Matt and Miriam had a beautiful wedding at the Port Jefferson Country Club in New York. Their photographer, Beth Keiser captured their entire day, from first glance to the last dance.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story:
We were both bored and alone in Thompkins Square Park in the East Village. We struck up a conversation and ended up seeing a Will Farrell movie and eating mac and cheese at a local restaurant.

What was the theme or design inspiration for your wedding?
Elegant & Beautiful.

Tell us about the bridal attire:
A Monique Lhuillier Gown and 5-inch white heels with rhinestones on the straps.

Favorite design element of your big day:
We loved our flowers. Each centerpiece had purple orchids floating in water in a vase with 18 calla lillies stemming out on top. They were beautiful and people could see across the table!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?
Massaging and balancing the guest list to ensure that we invited everyone we wanted, but didn’t break the bank doing so.

What advice would you give to a couple planning their wedding?
No matter how much you plan and prepare, there will always be a few little snags in the last couple days and hours before the wedding. And a few slackers on your guest list will bail! Don’t stress it so much, as long as your family and close friends are healthy, you’re golden!

Whether in the “toast,” or in a ceremony reading, or just in passing, what was the best advice someone gave you at the wedding?
Our Rabbi told Miriam during the ceremony that even though she’s teacher, she shouldn’t try to teach so much at home. He told me that in spite of my profession being public relations, I should really focus on my PRIVATE relations.

What’s your most favorite part of the wedding?
The entire thing. Our Rabbi conducted an entertaining and insightful ceremony, the weather held out for us despite forecasts saying otherwise, and we danced the entire night. The cake-cutting ceremony was also a lot of fun even though I ended up with whipped cream all over my face.

Any specific reasons behind certain choices you made for your wedding? Maybe flowers that were your mom’s favorite, or your first dance song was the one you first heard together..that kind of thing?

Because our names are Matt and Miriam, we had an ongoing theme of M&M’s throughout our wedding weekend. Our guests who stayed in hotels got a big M&M shopping bag filled with M&M’s and other goodies. We also had specially colored M&M’s for each guest to take home, the wedding favor.

Tell me something about your photographer that you absolutely loved:
Beth Keiser did a great job taking interesting and creative photos. Lining people up next to each other would have been too easy and boring. We were thrilled with the level of creativity that was brought to the table. Also she demonstrated the right mix of authority and kindness that made everyone feel extremely comfortable. Great bedside manner, if you will.

We’re proud to say Beth Keiser Photography is a mywedding.com member.