For their summertime nuptials, Brooklyn-based couple Simone Hill and Charlie Brosens chose Cedar Lakes Estate, a 1970s summer camp turned luxury resort in New York's Hudson Valley. "We loved the idea of getting married at a summer camp, but our aesthetic is bright, eclectic, and modern so we had to find a way to bridge these two styles," Simone says. With the help of their wedding team, the bucolic, lakeside setting was transformed into a riot of color, complete with bright, tropical invitations and stationery from Minted, fruit-patterned welcome bags filled with weekend essentials, and a modern ceremony backdrop punctuated with vibrant, neon blooms. Here, Simone shares their wedding story.
We met in college—we had a mutual friend and met through him.
It happened at home, in our old apartment in the East Village in New York City. It was a very special place to us because we chose the place together and spent months and months renovating it, so it really felt like ours. We designed the engagement ring together with our ring designer Caitlin Mociun of Mociun.
We loved the idea of getting married at a summer camp, but our aesthetic is bright, eclectic, and modern so we had to find a way to bridge these two styles. All of the credit for the design concept and execution goes to our wedding planner Jove Meyer and our floral designer Rye Workshop.
My ceremony dress and cape were custom Carol Hannah Bridal and the shoes were Stuart Weitzman; later, I changed into a reception dress by Galvan and wore shoes by Badgley Mischka. My after-party top and shorts were Alice & Olivia. Charlie wore a custom tux by Hall Madden.
It was fun at first, but then quickly became discouraging. I'm very particular about what I wear and wanted to wear something different than I'd seen on anyone else. I used to work in the wedding industry so this was very challenging. In the end I chose Carol Hannah because she was a lovely person to work with, really understood my vision and I love her designs.
I had five bridesmaids, all friends from college. They wore Fame & Partners gowns in different styles, but in the same color and fabric. I searched forever for bridesmaid dresses because I didn't want them to look basic or frumpy or like cookie-cutter bridesmaids. I also wanted each of them to be able to pick a dress they really liked. The entire coordinating and ordering process was done online and I didn't see any of the dresses in person until the day of the wedding. It worked out great!
I used to work at The Knot, so I've known about Minted for a long time and used to incorporate products from Minted in my stories and posts. I've always known that Minted offered an unparalleled selection of affordable, stylish wedding paper products.
Honestly, we waited until kind of the last minute to order our invites and I was in panic mode. We were driving to our venue for our tasting with our wedding planner, Jove, and he just took the reins. During the car ride he searched designs on Minted that matched the look and feel of our other wedding details, narrowed them down to a few, and then told me to pick. I chose my favorite from his selections and that was that. It took less than two hours to choose the design and colors.
We chose custom colors for our stationery to match our wedding color palette. They were vibrant, modern with a hint of tropical and that's exactly the aesthetic we went for with our flowers and decor.
I am obsessed with the ceiling installation over the dance floor and the escort card display. I've never seen anything like those details and I don't think I will again. The surrealist, iridescent, ethereal look was everything I could have dreamed of. People are still talking about how awestruck they were by our decor.
We danced to two Leon Bridges songs—we started out with "River" and ended with "You Don't Know." We added "You Don't Know" at the last minute because we wanted an upbeat vibe, and we owe a huge thanks to our band for arranging and preparing that transition for us.
Hire talented, creative people that you trust and let them do what they do best. It's tempting to take inspiration photos from someone else's wedding to a vendor and say "recreate this for me." A vendor will happily give you what you want, but your wedding will look just like what you asked for… someone else's. Floral and wedding designers are artists and if you let them have freedom to dream and create then you will be surprised and delighted by the result.
Invitation suite
“Acapulco” by Angela Marzuki
Reception Card
“Acapulco” by Angela Marzuki
Ceremony Program
“Acapulco” by Angela Marzuki
Venue: Cedar Lakes Estate
Photography: Edward Winter / READYLUCK
Stationery: Minted
Planner & caterer: Jove Meyer Events
Floral design: Rye Workshop
Calligraphy: Julia Bez
Videography: Clark+Walker Studio
Cocktail hour band: High & Mighty Brass Band
Reception Band: Live Music Pros
DJ: 74 Events
Roaming Artists: Drawing Booth
Specialty Rentals: Party Rental LTD
Hair and Makeup: SB Beauty
Welcome Bags: Baggu