New York Times Featured Wedding: Stewart House in Athens, NY

Guests entered the 1877 Prayer House and chose one of 40 varieties of flowers, asking: What flower feels like you to you? The number honored Yazmany’s sister, who died at 40 years old. Later, each guest placed their flower into a garden wall, creating the altar/backdrop for the ceremony in real time.

As Yazmany and Danny processed down the aisle, everyone in attendance sang “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, the first song Danny learned on guitar when Yazmany and Danny started dating. The ceremony borrowed from the Catholic structure, including the sign of peace and the idea of Eucharist as “giving thanks”, but transformed it into a collective act of beauty, grief, gratitude, and chosen family. The ceremony took place in a decommissioned church in Athens, NY, offered by local owners Carol and Todd. Yazmany transformed it with fabric, lighting, flowers, and a vertical garden wall.

After their first kiss as a married couple, the doors opened and a 10-piece mariachi began playing. Guests paraded through Athens with ribbons, bucket hats, and music in a cinematic rain-mist atmosphere, ending at the Riverfront Park.

Yazmany and Danny wore Givenchy, Comme des Garçons, Alexander McQueen, and Fendi. The fashion was not decoratoin - it carried character, memory, theatricality, and transformation. Danny’s mother sewed the ceremony programs. Yazmany made visual vows inspired by Fun Home and Kimberly Akimbo, honoring Danny’s Broadway work and the couple’s shared visual language.

Guests received bucket hats embroidered with hearts. The hats became a symbol of self-acceptance: this feels like me to me. Yazmany’s sister’s absence was present throughout. The ceremony gave people space to cry, laugh, remember, and celebrate. The emotional pitch was not polished perfection - it was human, layered, and alive.

Lois from The Stewart House had the original vision: marry at the church, parade through town, gather at the river. The wedding became a small village’s love offering.