University Settlement Wedding | Brooke + Thomas

Brooke and Thomas’ Hudson Valley University Settlement Wedding began at The Chapel Restoration in Cold Spring, NY. 

Their Chapel Restoration ceremony wedding was warm, funny and emotional. After their first kiss, they had the exact reaction. They leaned into each other and laughed, wholeheartedly and joyfully. It was really sweet and touching. 

Their reception at University Settlement was equally charming and a great Hudson Valley wedding venue. The main building has two outdoor lawn locations and a front porch to host a  cocktail hour. The inside exceeded my expectations with it’s charming a-framed wooden ceiling. I really enjoyed photographing at University Settlement.

Riverview Restaurant in Cold Spring, a local’s favorite, catered their event.  Lovely flowers provided by  Cold Spring Florist.  Upstate Jamboree supplied the super-cool cocktail hour lawn games which I thought were a great fit for the location. 

Brooke and Thomas met in preschool.  

Yes, that bears repeating - they met in preschool.  Here is a photo (supplied by Brooke’s mom) that proves it.

Note their haircuts and trousers. 

Brooke’s mother later became the teacher and eventually the director of this preschool.  In addition, Brooke’s mom is also the local piano teacher. Ironically, Thomas’ mother was the children’s librarian at the local library just up the road.  It just tickles me, knowing that they first met in preschool and that both of their moms worked many years educating the children of the very same Hudson Valley community.  In fact, all my three girls went to that same preschool and were taught by Brooke’s mom. My middle daughter also later became a piano student of Brooke’s mom. And of course, my daughter’s benefited from Thomas’ mother’s well-organized children’s library and storytimes. 

It was an especially poignant moment when Brooke lovingly choked up and thanked both her and Thomas’ parents for being such great parents during her reception speech.  I could not help getting choked up myself. I too could personally attest to this - knowing first hand how their mothers had also touched my three girls’ lives.  

It is no wonder that Brooke and Thomas mesh so well as partners being that they come from the same small community and from similar “stock”. Although they also seem to differ in slight ways, these differences act only to further complement each other -  perfectly. Congratulations to these two individuals and their families on becoming one. It was destined to be.

Dress: Blush Bridal, Kingston
DJ: A Perfect Blend, Peekskill
Cake: Homestyle Desserts, Peekskill
Caterer: Riverview Restaurant, Cold Spring
Photographer: Christine Ashburn
Makeup: Cassandra Saulter, Cold Spring
Games: Upstate Jamboree, Napanoch
Venue: University Settlement, Beacon
Flowers: Cold Spring Florist, Cold Spring
Church: Chapel Restoration, Cold Spring

Second Photographer:  Leslie Kenney