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This Bride Wore a Red Carolina Herrera Dress to Her Hudson Valley Wedding

By Shayna Seid | Photography by 

Sara Wight Photography

Charlotte Pfeffer and Andrew Agoliati met through mutual friends at a dive bar in Brooklyn called Commodore. “Andrew realized afterwards that he recognized me from my days working as a hostess at The Meatball Shop,” Charlotte says. “The night we met, he left early, and I was convinced he wasn’t interested. But the following week, he came by work and asked me out.” 

After seven years of dating, he proposed to her after she ran the New York City Marathon. “We were at my now mother-in-law’s apartment on the Upper West Side celebrating with family and friends,” Charlotte remembers. “When I got out of the shower, Andrew pulled me into the living room, where everyone was hanging out, and got down on one knee… needless to say I was completely surprised and unprepared.”

Since the two grew up in the Hudson Valley and frequently visited from the city on weekends, they wanted to showcase the area for their wedding. Gather Greene impressed them with its open pavilion space, remoteness, and potential to create a unique outdoor experience for their guests.

To help plan everything, the couple hired their friend Gina Maloney of Gina Maloney Events, and another friend, Ruby Kean, helped design their wedding invitations. And to keep the amicable connections rolling, one of Charlotte’s bridesmaids used to work with their florist, Alisa Javits, on a flower farm in Martha’s Vineyard. The couple intentionally chose people they were close to over more traditional vendors. “We are really proud of our community of friends, and wanted to showcase their talent and incorporate it into our wedding day.”

The couple picked a date in October, and whether it was the autumnal color pattern or something she’d always wanted, Charlotte chose a red wedding dress. After trying on white gowns, she ultimately fell in love with a bright rouge Carolina Herrera design. To complete her look, she picked out a Simone Rocha headband and black Prada platforms.

A month before the wedding, Charlotte’s original makeup artist quit, but the bride’s sister didn’t let her know until she’d found a replacement. Thankfully, Joseph Carrillo and Jennipher Van Bogart, who cuts Charlotte’s hair at Whiteroom in Brooklyn, were able to come up for the weekend. 

To contrast and complement the bride, bridesmaids wore blue jumpsuits and dresses by Electric Feathers. And the groom wore a handmade, three-piece blue moleskin suit from Robinson Brooklyn, while his groomsmen wore blue suits with Hermès ties.

Amongst the towering tress, with their leaves changing, the couple was married by their family friend, Nik Quaif. “During the ceremony, he had our guests close their eyes so that Andrew and I could take everything in,” Charlotte says. “Amidst the wedding chaos, it was incredible to pause and appreciate our friends and family who were there to celebrate us.”

After sharing the vows that they had written, which turned out to be very similar, and being announced as a married couple, everyone made their way through the woods to the cocktail hour, where a raclette station by Fire Roasted Catering and bluegrass music by Kinky Spigots and the Welders were waiting. 

Once ready for dinner, they all walked to the pavilion for a seasonal, fresh dinner and dancing. Andrew was really enthusiastic about creating the beverage program and worked with Jordan Vern, the sommelier at Sauced in Brooklyn, to select natural, biodynamic wines. 

At the end of the reception, sparklers were lit and cake by the couple’s neighbor, Patty Ratterman, was served. And then the after-party kicked off in a room above the pavilion. “Half-way through, one my bridesmaids and her fiancé brought us into the woods to share their wedding present—they had set up a projector outside one of the cabins to display a video they created from pictures and video clips of us…” Charlotte explains. “We all had a good cry and laugh—it was such an incredible experience.”