Juliette Caspi, a vice president at fashion PR firm Wetherly Group, and real estate broker Brett Caspi had known each other for some years because they ran in the same social circles in New York. But, as Juliette explains, they didn’t really get to know each other until she moved into his building in Chelsea. “I was on the same floor as him,” she explains. “Fun fact, that floor number—23—became our lucky number throughout our relationship.”
Five years later, Juliette was on vacation with her family in St. Barths, when all of sudden one of her favorite songs started playing in the background. “Then someone snuck up behind me . . . it was Brett!” she laughs. “He then got down on one knee and proposed. He hired a photographer to take photos—I was in complete shock.” After their surprise engagement, Brett booked a hotel on the Caribbean island for just the two of them and they stayed there for the next week. “My proposal dinner turned into a weeklong engagementmoon!” Juliette says.
When looking for their wedding location, Juliette remembered hearing about the Natirar Mansion from a few friends in the fashion industry. “I had been to the restaurant on the property. It’s called Ninety Acres, and it’s a total farm to table culinary experience,” she says. The couple went to visit the property in Somerset County, New Jersey, and fell in love with the high cathedral ceilings, steel casement windows, and dramatic fireplace mantels; Juliette describes it as “a Ralph Lauren photo shoot meets Great Gatsby.” (Segue to them choosing #TheGreatCaspis as their wedding hashtag.)
With the wedding date set for September 9th, Juliette hired Amy Shey Jacobs from Chandelier Events for help with the planning and went off in search of her dream wedding dress. “I went into the process pretty open minded; however, I knew I didn’t want to wear strapless and pictured myself wearing long-sleeves,” she says. “I ended up going to Vera Wang and loving everything I tried on. I found my dream dress, and while it was not long sleeve, it had a mock turtleneck, which still gave it a unique element. The veil happened to be called ‘Juliette’ so I knew it was fate.” She completed the look with H. Stern earrings and a cuff, and an Edie Parker clutch given to her by her Matron of Honor that was engraved with “Mrs. Caspi.”
Brett, meanwhile, wore a black tuxedo with a single button and peak lapel made by Matt Imparali, shoes and a bow tie by Bottega Veneta, and his father’s two toned Rolex.
The day of the ceremony, the couple tied the knot underneath a chuppah that featured over 1,000 Tibetan white roses, and green leaves and rose petals were sprinkled down the aisle. “There were over 500 acres of lush scenery,” Juliette says. “The views were absolutely stunning, and we strategically timed the ceremony to take place just before sunset so we could capitalize on the views for the photos and cocktail hour.”
After the ceremony ended, the couple and their guests moved inside to a ballroom which featured a living green plant wall. “The wall presented us with the challenge of merging our Gatsby-esque style with farm-to-fork scenery. The result? We called it ‘Farm to Fab.’” Instead of a seating card table, the couple set up an escort wall just outside of the doors of the reception. “It was a total conversation piece,” says the bride. “It was fun to watch the guests look for their names and see who else they had been seated next to.”
The food was one of the main reasons the couple had settled on Natirar for their wedding in the first place, and it did not disappoint. For cocktail hour, they served mini lobster rolls, a full raw bar, sliders, and a taco and tequila station. For the reception, guests dined on gazpacho, followed by black bass or a duet of short ribs and ribeye.
Later, it was time for dancing, and Vali Entertainment kept everyone on the dance floor all night long. Brett and Juliette had a quick outfit change before hitting the dance floor. “I changed into a short, white feather dress, while Brett changed into a black shirt. We came back out wearing Great Gatsby-inspired Venetian masks, and then servers came around with trays of masks for all of the guests to wear,” she adds. “The party was over the top when Bon Jovi’s violinist Lorenza Ponce took the stage!”
All that fun meant they couple barely stepped off the dance floor. “There was no pausing the action to cut the cake,” Juliette explained. “So instead, our planners rolled the cake out onto the dance floor while the band and Lorenza played AC/DC’s ‘Shook Me All Night Long,’ at which point a masked Brett and I sabered the cake sword style—it was incredible!”
