These Designers Brought Something Blue ーand Lots of New York ー into their Historic Brooklyn Wedding Venue

Anna and Garrett Albury’s love story has close ties to three exciting cities ー Savannah, San Francisco and New York. However, it only made sense for their wedding to be an ode to the place they fell in love, grew their life together, and created bustling careers. For the designers and co-founders of coolstuff.nyc, they considered their wedding the greatest project of their lives. The entire day was straight out of a modern, whimsical fairytale. It embodied their personal style from color to fashion to music. Not to mention, it marked the beginning of an epic new chapter as partners in life and creativity.

Fellow students at Savannah College of Art and Design, Anna Brettschnieder and Garrett Albury didn’t meet until they were both interning in San Francisco. They became friends, but it wasn’t until they both found themselves living in New York two years later that their romantic relationship began. Three years, two busy careers and a weekly New York newsletter thereafter, Garrett proposed to Anna on a rainy afternoon in Brooklyn. They quickly began planning their nuptials, with their sights set on the Prospect Park Boathouse, just a short distance from their Park Slope home.

SOMETHING OLD

Built in 1905, the Beaux Arts style building was one of the first in New York City to be declared a historic landmark. “I’ve always loved the Boathouse and so has Garrett, so it seemed like the obvious choice,” said Anna of their iconic Brooklyn venue. “After we got engaged, I emailed the next day and asked what dates they had available for spring of the following year.” The venue had one remaining weekend day left for 2023, and it was a Sunday. After some initial consideration, the couple decided to go for it. After all, hosting Sunday brunches and dinners at home is one of their favorite activities. “I originally had a complex that it had to be a Saturday wedding, which I’m totally against now,” said Anna. “I love Sundays.”

They had a year - give or take - to plan their wedding. With day jobs and ongoing creative projects, laying out an efficient timeline from the start was essential if they were going to pull it off. “We were always working on something,” said Anna. “But it was all fun stuff.” Anna and Garrett wanted their wedding to be a reflection of them as a couple. They love fashion, food, culture, and are both classically stylish with a contemporary twist. “We were very inspired by this historic building with so much history and beautiful architecture. The ceiling has sage green tile that is very striking and peaceful. We thought to ourselves, “How do we convey that this building is classic and iconic but lay on contemporary and modern touches?”

SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING COBALT

Color is something Anna is very passionate about as a textile and rug designer, so it was the perfect starting point for the planning process. “We were most excited about our wedding stationary because Garrett is a graphic designer and I work a lot with color in my job for textile design. It kind of felt like what we do with our newsletter every week ーcollaborating. Me, choosing colors and Garrett, working on the digital aspect of things. We get really inspired by presenting the vision of the day before the actual wedding.”

The style they chose was similar to what you would find in their home; contrasts that are fun and interesting, yet timeless. They designed their wedding invite suite around sage green to match the mural at the Boathouse, brownstone brown as a nod to Brooklyn, and cobalt blue. “I think cobalt is just a really fun, modern, juxtaposition with classic Brooklyn colors, which is what our wedding was inspired by.”

A MOMENT FOR THE DRESS

When it came to her search for a dress, it was not as simple as Anna originally thought it would be. She wanted her dress to mirror her day to day fashion choices; classic with surprising details and accents of bold color. However, she wasn’t finding anything in New York that excited her or aligned with her vision. She considered designing a custom dress, but after considering their timeline, she decided against it. On a trip to Atlanta with a childhood friend, Anna finally found the one.

She found a Carol Hannah design at The Sentimentalist, which is a designer bridal shop that advertises for “the cool, colorful bride.” She remembers seeing their slogan for the first time, “I said, ‘Sold!’”

Anna went into her appointment with a strict criteria of a square neckline and short sleeves. The dress matched that almost perfectly; raw silk, a subtle bow detail, a square neck, but no sleeves. “Immediately, I thought, “I can cut off the train and make it into sleeves”, because I didn’t want a train to begin with. So that’s what I did. It was very serendipitous.” It became even more serendipitous when the Sentimentalist recommended Nazarela Bridal Design Studio for alterations, which is located a short distance from Anna and Garrett’s home in Brooklyn.

**WHO SAID DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND?**
As a pearl enthusiast, there was only one way to accessorize for her wedding day. “I knew I wanted a lot of pearls. I love to wear them everyday, but on my wedding day I wanted to go hard.” Anna worked with Lizzie Fortunato to create a custom necklace from the jewelry designer’s existing pieces. Lizzie sourced a blue stone especially for Anna’s necklace to match the Loeffler Randall shoes she had already chosen. Their creation for Anna’s wedding necklace eventually became a collection piece. The bride completed her look with a pearl bracelet that she found on a trip to Paris, and a cascading pearl bag from one of favorite designers, Clare V. “I think it was fun to use the pearls to play into the shimmer of the raw silk material of the dress.”

EASY LIKE A SUNDAY MORNING

On the morning of the wedding, Anna and her bridesmaids got ready in an Airbnb while Garrett and his groomsmen got ready at their apartment. Anna chose sunset hues of pink and lilac for her bridesmaids dresses. The rule for groomsmen was dark suits, saving the black tux for Garrett alone. He gifted his groomsmen each a different color silk knitted tie to wear for the ceremony.

For their flowers, the couple decided to contrast the sage green tile and greenery surrounding the Boathouse with bright, saturated florals such as poppies and textured lilacs. Love, Laura came highly recommended as a florist and coordinator, and they were not disappointed. “She was like a two in one; I obviously loved her floral work and in terms of working together, it was very swift,” Said Anna. “I think she understood our idea for the florals immediately. She showed us what would be in season that matched the colors we were talking about, and played with different places that we could place florals around the Boathouse and what my bouquet would look like.”

Since Anna and Garrett planned their own wedding, they worked with Laura on a timeline and logistics roughly a month out. But of course, on the day of the wedding, the forecast called for rain. Instead of panicking, Anna and Garrett got ready separately with their wedding party and families, and let Laura do her thing. “She was very ‘spring-into-action,’” said Anna, which was essential for the bride and groom to enjoy their mornings. Laura figured out back-up floor plans, brought the garland that was meant for the dock inside to the staircase, and set up an alternate ceremony space. Looking back, Anna said it was the rain that made the day even more intimate and memorable. “I feel like if it weren’t raining, it would’ve been such a different day. It really brought people together, otherwise they would’ve been outside mingling in all different areas. Everyone was concentrated on the dancefloor and immediately dancing after the ceremony.”

From entering the venue to the couple’s exit, guests were constantly encountering personal touches from the pair. Starting with tinsel skewers in their champagne glass, onto berry baskets filled with flower petals to throw like confetti as the newlyweds descended the aisle, and finished custom matchbooks and logos, the details were simply dazzling. Garrett even planned his own surprise for Anna during their first look. He called on Eva Joan Repair in the West Village to single-stitch his own sketch onto his tux shirt; his bride’s name going diagonally through a heart with an arrow. Their sweet and colorful moments, including this reveal, were perfectly captured by Rachel Leiner.