Pat & Paulina’s Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture Wedding

The Couple

Pat and Paulina are just about the sweetest couple you could imagine meeting. They met through a mutual friend a few years ago, and it’s been a love story ever since. On date nights they go to concerts together and see movies, or sometimes they’ll stay home and just listen to music. And whenever they can, they like to take long walks together in Prospect Park.

You get the sense that as long as Pat and Paulina can be together, they’ll be content.

We asked the couple what they love most about each other, and their answers make it clear that they love one another for all the best reasons. Pat said, “I love her kindness, and her sweet soul,” and Paulina told us she loves “his sense of humor and great heart.”

And us? We love their love! And we are so honored to have been a part of their special day.

The Bride

Paulina looked exquisite in her lace wedding dress, which was an unusual mid-calf length. It fit her personality to a T: not too formal, but perfectly suited for the importance of the day.

The other wonderful thing was her bouquet, created by her friend Rose… whose wedding Kyo photographed about a year ago! We absolutely love it when couples can work with their friends on important parts of their wedding day. It just makes the event even more special.

Rose created a colorful wildflower arrangement composed of pastel and white flowers with flashes of poppy red. So distinctive and utterly cheerful!

Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture

Paulina and Pat wanted to find a wedding venue near Prospect Park. Patrick works for the Prospect Park Alliance and that area of Brooklyn is so special to them.

The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture was the perfect fit.

It’s a congregational organization that is open to “all traditions, backgrounds, races, family configurations and sexual orientations,” which we think is very cool.

The building itself is a neo-Jacobean mansion built in 1900. Dark wood trim, ornate stained-glass windows, and detailed woodwork give it charming look and a heritage feel. We’d recommend the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture for any small to medium wedding, because it can accommodate up to 150 guests.

It also boasts the largest private garden in Brooklyn.

The Food

Pat and Paulina worked with an awesome caterer for their event! Mimi’s Hummus specializes in “Middle Eastern comfort food,” which they completely delivered on!.

The menu included all of the Middle Eastern must-haves! There was hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh and shawarma, plus a few things we didn’t expect (but loved), like kale salad and ratatouille.

Kyo actually said it was one of the best catered meals he’d ever tasted. As a wedding photographer, that’s really saying something.

And their cake! Such a simple but stunning creation, with a beautiful color palette and delicate buttercream flowers. So lovely, and very delicious (who doesn’t love lemon and ricotta as a flavor combination?).

The Photos

Neither Paulina and Patrick particularly like being photographed. They even warned Kyo in advance.

But you would never guess from the portraits. They looked as relaxed and happy as you could possibly be, and we love the way they smiled at each other throughout the portrait session.

The Wedding Day

Paulina and Pat’s wedding was heartfelt and fun, and the colorful flowers gave us spring fever — perfect for a May wedding. A big shout-out goes to their day-of coordinator, Sheavonne Harris. She did a fabulous job ensuring that the event was flawlessly organized!

We asked Paulina and Pat what part of their wedding they were most excited about, and they said were most looking forward to being married. Well that, and the dancing! They couldn’t wait to dance all night with family and friends, and said that the part of planning they enjoyed the most was picking out the playlist.

Judging by the dance floor candids, they got exactly what they wanted. 🙂