The Bride Wore a Custom Pink Hayley Paige Gown For Her Romantic New York City Wedding

This one begins on the high seas with a truly meant-to-be moment.

Content creator Rachel Martino was on a Disney cruise when fate intervened. Rachel was dressed up like Ariel from The Little Mermaid when she first laid eyes on her future husband Leo…who just so happened to be dressed as Prince Eric!

And as photographer Mary Costa says: “The rest is history!”

Their fairytale New York City wedding day was whimsically romantic – think rich red + pink Valentine-worthy colors, stunning skyline views, and a breathtaking custom blush pink wedding gown by Hayley Paige.

“Our inspiration for our wedding day was Old Hollywood glam meets kitschy New York City romance,” bride Rachel shares. Planner Ani Wolf helped to orchestrate the playful-yet-meaningful day and pack it full of wow moment after wow moment including a motorcycle, a bride-pops-out-of-a-giant-cake surprise, and a classic yellow checkered NYC taxi cab.

“When we initially got engaged we considered doing a destination wedding and toured some incredible venues in the south of France,” Rachel says. “After much reflection we ended up realizing we wanted to tie the knot in the city we love, where our love story really blossomed: New York City.” 

The day’s weather made for some unforgettable stories. The skyscrapers of NYC were the perfect scenery. And the happy couple + their guests filled Sound River Studios with so much love.

“We are both creative and wanted to incorporate lots of personal elements into our vision for the wedding,” bride Rachel says. “Leo is an incredibly talented digital artist and throughout our relationship we’ve created dozens of recreations of classic and modern films from Grease to The Little Mermaid to La La Land. For our save the dates and wedding invites we created original art inspired by vintage films and had all of our movie posters displayed at the entrance to our venue. We also used the 12 movie posters as escort cards and table “numbers” for our guests.”

The couple used Minted (one of our faves!) to make their custom paper goods a reality. (Our list of the best save the dates from Minted is definitely worth checking out if you’re in the early phases of the planning process!)

“As a fashion and lifestyle content creator, picking out my wedding looks was one of the most daunting but exciting parts of the planning process,” Rachels shares. “I tried on probably 50 dresses but struggled to find something that truly felt me.”

“On a whim I sent a cold DM to my favorite designer who was recently back in the bridal game after years long battle for her name and likeness, *the* Hayley Paige. I asked her if she would be open to working together to design the dream dress I had in mind and to my eternal joy she said YES!”

“We met up in Palm Beach and I told her my vision: a sweetheart strapless ballgown with a fitted  basque waist top and large scale floral appliqué bottom, and most important in a beautiful soft blush pink. We sat together and she sketched out the vision and refined the design into my dream dress and matching veil.”

“The dress is now part of Hayley’s bridal collection and sold in both blush and ivory as “The Rachel”. It brings me so much joy knowing that other brides will wear this special dress I dreamed up on their big day.”

A long hair bridal hairstyle from Ally Nicole made wavy magic with Rachel’s long gorgeous locks, and this beautiful blush-glam wedding makeup look was created by Alex Rutkovskiy for Charlotte Tilbury.

“All my jewelry and hair pieces were by my friend and Greenpoint neighbor Jennifer Behr,” Rachel shares (those wedding earrings 😍). “It was a joy to work with her on each look from engagement party to bridal shower to after party look, meticulously picking each piece. Jennifer and her team are so lovely, and I was so grateful to have her eye and expertise choosing my wedding jewelry.”

Leo’s Suitsupply tuxedo look (with alterations by LG Project) was pure timeless class.

The Ceremony

“For our venue, we chose Sound River Studios in Long Island City because it has the most magical view of the city,” Rachel remembers. “Here you can opt to have the ceremony on the LIC Pier with sweeping views of Manhattan right on the waterfront. Guests arrived via water taxi after a cruise around the East River as both a nod to our meet-cute on a cruise and as a fun way to get a tour of our favorite city in the world enjoying champagne and live music covers of our favorite songs.”

“For our floral design I went with the amazing Michelle of Wild Floral Designs who absolutely killed it,” says Rachel of the day’s ultra-romantic blooms. “She understood my vision and executed it perfectly. We went with red and pink for bold, romantic and whimsical. Michelle and her team worked so hard to create the vision and I’m forever grateful.”

