November 19, 2011
Kristin Talka and Sean Brix met for a casual cup of joe after connecting on dating site plentyoffish.com in the spring of 2010. Coffee went well, but Sean wanted to up his game for their second date, so he invited Kristin to join him at his friend’s vintage bicycle club. Buying and restoring bicycles from the ’50s and ’60s is a passion of his—which fit perfectly with her love of all things vintage, especially classic films.
After that second date, he took her out for picnics, to the Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries museum in Beacon, and many other inventive and romantic dates. He was, she says, “one of the most genuinely good people” she had ever met.
A year later, Sean proposed at the top of Overlook Mountain in Woodstock. They chose the DuPuy Canal House in High Falls as a cermony and reception venue, which was right in line with their interest in the past; it was a tavern originally built in the 1700s. “We wanted our wedding to have a local feel, as well as being historic and full of character,” Kristin says.
They asked their best friend, Andrew, to be their officiant. The couple wrote their own vows, which coincidentally involved metaphors of bicycles “riding in tandem through life’s journey together.”
Kristin chose cream-colored vases with dark red roses and old-fashioned glass candlesticks with oil wicks as the centerpieces. The china was also vintage. The food was all organic, which Kristen describes as contemporary colonial, as if very early American met early Williamsburg.
Unsurprisingly, Kristin knew from the start that she wanted a vintage dress. Her mother found her “a one-of-a-kind, early-1950s, knee-length white cocktail dress” on Etsy.com; she fell in love with it instantly. Sean donned a dark charcoal gray three-piece suit and his grandfather’s pocket watch.
With 20 people at the wedding, they were able to customize the wedding favors—wine bottle toppers that they wrapped with individualized name tags. Says Kristin, “We didn’t need to break the bank to have a beautiful day that was elegant and memorable.”
Resource Guide:
Photography: Hillary Harvey Photography, Kingston (845) 331-0195; hillaryharveyphotography.com. Ceremony and Reception Venue: DePuy Canal House, 1315 New York 213, High Falls (845) 687-7700; depuycanalhouse.net. Flowers: Burgevins, 245 Fair St, Kingston (845) 338-8500; burgevins.com. Bridal Dress: etsy.com. Bridal Hair: Trends Hair Design, 29 W Strand St, Kingston (845) 340-9100; trendshairdesign.com. Invitations: etsy.com. Favors: Pier 1 Imports; pier1.com.
