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A Dancing-Filled Beach Wedding in Bridgehampton

By Shayna Seid | Photography by 

Basia Ambroziak

Alexa Bernstein and Ian Lefkowitz knew each other growing up. “I went to public school and he went to private school in neighboring towns— we started hanging out together after college, having so many mutual friends,” she says. After dating for around five years, he took her to dinner at Raoul’s and proposed with a palm reader upstairs. “She told me I had a lot to celebrate in my future, and he got down on one knee. It was adorable. I later learned he had multiple dates with this lovely fortune teller to plan the whole thing. (Meanwhile, he’s so not the type to get his fortune read, so it was a tell as soon as he said he wanted to go upstairs and get his fortune!)”

When wedding planning began, the bride knew she wanted to be by the beach Out East, and after seeing every venue, they landed on the intimate and airy Bridgehampton Tennis & Surf Club. To help plan their big day, Joni Bronander of Events by Joni was brought in.

For her dress, Alexa went into the dress shopping process thinking that she’d end up with a big ballgown and insisted on no beading or lace. “Guess what I chose? Beading and lace. I loved the ballgowns, but it just didn’t feel right especially for our venue,” she says. Her Reem Acra dress looked gorgeous paired with a cathedral-length veil, and on the morning-of, her Rebekah Sattler added pieces of baby’s breath to her low bun— “I’m a flower child at heart and had to have an air of that with me!”

Then it was time for the bride to walk down the aisle on the beach to meet her fiancé under a beautiful floral chuppah. “It was actually funny because our rabbi messed up a few parts, so we got a bit of a laugh over some of the stories he told— this was after many FaceTimes and meetings with him too!— but he was a new dad so no judgement; it only added to the story of our day,” Alexa says.

After being announced as husband and wife, the reception kicked off. The newlyweds had their first dance to “Latch (Acoustic)” by Sam Smith, and then later on in the night, there was a techno version of the Horah! “We wanted non-stop dancing, and I have to say we delivered. It was a blast!” Alexa says.

For the after-party, guests moved to a bonfire on the beach with s’mores. “Everyone got to chill out and hang. Then my husband and his friends took a plunge in the ocean!”