Glynwood Farm Wedding | Hudson Valley Wedding Photographer | Hudson Valley Wedding Venues
This intimate, wintery Glynwood Farm wedding took place on their 10-year anniversary
What type of wedding do you have if you don’t want a huge party with everyone’s eyes on you, but also don’t want to elope somewhere without your friends and family?
You do what Manny and Kristen did: A very small “minimony,” or intimate wedding ceremony, with under 20 friends and family in attendance. And you do it on a THURSDAY!
Yes, Thursday weddings are gaining in popularity! They’re more affordable at wedding venues, they’re likely to be a closer friend+family group, and they leave you the entire long weekend to celebrate. But these two didn’t have a Thursday wedding for any of those reasons, interestingly enough.
Thursday Weddings are the New Friday Weddings
Why a Thursday wedding? Kristen and Manny grew up in the Bronx and met online. After their first date, they knew it was something special and quickly started hanging out together more and more. Then they moved in together in the Bronx, and enjoyed living and vacationing together for the next many years. Come COVID, they decided that the time was right—and if they were going to get married, they might as well do it on a day special to them.
Their Thursday wedding was exactly 10 years to the day after their first date!
Kristen’s cousin did her hair and makeup, and then because we had a beautiful winter-but-almost-spring day in early March (that means snow here), we did an outdoor first look right on the lake at Glynwood.
Manny was so surprised to see Kristen all fancified in her wedding dress—his expression was great.
When You Live in the Bronx…Where Do You Get Married? Upstate New York.
While they could have chosen a more local Bronx wedding venue, these tend to be quite pricy, with high minimum guest counts, less flexibility, and less space in nature. Great Bronx wedding venues exist. Take the famous New York Botanical Gardens, or Marina Del Rey, or even Wave Hill!
But Kristen & Manny wanted something quiet, full of nature, and beautiful.
“We picked Glynwood Farm mainly because of the boathouse. We wanted something outdoors, with a nice view, while taking into account the possibility of snow. Also, I really wanted everything to be minimalistic while still feeling special.”
Kristen & Manny
All About Glynwood Farm + Glynwood Events
Glynwood Farm is a sustainable farm, event space, and Hudson Valley wedding venue in Cold Spring, NY. It’s just 1 hour from NYC, and really feels light-years away. You come up the back roads to get to Glynwood Farm, and bump along on a long gravel road through forests, streams, and even little waterfalls. It’s a beautiful wedding venue and farm location (it’s original purpose) in the spring, summer, and fall, but also quite beautiful and private in winter.
With quite a few event spaces and venue spots to choose from, your Glynwood Farm wedding can be small and intimate, large and garden-style, or casual and right on the farm. For Kristen and Manny, the Perkins Family Boathouse at Glynwood was the perfect way to go. Minimony specialist and tiny weddings expert Sarah Carroll of Small Shindigs (https://www.smallshindigs.com/) organized everything for them, including their officiant, florals, timings, everything.
We took a few portraits, and then their wedding party and family took their places in the boathouse. Kristen’s father walked her down the aisle, but all the parents were so emotional, they didn’t want to sit down! At one point during their vows, Kristen’s father even pardoned himself to shed tears in privacy. It was truly beautiful (and I wanted to capture it, but he needed his own space). There was also a LOT of laughter!
I used some of my creative wedding photo techniques to capture the unique lighting in the boathouse, and then the new couple celebrated out on a floating dock. They signed the marriage license and we took family portraits, and then as the light was fading, we got in exactly what Kristen had requested: Some smoke bomb wedding portraits! It was pretty dark at that point and we only had one attempt on a hilly patch of land, but the bride and groom were delighted.
But Before Leaving Glynwood Farm…
The night ended with my car getting stuck in a muddy patch where I’d parked off the road, but the groomsmen all got me out! There was literally digging, shoveling, and spinning mud. Remind me stick to exploring off the beaten path, not parking on it.
Luckily, all was well and their dinner celebration started with a fun story about my car.
In much, much better news, Kristen and Manny printed out a bunch of photos from their upstate NY wedding, turning my portraits of them into wall art, a music player, framed prints, and more. I love when my clients share what they’ve done with their wedding photos!
A Perfect Upstate New York Wedding…Er, Minimony
This 10-year anniversary date was the perfect day for Kristen and Manny to get married. It was a small, intimate wedding that was all done in just a few hours, and for folks who don’t want all the attention on them, it was perfect. For their Glynwood Farm wedding-turned-minimony, they were still able to have their closest family and friends in their wedding party—and then go to a diner afterwards to celebrate!
There are tons of Upstate NY wedding venues, and folks who will fight you about what’s considered upstate New York. 😛 But in terms of winter wedding venues, Glynwood Farm is quite lovely. Come warmer weather, it’s a gorgeous location with local food—perfect for hosting your wedding weekend. For Kristen and Manny, it was a great match for their Thursday lake wedding anniversary date: private, winter-y, and easy. What more could you want for a small wedding?~
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About the Venue: Glynwood Farm is a nonprofit, a sustainable farm, and an event/wedding venue located in New York’s Putnam Valley. It’s located on Route 301 in Cold Spring, NY, which is closest to the Cold Spring train station on Metro-North’s Hudson line. The 225-acre farm was started in 1929, and can be used year-round for retreats, weddings, film shoots, and more.
Wedding Vendors:
Photographer (yours truly): Kathryn Cooper Weddings
Wedding venue: Glynwood Farm
Wedding planner: Small Shindigs
Reverend: Sara Henderson
Flowers: The Parcel Flower Co
Kristen’s wedding dress: Jenny Yoo
Dress store: BHLDN
Hair & Makeup & Nails: Nailz by Nessa
Bridesmaid Dresses & Masks: Birdy Grey
Tuxes: Generation Tux
Oh my heart…I could not agree more….yes…Thursdays are new Fridays!