EMILY & RYAN

Photos by
Nina Long

Our Story...

Ryan and I met at the infamous Pearl Street Pub (RIP) in the summer of 2016. At the end of the night, Ryan paid for a taxi to get me and my friends home safely, and we exchanged phone numbers. A few weeks went by, and I kept declining his attempts to hang out. My friends stressed that he would give up if I didn't say yes one of these times. Finally, I obliged to a first date… and here we are!

After five years of dating, I thought I was finally getting the friends’ Lake Placid Weekend that had been on our bucket list for the past three years. Little did I know Ryan and all my best friends were busy planning our proposal weekend. Lake Placid, NY was always a special place for us, and we made it a point to visit every winter since our first year of dating. Ryan brought me to the middle of the frozen lake to "film a Tik Tok video," but actually… He got down on one knee and popped the long-awaited question!

When it came time to pick a wedding date and venue, we knew we wanted something special, something that felt like "us." In past years, we always hosted New Years Eve parties for our friends, so we thought - what if we got married on NYE? No one ever has anything planned. We also wanted a venue that we hadn't attended a wedding at before. The Adirondacks is a special place for us, with the Nolte family camp being on Assembly Point in Lake George, and we knew we wanted somewhere close. We stumbled upon “The Q” via Instagram and booked a tour the spring following our engagement. They were building a new ballroom at the time, but the historic vibe and overall character of the hotel seemed to be exactly what we were looking for!

Our wedding day was the best party we could have ever had - the perfect mix of love, laughter, emotion… and dancing. We are so grateful for our friends and family, the staff at The Q, and our lovely vendors for making it so special!

Advice to Pass Along...

Enjoy the moments leading up to the wedding, and the wedding day itself, invest in a wedding planner to help with day of coordination to ease your mind. Remember the day is about celebrating your love for each other! No one will remember a flower out of place or a missed cue. It goes by so fast!

Special Touches 

We had a NYE countdown to midnight with a balloon drop as the new year came. We also did a unity tequila shot at the alter. We had a dog treat bar to incorporate our dog, Scout, and had cardboard cut outs of him at our photo booth. We also had a late night cigar bar on The Q's patio outside the ADK ballroom. It was a lovely winter night, not too cold to enjoy a cigar and a drink outside with friends & family.