleary Photography and Kalinin Photography for the images and to The Knot (pg 46-47) for featuring this wedding.
Mackensie and Tyler (fondly known as M+T) knew that they wanted to have a NYC wedding - but with a twist! They opted to host their wedding at the The Collective on Governors Island. This luxury camping (glamping!) site is an amazing place to bring guests together for an intimate weekend of events. M+T had the unique honor of hosting the first-ever wedding on the Island!
On Saturday, guests ventured to Brooklyn for the couple’s wedding ceremony. The bride and groom had one request – dressing in Great Gatsby garb. They had no idea what was coming next! We partnered with Birch Event Design to create a stunning backdrop for M+T’s ceremony. The bride and groom were married with the East River and New York City skyline in the background. The ceremony was performed by the bride’s brother-in-law and the bride’s sister also performed a touching crystal ceremony that collected all of the guests’ positive energy and well wishes for the couple.
Once the couple said “We do!”, the guests were given tickets to the Carousel in Prospect Park and were asked to meet the couple back at the ceremony spot for a cocktail hour surprise! When guests returned, they were stunned to see the City Clipper, a tall ship, docked and ready to take them over to Governor’s Island for the reception! Once on board, they were greeted by the amazing brass band, Jambalaya.
When the ship landed on the Island, guests were greeted by an amazing group pf performers waiting to dance the guests to the reception via a Second Line! If you aren’t familiar, this is a traditional wedding parade originating from New Orleans. Guests dance through the streets lead by a brass band and waving handkerchiefs to be celebrated by the entire city! Their backdrop, in this case was no less enthusiastic - an island full of NYC tourists ready to cheer the couple and guests on!
When guests arrived at the tent, they were greeted with a Roaring 20s themed dream! Plush velvet banquettes flanked oval tables decorated with giant plumes of feathers and art deco-style gold candelabras. Greeters in 20’s attire welcomed guests to the tent and the roaring 20’s cover band, Sweet Tooth, crooning to the crowd. As guests ate, they were treated to a myriad of performances. House of Yes put on a stunning suite of performances including “diamond dancers”, aerialists and belly dancers! The last performance of the dinner portion of the evening was the inimitable Robert Channing performing his showstopping speed glitter painting which elicited gasps from the crown upon the reveal!
But wait, that’s not all! It isn’t a wedding without a cake cutting! M+T performed their own interpretation including a dozen dancers dressed a cupcakes pulling a giant cake from the wings. Just when guests though it couldn’t get any better, the bride popped out of the giant cake! The bride and groom then joined the House of Yes for an absolutely amazing choreographed first dance including 10 additional performers and ending in cold pyrotechnics!
Once the performance were over, the party really started! The amazing dance band, Liquid Blue took over and packed the dance floor. But, the surprises weren’t over just yet! The infamous LED Robots from Laser Shower USA (you might remember them from America’s Got Talent!) put on a surprise performance to lead the guests into the after party. Then, DJ PillowTalk took over and Guests partied in the wee hours of the night and were even treated to a spin or two from none other than the groom himself!
Finally, late night guests were treated to a private water taxi back to the city through NY Water Taxi – what a fabulous way to end a fabulous night in New York City!
A huge thanks to the dream team that made it all possible:
NYC Wedding Planners: Brilliant Event Planning (that’s us!)
Ceremony Venue: Giando on the Water
Cocktail Venue: Manhattan by Sail
Reception Venue: The Collective at Governor’s Island
Photo/Video: Emma Cleary Photography
Floral & Décor: Birch Event Design
Ceremony Musicians: Erin Hill Quartet
Cocktail Musicians: Jambalaya Brass Band
Roaring 20’s Band: The Sweet Tooth Band
Dance Cover Band: Liquid Blue
Performers: House of Yes
Performers: Hips of Fire
Speed Glitter Painter: Robert Channing
After Party DJ: DJ PillowTalk
After Party Entertainment: Laser Show USA
Photo Booth: Hipstr Booth
Lighting + Staging: Upstream
Audio: D3 Audio
Hair Styling: Hair by Alison Farfan
Makeup: Creating Faces NY
Groomsmen Grooming: John Allan’s
Rentals: Luxe Event Rentals
Water Transportation: NY Water Taxi
Ground Transportation: RPD Limousine
As you can see, we go all out to plan unique events for our clients. Contact us for more information about our services.