Sleepy Hollow Country Club Wedding : Lauren & Jack : Briarcliff Manor, NY
Lauren wanted the day to feel timeless, romantic, and elevated with a refined evening feel — and Sleepy Hollow Country Club gave her exactly that kind of range without ever having to leave the property. The 1911 mansion in Briarcliff Manor sits high above the Hudson, its Italian Renaissance facade framed by old trees and a golf course that rolls straight down toward the water, and by the time the light started to go gold over the Palisades, it felt like the house had been waiting all day for that exact hour.
Lauren got ready upstairs in a Danielle Frankel gown, architectural through the bodice and soft everywhere else, paired with Christian Dior heels she'd have on her feet well past midnight. Her father's first look happened on the staircase in front of the Tiffany windows, that particular slant of colored light landing across the hallway right as he turned the corner and saw her — the kind of moment that doesn't need staging, just someone in the right spot with a camera already raised. Jack had his own version of it fifteen minutes later, in the private courtyard behind the club, the two of them alone for a few minutes before either family pulled them back into the day.
Ceremony ran 5:30 to 6:00 on the front lawn, rows of white folding chairs facing the mansion with the river and the hills behind it, gold urns at the aisle's edge holding loose, garden-cut arrangements of peach and blush from Forever in Bloom that didn't look overworked so much as gathered. A live painter had arrived earlier that afternoon and worked off to the side through the vows, building the scene in real time the way the guests were living it. Sunset landed at 8:07, right in the middle of dinner, and the terrace cocktail hour that preceded it ran long enough to catch the first shift in the light — string lights coming on gradually against a sky that kept changing color while people found their seats and caught up.
Inside the tent, the room went from soft daylight to candlelight almost without anyone noticing, tall pastel arrangements anchoring each table under two crystal chandeliers, the kind of lighting that makes a big room feel close. Lauren and Jack were announced into their first dance a little after seven, and her father stepped in on violin right after — not a detail you get to write very often. The father-daughter dance rolled straight into a mother-son dance before the room broke for the first course.
From there the night moved through its usual rhythm and then some: guests locking arms in a circle, someone's uncle getting hoisted overhead mid-song, light-up wands passed through the crowd later as the band leaned into its last stretch. Cake cutting came around 9:30 — Ron Ben-Israel's tiers pulled just off to the side of the dance floor for a quick photo rather than a full room moment, then back to dancing.
And at the end of the night, Lauren's father brought the car around for the classic photo exit — Jack and Lauren pulling off into the dark in a vintage Porsche while the whole party spilled out to watch, headlights cutting across the driveway before the two of them looped back to change and head off in a town car for the after-party.
Brian Hatton Photography - brianhattonweddings.com
Danielle Frankel — daniellefrankelstudio.com
Forever in Bloom — foreverinbloomonline.com
Ron Ben-Israel Cakes — weddingcakes.com
Hank Lane Music / Kevin Osborne Band — hanklane.com
First Day Films — firstdayfilms.com
Bridal by Alexandria — bridalbyalexandria.com
Katie Schlichting, Day-Of Wedding Coordinator
Sleepy Hollow Country Club — sleepyhollowcc.org
