A few years ago during a summer night in the Hamptons, Courtney Fog joined her sister and her group of friends, which the self-declared yankee lovingly referred to as “the southern mafia,” for a barbecue where she ended up meeting Tyler Henritze, the man she would eventually marry.“We started chatting and flirting and then danced the night away at the Talkhouse,” she remembers. The day after, Tyler asked Courtney’s sister if he could take Courtney out on a date.“He actually called to ask me to dinner—it’s sad that the concept is so rare these days. He’s always been a Southern gentleman; it’s what I find most attractive about him.”
The couple had been dating for four years when last Thanksgiving both of their families came together in the Hamptons for the holiday. “We took a break from cooking the meal and Tyler and I went out for a drive with our adopted dog Penny on a deserted beach,” she says. “He claimed he was looking for our families and that they’d stopped their car up ahead. We jumped out and when I walked around to his side of the car he was kneeling with a ring in one hand, and Penny in the other.” After Courtney said yes, their families came out of their hiding spots by the dunes and toasted the newly engaged couple with Champagne. “They had been watching the whole time and now we have these great paparazzi-like photos.”
Since Tyler and Courtney met and got engaged in the Hamptons, it made perfect sense for them to tie the knot at the beach. “We designed a whole weekend for our friends and family, hoping to create that sense of community that is unique to a destination wedding and show them a sliver of Amagansett—our favorite place,” she says. To plan the event, which they wanted to be “laid-back elegant,” the couple worked with Claire Bean, a wedding planner who Courtney describes as “super talented and a spitfire who kept me laughing through the whole process.”
Courtney, who works in marketing at Saint Laurent, struggled when shopping for a wedding dress at first. “I hated it! I think it’s because it’s so finite: you’re bombarded with choices and you only get to choose one. You order it months in advance and you can’t really change your mind.” At first, Courtney was leaning more towards a bohemian look for her wedding—backless lace, flowers in her hair—but she later realized that wasn’t really her style and it also didn’t fit with the kind of party she was planning. She ended up choosing a crepe Vera Wang “Micaela” gown. “It was so simple and classic; I knew I wouldn’t regret it years down the road,” she adds. She wore her hair in a low chignon and added a subtle rhinestone lariat back-necklace to elongate her neck and backline. She gave a subtle nod to her work with a pair of gold Saint Laurent mules, and Tyler wore a Saint Laurent tailored navy tuxedo. The day of the wedding Tyler, who works in real estate for Blackstone, also surprised Courtney with a pair of diamond drop-earrings from Tiffany. “He sweetly wanted to give me a recognizable ‘something blue’ box.”
For her bridesmaids’ look, Courtney turned to friend and wedding stylist Cynthia Smith of Cynthia Cook Brides, who suggested all of her 12 bridesmaids wear long, chiffon dresses in different shades of blush and nude. “I had my six sisters choose their own styles of Joanna August in these colors, while I let my friends pick whatever dress they liked that worked within the color palette of nude, pink, navy, white, powder blue.”
When the wedding weekend finally arrived in June, guests descended upon the small beach town of Amagansett, and the festivities kicked off with a welcome party, complete with a 1940s pizza truck. The next day, Courtney hosted a cardio dance class at AKT in Motion for all of her friends, and then, the rehearsal dinner was held at the East Hampton Golf Club.
On Saturday, the ceremony was held in Bridgehampton at a private piece of land right on the ocean. “We tried hard to find a unique beachfront setting that would allow us to get married and have the reception at the same location,” explains Courtney. The ceremony was short and sweet, with the couple sharing their own vows; a set of five promises the bride and groom jointly made to each other. “It was important our dog Penny be a part of the day, so she walked down the aisle with a collar made of baby’s breath,” Courtney says. “She may have stolen the show!” (Both Tyler and Courtney are big advocates of animal adoption and kindly asked guests to donate to Muddy Paws Rescue in lieu of a gift.)
The reception kicked off with a bang, as the newlyweds entered the tent to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” which set the tone for the rambunctious dance party that followed. “By the end of the night, even the catering staff was on the dance floor,” Courtney laughs. Dinner was catered by Quogue’s Stone Creek Inn and featured toasts from the father of the bride and the groom.
After dinner, there were lots of surprises in store for the guests. Clad in 80s sunglasses and carrying blow-up guitars, Tyler and his mom danced to Dire Straight’s “Money for Nothing,” while Courtney’s brother-in-law later jumped on stage to sing the Old School rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” (“Expletives included,” she adds.) Towards the later part of the evening, costumes were passed out and guests ended up turning into space robots, American Gladiators, pirate captain, and magicians. Once it was time to wrap up, the couple attempted to recreate the night they met and took the entire wedding to the Talkhouse, bringing their love story full circle.
