MAY 7, 2022
VEERAH Brides: Staci Meier
SERIES 006
Dreaming of a big wedding but still want to keep it very personal and intimate? Two New Yorkers give us a glimpse of how they pulled it off at their Black Tie Vegan wedding.
Like many couples in the past three years, Staci and Jacob Meier had to postpone the wedding of their dreams and keep planning around ever-evolving restrictions. After a full year of waiting, our VEERAH Bride finally tied the knot—and she made sure certain things were never compromised. In Staci’s words: “If we can make it through a pandemic, we can make it through anything!” Read on for the beautiful details of their fall wedding in Manhattan.
Walk in the park: After a few hitches, Jacob and Staci got married at Bryant Park in New York.
What’s your story in a nutshell?
I work with architects and interior designers and help with specifications for kitchen and bath, Jacob works for a crypto hedge fund. We met on Hinge. (How else do you meet people these days?)
We were together for two years before our engagement in November 2019. He proposed in the financial district at the Seaport right near our apartment and near the Brooklyn Bridge. He had our parents and my best friend (whom he flew in from California) back at our apartment to surprise us, and then surprised me with all of our friends and family for drinks in Tribeca.
The Meiers took a lot of photos around and near Bryant Park, including the public library and even Grand Central station.
Your wedding was pushed back a whole year! What other adjustments did you have to make?
The date of our wedding was October 9, 2021 at the Bryant Park Grill in NYC. Our original date was October 24, 2020. We obviously couldn’t get to celebrate with family and friends back then, so we legally got married in Cape Cod with our family in September of 2020.
For their vegan black tie wedding, Jacob and Staci were able to celebrate with 200 of their closest family and friends.
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library was the perfect backdrop for their ensemble!
Planning a wedding during the pandemic when you couldn't foresee what was going to happen was extremely anxiety-provoking. We had actually looked at a third date, April 10, 2021—but decided to push it back again when we didn't know what was going to happen. Both Jacob and I have dreamed of a big wedding, so we kept our hopes alive by just planning.
It was hard to coordinate with every vendor to see if we could still get our A-team since everyone was postponing and rescheduling. Luckily, everyone could make our new date. The Bryant Park Grill, especially our coordinator Dominick, really helped calm me down, and we took the restrictions extremely seriously. We had a vaccine mandate and required everyone to have a negative COVID test. I think we sent out about 10 different reminder emails.
Speaking of your dream big wedding, what’s your theme and how did you put it all together?
The theme I guess would be Black Tie Vegan!
The gang even walked along 5th avenue for a fun photoshoot!
This is Jacob and Staci's second wedding: the first one was in Sepetember 2020, a legal ceremony with family and a few guests.
My dress was more silver than white-white. Finding a "fancy" wedding shoe at first seemed like a hard feat, and then I found VEERAH and I was SO excited! I chose the Venus in Silver Starlight with a rhinestone crystal chain.
Staci picked VEERAH Venus heels in Silver Starlight as her bridal shoes to match the silvery white shade of her dress.
They matched my dress PERFECTLY, same with Jacob’s bow tie. I loved the look of them, how simple yet elegant and how comfortable they looked. I wore them for eight hours straight!
His and hers: Jacob's bow tie and overall look matches Staci's dress and VEERAH heels in a subtle and elegant way.
I would say I am a bit of a control freak and was very specific with what I wanted, so Jacob let me take the reins with the planning. Since it was a fall wedding we had fall-ish colors—greens, oranges, pinks, white, and peach. Along with our flowers, white and pink roses and orchids, we had fruit on the table: oranges, pomegranates, grapes, apples… very harvest-y. I saw a Mindy Weiss wedding with a similar concept and fell in love with how different and classy it was.
Their fall wedding was tastefully decorated with fruits and flowers for a "harvest-y" feel.
Well-heeled: From photowalks around the city to the ceremony and then the reception, Staci spent eight hours in her shoes!
For the music, Jacob and I had been working on a playlist even before we got engaged, haha! The thing with wedding music is a song might be great, but can you dance to it? So we went through a lot of songs. We also went through our bands list. A mix of ‘70s music, Rihanna, The Temptations, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC… You name it. It was every ‘90s kid’s dream.
Planning a vegan wedding seems to come with its own set of challenges. What were some of yours?
I wish people can see that you don't have to sacrifice who you are to be a vegan, you can be you and be a better version of yourself. Animals are so important to me. I don't wear wool, leather, fur, or any animal byproduct. I got rid of all of my leather bags, and now really only use Stella McCartney.
So having a vegan wedding was the number one thing I was NOT willing to sacrifice. I was a vegetarian for 23 or 24 years and now have been a vegan for three. When we initially started looking at venues it was hard to find one that would make vegan food and also not upcharge us. The Bryant Park Grill honestly was amazing, we went in with four different cookbooks (thanks to Wicked Healthy, Meera Sodha cookbooks, Yotam Ottolenghi!) and went through all of the dishes that we thought everyone would really like.
The couple's wedding cake was by Vegan Treats. Guests also munched on vegan Dunwell Doughnuts.
Staci and Jacob discussed their desired vegan wedding menu with the Bryant Park Grill, going through at least four cookbooks.
We thought there might be "vegan wedding" stigma, and we really wanted to show them you don’t have to sacrifice amazing food to be a vegan. The cookbooks really helped because when I was looking online, it was hard to find "fancy" vegan food, especially to be made for 200 people!
What’s your favorite thing about getting married?
The whole day was amazing. Getting ready with my friends and family, and then getting to see Jacob for our first look outside the carousel in Bryant Park was really special. The look on his face made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Also hearing his vows under the chuppah.
First look: Even the little girl on the carousel at Bryant Park felt the love!
Staci shone with happiness as Jacob read her his vows under the chuppah (wedding canopy).
The Meiers had a blast during the Horah, the traditional Jewish wedding dance that involves lifting the couple up in their chairs.
We finally got to go on our honeymoon to Australia in March since they just reopened their doors! Australia interests us because of the wildlife, oceans, and options for vegan food because when you're traveling and having to worry about where you are eating, it's a nightmare: We had our mini-moon in Belize at the Itz’ana, because they had a separate vegan menu. When we got there they told us they were just revamping it, and I almost lost my mind—we specifically chose Belize because of this! But the resort was amazing, and went out of their way and made us custom meals every day.
Married life is good, we have been married for over a year now and if we can make it through a pandemic, we can make it through anything!
Jacob and Staci also had to wait nearly half a year to go on their Australian honeymoon. But it's all worth the wait!
All photos by Robert Carlo New York
Video: Ben Rountree of Forged In The North
Dress: Mark Ingram, Mira Zwillinger
Groom Tuxedo: Isaia
Flowers: Verde Flowers | Jeweler: Marisa Perry
Stationery: Suite Paperie
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