This Brooklyn Warehouse Wedding is Totally Cool

Being able to say you’re the one who introduced a happy couple is a big deal, but also being able to say you’re the one who married them? Well, that’s a new level of esteem and honor. Though it took five years for Julie Williams and Mathieu Zarbatany to officially become a couple and two more years for them to be engaged, they knew right where to go when selecting an officiant, tapping their friend Alex, who’d first brought them together.

On September 4, 2016, the fashionable pair hosted 95 friends at a wedding that fit them perfectly. It was a modern, understated affair at Brooklyn cocktail bar and event space Kinfolk 94. “It wasn’t super fancy, had the perfect dance floor, and is walking-distance from our house,” Julie says. In short: It was the just the right place for them to get creative and let loose. Keep reading to have serious fashion and venue envy after you see Paul O’Reilly Photography’s shots of this fabulously memorable bash!

The fashion stylist bride went straight to the runway to choose what she’d wear down the aisle, passing on traditional gowns in favor of this edgy Proenza Schouler number. Tiered ruffles, bell sleeves, and a cutout on the back made it a fun dress for an all-night dance party. “I shopped alone, trusting the cool salesgirl at Barney’s to give an objective opinion,” says Julie. “I was so excited when I got home that I put it on and showed Mathieu right away!”

Mathieu headed down the aisle in a T-shirt and sneakers, though you know his stylist bride had him dressed to the nines. His suit and shirt were from Acne Studios, and those spotless white kicks are Jil Sander.

She paired her flirty frock with a cascading bouquet of lilies and orchids.

After the couple’s “Glitter Girl,” Mia, walked down the aisle tossing glitter, Julie and her mother entered arm-in-arm as the DJ played the Rolling Stones’s cover of Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong My Love Is.” “Everyone cheered when we came down the aisle,” she says.

Julie and Mathieu wrote the ceremony together, filling it with one-liners referencing everything from mixed martial arts to piles of unopened mail. The bride is Jewish, so the proceedings ended with Mathieu breaking a glass—followed by even more confetti!

After the ceremony, the bride and groom took some time alone to pose (and dance!) in the venue’s surrounding streets.

“The hardest part of planning our wedding was the guest list,” says Julie. “The venue is small and our budget was limited. It was so hard not to invite lifelong friends we don’t see often, but we had to be realistic.”

The venue, Kinfolk 94, features wooden dome-like structures and curved cement walls that created “organic nooks,” where guests could gather and sip the couple’s signature cocktails—a Paloma for Julie, and a Moscow Mule for Mathieu. “We wanted all of our guests to have an epic night, to dance and eat themselves silly and truly connect,” says the bride.

The couple’s florist filled the event space with tropical flowers and greenery, from bird-of-paradise flowers and orchids to king proteas and potted palms.

Artist Lindsay Mound painted portraits of the bride and groom, which were used on everything from paper plates to coasters set out with bottles of Miller High Life—or as it's called, "the champagne of beer"!

Instead of traditional catering, the pair turned to Mile End Delicatessen for poutine, smoked meat, latkes, and whitefish. “Mathieu is French Canadian and I’m a New York Jew, so it felt right on,” says the bride.

DJ Lindsay played everything from Morrissey and Pink Floyd to trap house and disco. “We also played a lot of ‘60s music to honor my late father,” says Julie. And you can bet people danced! “There was even a supermodel walk-off on the dance floor,” the bride recalls.

Mathieu and Julie are a perfect example of why some “rules” really should be thrown out the window. “Don’t go by the book, do it your own way,” she says. “Just be sure to feed people, and let them dance!”