“Leo rode up on his beloved motorcycle to “Danger Zone” in a leather jacket and sunglasses,” says Rachel of her hubby’s action-star-worthy ceremony arrival. “His friend met him at the end of the aisle with his tuxedo jacket and popped a breath mint into his mouth. Leo is such a fun loving, theatrical character, so I really wanted him to have a joyful and memorable entrance.”

OBSESSED with Rachel’s timeless oval cut engagement ring! Also — loving the light pink bridal simplicity of her wedding nails.

“My entrance was in a vintage yellow taxi cab from The Checker Cab to “Here Comes the Sun” on guitar by the Beatles,” Rachel recalls. “My dad opened the cab door and walked me down the aisle, which was so special.”

Our Musical Choices
Processional
Officiant entrance (bride’s best friend, Noelle downing) “Father Figure” George Michael || Leo’s Entrance on the motorcycle “Danger Zone” from Top Gun by Kenny Loggins || Bride entrance via vintage taxi cab “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles
Recessional
“Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon
First Dance
“Love Song” by Elton John played by Father of the Bride on piano

“We decided against a traditional wedding party,” remarks the couple, “but had our closest friends seated together in shades of red and pink.”

Rachel’s bestie and fellow content creator Noelle Downing was there in a gorgeous double breasted pink suit to officiate the happy couple’s I Do’s.

“That afternoon it had been pouring rain and only stopped for about an hour wherein we were able to have the ceremony as planned outdoors,” Rachel remembers.

“We kept the ceremony short and sweet. As we were reading our own vows and Leo slid the ring on my finger, it started to drizzle.”

“We made our exit to “Shut up and Dance”, one of our favorite songs that we danced to on the cruise back when we first met.”

Our Favorite Memory
When looking for a wedding venue I really wanted to do an outdoor ceremony with views of the New York City skyline. I didn’t have a specific day in mind so I simply googled “least likely day to rain in NYC” which brought us to choosing September 6. It hasn’t rained on this day in over a decade. The morning had perfectly clear sunny skies, but as the afternoon went on, big clouds started rolling in. About two hours before the ceremony it started pouring - not just raining, but pouring buckets from the sky. I had put so much thought and planning into an outdoor ceremony with fun entrances for both Leo and I and I was so sad to see my plans were doused by rain. Our first look was set to be on the rooftop of the Arlo, but of course with the rain it wasn’t possible so we shifted to our hotel suite for the location. Leo comforted me as I cried watching the rain pour from the floor to ceiling windows. He held me and said, “the sky is crying for us” and calmed my nerves as we embraced. Then, as we looked outside the clouds started to part and the sun just barely peeked through the sky. We were able to have the ceremony outside with just enough of a window of time between storms. It gave a sense of “we did it” to the entire thing that felt so surreal and joyous. Honestly thinking about it every time I want to happy cry. It was kismet. Every movie needs a little drama in the second act! I swear the rain made everyone come together, party harder and cheer louder!

Post-Wedding Portraits

“Since it rained so much on their actual wedding day we did some more portraits a couple days later to capture their home and neighborhood,” photographer Mary Costa recalls of reconvening with the couple post-wedding for these gorgeous portraits. “We also got to see the venue with strong golden sunlight which was beautiful!”

Head straight to our collection of the most beautiful blush and pink wedding dresses if Rachel’s rosy look has you thinking pink.

If you want so see more beautiful brides in blush pink, this electric Minneapolis celebration, this disco dinner party wedding, this colorful + creative Montana wedding, and this perfectly pink Palm Springs wedding are some of our other favorite examples!

And if these brilliant shots of the Big Apple have you dreaming of your own NYC nuptials, this balloon bouquet elopement, this chic Chinatown restaurant wedding, this candlelit baby’s breath wedding in Brooklyn, and this hip pizza place wedding are some of the best.

It’s important to note: Rachel and Leo’s dog’s name? Taxi 💕🚕🐶

The Reception

“The reception was indoors at Sound River Studios which is a total blank canvas because it’s an old factory converted to an event space. We chose to do long tables for our 75 guests with a pink and white checkered dance floor and blush pink draping throughout,” says Rachel of how the team used furniture from Broadway Party Rentals to create this colorful, celebration-ready space.

Something Vintage decked out the tables with their minimal-yet-romantic modern romance aesthetic decor details.

