An intimate backyard setting, pizza and wings, and Converse sneaks - just a few of the sweet, personal touches that made Bari and Zack’s summer wedding even more beautiful. Read on for more, along with gorgeous images by Hannah Rosie Photography!
THE COUPLE: Zack & Bari Sopczyk
Tell us about yourselves!
Zack grew up in Glens Falls and currently works as a project manager for Kamco Supply Co. I (Bari) own two businesses in Glens Falls. Studio Bari was the first - that is the name of the business that I operate under as a nail artist. The second is Studio Elements LLC, which is the home to Studio Bari, along with other local beauty service providers.
Where did you meet?
We met a long time ago! After graduating high school, we both worked for a business in Lake George. Zack worked at the ice cream shop and I worked at the adjoining gift shop! We went on a few dates but since we were both only 18 at the time, we had some more learning to do ;)
We re-connected on Facebook almost 10 years later!
What is something you like to do together?
We love hanging out with friends and family and going out to eat! We’re big foodies :)
What’s a fun fact about you two as a couple?
Hmmm...people always seem to be pretty fascinated by our height. Collectively, we’re almost 13 feet tall!
THE PROPOSAL
Zack proposed at Battlefield Park in Lake George in September 2019! I was very surprised in the moment but I’ll be honest - I was waiting for it all damn summer!
I didn’t give Zack any guidance when it came to picking out my ring. All I told him was I wanted something with color. I was absolutely blown away when I saw it! He was determined to find something with my favorite color blue in it and let me tell you - he succeeded! I’m in love with my Blue Diamond halo style ring.
THE WEDDING - August 29, 2020
The Planning
The most challenging part was deciding what to do for our wedding while going through a global pandemic BUT that led to our favorite part: we loved the intimacy of our small wedding. We decided pretty early on during quarantine to cancel our big wedding. We were on a Zoom call with Zack’s family for Easter (so this was in April) and everyone was joking that we might not get to see each other until Thanksgiving. When we logged off the call, we pretty much looked at each other and made the mutual decision to cancel. It was such a relief making that call and we have no regrets whatsoever!
The Venue
It was tough deciding what to do after cancelling our big wedding. We are so lucky that Zack’s brother and his wife had the perfect space to host our micro wedding at their house right here in Glens Falls!
The Details
EVERYTHING changed after cancelling the big wedding. I went from planning a modern, elegant, romantic wedding to a summery, floral backyard wedding.
Wearing my dress was the best part of the day for me! (Besides marrying the man of my dreams, of course). Ever since I was little, I ALWAYS wanted to wear Cinderella blue. So, like most girls, I always browsed wedding dresses online but always looking for blue. I actually found my dress online a few years before we got engaged (hehe). As soon as I saw it, I knew Zack would love it. So after we got engaged, I did some research and found that Something Bleu Bridal in Saratoga carried the designer! I went and tried it on and INSTANTLY knew it was my dress. Never even tried on any other gowns!
Since we decided to go with an outdoor backyard wedding, I knew I HAD to wear a flower crown! My friend Emily of Epithet Floral, absolutely killed it bringing my Pinterest vision to life for my bouquet and crown!
We had pizza and wings for dinner (that was a hit!) from Angelina’s, and I was so happy that my dear friend Baked by Jordan was still willing to make dessert for us! Our guests loved having a variety of cupcakes to choose from!
And of course, we were so grateful to have our favorite photographer (and one of my best friends) capture our day. Hannah Rosie Photography always delivers!
The Moments
There were three super special moments from the day!
The first was everyone surprising me by wearing Converse! They are my favorite shoe, so I had custom platform Chucks made that said Mrs. Sopczyk on them to wear with my dress. As Zack and I were standing at the altar holding hands, I was looking around and realized ALL 21 PEOPLE at our wedding had converse on! Including our 6 month old niece!
The second surprise was a big group of our friends showing up to say hi after our ceremony! Since we cut our guest list down to immediate family only, it was so special being able to see our friends on our big day, even if it was just for a minute!
The third surprise was also my favorite gift from the wedding. My father-in-law pulled me aside after the ceremony to give me a beautiful gold necklace that belonged to his mother, Zack’s grandmother. I put it on right then and haven’t taken it off since!
The Honeymoon
No honeymoon. Global Pandemic. Blergh.
(Hehe, we plan on doing something once the world opens back up!)
Some Advice…
As the bride, my advice is to delegate! I’m the kind of girl who likes to do everything herself but I’ll admit, I was stressed about everything changing so I chose a few people that I trusted to completely take care of things for me and I’m so glad I did!
Advice to a couple: soak it alllllllll in. Super cliche, but you know how everyone always says “oh it flies by so fast” ? Well, it really does.
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VENDORS:
Venue: Backyard
Food/Catering: Angelina’s Pizzeria
Cake: (and cupcakes) Baked by Jordan
Gown: Claire Pettibone, Something Bleu Bridal
Hair + Makeup: Did it myself
Nails: Studio Bari
Photographer: Hannah Rosie Photo
Florals: Epithet Floral
