Jan 30, 2025
Wedding Season Q&A with Angela Lanaris Brandt
Jan 30, 2025
Wedding Season Q&A with Angela Lanaris Brandt
Over the years we've been honored to see many brides wearing Intentionally Blank on their wedding day. Recently, we had the pleasure of collaborating with Hudson-based photographer, Autumn Jordan and Brooklyn-based bride Angela Lanaris Brandt to capture an intimate look at Angela's upstate New York wedding where she wore iconic Intentionally Blank styles on her big day.We asked Angela to share some details about her wedding and her love story, advice for how to stay sane while planning the biggest day of your life and how when you know, you know. Bride: Angela Lanaris Brandt @angelalanarisbrandtGroom: Steven Brandt @sbrandt55Where do you live? Brooklyn, New YorkWhat do you and your hubby do for work? Steven is a paralegal for a law firm and I work as a model, actor and content producer!Where did you get married? We actually had two weddings this year! June 29th in Hawaii where I'm from with just family and close friends and a bigger wedding in upstate New York where Steven is from!
In a few words describe your wedding vibe: Minimalistic, classic, simple, intentionalTell us about the dress: My ceremony dress was a strapless, Jenny Yoo ball gown. I paired it with gloves and very simple hair and makeup---it felt very Audrey Hepburn/Princess Diaries esque. My reception dress was a simple silk dress from Jenny Yoo as well! Give us a few details/stories about planning the wedding, any special rituals or details that were incorporated, noteable events, etc: Planning my wedding was an absolute JOURNEY this year, and was often times a very isolating and lonely experience, especially being one of the first of my friends to get married. It was SO stressful but equally so fulfilling + fun! I LOVE to plan so a lot of it came really natural to me. My absolute favorite detail of my wedding was my seating chart! I spent hours collecting individual photos of Steven and I with our guests and wrote individual letters on the back for them to take home as a wedding favor. I printed them in black and white and made them look like old polaroid photos. It was such a fun and cool way to honor everyone who was in attendance, and show our appreciation for their impact in our lives. Our guests loved it and all the hard work was SO worth it. I also loved that Steven wore white. It felt like a really lovely way to both share the spotlight and feel celebrated! And my last detail I adored that we came up with a week before the wedding was handing out our vows for guests to read prior to our ceremony. It was such a great way to honor our Hawaii wedding (and also gave Steven an opt out of reciting our vows again....he hates public speaking so it was the perfect compromise).
How long have you guys been together? Our 5 year anniversary was the day after we got back from our honey moon!How did you guys meet? We were each other's work crushes for 6 months at Equinox! Steven worked at the front desk while he was in law school and I worked as the receptionist of the spa.What are your favorite things to do together? We love going to the movies, cooking together and traveling!Do you have any advice for brides when it comes to planning a wedding? Keep a running to-do list on the notes app on your phone! Whenever something comes to mind, jot it down there. It was a game changer with staying organized because you are CONSTANTLY thinking of new to-do's, so it was a great way to brain dump and stay on track. More importantly, befriend women who are also in the process of planning a wedding or who have already gone through it. I made two new friends this year who were also 2024 brides and they were my saving grace whenever I felt myself spiraling. Planning a wedding can oftentimes feel very isolating---you are prepping for this MASSIVE event (in my case, I planned two with NO wedding planner) which requires a lot of your time, resources, finances and energy. You are also undergoing a huge transformation in your personal life. It's a very specific, unique experience, and it's SO essential to have a strong, healthy support system to make it through alive. After this year, I honestly will never look at another bride the same way again. If you have someone in your life getting married, check in on them. Just a simple "how are you" or "is there anything I can do to help" text can go A LONG way. Oh, and if you have the means, THERAPY! Weddings can trigger a lot within your personal life and relationships, and I think it's SO beneficial to sort everything out with a professional who is completely unbiased. Lean into everything that comes up, and use your wedding year as an opportunity for growth and as a means to get to know yourself better. I've had to tap into a lot of subconscious beliefs around being seen, receiving support and learning how to vocalize my needs and boundaries to the people in my life in a way that's loving, but firm. It's been a JOURNEY!
Which IB shoes did you wear for wedding festivities and with what? Why did you choose them? I ended up wearing the Kifton Leather Heels ALL night. They were SO unbelievably comfortable, to the point where I honestly forgot I was wearing heels (which says a lot as someone who typically hates wearing heels because it reminds me of work)We love LOVE! Any words of wisdom about love, relationships, etc? Marry someone who makes you feel safe and gives you the space to be so unapologetically yourself. Every other man I dated prior to Steven, I felt I had to alter or diminish parts of myself to fit into a mold to win their approval or love. When I met Steven, I knew he just loved me as I was. There was nothing I needed to do or say to win his affection, and vice versa. We love each other purely for just existing as ourselves. Love is simple, and it should feel incredibly easy. Of course there is work that goes into it, and compromises that need to be made in order to maintain a long lasting relationship, but it should be the one area of your life that feels stable, safe and secure. They should be your anchor and rock when life gets messy. I always say, if you have to text your friends dissecting every ounce of a man's behavior, he AIN'T THE ONE! Steven never played games with me from the beginning, and I appreciated his honesty and communication from day one SO much. I knew he was my husband after our second date....it really is a "when you know, you know" feeling.
