Jency & Zachary
September 16, 2023
Tarrytown
Dr. Jency Daniel and Dr. Zachary Kimball put their growing relationship to the test before it even started, and it passed with flying colors. They became friends as doctors on the pediatric team at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. With Jency’s Washington, D.C., fellowship to approve children’s antibiotics and Zachary’s extensive residency training in various locations on the horizon, “It was absolutely the wrong time to start a relationship,” Zachary says. “But it was the first time I’d found someone I was romantically interested in who was clearly my best friend. I didn’t know why the heck she was single.”
Amid the chaos, they found a connection.
“We’re both very passionate about what we do in medicine,” Jency says. “Working with him and seeing how earnest he was impressed me, and I took note of how smart he was, diligent, and detail-oriented, and at the same time, he was stalling to stay in the room with me.”
They agreed to avoid all contact from July through October 2020, once Jency moved away for her three-year fellowship, until after Jency completed her board exams. It gave them the time and space to contemplate if this long-distance relationship was worth pursuing.
The strategy worked. “Literally, when we got on the phone, within 10 minutes, we professed our love to each other,” Zachary says.
Then, in March of 2023, Zachary proposed with a blue-green-yellow parti-colored sapphire ring created by a small Sri Lankan designer that Jency found on Etsy. “I never wanted a diamond, and I always want to support women of color, small businesses, and I like that it’s not so cookie-cutter,” Jency says. They got engaged in front of the only nearby blooming tree in Washington after a Saturday brunch, and a passerby used Jency’s cellphone to capture the moment — a photo they used for their save-the-date card.
They wanted their wedding to be within six months, on Sept. 16, 2023, in the Hudson Valley.
“After we got engaged and the dust settled, we said the food has to be good,” Jency says.
They decided on Goosefeather in Tarrytown for their reception venue because it could easily serve 120 guests, they ate there while dating and loved the food, plus it was close enough to New York City for far-flung traveling guests. Helmed by Chef Dale Talde of Bravo’s Top Chef fame, Goosefeather already earned their trust in its quality, and the kitchen was able to create dishes to reflect their tastes and heritage – Jency is fully Indian, and Zachary is half Filipino and half white. Served buffet-style to encourage mingling, the fare ranged from a South Indian beef curry, which is popular in Kerala where Jency’s family is from; chicken adobo, the national dish of the Philippines; and a vegan option.
“We sort of had a minimalistic feel to the wedding, cutting out things we didn’t think were necessary to us, like, we didn’t have a cake, but we had a dessert table,” Jency says. “But they were throwing powdered sugar on it in real time like Jackson Pollock. It looked like an art piece with splatters of powdered sugar.”
The couple also liked that Goosefeather’s location and interior design within the King Mansion at the Tarrytown House Estate is so eclectic and stylish that they didn’t need decorations; they just added a few string lights outside and dried flowers repurposed from their church ceremony.
Jency chose a rich color palette – deep teal, bronze, yellow, and purple – reflected in her engagement ring, Zachary’s J.Crew tie, the flowered hem of her white wedding ceremony dress from BHLDN (Anthropologie’s bridal shop), the wedding reception saree, and flowers. To stay within budget, but also to have something long-lasting, she chose dried and artificial arrangements from U.K.-based Hidden Botanics, a florist started by a young Turkish woman who sources from Turkish flower farmers.
“Florals and decor are a huge part of the budget, and if that’s not a priority, then this is an area you can pull back on and be flexible,” says their wedding coordinator, Yvonne Unubun, owner of Events by Mayven. Fresh flowers are often wasted post-reception, but more than a year later, the couple still display those dried arrangements in their Albany home.
“One of my friends said the one rule for your wedding is there are no rules,” Jency says. “That was really freeing, and it allowed us to work with great vendors that really felt like us for a relaxed and intimate dinner party that was special and fun for everyone.”
The Details
Photography and Videography
Joshua Brown Photography
Florals
Hidden Botanics Weddings
Wedding Coordinator
Yvonne Unubun of Events by Mayven
Ceremony Location
St. John Paul II at the Immaculate Conception Maronite Church, Sleepy Hollow
Reception Venue
Goosefeather at Tarrytown House Estate
Bridal Hair and Makeup
Beauty by Amy Elizabeth
Related: This Hudson Valley Wedding Is All About Personal Touches