E&H | CALLICOON HILLS WEDDING
A WEDDING IN UPSTATE NEW YORK WITH WARM AUTUMNAL COLOURS AND MODERN STYLING
Wedding photography by Taylor & Porter
CALLICOON HILLS
Located in Upstate New York, Callicoon Hills is a century-old Catskills resort.
It describes itself as “a friendly resort for nice people”. Ella and Harry are definitely those sorts of people and we loved spending the day with them capturing their autumnal wedding surrounded by the hills and their friends.
FROM THE BRIDE, ELLAHarry and I met at Tulane University in New Orleans and made things official just a few weeks before we graduated and moved to NYC. Harry is a born and raised New Yorker, and I'm from Santa Monica, California. We survived our early years in New York with many, many weekend escapes into nature. The Catskills, where Harry's family has owned a 'country house' since before he was born, quickly became one of our favorite escapes.
When it came time to get married, the newly opened Callicoon Hills felt meant to be. We knew the property well. It sits about 2 miles up the road from the Cammer family home and happened to be reopening as a reimagined 70's-esque family resort right around the time of our engagement.
Going into wedding planning, the one thing we knew was that we really wanted to trap everyone we loved in one place, host a whole wedding weekend to bring all our favorite people to get to know each other, hang out, and dance. Callicoon Hills allowed us to do that in a place we felt really connected to. Plus, the whole vibe of the property felt very us.
I'm a very visual person, I made a mood board for the wedding before we started planning. Less wedding Pinterest and more of a sunshine-fever-dream of disco, Carolyn Bessette's iconic wedding look, long tapered candles, pool parties, dance floors, and vintage scarves.
For my look, I knew I wanted something understated that really felt like me. I was definitely inspired by Carolyn Besset and her incredible relaxed but elegant look. Jewelry is the true love of my life (sorry Har) and the floating pearl straps on my Newhite Gown sourced from LOHO BRIDE felt like they tied my lifelong love of jewelry into my look in a way that made the whole thing feel very me, and gave a little flair to the sleek silhouette. I paired the dress with a few more pieces of simple & sentimental jewelry, including an aquamarine ring that felt very Princess Diana and pearl earrings from my mom, and a beautiful antique diamond and pearl brooch tucked into a simple bun from my mother in law. ELLA ON HER DRESS
The dressBride Ella picked out a modern Newhite wedding dress, sourced from L.A boutique LOHO Bride.
The morning of the weddingFrom Ella: I spent the day getting ready with 20 women, friends, sisters, and our moms. Jehnna Foster, a long time friend and colleague from my years in production, brought an incredible team to do our hair, and Monica Nguyen, who I met at my brother and sister-in-laws wedding handled makeup. Before we all slipped into our white dresses (all my bridesmaids wore white, a detail I've embarrassingly had my heart set on since high school) we drank champagne and danced around to Abba in the grassy field behind the cabin where we got ready.
It was one of the most memorable moments of the day with photos I will cherish forever captured by Louise of Taylor & Porter. I met Louise when she captured one of my best friends' wedding in Santa Barbara years earlier. Even though I wasn't engaged yet, I knew then I wanted her at my own wedding one day. She is kind and relaxed, so talented, and a dream to spend time with -- and you spend most of the day with your photographer.
The dressWe captured some quick portraits on 35mm film on the way to the ceremony.
The lookMatching in colour palette, Ella’s friends wore a variety of white dresses.
The wedding ceremony took place in a grove of trees next to a stream, the same stream that runs past the Groom’s family home.
The ceremony
From Ella: Cocktails took place on a big open lawn outside of the beautiful black barn where we held our reception. While we squeezed in family photos and couples portraits, guests sipped on cocktails themed for our three shared homes - California, New York, and New Orleans, and nibbled on an abundance of passed apps. We wrapped photos in time to hug guests and sip a cocktail by the fire pits before we all went into the barn for dinner and dancing.
The cocktail
The portraitsAs guests took their seats for dinner we took 5 minutes to make some portraits with Ella and Harry.
Decor in the barn was kept fun, minimal and 70’s in vibe. The evening began with dancing followed by speeches, an epic party and a sparkler exit as guests headed to the afterparty.
The dinner
The Silver Arrow band kept everyone dancing in the barn before it was time for DJ Nicholas Noorlind Rouner to take over at the afterparty.
Ella changed into a look by Realisation Par and there were plenty of glow sticks, light up tamborines and face decorations to go around.
The party
“Louise is an absolute dream to work with! Her work is incredible and beyond that she is incredibly kind, thoughtful, collaborative and really listens and works closely with you to make sure she understands your own vision for your photos and flow of the day. She and her team go above and beyond to capture the true essence of the day and integrate themselves in such a seamless way. You spend a lot of time with your photo team on your wedding day, and I can't imagine a better team to spend the day (or in my case weekend with). Highly highly highly recommend!”
Ella & Harry
