An Elegant Farm and a Seasonal Menu Were the Backdrop for This Beautiful New York Wedding
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It all started with a Hinge swipe. "One of my closest friends swiped right on Mike's profile, and I'll be forever indebted to her," says Margo Schneier, public relations director at Gucci, as she recalls the fateful moment when she was first introduced to her husband Mike Lukach, a fund controller in private equity. "I was immediately intrigued when I saw his profile, and she kept saying she had a special feeling about him. Mike invited me for dinner at Union Square Cafe for our first date, [and] it happened to fall on the night of a peak-summer heat wave. We both considered rescheduling, but I'm so glad we didn't. The rest is history!"
Marriage was something that the couple discussed, but the proposal caught the bride off guard. "Mike and I had discussed being ready to take the next step together for a few months before he popped the question, so the proposal itself wasn't a shock, but I definitely didn't expect it the day it happened," Schneier says. "We spent the day celebrating Mike's birthday, visiting an exhibit at Fotografiska, followed by a special dinner at Torrisi." Deep in the birthday celebrations, a proposal wasn't something Schneier was expecting to end the couple's evening. "When we got home to our apartment, Mike got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was intimate and perfect, and even though it was his birthday, he knew it would be the most special gift for me," she says.
"A few months after we got engaged, we found out that we were pregnant with our first child, due in March. We were so excited to know that one day we would be able to show our daughter photographs and videos of our special day, knowing she was there with us," Schneier recalls. "By October, most of our friends and families were aware that we were expecting, and it was so special to be able to share the news with those that we love most."
The couple jumped into planning mode. The bride had dreamed of getting married at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and despite an accelerated time frame, they quickly locked in a date. "We knew we didn't want a long engagement, so nailing down the perfect date was the challenge, but when we heard they had an opening in peak October, we knew we had to act quickly," she says. "We landed on Friday, October 13, 2023, a date others might have shied away from due to superstition, but we leaned into [it]. We didn't believe in bad luck." Soon, all of the details fell into place, including a tailored Monique Lhuillier dress, a custom seasonal menu, and a special officiant—the bride's brother. These are just a few of the special touches that made the beautiful wedding weekend so special.
"There is so much pressure around finding the perfect dress, and having to find it in less than six months doesn't make it any easier. Working in fashion for the last 12 years also added a layer of pressure to finding the perfect look. I immediately got to work booking appointments and knew I wanted to be open-minded about trying on different silhouettes and fabrics. The moment I put on my Monique Lhuillier dress, I knew it was the one. The style was perfectly timeless and classic and what I had always envisioned myself wearing on this special day."
WWW Weddings tip: "Tailoring is key! Given I was five months pregnant at our wedding, not only was it important for my dress to fit perfectly, but I also wanted to feel comfortable and confident. I worked closely with an amazing tailor at Monique Lhuillier to build in extra fittings to ensure we were mindful of my ever-changing body. In the end, the dress fit perfectly, and I felt so beautiful in it."
"For jewels, I immediately turned to my dear friends at Alison Lou—Alison, Alex, Margo, and their amazing team—to help me find the perfect accessories. The team made me my dream pair of cocktail drop earrings and then loaned me some especially dazzling bracelets to pair with my perfect ring that Mike's childhood best friend, Brandon, made for me from his family-owned jewelry store in Pennsylvania, Joyce's Jewelry."
"Mike has had a great sense of style since the moment I met him (although, I always kid that I have enhanced what was already there!), so I trusted him to pick out his outfit. He is a huge Todd Snyder fan, and their Flatiron flagship was located only a few blocks from our old apartment, so we paid a visit to their made-to-measure atelier and ended up selecting a beautiful peak-lapel black tuxedo off the rack, and the team at Todd Snyder tailored it to perfection. Of course, he completed his look with a classic pair of Gucci smoking slippers and Rolex Submariner watch, which I gifted him ahead of the wedding."
WWW Weddings tip: "Planning a wedding in six months' time is no easy feat, so one of the first things we did when we confirmed Blue Hill as the venue was ask them for a list of their recommended vendors for wedding planners, florists, entertainment, and more. Ultimately, many of our vendors were selected from Blue Hill's recommendations. It took such a weight off of our shoulders to know that the vendors we were working with were well-versed in the venue and Blue Hill's amazing on-site team [and] that we knew they would be able to navigate stress-free."
"I had dreamed about getting married at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for the last five years, despite only visiting the property once. I knew immediately when he proposed that was my top choice, and luckily, I wore him and my family down quickly and got them on board."
"For my wedding band, I knew I wanted Cartier's iconic Trinity ring, which was also the wedding band my parents chose when they got married 40 years ago. Mike and I also loved the idea of the three interlocking bands—signifying he and I and our baby girl on the way—being all together on our special day."
"We worked closely with Ashley Peraino to enhance the already gorgeous Blue Hill property. We were so excited for an October wedding, as we knew all of the beautiful fall colors would be in full bloom, and it did not disappoint!
