In November 2021, fashion stylist Andrew Mukamal contacted registered nurse Connor Bailey on Hinge, and the two had their first date over Thanksgiving weekend at Felice 83 on the Upper East Side. (At the time, both lived just a few blocks from the restaurant.) They began dating soon after and got engaged in Central Park on July 22, 2023.
“After a typical Saturday lunch at The Mark restaurant a few blocks from our apartment on East 76th Street, we walked to the park and drank a bottle of wine on the skating ring behind Sheep’s Meadow. The whole afternoon passed,” Andrew recalls. “We loved the music they played and the people watching. We sat in our usual spot under our favorite tree and when Connor suggested I open a bottle of wine, I reached into my handbag and opened it. I was in tears and said, ‘Yes, of course.’ We kissed each other and to celebrate I opened a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne instead of my usual rose.”
The couple married on August 31, 2024, under a white hydrangea arch created by Julia Testa in front of the sea lion pool at Central Park Zoo. “We knew [from the start] we wanted to get married in New York,” Andrew explains. “We were living there at the time, and our families lived on the East Coast in New York and Florida. We went to Central Park Zoo together many times — we both love animals — we spent time there from the beginning of our relationship.” Countless hours were spent in the park.
The zoo was the second venue the couple considered, and they immediately knew it was the perfect place to celebrate their special day. They began planning in September 2023 and from the start knew exactly how they wanted the night to look and feel. To bring this vision to life, they partnered with Anita Pandian of Morton Street Events. “She planned one of my best friends’ weddings at Blue Mountain at Stone Barns a few years ago, so we knew we were in good hands,” says Andrew.
Andrew and Connor had their hair cut by their friend, stylist Servando Maldonado, in Los Angeles two weeks before the ceremony because they wanted to look older. The day before their wedding, they also got facials from Fabricio Ormonde in New York.
The couple knew they wanted to go black tie, and the dress code for guests was black. As for their looks, they kept it timeless and classic. Connor wore a custom-made Armani tuxedo, while Andrew wore an equally classic Tom Ford tuxedo that his father picked out for him before his death in 2017. “Although he couldn’t be here to celebrate with us, this is the perfect way to honor his memory and have him with me during such a special moment in my life,” Andrew said.
Both grooms chose Manolo Blahnik shoes with the wedding date monogrammed on the inside of the heel. Andrew and Connor’s friends Lorraine Schwartz and her sister Ophira Sandberg were both guests at the wedding and the only jewellery they could imagine entrusting their wedding rings to the designer was the dome-shaped 18-carat gold ring with the couple’s initials and wedding date engraved on the inside.
On the morning of the wedding, both grooms got ready at The Carlyle wearing matching Versace outfits with the wedding date inscribed on the back. After getting ready, they walked from the iconic hotel to Central Park, and stopped at the tree where they said they got engaged in 2023, before heading to the zoo for the ceremony.
Andrew’s close friend Rebecca Gargiulo attended the ceremony. “She’s been my sister since elementary school and we couldn’t imagine a better person to play such an important role,” Andrew said. “She found the perfect balance of seriousness and humor that brought tears to both of our eyes – and all of our guests – as we wrote the vows and read them to each other. If she had worked as a server, if your job wasn’t so important, it would have been like attending our ceremony.”
As the two stood together, Connor felt like the world had stopped — and he tried to keep his tears to a minimum. “Becca was wondering who was going to say the vows first, and luckily I said the vows first,” he said. “I kept taking deep breaths and trying to slow my speech down and get every word out. We obviously hadn’t read each other’s vows, but when she started reading her vows, I noticed it was so similar to what was written. It was like showing how deep our love is, Andrew finally recited his vows after practicing dozens of times for fear of “messing up”: “Finally, we put our feet on the glass — we decided to be Jewish tradition — and finally we got to the best part: the kiss!”
After the ceremony, the newlyweds drink together as husbands in the lounge and reminisce about everything that happened. Then they move on to cocktail hour so they can begin greeting family and friends.
The evening’s dinner was held outside, after which guests danced inside a black tent. For this part of the night, Versace created a “party version” of the classic tuxedo for the groom. “We took inspiration from the fall 2024 collection,” Andrew explained. “They had liquid black sequins. Donatella and her incredible team did a fantastic job and our guests went crazy when we took to the dance floor for our first dance after dinner.”
Just before the couple’s final dance, the newlyweds changed into their final farewell dresses for the after-party at private club The Nines. “Olivier at Balmain offered to create something special for our big night and he created the most incredible and heavily embroidered bomber jacket,” says Andrew. “Mr Rousteing has really outdone himself – our guests were stunned! The jacket features our favourite animal at the zoo, the snow leopard, as well as an old Central Park Zoo logo, our names and our wedding date – of course it’s a painting.”
