Danya & David

“New York itself is special to us, too. We met in college in Maryland, but when David moved here in 2017 we ended up doing long distance for three years. I moved to New York during the pandemic in 2020 — not the smoothest timing, but it finally gave us the chance to actually be in the same city. That shift meant a lot to us.”

“Layla and I were truly meant to be. I actually had another pair of shoes picked out, but I wasn’t in love with them. Honestly, I just got decision fatigue and figured no one would see them anyway — until the heel literally broke off at my first fitting. A disaster."

 

“I panicked and started searching, and by chance found the Layla on Loeffler Randall — this sounds like a lie but I swear it was the last pair in my size and they were on sale. I took them to my second fitting and when I tell you the color matched my dress exactly, I mean it. The lace detailing was so similar to the lace on my dress, and the fit made my feet look fabulous. It was insane.

 

“I’m not really a heel person, so I needed something short that gave me a little lift without killing me. I ended up lasting a solid four hours in them, which for me is a miracle. I was so excited to show them off, and I’m so glad I ended up choosing a shoe I loved.“

“I have a few favorite details from the day! Our event planner, Erica Bonelli from Philo Studios, honestly took everything I had in my head and brought it to life. I’ve always loved flowers, but for the wedding I didn’t care much about having a ton of them — I really wanted lots of candles instead. The glow they created made the photos so dreamy and romantic. The one flower I did care about was white ranunculus for my bouquet, and even though they weren’t in season, Erica somehow made it happen.”

 

“Another favorite was our Pittsburgh cookie table. My mother-in-law and my mom baked hundreds of cookies — we ended up with about 20 different kinds! It was such a fun and personal touch."

 

“We also had my best friend officiate the ceremony, which was hands down the best decision. She was actually there the night David and I met and was a part of the reason I decided to go up to him and introduce myself so she really was able to tell our story because she was there for the entirety of it."

 

“I actually had so much fun planning the wedding. Mostly because my venue handled all the heavy lifting, so I just focused on the fun stuff.”

“I’d say my biggest advice is:

 

1. Make a document with photos of important people. Share it with your coordinator, photographer, and videographer. That way, no one gets missed in your gallery.
2. Create a shot list. I wrote down every single photo I wanted, gave it to my photographer, and she just used that the day of to make sure she got every shot we wanted. I didn’t need to think about it day-of.
3. Wait for trunk sales. I saved 10% on my dress which may not sound huge, but it really added up.
4. Speak up. This was hard for me, but I was always happier when I did. If you don’t like something or want changes, say it (respectfully of course!). My dress turned out exactly how I wanted because I pushed myself to ask."

“The first dance with my husband, hands down, was the moment I’ll remember best. I’d actually been looking for my first dance song since high school. Then during my last year in college, I was cleaning my room when Silhouette by Active Child came on my Spotify discover playlist, and I instantly knew it was the song. Years later, I played it for David while we were driving around together, and it became ours.

 

"So when it started playing at our wedding, it felt like we were being transported back to young Danya and David, sitting in that car almost ten years ago but now we were listening to it on the dance floor at our wedding. It was genuinely the best moment of my life."