"Working with Denise Fasanello, we discussed the importance of the overall feel of the florals enhancing the inherent beauty of the property. We leaned into the surrounding landscape, utilizing seasonal flowers and foliage such as dahlias, roses, ranunculus, hydrangea, cosmos, astilbe in soft sunset tones—taupes, champagnes, blush, nudes, and burnt umber—and a variety of greens against the beautiful tree that framed our aisle."
"We invited my twin brother, Jon, to give a reading I had heard before and fallen in love with from A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. One of the most special parts of the ceremony was when Mike's older sister, Becky, and younger brother, Dave, read a passage from Our Town, which they intermingled with the most heartwarming love letters that Mike's late father, Bill Lukach, had written to his late mother, Patty Lukach, during their early years of courtship.
"Our nieces, Erica and Lila, served as our flower girls and were so excited to join us at the altar to deliver our rings. They wore the sweetest dresses from Anthropologie. I loved being able to help dress them for the day."
"I always knew I wanted my older brother, journalist and critic Matthew Schneier, to marry me, so as soon as Mike popped the question, we got to work locking him in. He is a tough get, but luckily, [he] made himself available for us. Matt truly made the ceremony so special. We both trusted him completely with whatever it was he wanted to say, and after an hour-long on-the-record (very official) interview, we knew he had all the tools he needed to bring our love story to life for our friends and family. We heard from so many of our guests that they didn't want his ceremony to end. He was the perfect balance of familiar, witty, charming, and poised. We both felt so lucky that he stood at the altar with us on our special day.
"The ceremony was truly our favorite part of the evening, and we were so excited to relive it via our wedding video shot by vintage filmmaker and photographer Nick Collingwood."
"For the reception, it was important to us to mix up the traditional floor plan, so we settled on a variety of long and round tables to shape the room, enhanced with beautiful linen tablecloths and bud vases of flowers to line the table. I am obsessed with lighting, so we worked closely with the lighting team to bathe the room in warm light, further enhanced by a plethora of candles in varying heights and vessels on each table."
"My dad, Harvey, kicked off toasts for the evening and delivered times 100, as I always knew he would. Everyone who knows my dad adores him, and he was the perfect balance of protective and funny and filled with childhood reminiscences. I will always cherish his words.
"Mike's childhood best friends, Brandon and Brian, delivered an amazing toast, followed by my best friend, Lana. Having friends who we have both known for so long deliver such special toasts added such a personal touch to the evening."
"My dad and I danced to Amos Lee's 'Sweet Pea,' which was perfectly fitting, as he has called me his sweet pea for as long as I can remember.
"Mike and I had such a fun time brainstorming our first dance song, spending afternoons at our apartment testing out ideas before landing on Leon Bridges's 'Beyond.' One of my closest friends gifted us a dance lesson as an engagement gift, promising us that it would be a memorable (and funny!) experience if nothing else, and she was right. We both fancy ourselves decent dancers, but we picked up some helpful pointers from our instructor and then really made it our own."
"Mike loves to tease me about my terrible taste in music, so in a twist, I handed full music responsibility over to him. We both fell in love with a New Orleans based DJ featuring instrumentalists for the reception, which allowed Mike to work closely with the DJ to curate his perfect playlist—a balance of Motown, jazz, and hip-hop."
"We were most excited for our guests to experience the incredible food and beverage offerings from Blue Hill on our big day, and we worked closely with the team at Stone Barns to craft a menu that was based on what was in season but also felt true to what we love. Guests enjoyed honeynut squash tartare, followed by the most divine lobster raviolo (we are both pasta lovers, so a pasta course was a nonnegotiable for us) and grass-fed beef with polenta and creamed spinach. Every bite was more delicious than the last and perfectly complemented by Blue Hill's wine pairing and seasonal cocktail offering. The team at Blue Hill are complete masters at service. It was the chicest dinner, and we were so happy to see everyone we loved enjoying it as much as we did."
Photographers: Judy Pak, Nick Collingwood, and Chris Jeyes
Videographer: Nick Collingwood
Makeup Artist and Hairstylist: Willow House Beauty
Wedding Planner: Ashley Peraino
Florist: Denise Fasanello
Entertainers: DJ Lonz and Élan Artists
Caterer and Baker: Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Stationary Designer: Paperless Post
Kristen Nichols is the Associate Director, Special Projects atBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing with over a decade of experience in fashion, editorial, and publishing. She oversees luxury content and wedding features, and covers fashion within the luxury market, runway reporting, shopping features, trends, and interviews with leading industry experts. She also contributes to podcast recordings, social media, and branded content initiatives. Kristen has worked with brands including Prada, Chanel, MyTheresa, and Luisa Via Roma, and rising designers such as Refine and Tove, and her style has been featured in publications including Vogue.com, Vogue France, WWD, and the CFDA. BeforeBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing , Kristen began her career at Rodarte, where she worked on assistant styling, photo shoots, and runway shows, and at Allure, where she moved into print and digital editorial. She graduated from the University of Southern California, where she studied art history and business, and currently lives in New York.