Newsletters

A Beautiful (And Very Brooklyn) Loft Wedding

Taryn Williford
Taryn Williford
Taryn is a writer, editor, content strategist, and homebody from Atlanta. I might have helped you declutter your apartment through the magic of a well-paced email newsletter. Or maybe you know me from The Pickle Factory Loft on Instagram.
Follow
updated May 3, 2019
comments
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
See More Images
1 / 28

Bride & Groom: Margarita Passione + Byron Zinonos
Wedding Date: September 3, 2016
Venue: Greenpoint Loft in Brooklyn, NY
Number of guests: 120

This couple of high school friends turned into lovebirds some (ten-ish) years later—safe to say they knew each other pretty well by the time they decided to get married in Brooklyn last year. After the challenge of finding the right venue (a wedding planner stepped in to help), everything else about getting hitched came together, well—without a hitch. Their one rule: keep it personal.

For Margarita and Byron, that meant traditional Spanish and Greek music, favors composed of their favorite coffee and tea blends, and finding a caterer up to the challenge of producing an amazing vegan menu for their guest list of mostly omnivores.

Listen to the rest of the day in their words below, then check out the amazing images captured by the talented Nicki Sebastian in the gallery above (or their wedding video here!).

See More Images
(Image credit: Nicki Sebastian)

How did you meet?

We met in high school and were friends for nearly ten years before we realized we had feelings for one another!

How would you describe your wedding style?

City chic meets romantic vintage

Describe the process of deciding where and how to get hitched:

We had a vision of what we wanted but had no luck finding venues on our own, so we decided to hire a wedding planner. Once we spoke with Tatiana, everything else fell into place! We knew that we didn’t want a traditional or religious ceremony, so having our friend Rachel officiate a spiritual ceremony was a natural decision.

What was totally “you” about your wedding?

Every decision we made was very personal as we knew we wanted the whole day to feel “like us”, but if I had to choose, I would say our music (particularly the live Spanish guitarists and Greek traditional songs) and our vegan menu best reflected who we are as a couple!

Biggest challenge:

Finding a caterer who would create an entirely vegan menu for us. Luckily, our planner recommended an incredibly talented team—Fancy Girl Table—who worked with us to customize our menu. We are so glad to have found them—our guests (made up mostly of omnivores) were blown away by everything they ate!

Proudest DIY:

My mother, grandfather, and I put our favors together, which consisted of glass canisters filled with a bag of (Byron’s favorite) coffee beans and a bag of (my favorite) tea leaves. It was a special moment I was glad we were able to share in the last-minute hectic days leading up to the wedding!

Most worthwhile splurge:

Our menu was very important to us, so we definitely splurged on having a signature cocktail, extra menu options, and an entire dessert table with 10+ treats!

What we skipped or did without:

We wanted the day to feel intimate and warm, so we forwent any sort of extra “entertainment” such as food trucks, photo booths, and games. We also decided to not have bridesmaids and groomsmen. Our bridal party consisted of my best friend Lena as Maid of Honor and Byron’s brother John as Best Man!

See More Images
(Image credit: Nicki Sebastian)

Favorite detail:

I wore jewelry that belonged to my grandmother and Byron wore his grandfather’s watch. It was a way for us to feel like they were there with us on our special day. The live Spanish guitar and traditional Greek music was another favorite detail and commemorated our Spanish and Cypriot-Greek heritage.

Favorite memory of the day:

Walking down the aisle and seeing one another for the first time!

What our guests said:

Every guest we spoke to said that they had never been to a wedding as personal as ours. They all raved about the food, the venue, the music, and the non-traditional atmosphere in general!

Your best advice for anyone planning a wedding:

You will be getting many opinions from many people, and while they mean well, it can be very overwhelming and stressful – try to take a deep breath and focus on what you and your partner want, because in the end, your wedding day should be about the two of you and no one else. Be honest with yourselves about what you want and stick to it, and it will all work out in the end!

What else should we know about your wedding day?

That it was the greatest day of our lives, and all of the hard work by everyone involved culminated into a day that we’ll never forget!

Thanks, Margarita & Byron!

Vendors

Thank you to Be Inspired PR for sharing this wedding with us!