Alexandra Holtzman and Jason Coraluzzi were introduced through their mutual friend, James. She knew him from Vanderbilt, and Jason and James were also co-workers. During both of their first year in New York, they crossed paths a few times but only really connected later at Catalpa Music Festival on Randall’s Island.
Despite not being huge festival goers, they had gotten free tickets at the boat-bar Frying Pan the weekend before, so they thought why not? “It absolutely poured the first day, but we both found ourselves going back for day two to spend more time with each other,” Alex says. Even though it was the first and only year the festival was put on, it’s still regarded as the unofficial start of their relationship.
A month later, they had their first official date at the U.S. Open and go back every year to celebrate. And after dating for five years, he proposed on Pier 17 with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.
Having both grown up spending their summers in the Hamptons, they didn’t consider anywhere else for their wedding. “We like to think that we crossed paths at least once over the years out there— most likely on the line at Stephen’s Talkhouse, but who can really be sure!” she says.
They waffled with the idea of a spring or fall wedding, but realized that the summer season is truly the Hamptons at its prime. Since Alex spent the first six years in New York at Christie’s auction house, she was familiar with the newly constructed Parrish Art Museum and knew the modern barn structure would make for the most ideal setting. To help plan everything, the couple hired Sarah Duke and Taylor Van Deusen of Duke Van Deusen.
As for their aesthetic, they appropriately took a lot of artistic inspiration from the venue. Alex particularly loved using chiaroscuro, an art technique that plays with light and shadow, and incorporated it into the invitations, flowers, her gown, and table settings. The minimal, clean traditional gallery wall labels were also a big inspiration for their invites.
When it came to picking a dress, it was all much more simple than originally anticipated. Alex’s mother spotted a lace Carolina Herrera design online and found out that it would only be at the showroom the next weekend for two days. Thankfully, they swooped in on an appointment that another bride had cancelled. “I never thought I would see myself in strapless, but once I saw that bow, I fell for it; I loved the way it tied,” the bride says. To complete the look, she wore semi-custom Jennifer Behr floral drop earrings that she and her mother found at the label’s Brooklyn studio, and a CH veil.
The groom looked handsome in a midnight blue tuxedo with black lapels by Hugo Boss, a white Brooks Brothers tuxedo shirt, and black velvet smoking slippers by Del Toro. Jason collects maps and globes, so the bride thoughtfully gifted her future-husband globe cufflinks, which he also wore on the day-of. Bridesmaids chose Amsale dresses in the same shade of navy, and groomsmen matched in traditional tuxes from The Black Tux.
Before the ceremony, guests were invited into the museum for a gallery viewing, and they were in for a treat, as the feature exhibition was a retrospective of Keith Sonnier’s neon light and multimedia sculptures. The art also made for incredible backdrops for photos.
When the time came, everyone gathered for the service. On the covered terrace, the bride walked down the aisle with her parents to Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love” to meet Jason under the chuppah, decorated with greens woven between white and cream florals. Her parents’ family friend, Richard, officiated the modern Jewish wedding with Italian cultural elements. “I have known him most of my life, and Jason had formed a special bond with him over their golf games throughout the years. Plus, he used to moonlight as a stand-up comedian, so we knew he would deliver!” Alex says.
The two shared vows that they had written themselves— and almost revealed them before the big day out of excitement! “No matter how comfortable you are with public speaking, not much can prepare you for the adrenaline rush of reading your vows to the girl you are about to spend the rest of your life with,” Jason says. After breaking the glass, the two went back down the aisle to Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be,” and everyone gathered in the lobby for the cocktail hour.
As a nod to Jason’s Italian grandmother and family, they served an aperitivo. Negronis, Aperol spritzes, Birra Morrettis (the groom’s favorite), and Jason’s uncle’s homemade wine were up for grabs along with antipasti. Then, guests made their way back to the terrace for the reception.
The newlyweds made their entrance and immediately went into a first dance to Jess Glynne’s “Hold My Hand.” Then, they surprised everyone with a choreographed number to James Blunt’s “Bonfire Heart.” “Everyone was circled around us; the energy was next level!”
For dinner, people made their way to their seats at extra-long tables, decorated with white and cream ranunculus, roses, anemones, blue scabiosa pods, and blueberries. On top of each menu was a white impasto paint stroke— “a nod to the art setting and inspired by Donald Martiny’s sweeping brushstroke sculptures,” the bride explains.
Once everyone was full and satisfied from the meal and heartfelt speeches, guests headed straight back to the dance floor, where Armando and City of Six were killing it with the music. “They even let my dad steal the mic for a family rendition of The Stones’s ‘Satisfaction’” Alex says.
For the after-party in the museum’s theater, the bride switched into a white, pleated Vince slip dress. And since the groom spent his early years in Philly, a pretzel cart from Federal Pretzel in Philadelphia was rolled in to keep guests fueled until the wee hours of the morning.