An Elegant Black, White & Gold Park Avenue Club Wedding

Joe and Samantha had an elegant Park Avenue Club wedding with white, black and hints of gold, as well as greenery. 

“We knew we were going to love Park Avenue Club from the moment we laid eyes on it,” says bride Samantha. “We wanted a crisp clean slate to be able to make our vision possible. Park Avenue Club offers this mixture of rustic but modern at the same time.”

Their Story 

“We met at a Halloween party in 2017 through mutual friends,” says Samantha.

The Proposal 

“We went on a trip to Florida to go look at new homes so we could move down there,” says Samantha. “While we were on our trip, I had no idea Joe was on the phone with our jeweler (who’s a family friend) trying to pick out a ring. Once we returned, Joe met with the jeweler and both of our moms. Once he found the ring, it took about three days to get finished. Joe came up with some excuse as to why he needed to ‘go see his mom.’ He picked up the ring that Wednesday afternoon, drove back to our apartment and pretended he was struggling to open the front door. When I got up to go help him, he was on the other side of the door on one knee with the ring in his hand.”

Their Park Avenue Club Wedding

“Our theme was black and white—elegant with hints of gold. The flowers were all white with some greenery,” says Samantha. “We added candles and hurricane vases in different areas to really give it the romantic opulent vibe. We were surprised with a black and white striped dance floor as well as black and white custom chocolates that had our invitation monogram on them. We used black and white ribbon to tie the custom chuppah fabric to the structure. We then carried the black and white ribbon throughout other elements of our wedding, including the bridesmaids’ bouquets, the ribbon used to tie on the top of the chocolate boxes and even on the hotel welcome bags. I wore my grandmother’s blue garter, which had been passed down to my aunt, mother and cousin. We had the Mobile Cigar Lounge come out, so of course we had to then have custom match boxes to go along.”

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Why Park Avenue Club? 

“We knew we were going to love Park Avenue Club from the moment we laid eyes on it!” says Samantha. “We didn’t want your traditional over decorated ballroom like so many New Jersey catering facilities offer. We wanted a crisp clean slate to be able to make our vision possible. Park Avenue Club offers this mixture of rustic but modern at the same time. The fact that it had simple gray carpeting instead of some bold print is also what sold us. From the moment we toured the facilities to chat through pricing, the Park Avenue Club team was nothing short of amazing! They really helped us, they offered for us to stay for lunch so that we could taste the food. They made sure our every need and want was met through the planning process and even day of. Once it came time for our food tasting, I knew we made the right decision. The food was beyond incredible!”

Menu

“Our cocktail hour had so many different stations—tacos, a NY style deli, a raw bar and more,” says Samantha. “Our sit-down dinner included a delicious mushroom risotto cake with roasted veggies and microgreens. Guests had a tableside choice of halibut in a champagne beurre blanc sauce with caviar, filet mignon, or stuffed chicken breast with Fontina cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. All entrees were served with cheesy au gratin potatoes, roasted asparagus and carrots. Our cake was three tiers. The smallest tier was a vanilla cake with lemon curd and fresh sliced strawberries. The middle tier was a vanilla cake with fresh raspberry preserve and the largest bottom tier was vanilla cake with cannoli cream filling. Our signature drinks were a Paloma (hers) and an Old Fashioned (his).”

Bridal Style 

“I knew going into my first bridal appointment at the Bridal Atelier of Montclair that I LOVED the Mercer gown from Sareh Nouri’s collection,” says Samantha. “My gut was just telling me that it was exactly what I was looking for and that it would fit the curves of my body really well. I tried on a few different dresses before putting on the Mercer, but a soon as I put it on and walked out, I knew it was the one. It was just made for me. I decided I couldn’t live without it or the Peony bow from Sareh’s collection.”

Favorite Moment 

“How do you even pick just one?” says Samantha. “Other than marrying my best friend, I think my favorite moment was when Joe got up and played with the band. It was so fun to see how surprised everyone was! Unfortunately, Joe’s grandfather passed away about three weeks before our wedding. Something he always asked of Joe was to play ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ anytime he would come to visit, but especially on Christmas Eve when the whole family was together. We worked with our band leader, Nick, to see if it was even a possibility for us to accomplish. Nick made it all seamless and we were able to honor Joe’s grandfather and put a smile on everyone’s faces. Everyone couldn’t get over his voice and how talented he was!”

Special Detail 

“It was so important to us to have good music,” says Samantha. “We both are diehard music fans. Joe plays instruments and I come from a family who loves to ballroom dance. That was our number one request— a band, and DJ for when the band takes breaks. We knew our crowd would be on the dance floor ALL night!” Their first dance song was “Just You ‘N’ Me” by Chicago.

Advice

“Don’t overthink things,” says Samantha. “If something goes wrong, only you will know about it. Take the time to enjoy the process and the day. Make sure you keep yourself hydrated and eat that morning, even if you’re not hungry.”

Honeymoon 

The couple plans to go to Italy for 10 days: two in Rome, four in Florence and four on the Amalfi Coast.