A Fashionable Garden-Party Style Wedding in New York City

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Emily and Marco

Some couples are natural collaborators. Take Emily O'Brien and Marco LoCascio: After meeting as freshmen at Amherst College, they interned at the same New York City nonprofit. Back at school, they took seminars together, and by the end of sophomore year, they were close friends. Then Marco spent junior year studying abroad. "I saw him at a party when he got back, and he just looked all grown up," says Emily, now a strategy and innovation consultant, of Marco, a research analyst at an investment firm. "He'd changed in my eyes." Things felt different to him, too, and he asked her on a date. From then on, the two were coupled, graduating and moving to New York City together.

The decision to wed was, likewise, a joint effort. In October 2011, after more than five years of dating, they booked a trip to the south of France, where they planned to get engaged (though Emily wasn't aware of exactly when or how it would happen). In the back garden of La Chassagnette, a favorite restaurant they'd visited before, Marco got on bended knee and asked her to be his wife. "I knew he'd propose at some point, but I still felt so surprised and overwhelmed," says Emily. Marco must have, too, because the bride-to-be had to remind him to actually slip the ring on her finger.

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The Ceremony

Credit: Jillian Mitchell Photography

In putting together their black-tie celebration, they worked together once again, with Marco handling logistics and Emily focusing on the visuals. Almost two years after the proposal, his sister officiated at a nondenominational ceremony at Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden.

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A Garden Setting

Credit: Jillian Mitchell Photography

The couple wed in front of a pergola on the lush lawn at Wave Hill, which overlooks the Hudson River.

"I was afraid I'd be too nervous to read, but Marco thought it was important," says Emily. "In the end, it was my favorite part of the ceremony. It was nice to be able to speak so directly to Marco."

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The Charming Couple

Credit: Jillian Mitchell Photography

Before saying "I do," the couple strolled under a trellised walkway near Wave Hill's Aquatic Garden.

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A Floral Invitation

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A hand-drawn rose, letterpressed on the ecru invitations, hinted at the verdant venue.

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The Bouquet

Credit: Jillian Mitchell Photography

Saipua created Emily's bouquet using roses, dahlias, chocolate cosmos, astrantia, passion vines, and variegated hydrangea.

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Festive Tunes

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A five-piece jazz band, The New Orleans Swamp Donkeys, provided the tunes for both the ceremony and cocktail hour.

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Glam Gals

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Emily, in a colorful Dior skirt and J. Mendel shell, posed with her mother (at her right) and her "unofficial" bridesmaids, a mix of high school and college friends.

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Handsome Gents

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The groom surrounded by his college friends, all looking dapper.

"The wedding was a chance to wear something I probably wouldn't otherwise," Marco says of his white Ralph Lauren Purple Label dinner jacket. "One of Emily's favorite movies is Casablanca—I thought the jacket had that classic, Humphrey Bogart sort of look."

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A Fashion Note

Credit: Jillian Mitchell Photography

The future husband and wife paused for photos on a bench. "I knew a white dress wasn't really me," says the bride. "I was looking for something awesome that I was really excited to wear."