Martha Stewart Weddings

A French-Inspired Vintage Wedding in New York

August 31, 2011

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The Happy Couple

You don't have to travel to Europe to find a grand setting: This designer duo hosted a sophisticated soiree in a historic home just a few miles north of New York City.

Bride Annie Sullivan, in a silk-tulle, French lace, and ostrich-feather dress of her own design, and groom Oliver Cobb, in a Ralph Lauren Black Label tuxedo, pose at the entrance of Alder Manor in Yonkers, New York.

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The Venue

Alder Manor, a 1912 Italian Renaissance Revival-style home in Yonkers, New York, is a semi-restored 72-room estate, with coffered ceilings, a marble staircase, and peeling paint that epitomizes the kind of worn European grandeur that appeals to the couple (he designs interiors and installations; she specializes in wedding gowns). "Olly was born in London, and though I'm from San Francisco, I launched my first dress line in Paris," says Annie. "We both have a very antique-y, Old World sensibility, so we loved the feel of it. Neither of us could believe that it was in a town only five miles north of Manhattan!"

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The Bridal Bouquet

Credit: Photographer: Thayer Allyson Gow

Annie's bouquet, created by Martha Stewart Weddings associate style editor Naomi deManana, combines roses, ranunculus, pieris, hellebores, and dusty miller.

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The Invitation Suite

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Decorative elements from 18th-century French ephemera were worked into the couple's stationery.

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The Bride's Family

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Annie designed dresses for her sister and mother.

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Portraits

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

The family gathered for formal photographs on the mansion's steps.

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The Groom and Best Man

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

The happy groom shares a smile with his brother and best man.

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Close Guests

Our style director, Kate Berry, was in attendance at the affair.

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Flower Girl Dresses

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

The bride created her nieces' flower-girl attire of feathered collars and skirts.

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The Boutonniere

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Olly wore a boutonniere of mini ranunculus and pieris.

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Jewelry

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

The bride's jewelry, Georgian and Victorian pieces in platinum and gold, reflects her penchant for mixing metals.

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Glowing Decor

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Annie descended this candle-lined staircase on her father's arm.

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The Processional

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Annie and her father.

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Ceremony Backdrop

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Annie and Olly exchanged vows in front of a fireplace draped with a garland of Easter lilies. "The roaring fire created such a nice ambience," says Olly.

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Serenade

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

The couple's friend Matthew Brookshire sang "The Very Thought of You" while playing the ukulele.

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Signature Cocktails

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy
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The couple's signature cocktail, similar to one served at an adored haunt, Mary Queen of Scots on Manhattan's Lower East Side, is made with rye, Champagne, bitters, blood orange, and maple syrup; the cocktail napkins were printed with an excerpt from a love letter Napoleon sent to Josephine.

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Small Bites

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Quail egg in a hole was one of the many canapes at the reception.

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The Guest Book

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

For a pretty alternative to a guest book, friends and family wrote messages on note cards printed with antique images and posted them on a board wrapped in linen.

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Escort Cards

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Slender celebration candles with escort-card "cuffs" directed guests to their tables.

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Reception Tables

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Tables are set with a variety of candlesticks, flowers, and fruit. "It looked like it all came straight from the house's cabinets," Annie says. "Since this was the first time we got to meet many of each other's relatives, it was really important to us that everyone get a sense of our relationship," says Annie. So, after the personal ceremony, all 120 guests sat down to a family-style dinner that spanned the manor's library and opulent ballroom, and shared many dishes the couple has savored at the Modern, the restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art.

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Centerpieces

The venue's striking backdrop inspired an event that recalled more glamorous eras. The flower arrangements evoked Dutch masters' paintings.

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Candle Decor

At the tables, candles were grouped together to provide mood lighting. "It was so beautiful -- everyone looked luminous," says the bride.

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The Menus

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

A friend made the dinner menus with decorative elements borrowed from a 20th-century American restaurant.

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The First Course

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

A colorful salad of roasted beets, orange, ricotta, arugula, and black walnuts accompanied the main course, pan-seared lamb loin.

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The Toasts

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Guests raise glasses to the couple after Annie's favorite part of the reception -- Olly's sentimental toast (the groom favors the time just afterward, "when I could sit back and take it all in," he says).

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A Private Moment

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

The bride and groom steal a candlelit moment. "I was so impressed by every little detail that Annie attended to -- she's got such a good eye," says Olly of his wife's hand in planning their big day. Martha Stewart Weddings' real-weddings editor, Shira Savada, also ensured that Annie's vision was executed and that everything went smoothly.

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French-Inspired Cake

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Instead of a cake, a French croquembouche was served.

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Dessert Display

Madeleines, tiny eclairs, and macarons gathered from a handful of French patisseries in New York City flanked the croquembouche. "I like that it was whimsical and that people could get up and have a little something at their leisure," Annie says.

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Madeleines

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Arranged in the shape of a pineapple (a symbol of friendship), this madeleine structure was made by covering a foam form in rolled fondant and then, starting from the bottom, attaching the cookies to it with thin wooden skewers.

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The Favors