who got hitched?
Stacey Wacknov & Steven Gross

when?
05.06.07

where?
palm house @ the brooklyn botanical garden

How did you meet?
long story short...this pair met through friends which led to a five- hour chat in a pub which led to a trip with friends to New Orleans a couple of months later, then lots of phone calls and trips.

In November 2005, Steven came to NYC for three months on a "trial run" to see if he wanted to move here. A week before he went home (January 2006), he asked me if I would marry him.

how did he pop the question?
On the Sunday evening of Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (2006), we were at Bar Sepia with some close friends. Steven had been acting unusually quiet all night, so I finally asked him if anything was wrong. He took a deep breath and quietly said, "I'm fine. But I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you here in Brooklyn...or wherever else we might go. Will you marry me?" I said, "Of course I will." We both cried. He tied a bar straw on my finger as a temporary ring and, after a minute, we announced the news to our friends and the rest of the bar. It was exactly the sort of proposal I wanted -- simple, with people we loved there to share the moment.

most valuable piece of advice someone gave you about planning?
My career-to-date had been PR and event planning, so I thought a wedding would be a breeze compared to planning major events for Fortune 500 clients. Was I ever wrong! The big difference was my emotional investment in the weekend -- making sure we had the experience we wanted as a couple, but also ensuring that everyone (especially our families -- all of whom traveled from literally all four points of the globe) had a great time. In the midst of the planning madness, my grandmother called me and talked me down by saying, "Honey, it's going to be okay. Don't forget -- we're on your side. As long as you two and the rabbi show up, that's all that matters. We're never going to know if something doesn't go according to plan. Heck, you could set up a radio and pass out Chex Mix and it would be fun. We're coming for you, not the hoopla."

And, of course, she was right. Plus, 99 percent of everything DID go according to plan -- even the weather!

favorite moment of the day?
DEFINITELY our jug bandparade up Eastern Parkway from Union Temple to the Garden parking lot entrance on Washington. Not only was it a lot of fun, it also meant a lot to us to show our family and friends exactly why we love our neighborhood so much (we live just across from Brooklyn Museum) and how beautiful it is every day. We're pretty sure we won them over!

décor
root stock & quade

photographs
karen wise photography

dress
peach beserk in Toronto - & she ‘updated’ her mother’s veil!

location
palm house @ the brooklyn botanical gardens

“ it was important to us to celebrate out neighborhood/block, the season, and most importantly, our friends and family” -- Stacey