She walked down the lawn of the Thomas Cole House to “Ebony Eyes” by Rick James, surrounded by white flowers and 250 of her closest family and friends. Mike waited for her by the edge of the Federal-style home’s steps in a tan suit by Mark Thomas Men’s Apparel, a local Hudson Valley tailor.
“The ceremony honestly felt a bit surreal,” says Tschabalala. “There were so many people from different parts and moments in mine and Michael’s life. It was very beautiful, moving and heartwarming to share our vows in front of what felt like everyone I had ever known and will know in the future.”
Afterwards, guests wandered the grounds of the Thomas Cole house holding smoked peach Old Fashioneds and strawberry-rhubarb gin smashes as a band played jazz, soul, and R&B music from the porch—a musical nod to their respective families’ roots in the Carolinas and New Orleans.
Then, it was on to dinner at Kitty’s Restaurant and their centuries-old barn-turned-event space. Guests enjoyed blackened cod with chili crisp and grilled ribeye with sauce au poivre in the airy country setting, which features a private garden of 14,000 perennials.
Tschabalala changed into her second Brandon Blackwood look of the night: an off-white dress made of crinkle silk chiffon, complete with hand-stitched pleats and an asymmetrical hem. She accented it all with Gianvito Rossi sandals.
Just as the clock struck midnight, the wedding left Kitty’s and descended on Half Moon, a bar a half-block away, for the after-party. “Mike and I DJed from our iPhones on the bar’s sound-system as our friends danced by the stapled pink streamers in the bar,” Tschabalala says. “That part of the evening was a proper foil to the elegant night that came before it.”
Reflecting on her wedding day, Tschabalala and Mike are of course happy that it was a joyful, energetic affair. But most of all, they’re excited about marriage itself. “On July 12, we were able to vow our commitment to one another and share space with all the most important people in our lives at one time and in one space,” Tschabalala says. “In many ways we made a commitment to them that day too, one we will keep for a lifetime.”