“On the table we also had a deck of custom playing cards with our custom save the date and invitation art as a takeaway gift,” the bride says of the day’s wedding favors.

We’re Hayley Paige mega-fans here at GWS — we ran an in-depth interview with Hayley Paige when she made her return to bridal design world in 2025 — so we’re tickled pink by Rachel’s custom blush gown.

“The dance floor was popping all night with an eclectic mix of music from Great Family Artists,” Rachel says. “They absolutely nailed it with the playlist! We also chose to do a hybrid package with live saxophone players which brought so much, fun infectious energy to the night.”

We’ve got wedding guest attire style guides for every possible dress code, season, and scenario that you need to explore if you’re as fashion-forward as Rachel + Leo’s stylish guest list was!

“We hired one of my favorite sketch artists, Deanna First, to create custom illustrations to take home in gold frames,” Rachel recalls of the unforgettably way the celebration immortalized each guests’ looks.

“For dinner it was really important to me to have food that was not only super delicious but very down to earth and unpretentious. After many tastings with overly manicured plates and small portions, we fell in love with Zoe Deleu Catering. We decided on family style dining with the best damn chicken I’ve ever tasted along with fresh heirloom tomato salad, grilled salmon, lemon pesto pasta, buttery mashed potatoes and green beans. To this day, one of the absolute best meals I’ve ever had in my life!”

“After dinner I changed into my second dress, custom created from my mom’s 1982 wedding dress with the LG Project,” says the bride of this sentimental style choice. “Incorporating her gown into my wedding day wardrobe was so special to me. Her original dress was so beautiful with beading, buttons down the back and off the shoulder puff sleeves. With Lauren, we redesigned the dress, creating a more fitted silhouette and preserving the sleeves by making them into two beautiful handbags, one for me and one for my mom.”

“Paying homage to her gown and my parents 43 year marriage was one of my favorite elements of the night.”

“For the cake cutting I had a surprise for everyone, including my new husband,” Rachel admits. “Secretly I reached out to my neighbor and friend, Matt Weir who is a prop artist for tv and film and he created a custom three tier prop cake for me to pop out of! It has been a dream of mine to pop out of a cake ever since I saw Singing in the Rain as a kid. And I figured what a perfect opportunity to use my free will!”

“I had the dj play “Diamonds are a Girl’s best friend” as they wheeled out the life size cake and I popped out of the top then jumped out with help from the boys in the band.”

“Leo and all the guests were totally shocked and it was one of my favorite moments of the night,” Rachel adds. “I can’t believe I pulled it off, and the look on Leo’s face will forever be in my memory.”

“This was also my third outfit dress reveal- a short and sparkly dress complete with sheer, rhinestoned bridal gloves, a bold red lip and white platform wedding heels!”

“My afterparty party dress needed to be a showstopper and I knew I wanted something short, sparkly and fun. I found Rosie Etienne, a bridal house based in the UK and fell in love with the “Faith” dress covered in sparkles and mini pearls with a corset back. We modified it slightly and I wore it with sheer rhinestone gloves and white platform pumps by Loeffer Randall.”  

“Then we cut the real cake (on which the fake cake was based): a retro inspired three tier cake with red cherries and a vintage cake topper.”

“The cake was not only beautiful but so delicious – vanilla sponge cake with champagne soaked raspberry and vanilla icing by Sweet Witchery. I am obsessed with Elsie and all her cakes!”

Our Advice
Do it YOUR WAY! You will get inundated by other people’s opinions for your wedding day, but my biggest advice would be to follow your own path as a couple to create the wedding that represents you! Our favorite parts of our wedding were untraditional but represented our personalities and our love story. From Leo’s motorcycle entrance to my over the top theatrical cake pop, finding fun elements that feel personal are what make a wedding so memorable and unique to the couple, so GO FOR IT! Remember above all else, it’s your day, do it your way. 

“For our getaway, we rode off on Leo’s motorcycle,” Rachel remembers, “and we ended the night with impromptu drinks and dancing at The Whiskey Brooklyn in Williamsburg before crashing around 4am in our room at The Arlo Williamsburg.”

Congratulations, Rachel + Leo! Your glam + kitschy NYC wedding day was pure pink + red romance. Not sure we’ll ever get over that GORG Hayley Paige gown. So happy for you both. All the best from GWS!