A Peony-Filled Backyard Wedding in New Jersey

Like many young girls, Emily Simon had dreamt of her wedding day since she was little, always knowing she would marry in her childhood church and host a reception at her childhood home in Green Village, New Jersey. With a gorgeous garden of peonies and lush lawns, Hidden Pond Farm has forever been the go-to locale for her fairytale wedding.

Many years after those childhood daydreams, Emily (a cost analyst for a construction company) met Matt Crystal (a dentist) at a party hosted by his track team on their last day as undergraduates at Lafayette College. Matt took Emily out for ice cream following finals week, and the two became inseparable leading up to graduation.

Four years later, all of Emily's (and Matt's) dreams came true on May 30, 2015, when they married at Church of Christ the King. With a team of family friends as vendors and 332 guests in attendance, the celebration continued in a classic garden party style.

Each out-of-town guest received a wooden welcome box engraved with the couple's wedding logo and filled with the couple's favorite local treats: heart-shaped shortbread cookies and raspberry Champagne wedding preserves from The Artist Baker, Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen artisan crostini, Valley Shepherd Creamery cheeses, and sea salt caramels from Enjou Chocolat.

Emily wore a Carolina Herrera gown with a full tulle skirt and lace flower details. 

To honor family tradition, Emily had pearls from her grandmother's wedding dress sewn into her gown as her "something old." For her "something blue," she added an embroidered blue ribbon with her name and wedding date.

Judith Ness, a close friend of Emily's family (and also the couple's wedding calligrapher), gave the bride an heirloom handkerchief to use for happy tears throughout her wedding day.

Matt gave his bride a gold charm engraved with their monogram, while Emily created a photo album of all of their special moments for her groom.

Emily's bridesmaids included her future sister-in-law and her four best friends from kindergarten, elementary school, and her college ski and field hockey teams. They wore pale blue Lee Anderson Couture dresses in either short sleeve or sleeveless styles. Jerry Rose, a Simon family friend, created bouquets of lily of the valley and peonies for the bride and bridesmaids to match the property's beloved garden.

The couple wed at the bride's childhood church, Church of Christ the King. "My church means a lot to me. Walking down the aisle and getting married there was the highlight of my whole wedding day," says Emily.

The classic ivory program, created by Mrs. John L. Strong, featured an embossed Simon family crest on the cover.

The Newark Boys Chorus School performed traditional songs as guests arrived. Emily entered with her father to "Trumpet Fanfare" by Henry Purcell, and bible passages were read aloud during the Catholic ceremony.

Located an hour outside of New York City, Emily's childhood home has hosted decades of Simon family events. The mother of the bride was eager to turn her only daughter's dreams into reality for her big day.

The flower girls ran through the beautiful path of peonies in the backyard of the house that served as the focal point for the design of the wedding.

In the terrace garden, guests sipped on elderflower Champagne cocktails and enjoyed a raw oyster bar, along with an array of passed hors d'oeuvres prepared by Glorious Food—miniature blini with caviar and crème fraîche, deviled quail eggs, and sautéed foie gras on apple feuillantine, to name a few.

White escort cards calligraphed in a spring green ink surrounded a white garden urn filled with hydrangeas, peonies, roses, snowball vibernum, delphinium, and dogwood.

Inspired by the peonies on the Hidden Pond Farm grounds, Jerry Rose Floral & Event Design and Kara Minogue and Co. created a garden inside the reception tent with hanging boxwood garland and blush and white hydrangeas in urns atop boxwood pedestals. Centerpieces of garden roses, peonies, and greenery were placed on white tablecloths with patterned green Schumacher fabric trim.

Menus by Mrs. John L. Strong, featuring a blind emboss of the Simon family crest and green calligraphy by Judith Ness Studio, and monogrammed white linen napkins sat atop Wedgwood white petal china. Lime green water goblets, Riedel stemware, and silver flatware completed the elegant place setting.

The couple had a lot of fun taking dance lessons together prior to the wedding, and were able to finally show off their moves when they danced to "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra. "It was something really special," says Matt. "We practiced it for months, and it couldn't have gone better."

The all-white vanilla cake, layered with raspberry buttercream frosting and adorned with hand-crafted edible flowers, was designed by Colette Peters—the same woman who has created cakes for every major Simon family celebration since Emily was little, including her sixth birthday party.

For Emily, tossing the bouquet off of the balcony of her childhood bedroom was a magical point of the night.

The couple found the bouquet toss to be the perfect opportunity for Emily to change into her short, nude Oscar de la Renta dress and Chanel heels for the after-party. From there, they headed to the property's barn cottage and danced the night away.

Photography, Christian Oth Studio; Mary Hilliard; John Simoudis
Ceremony Location, Church of Christ the King
Event planning, Kara Minogue & Company
Fashion stylist, CLG Creative
Catering, Glorious Food
Flowers, Jerry Rose Floral & Event Design
Videography, Seth David Cohen Video
Stationery, Mrs. John L. Strong
Calligraphy, Judith Ness Studio
Cake, Colette's Cakes
Music, Newark Boys Chorus School (ceremony); Hank Lane Music (reception); DJ Mouz (after-party)
Bride's gown and veil, Carolina Herrera
Bride's accessories, Suzanne Couture Millinery (hair comb); Paul Morrelli (earrings); Jimmy Choo (shoes)
Bride's after-party dress, Oscar de la Renta
Bride's after-party shoes, Chanel
Bridesmaids' dresses, Lee Anderson Couture
Flower Girl dresses, Nicki Macfarlane
Groomsmen and Groom's suit, Brooks Brothers
Tablecloth pattern, Schumacher
China, Wedgwood
Stemware, Riedel
Welcome box, The Artist Baker (cookies and preserves); Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen (crostini); Valley Shepherd Creamery (cheeses); Enjou Chocolat (sea salt caramels)