Alison & Michael
• Wedding Date October 18 •
LOCATION The Mansion of Saratoga
PHOTOGRAPHER Tracey Buyce Photography
This Real Bride Brought to You By…
• The Mansion of Saratoga •
• OUR STORY •
When I moved from Arkansas to New York City, I was chasing new scenery, but not necessarily a relationship. Then I met Mike the first week after I moved. A couple of good pickup lines and a few unforgettable dates later, he had completely won me over.
We built our life together in the city until the pandemic changed everything. With family in upstate and central New York, we packed up and moved to Saratoga Springs, a town we had both visited and quietly fallen in love with.
If the pandemic proved anything, it was that we could get through anything together. The years that followed tested that again: a parent's illness, aging family, and more obstacles than we could have predicted. Through it all, Mike realized there was no reason to wait. He proposed at one of our favorite places in the world, Skaneateles Lake.
From the start, we pictured a true New York fall wedding. We wanted to give the people we love a weekend worth traveling for, one that felt like us the moment they arrived.
We kicked off the weekend with a welcome party at the home of my sister, the maid of honor. We called it "Open 'Mike' and Alison Night" where we brought the southern tradition of opening the floor to speeches the night before, so it feels less scary and takes the edge off (more time for eating, drinking, and dancing on wedding night)!
The wedding evening opened with a deeply personal ceremony. In place of my dad, whom I lost at the beginning of the year, Mike did something far from traditional: he walked up to meet me, and we made our way down the aisle together. It is a moment I will carry with me forever.
One of Mike's best friends from home officiated, and he had everyone laughing one minute and crying the next. He wove in personal stories and called out guests by name, so the whole crowd felt like part of it. As the sun set over the changing leaves, guests drifted into cocktail hour, then gathered for a candlelit dinner in the tent with layered vintage colorful touches.
Food was one of the ways we wanted to tell our story. Chef Rick and his team created a station-style menu that brought our two worlds to the table: Southern comfort on one side, Italian classics on the other, and a meat-and-potatoes station to tie them together. Guests kept coming back for seconds, and even thirds.
DETAILS
Location
Photographer
Wedding Gown
Bridesmaids' Dresses
Hair
Makeup
Groom's Attire
Rings
Wedding Planner
Event Decorator
Flowers
Linens
Stationery Suite
Alison V Hill Design (The Bride)
Caterer
Chef Rick, The Mansion of Saratoga
Cake
DJ or Band
First Dance
"First Times" by Ed Sheeran
•Special Touches•
Vintage Details
This wedding was personal in all the best ways. The bride and her sister manage estate sales throughout Upstate New York, and in the months leading up to the wedding, they collected one-of-a-kind vintage lamps to incorporate throughout the celebration. Each piece added so much character and made the design feel completely their own.
Designed by the Bride
As a graphic designer, the bride designed the entire stationery suite and all of the wedding-day paper details herself, carrying her vision through every little element of the weekend.
A Party to remember
With the bride's Arkansas roots, guests traveled from near and far to Upstate New York to celebrate with them—and they certainly made the trip count. The dance floor stayed packed, the party never slowed down, and everyone was having so much fun that we completely forgot to cut the cake!
• Advice to Pass Along •
Make it feel like you! Thread pieces of your personalities throughout the entire weekend. Start with your stationery as a little preview of what's to come, then carry those details through the wedding day. Your guests want to see your personalities come to life — after all, they're there to celebrate the two of you! Then leave the rest to
your planner!
