The Autumn Wedding By the River During Peak Fall Foliage
On November 2, 2024, Jillian and Joseph Sagsveen celebrated their marriage with 160 of their closest family and friends along the Hudson River at Hutton Brickyards, where sweeping water views, historic architecture, and peak fall foliage created a setting that felt both cinematic and deeply intimate. The day unfolded seamlessly, from heartfelt vows beneath a glowing autumn tree near the Edgewood Mansion to a riverfront reception beneath a clear-tented pavilion, followed by candlelit cocktails, dancing, and a fireside after-party under the stars. Natural textures, soft earth tones, and thoughtful details reflected the couple’s understated style, while emotional speeches, joyful music, and spontaneous moments of celebration filled the evening with warmth and energy. As guests gathered around glowing fire pits late into the night, the atmosphere felt timeless, romantic, and unmistakably personal — a perfect expression of Jillian and Joseph’s love and the spirit of their unforgettable celebration.
Name of Bride and Groom
Jillian and Joseph Sagsveen
Date of Wedding
11/2/2024
Location
Lidgerwood Pavilion, Hutton Hall, and Edgewood Mansion
Number of Guests
160
First Steps
How did you two meet, and how long have you been together before getting married?
We met going into high school through mutual friends. We had two high schools in our district. He went to one, I went to the other. We weren't dating; we were friends for a long time. And then, after college, we reconnected and started dating in 2019. After that, we got engaged - while we were living at the apartment. And then, a year and a half after that, we got married.
Is there a good proposal story?
Her: Yeah. He did a good job.
Him: I had the ring for a couple of weeks and I was trying to figure out the best time to propose and I didn't want to do anything too cliché or staged. So I was waiting for the right time. And then Jillian said she really wanted to go upstate to the house and spend the weekend. I was like, okay, yeah, we'll work from the house, and then hang out for the weekend. So I threw the ring in my backpack and we were driving upstate and Jillian's cousin actually texted us while we were driving up and said, ‘I just had the craziest dream that you guys got engaged.’ And I was like, oh my God, I didn't say anything.
That night, we had the best day after work; we had a good dinner. And then we came home and sat outside under the stars. So I went into the house and grabbed it and put it in my pocket. It was dark enough that she couldn't really see anything. And we were sitting there for an hour talking. We had a fire going. And then finally I asked her.
Did you get down on one knee?
Him: Yeah, I did. We were standing up by the fire and then I got down.
Her: You said, “Come look at the stars.” That's how you got me up! He actually asked me to be his girlfriend in the same spot, too.
Him: It wasn't done on purpose; it just happened to be that way.
Her: I feel like that's exactly how we like to live our lives, too. It's like we have a rough idea of what we like and what we want, but we don't put pressure to make it this grandiose, staged thing. Just nice.
Him: It was an intimate moment between us and we got to share it with our families. But it was funny, it was dark out. We were FaceTiming people. They're like, what? It's like 12:00 AM.
Venue & Planning
Why did you pick Hutton Brickyards?
We wanted to check out places upstate because we loved it up there. We wanted to get married in the fall. It was important for us to have a good scenic place that would have a lot of foliage. But also, more than that, it was a place where we could bring our vision to life and bring everything in — while being able to work with a venue that allows for your own creativity and a lot of vendors to come on site. So that's exactly what Hutton Brickyards afforded us. And when we toured it, we knew right away that that was where we saw our reception and everyone staying on site, too. We wanted our families to be able to sleep there. It was perfect for us.
There was no pressure with booking a weekend with Hutton. A lot of the other places that my friends had looked at, they were like, ‘Well, if you want this weekend, you have to decide right now.’ On the spot. And I feel like Hutton was very nice and they just let us know, ‘When you're ready, let us know the weekend and then we'll put a deposit down and it'll be yours.’
How many people did you have at your wedding?
Around 160 people.
Did your guests stay on the property?
It wasn't all of the 160 people. Close family and whoever was in our wedding got a cabin. I think we had 14 or 15 cabins full. And we stayed at the cottage. A lot of people stayed at the Marriott nearby.
Any activity at Edgewood mansion?
Him: I stayed there the night before. So the day of, I was able to get ready in the bar area with the groomsmen. And we had bagels and all that. And then we got dressed together and had photos up there, which is nice. And then after getting married at the church in town, we came back to the mansion and did a lot of photos there.
But the reception was down by the river. We had the cocktail hour and after-party at Hutton Hall.
Was there a favorite place on the property at all for you?
I liked the cocktail hour and the after-party at Hutton Hall. It gave a lot of character, and it was nice to have everyone near each other because the pavilion was so big that you kind of felt like there weren’t as many people. I think each place serves its own unique [role.]
The mansion was really historic feeling. The cabin's cool. For the after party, there were fire pits ready to go, by the water, by the cabin. That's fun. It was kind of symbolic, too. In a sense, we ended around a campfire with our friends. And we got engaged, just the two of us, under the stars around a campfire. Very connected to the earth and sky.
The wedding was in November. What was the temperature like when you were having that, and was it especially cold or mild?
We were nervous. That was our biggest concern; is it gonna be really cold? We had it wrapped with clear wrap. We had someone come in to do that and we had heaters, but it was actually perfect. During the day, it was the perfect temperature. It felt comfortable wearing a suit jacket. Well, a tuxedo for me… It was definitely colder when we were sitting around the fire. But we got lucky.
Did you have a particular choice of colors or decor or style?
The thing about all of our vendors was that they were able to come together with our vision, which was natural earth tone colors for our space. It was neutrals, natural. The space was so pretty itself that we didn't want to try and distract from it. So lots of creams and a little green, light brown.
Why fall?
