The Brooklyn Winery is a great venue for weddings.

I love the smell of the winery, that musty grape odor mixed with oak and sweetness.

In the fall, the winery turns into, well a winery and the production area is filled with lovely grapes. In the summer though, the grapes have been juiced, fermented and turned into wine, tucked away and safely aging in oak barrels.

The Brooklyn Winery is a quintessential Williamsburg establishment. With its speak easy vibe back rooms, antique photographs, barn wood and exposed metal. It has the right mixture of rustic chic meets the 1920’s mashed into the 1890’s that happened to end up on North 8th Street.  Anywhere else it would look a little strange, but here in Williamsburg, it works.

Sara was an absolute pleasure to work with and a special treat for me. Sara works in a creative field and she is used to communicating visuals. She also, more importantly, knows to choose other creative types who she feels could execute her vision and know when to trust their judgement. When I work for people like that, I have the creative freedom that I need to produce the best results.

Sara wasn’t thrilled with the two ceremony flowers placed on wine barrel look that we have seen so many times at the Brooklyn Winery. She asked me to come up with a suggestion and I recommended using branches with hanging greenery and flowers and suspending that above the ceremony.

I really like how it turned out and think that I will try to have more suspended pieces in the future.

I especially love that Sarah was thoughtful enough to let her bridesmaids choose their own dress. She gave them a pallet to work with and let them make decisions about what they would feel beautiful and comfortable in. Look how beautiful and relaxed they look.

Me I would wear either one of those shorter dresses to a cocktail party or with a blazer to a business meeting.

The long,  v neck dress,  could easily be worn to the beach, or lounging at brunch but looks fine at a wedding.

The more formal gown could be worn to a gala or opening reception, you can’t see the reveal in this picture, but it is a sexy dress.

In July, there are so many interesting flowers available. That is the time when the local growers really start producing some excellent flowers. I was thrilled when I say the spiky pink castor pods. We used them in the centerpieces and for the personal flowers. These special kinds of touches really can’t be planned.

For the escort cards we used an industrial metal stand with little clothes pins to attach the cards. Typically, if I say to someone that we will use and industrial metal stand that is a little rusty, but it will look great, they might be a little skeptical. I think it looks amazing in that space.

Khaki Bedford did the photography. I love her work and she is a fun person to be around. No wonder everyone always smiles for her camera.

Broken apart arrangements are perfect for long banquet tables and give you a lot of leeway when placing dishes and glassware.

Tip: If you are planning a wedding at the Brooklyn Winery, ask them to use their collection of vintage glassware and candlesticks, they are super cute.

Venue: Brooklyn Winery

Planner: Anne Book

Photography Khaki Bedford

Event Design: Rose Red & Lavender