Over the years we've been honored to see many brides wearing Intentionally Blank on their wedding day. Recently, we had the pleasure of collaborating with Hudson-based photographer, Autumn Jordan and Brooklyn-based bride Angela Lanaris Brandt to capture an intimate look at Angela's upstate New York wedding where she wore iconic Intentionally Blank styles on her big day.We asked Angela to share some details about her wedding and her love story, advice for how to stay sane while planning the biggest day of your life and how when you know, you know. Bride: Angela Lanaris Brandt @angelalanarisbrandtGroom: Steven Brandt @sbrandt55Where do you live? Brooklyn, New YorkWhat do you and your hubby do for work? Steven is a paralegal for a law firm and I work as a model, actor and content producer!Where did you get married? We actually had two weddings this year! June 29th in Hawaii where I'm from with just family and close friends and a bigger wedding in upstate New York where Steven is from!
In a few words describe your wedding vibe: Minimalistic, classic, simple, intentionalTell us about the dress: My ceremony dress was a strapless, Jenny Yoo ball gown. I paired it with gloves and very simple hair and makeup---it felt very Audrey Hepburn/Princess Diaries esque. My reception dress was a simple silk dress from Jenny Yoo as well! Give us a few details/stories about planning the wedding, any special rituals or details that were incorporated, noteable events, etc: Planning my wedding was an absolute JOURNEY this year, and was often times a very isolating and lonely experience, especially being one of the first of my friends to get married. It was SO stressful but equally so fulfilling + fun! I LOVE to plan so a lot of it came really natural to me. My absolute favorite detail of my wedding was my seating chart! I spent hours collecting individual photos of Steven and I with our guests and wrote individual letters on the back for them to take home as a wedding favor. I printed them in black and white and made them look like old polaroid photos. It was such a fun and cool way to honor everyone who was in attendance, and show our appreciation for their impact in our lives. Our guests loved it and all the hard work was SO worth it. I also loved that Steven wore white. It felt like a really lovely way to both share the spotlight and feel celebrated! And my last detail I adored that we came up with a week before the wedding was handing out our vows for guests to read prior to our ceremony. It was such a great way to honor our Hawaii wedding (and also gave Steven an opt out of reciting our vows again....he hates public speaking so it was the perfect compromise).
How long have you guys been together? Our 5 year anniversary was the day after we got back from our honey moon!How did you guys meet? We were each other's work crushes for 6 months at Equinox! Steven worked at the front desk while he was in law school and I worked as the receptionist of the spa.What are your favorite things to do together? We love going to the movies, cooking together and traveling!Do you have any advice for brides when it comes to planning a wedding? Keep a running to-do list on the notes app on your phone! Whenever something comes to mind, jot it down there. It was a game changer with staying organized because you are CONSTANTLY thinking of new to-do's, so it was a great way to brain dump and stay on track. More importantly, befriend women who are also in the process of planning a wedding or who have already gone through it. I made two new friends this year who were also 2024 brides and they were my saving grace whenever I felt myself spiraling. Planning a wedding can oftentimes feel very isolating---you are prepping for this MASSIVE event (in my case, I planned two with NO wedding planner) which requires a lot of your time, resources, finances and energy. You are also undergoing a huge transformation in your personal life. It's a very specific, unique experience, and it's SO essential to have a strong, healthy support system to make it through alive. After this year, I honestly will never look at another bride the same way again. If you have someone in your life getting married, check in on them. Just a simple "how are you" or "is there anything I can do to help" text can go A LONG way. Oh, and if you have the means, THERAPY! Weddings can trigger a lot within your personal life and relationships, and I think it's SO beneficial to sort everything out with a professional who is completely unbiased. Lean into everything that comes up, and use your wedding year as an opportunity for growth and as a means to get to know yourself better. I've had to tap into a lot of subconscious beliefs around being seen, receiving support and learning how to vocalize my needs and boundaries to the people in my life in a way that's loving, but firm. It's been a JOURNEY!
Which IB shoes did you wear for wedding festivities and with what? Why did you choose them? I ended up wearing the Kifton Leather Heels ALL night. They were SO unbelievably comfortable, to the point where I honestly forgot I was wearing heels (which says a lot as someone who typically hates wearing heels because it reminds me of work)We love LOVE! Any words of wisdom about love, relationships, etc? Marry someone who makes you feel safe and gives you the space to be so unapologetically yourself. Every other man I dated prior to Steven, I felt I had to alter or diminish parts of myself to fit into a mold to win their approval or love. When I met Steven, I knew he just loved me as I was. There was nothing I needed to do or say to win his affection, and vice versa. We love each other purely for just existing as ourselves. Love is simple, and it should feel incredibly easy. Of course there is work that goes into it, and compromises that need to be made in order to maintain a long lasting relationship, but it should be the one area of your life that feels stable, safe and secure. They should be your anchor and rock when life gets messy. I always say, if you have to text your friends dissecting every ounce of a man's behavior, he AIN'T THE ONE! Steven never played games with me from the beginning, and I appreciated his honesty and communication from day one SO much. I knew he was my husband after our second date....it really is a "when you know, you know" feeling.