Kristin Tice Studeman, writer and founder of NYC rosé-paired dinner series The Rosé Project, and Jake Greenblatt met on Bumble. The night of their first date was one of the coldest days on record in the city, so Kristin really bundled up. “Jake always jokes he had no idea what I looked like because I had SO many layers on when I arrived. (I’m originally from California and still struggle with winters!) I’m sure glad I didn’t cancel on that date…” she says.
After two-and-a-half years of dating, he proposed at Decibel in the East Village, where they first met. “It was nothing fussy and so intimate— exactly how I wanted it to go down. (I won’t lie, we went home and had champagne and pizza from our favorite neighborhood spot because we were too excited to eat at the restaurant.)”
When Kristin began dress shopping, she kept falling in love with completely different styles. She ended up with classic but modern Oscar de la Renta design and had the train extended for added drama. “I had the pleasure of interviewing the late Mr. de la Renta several times, back when I was at Style.com, and he still remains as one of my favorite people I ever interviewed, so perhaps it was just meant to be,” the bride says. To complete the look, she wore a stunning, cathedral-length veil with hundreds of hand-appliquéd flowers.
For beauty, Louis Angelo nailed a sleek, low bun for the ceremony. And for the party, he switched things up by letting her hair down loose and curled. Ariana Rose took care of Kristin’s dewy makeup and used her custom, neutral lipstick shade by SHESPOKE. “I also owe a lot to Laura Dyer and Dr. Amy Wechsler, who helped me fine tune my skin for almost a year before the wedding,” the bride says.
For their wedding, Meadowood was always their first choice for a venue— Kristin grew up in Northern California, Jake and his family have a long history of visiting Napa Valley, and it was where the couple stayed on one of their first trips together. “It has such a natural beauty, surrounded by vineyards and trees, and the property is luxury, but not in-your-face, over-the-top luxury, and that’s what both of us tend to gravitate towards,” she explains. To plan everything, they worked with Lisa Vorce for nearly a year.
The week of the wedding, PG&E announced that they were going to preemptively cut off power to avoid wildfires due to high winds and dry weather conditions. The weekend’s events were planned to begin on Thursday and go through the weekend, so Lisa and her team went through various solutions to keep 300 guests happy. “At one point, we were prepared to just light a few candles, feed everyone wine, and dance the night away,” Kristin says. Thankfully, Meadowood got power back on Friday, the night before the wedding.
After a stressful few days, the big day finally arrived, and everyone gathered in the late afternoon in a small alcove, nestled in-between the trees, facing a gorgeous, autumnal floral chuppah by Studio Mondine. Kristin walked down the aisle with her parents to Brandi Carlile’s “The Story,” and then Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue officiated the ceremony. Once they shared their first kiss as a married couple, they walked back down the aisle to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and led everyone to the sunset cocktail hour.
Guests were then greeted to the reception by Bay Area native Matt Nathanson, who performed a few songs live, including his hit “Come On Get Higher.” And the two had their first dance to his song, “Bill Murray.” “Matt is one of Jake’s absolute favorite musicians, and since I grew up in the Bay Area, I grew up listening to him as well,” the bride says.
After the mini concert, plenty of wine flowed with dinner. “We served our own Cabernet Sauvignon (Jake’s dad’s special blend from the Napa Valley Reserve), a delicious white burgundy, and plenty of rosé— I have a rosé dinner series! I couldn’t NOT serve rosé, and it felt important to highlight the winemaking talents of California,” Kristin says.
Once everyone had properly sampled some of California’s finest with the delicious meal, the sculptural wedding cake by Jasmine Rae Cakes was brought out and cut by the newlyweds. One layer was earl grey with orange cream cheese frosting and another was coconut with lemon— yum!
For the after-party, Kristin changed into a sequin Johanna Ortiz number and matching, silver Alexandre Birman heels, which she eventually exchanged for white, bejeweled Tevas. DJ Kieren Taylor kept everyone on the dance floor, when they weren’t at the custom pie bar or nibbling on mini tacos, truffle mac and cheese bites, ice cream sandwiches, and more cake. “Let’s just say no one went home hungry.”
