A Very Dapper Wedding: Ericka and Emily

I have been stalking Ericka and Emily’s style on social media for quite some time. There have been a few e-mail exchanges between us here and there, basically of me begging them without shame to share their style with our readers. But, I revved up my efforts once I saw images of their incredibly dashing wedding attire floating around Facebook. They offered to share their wedding day style with us, and I’m now happy to share their bliss and swag with you all. Enjoy!

About Ericka and Emily:
Ericka and Emily met while serving in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, and are currently proud Brooklynites. On an absolutely perfect September day, they exchanged vows by the lake in Prospect Park, complete with some vocal geese who floated by to take in the festivities. Before heading in to the reception at the Bat Haus in Bushwick, the brides and their party took in the colorful murals in the neighborhood. After the touching speeches and emotional first dances, the party kicked in to full gear. In between periods of non-stop dancing, Ericka surprised Emily with a rendition of “Eight Days A Week” from The Beatles, one of Emily’s favorite groups. A perfect day for a perfect couple.

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Emily’s on THAT Amazing Blazer and the Complete Wedding Outift:
I think it is important to know that I am mix between petite and a size 6 in a blazer. As I much as I love men’s clothing, it never ever fits. I wear women’s clothes, but always make sure the fit is masculine presenting. But, wedding attire for me is quite different than just a jacket and pants that I would wear to work. I originally bought a blazer from Banana Republic in January. A white blazer, fit for a woman, and it was even called a “Tuxedo” jacket. When I put it on I was entire underwhelmed, but I thought it would grow on me. So I bought it. I was (probably too) eager to be done with the potentially impossible task of finding the right jacket for my wedding. And month after month went by, and I would try it on in the mirror, and it was always underwhelming. And I kept telling myself it will grow on me.

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Finally, 4 weeks before my wedding day I told my best man I hated my jacket and we needed to do something else. I reached out on social media for recommendations for a customer jacket spot that could make me a wedding blazer. A friend recommended MySuitNY. In January I was thrilled to find a white jacket that was a blazer that would fit me. The thought of pursuiting a masculine-inspired jacket intimidated me, so much so that I actually purchased something I hated and lived with it for 8 months. I was more than pleasantly surprised MySuitNY and Richard (of MySuitNY) existed, and were so available in a time crunch. Really, it was nothing short of a miracle for me. My shopping experience [at MySuitNY] was… well to say it was a great experience would not be sufficient. I encountered total support, friendliness, and welcome. It wasn’t a weird thing that I was a woman in a men’s store, wasn’t weird that I was marrying a woman, nothing. I was measured, asked my preferences, explained different options and how they will look in the final product, and they even patiently worked me through all my second-guessing, uncertainty, and fear that was the result of my concern for ordering the wrong thing. Really, my appointment could have been much shorter but I kept second guessing myself and they were super great about that with me. They turn around orders in 2 weeks, which is half the time or a third of the time as most custom suit places.

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Full outfit details: Jacket from MySuitNY || White collared shit from Uniqlo (women) || Pants by J Crew (women) || Bow tie by J Crew || Beatles boot by John Fleuvog || Suspenders from The Tie Bar

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Ericka on THAT Dress Tho!!!
I bought my wedding dress from Lovely Bride. The dress is a Dakota, Nicole Miller design. Now, I am the person that binge watches “Say Yes to the Dress” on TLC. I had a Pinterest board full of dresses that I knew were way out of my budget before a budget was formulated. When I first went to look for wedding dresses, I went to Kleinfelds (where “Say Yes to the Dress” is filmed) and I applied to show and was denied, so this was the next best thing. I came with a friend to their semi-annual sale. I stood in the middle of the room and the wedding dress assistant asked me several back to back questions about my “husband to be.” Aside from most of the dresses I tried on being larger than life, the assistants assumption that I was marrying a man turned me completely off. Several months later (I needed some time to recover from the Kleinfeld’s fail), I had an appointment with Lovely Bride. From the moment I walked in, I knew this place was where I would buy my dress. There was exposed brick and sequence everywhere! The best part was that my bride associate did not gender my partner when she asked questions. It was amazing! I did have to get the dress altered as wedding dresses rarely come fitting exactly as you want. I went to an alterations place in the West Village called Slate and Elba was amazing! I actually had a double mastectomy due to a breast cancer diagnosis two months before my wedding, so alterations were necessary. Elba was completely amazing. She made me feel completely comfortable and taken care of. Slate also offered to add straps to my strapless dress free of charge when they found out that my double mastectomy reconstruction would have the strapless dress not stay up.

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All in all, my experience wedding dress shopping was enjoyable with a few bumps along the way. I kept having second thoughts about my dress and I just kept asking my party if it was the right choice. At the end of the day, the dress didn’t matter- we were planning this event to share our love and commitment to each other and we succeeded at that and looked really good in the process.

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Photo credits:
Bryan Sargent
www.bryansargentphotography.com

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