It's our favorite time of the year. But also, we were going through each season: winter, we couldn't do in that space because it's more outdoors. Summer gets too hot. And spring was risky with rain. We pictured our vibe of what we wanted; flowery, natural, end-of-year feel to it.
Style and Aesthetics
How would you describe the theme or vibe of your wedding?
✔ Natural
✔ Romantic
✔ Rustic
✔ Whimsical
Vendors and Details
Which vendor (e.g., caterer, photographer, florist) exceeded your expectations the most, and why?
I would say Main Course Catering. They were my favorite. We have dietary restrictions. He's vegan, I'm gluten-free. His family's vegetarian. Someone else was gluten-free. So there were a lot of different things that we were looking for to build our menu. And they were very easily taking all that on and made everything come together and the food was amazing. They also helped us with the rentals for our tables and chairs and everything like that. I don't know what we would've done without them.
Was there a particular dish or drink that stood out?
It was the vegan dish: Semolina Pasta Pappardelle with housemade butternut squash “ricotta,” portobello mushrooms, delicata squash, shallots, fried sage and olive oil. People came up to us and said that was the best vegan dish they've ever had in their life.
How about the music, DJ, or band?
Another vendor that exceeded our expectations was the cocktail hour band and the DJ. For the cocktail hour, we had a two-piece band at Hutton Hall. And the DJ was really great. He got everyone going and kept people dancing. We gave him our vision of what types of songs we wanted and he nailed it. We didn’t want tacky, like Bruno Mars, Sweet Caroline kind of music. It was more like nineties, Blink 182, and remixes of Taylor Swift songs.
What kind of cake did you have?
It was a traditional, classic cake: white with cherries on the sides and top. They were able to make it gluten-free, which you couldn't even tell it was. And then also vegetarian. So they did a really good job with that. All from the same caterer.
Any insights into the dress or tux?
Her: My dress was kind of simple. I wanted to look like myself, just like a little elevated that day. It was a very November, simple, classic, timeless dress.
Him: I was a little nervous with the tuxedo because I thought it would be really simple to go get a tuxedo. And then we went to the largest mall in Long Island and a couple places had really baggy ones. They were like, ‘yeah, this is it. This is all we have.’ I just wanted a simple, traditional black tuxedo. It ended up scaring me a little bit. So I made an appointment at Suit Supply and it looked really nice once you try it on. It fit perfectly and it looked good.
Was there hair or makeup person that you want to mention?
Kerin (@glamgoneviral) was really good. I said I want to look like myself. I don't want too much glam so you don't recognize me. I just want to feel like myself, but elevated. And she was able to do that really well where it didn't look like I had so much makeup on. And her team had really good energy.
The Experience
What moment of the day stands out the most in your memory?
Her: I'd say the church, getting married.
Him: It was the most surreal.
Her: But then we went right down Main Street onto the trolley, which is a funny story, too. We went to Kingston our first year into dating, and his friends rented a house. So we stopped and got dinner and then we were like, wow, we love this town. And I had been to Kingston before, so I kind of knew the area. But then on our way home, it was Halloween weekend, there was this trolley that was decorated for Halloween and it ran through the town. So we went on and that was so fun. Then the next year, we did the same thing and then it became a tradition: when we went to Kingston, we wanted to go on the trolley ride. So when we were getting married up there, we were like, oh, we should reach out to the trolley company and see if we could take pictures on there with our bridal party. So that's what we ended up doing right after. And I feel like that was a lot of fun. We just came off a high of getting married, then you're with your friends and then celebrating with everyone.
His parents actually drove us down in their old Mercedes car with cans on the back — “Just Married.”
Were there any unexpected surprises or particularly emotional moments?
Her: I would say an emotional moment was my dad's speech. It meant a lot to me. [In addition to] the moments between us and doing our vows. We were up by the mansion underneath their big tree that was all like orange for fall. So I'd say those two.
Him: For me, the most emotional was being at the church waiting for Jillian and then being in the back room with my brother and my best friend, the two best men. The build-up.
Is there any advice that you would give other couples who are planning their wedding?
It all pays off [they laugh]. A lot goes into planning, especially when you're bringing all these vendors together and you're trying to figure out who should be booked. You just have to know yourself, know what you guys want, and block out the noise from other people that don't align with what you think is best for you as a couple. And just know that if you do that, then the day of will be so much fun.
Finding the right vendors, too, if you want to do it yourself. And picking their brains about the weddings that they've done. Make sure that they're not missing anything. Doing your research.
To go along with that, when we were interviewing for a photographer, she was the first person to ask us, how did you guys meet? She wanted to know our story and what we saw for our wedding. What were our expectations and if she can go along, if she aligns with that. Which was really eye-opening because a lot of people we talked to before that were just like, here's my pricing, here's what I do. Like, didn't really care that it was gonna be the most important day of our lives. After our meeting with Kelly, I was like, we're gonna go with her. That's the energy I want from each of our vendors. I don't want to feel like they're doing me a favor.
Reflections
What advice would you give to other couples planning their wedding?
Him: Honestly, for me, the venue was perfect for us. It kind of described the type of people we were, very natural and rustic and upstate.
Her: I want them to remember how happy we were and how in love we were at that point. And how excited we were to get married. I think that energy was carried throughout the whole party. I think everyone had a good time and could tell that this is truly who we were as a couple, on display.
The Future
Where did you go or where will you go for your honeymoon?
We went to Thailand the next day. For two weeks.
The Wedding Vendors
Photographer: Kelly Vahos (@Kellyvahosphoto)
Caterer: Main Course Catering, shoutout to Amanda (@maincourse_catering)
Band: Cocktail hour band: silver arrow with Mike (@silverarrowband); Dj: magic moments with MC mike (@magicmomentsnj)
Hair & Makeup: Kerin (@glamgoneviral)
Event Planner: Emily Boziwick (@emilyboziwickevents)
