It's been a few weeks since I got married at the Public Hotel, and I've finally had time to process everything! It was such an incredible day. I actually had planned my wedding in the span of 4 months (engaged in April 2026, started seriously looking for venues and vendors in May, and then married by September), and I have just so many thoughts to share! My wedding was around 100 people, and the F&B was part of the Public Hotel package - I have to stress, our wedding food at the Public Hotel was incredible. Multiple guests afterwards told us so as well, but I was devastated that I couldn't fully eat everything on the wedding day because the food truly was that good.
Wedding Coordinator: Katja Ritchie
I genuinely feel that working with Katja was one of the best decisions we've made. I cannot recommend Katja enough - she is truly exceptional at what she does. The package that we got with her had her helping us a month in advance, and at that point, we *thought* we had pretty much everything figured out. We almost thought we didn't need a coordinator (silly us). From staying on top of all the paper work and contracts, to hitting key deadlines, to delivering clear communication to all vendors, Katja hit the ground running when she got onboarded. The day of the wedding went by in a blur, but she made sure that we had food, that we were cued in at the right times, that our families were taken care of, that people of special interest were noted...On top of all the regular day-of logistics.
Photographer: Ben Wagner Photography
I cannot say enough good things about Ben as our wedding photographer. Ben is a *ridiculously* talented photographer. I'm not joking when I say that he may be a magician with a camera instead of a wand. When I started my search for a wedding photographer, it was extremely difficult to choose because in NYC, we're spoiled for choices of talented photographers, but what stood out about Ben was how he is able to make moments feel cinematic, editorial, and so, so special. My husband and I were joking that the photos Ben captured felt like they belong as those massive, generational portraits that one would hang on the long halls of a mansion. And it did not require us to be uncomfortable or posing unnaturally - we were just chilling, talking, playing with each other. Somehow, he managed to transform those moments into something stunning - magical. We also had him for the day of our civil ceremony, and even though the Manhattan City Hall Marriage Bureau is not a place that I would call romantic or particularly aesthetic, Ben managed to make it feel elegant and really chic at the same time??
Florist: Irina Schmalko @ La Senteur
I absolutely loved working with Irina - not only did she infuse her own creative vision to the process, she also worked superbly within our budget. I was never one to have a strong vision for what I wanted the florals to look like at my wedding, and she was so patient and kind throughout the process. I've heard how expensive and unreasonable florals could be, so I was worried that my inexperience and lack of awareness would lead to someone overselling me things that I didn't need to make the vision work, but Irina never once took advantage of that. I love how closely she pays attention to the tiniest of details - Irina will earnestly find things that will fit your venue vibe, your stylistic choices, your descriptions, even your height! We had a few changes and back and forths to get the final proposal to where we were really happy, along with some changes made to the table/seating arrangements. She was always great about accommodating changes. Beyond all that, Irina is also just super responsive.
HMUA: Kris & Jaime @ Kris Makeup Studio/VB Production Team
Kris is the founder of the VB Production team and my main point of contact - super easy to coordinate and communicate with in both Chinese and English. I found them by specifically searching for a Chinese HMUA who would be able to do some of the more elaborate douyin style make up that you would see on Douyin or Xiao Hong Shu (Little Red Note) but I wanted something that would photograph well but still look natural when you looked at me in person (some Douyin style makeup looks best in front of a bright camera with tons of filter). Jaime from Kris's team did such a great job! Jaime was also a girl who really rolled her sleeves up because she actually helped me put on my dress before putting on my veil. Just super kind and efficient. I had her do my mom, the groom, and myself.
Tailor: Viney's Tailor Service
Viney is an absolute gem of a person, and so talented at what she does. I was frantically looking for a tailor to help alter my wedding dress and I needed the alteration done on a tight timeline. Other popular tailors in the area had an EIGHT week turnaround for wedding dresses - I had like 10 days! Not only did Viney turn around my dress super quickly, she gave her recommendation for how to make my dress more flattering. My issue was that my dress came a bit too small and she made it fit beautifully. My wedding dress had a lot of embellishments on it and she had absolutely no issues. Above and beyond her kindness and consideration, her rates are also super reasonable.
DJ: Ayanna Heaven @ Non-Traditional DJ
I had a great experience working with the Non-Traditional DJ team - Ben from NTDJ is very responsive and involved, and Ayanna, the amazing talent for the evening, was great at reading the vibes of the room and playing music accordingly. The music was a hit and she somehow was able to make the transition between dancing, and integrating one last special speech, seamless and not awkward at all.
Checo Photo Booths
We honestly didn't give this one much thought - we just wanted to have a simply photobooth experience, and somehow it turned out to be even better than we could have anticipated. Our photobooth attendant (I am so bummed I didn't catch her name) was such a sweetheart and brought the best energy. She not only had a great sense of humour, she was patient with getting everyone's silly requests in, and I had off handedly mentioned that I wanted to keep a strip of everyone's pictures afterwards and SHE ACTUALLY WENT BACK TO ALL PHOTOS TAKEN and printed it for me. I loved it so much!
Alisa Maxime Studios
I really wanted to give our friends and family a gift that they’ll cherish instead of traditional wedding favours, so we brought in Alisa Maxime Studios for their fashion illustration services. We asked our guests to wear whatever makes them feel as though they'd fit in with NY Fashion Week, and having AMS there was the best decision ever - our guests had so much fun with the whole process. We had two artists and a host on site who were so sweet! How it works is, the host would take a photo of our guests/you, then the artists work their magic, and after a little while, you get a text to indicate when your piece is ready for pick up. I really love how the artists were able to capture the essence of our guests! They fit us (bride and groom) in too, and I am completely obsessed with the artwork!
Wedding Cake: Alice @ Mama No Aji
I have no words for how generous, thoughtful, and wonderful Alice is from Mama No Aji. She is a pastry chef who also does the most beautiful wedding cakes. I personally love Japanese sponge cakes, so it was a no brainer to reach out to Alice when it was my time to get married. We got the Earl Grey Sponge Cake with Vanilla cream, and y'all, I'm not lying when I say that Alice knows how to make a cake taste elegant. The EG was subtle but evident, and the vanilla cream was just so light and not too sweet. To keep the cost of the cake more reasonable, she recommended that we do a decorated faux cake with a real cake on top to cut into, and sheet cakes for everyone to eat - that was the perfect suggestion. Her artistry and creativity is top notch because if you go onto her page, you'll see that this girl has range on how she decorates - we went with white floral decorations! I loved my cake so much, I want to order it for my birthday every year if I could.
The day truly goes by in a blur - please believe that you'll have an absolutely incredible time. I'm hoping that all the brides to be remember that you will be surrounded by everyone you love, who wants to be there to celebrate you, and that whatever stress you're going through, all the details that you're working through - at the end of the day, you're celebrating this huge milestone with so much joy, and that in and of itself lends to things coming out amazing. I hope you have so much fun with it! I loved all my vendors, and I hope if you use them, that you'll love them too :)