The Kaitlin Regan and Benjamin Hunter Wedding

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||| — |||Candleabras on the tables were a nod to France

Everyone knows Paris is the city of love, but what about Ithaca, New York? For Kaitlin and Benjamin Hunter, who met at Sammy’s Pizzeria during their senior year of college at Ithaca College, both cities inspired their romance.

Katie and Ben, who were married last summer, were lucky enough to discover not just one, but two perfect places to hold their ceremonies: Ben’s grandparent’s living room, in a village just outside of Paris, and the Highlands Country Club in Garrison, New York, which featured Ithaca Apricot Wheat beer—“a staple in any Ithaca student’s diet,” says Katie.

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The first reception, which also took place at Highlands Country Club, brought all of the couple’s friends and family together to, as Katie puts it, “feel the love.” Katie and Ben also went to great lengths to ensure that their wedding was eco-friendly. Instead of favors, the couple made a donation to the Nature Conservatory in honor of their guests. All invitations were mailed out on recycled paper, and the pair encouraged guests to RSVP online. And, at the end of the night, the leftovers from the meal—from the Tavern Restaurant, which supplied locally grown and seasonable food—were collected and sorted for pig feed.

In keeping with the environmentally friendly theme, Katie made a lot of the decorations herself. Her favorite? The table markers, which were each named after a location Katie and Ben have traveled to together: France, Thailand, Ireland, England, India, Bali, and the Netherlands.

Photography
by Jackie Pfeffer and Matt Versweyveld of Click Pictures

Photography
by Jackie Pfeffer and Matt Versweyveld of Click Pictures

Katie and Ben chose an invitation design from minted.com, then revised the layout, text, and colors to their liking. “It was a great, efficient site to work with,” Katie says.

Katie says that, in making the decorations, she wanted to be “as ‘Martha Stewart’ as possible.” On a random trip to a craft store, Katie purchased a collection of patterned paper that would become the basis for the place cards, the table markers, a welcome board, and the gift box.

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In carrying with the crafty motif (and eco-theme), guests were encouraged to leave their fingerprint on a tree instead of signing a guestbook. This tree had a special place in both receptions because, as Katie said, “the fingerprints transcended language barriers!”

Being together with friends and family was another major theme of the day. This togetherness also inspired some of the decorations. Instead of buying new vases for the floral arrangements, Katie used her mom’s antique collection of Ball jars. Her bridal bouquet featured her grandmother’s brooch in place of a flower. Katie’s mom also sewed the couple’s names and dates of their ceremonies into their garments (which they re-wore for the second ceremony). The cake toppers were bobble-head monkeys that Katie and Ben made during their first Christmas together.

In 2009, the pair moved to Maisons-Laffitte, Ben’s hometown just outside of Paris. They currently work together (and share an office) at a bilingual school there.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Click Pictures

Jackie Pfeffer and Matt Versweyveld

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