Jacob Daniel spotted Perry Brown at a Columbia Business School party at the MoMA but didn’t get a chance to introduce himself until they were both at the after-party at the Hudson Hotel. For their first date, he unknowingly (but serendipitously) took her to one of her family’s favorite spots—and the place where her sister got engaged—Café Cluny. And then, after dating for a little less than two years, Jacob proposed with a scavenger hunt that took Perry to all of their favorite spots in Boston, where they had recently moved together.
Jacob and Perry had both been to Stone Barns before, separately and together—they actually celebrated an anniversary there during their first year of dating. While looking for a wedding venue, they did a walk through and had no doubt it was the place for them. “The culinary experience is outstanding, and we particularly appreciated that aspect, as we both have almost opposite dietary restrictions. I’m a dairy free pescatarian and Jacob is allergic to fish,” Perry explains. She had also always loved the idea of a farmhouse wedding and looked forward to highlighting the natural beauty surrounding the space.
To help bring the event and floral design to life, they hired Lyndsey Hamilton, who worked closely with the mother-of-the-bride, Laurie Brown-Nagin, as Perry is in residency as a pediatrician. “I was very willing to just show up and entrust my mother and Lyndsey’s work,” Perry says. One of her favorite details of the wedding was the invitations by Courtney Jentzen at Swiss Cottage Designs. “She captured our vision and the beautiful barn so perfectly, and it completely matched the tone we were hoping for.”
For her #JacobGetsPerried wedding, the bride first wore a white long sleeve Yigal Azrouël dress for the cocktail hour and then changed into an Oscar de la Renta gown with floral detailing that seamlessly paired well with the barn’s natural aesthetic. She completed the look with baby blue, velvet Valentino shoes and a bouquet of white dahlias, pale blush garden roses, white lisianthus, and white ranunculus, tied together with a white, grosgrain ribbon. As for beauty, Steven Rice was in charge of her hair and Anita Nouryeh took care of makeup.
On October 20th, 2018, a hidden gospel choir, wearing black and scattered amongst the seated guests, surprised everyone by singing “Stand By Me” to start the ceremony. Then, Perry walked down the aisle with her parents to “At Last” and met Jacob under the chuppah. One of Perry’s best friends from college, Elena Sheppard, officiated the service, focusing on family traditions. After the couple read their own vows to each other, Jacob stomped on the glass, but it actually sliced through his new Louboutin shoes and cut his foot! “We didn’t even notice, until we were both upstairs post-ceremony, and we had to doctor him up. He was clearly very eager when stepping on that glass!” Perry jokes.
For the dinner reception in the upper barn, guests found their name cards on colorful porcelain farm eggs. Candles and lanterns lined the hallways and windowsills, and long tables were draped with garlands of dahlias, garden roses, and cranberries. Each course of the meal came with a wine pairing and ended with a lemon poppy seed and vanilla wedding cake, decorated with a black and white cowhide motif. After cutting the cake, everyone moved to the lower level for dancing, where Element Music was waiting for them. The newlyweds did their first dance to “There Will Be Time” by Mumford & Sons. Perry changed into a short Helmut Lang party dress so she could really move. “We were so excited to be on the dance floor,” she says. “I’d been waiting for this part all night!”
