’70s Disco-Glam Vibes Filled This Wedding at The Jane Hotel in New York City
“As queer people, we don’t often see ourselves represented in the stereotypical wedding aesthetic. It didn’t feel ‘us’ to try and force that vibe for our wedding,” say Max Aboody (33, a residential interior designer) and Eric Brodzinski (33, a product designer) of their October 9, 2022, celebration. Instead, Max and Eric planned a 1970s disco-glam theme to set the scene when they tied the knot at sunset atop the roof of The Jane Hotel in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The couple wanted the day “to feel fantastical and to take advantage of the opportunity to throw a wild party.”
Max and Eric got engaged in Tel Aviv while attending their friends’ wedding. Max popped the question on a morning stroll along the Mediterranean, with surfers nearby cheering them on. After returning from their trip, Max and Eric got to work planning their own “I dos” by choosing their venue. Although they didn’t know it when they first booked The Jane Hotel, the duo later learned that the property’s penthouse was actually RuPaul’s old apartment in the 1980s. “It felt cool to get married in a space with so much queer history behind it,” the couple says. The Jane’s building also housed the Titanic survivors. “It has a lot of great history in general. We had our reception downstairs in the ballroom, which is super ornate and fit our ’70s theme perfectly. There was an oversized five-foot disco ball in the middle of the room that’s missing some of its mosaics, which gave it a ton of character.” Max and Eric communicated their vision for disco vibes in their invitation and wedding website, both of which they designed themselves (both are professional designers).
“The invitation design was a psychedelic, hypnotizing spiral of text that you had to rotate to read,” says Max. “Our playful site included an ‘attire mood board,’ RSVP, other essential info about the event and a spinning disco ball that moved as you interacted with the site.” The couple shared a mood board instead of a rigid dress code because they wanted guests to come in ’70s-inspired glam attire and to remind them it wasn’t a costume party. “The event was to be a glamorous nod to ’70s disco and queer and sexual liberation. It was important for us to show many options for color, silhouettes and body types to make it as inclusive as possible. We wanted everyone to feel their most fabulous selves.”
In keeping with their shared mission to create an inclusive celebration, Max and Eric decided against having a wedding party, which they thought felt was exclusionary. “To be honest, we’re not fans of the conventional wedding traditions, as they’re not very queer-friendly,” they explain. “We just wanted to be surrounded by our loved ones. It was very important to us that we keep conventional wedding culture out of our celebration.” The couple goes on to say that “it was important for us to commemorate the previous generations of the queer community who fought for our right to get married. We made a point to have our officiant acknowledge this in our ceremony and touched upon it in our vows.
Any couple that’s going to hone in on disco as a theme needs to remember that impeccably curated music selections are a must. And Max and Eric nailed it. To start the ceremony, the couple walked hand in hand down the aisle to “I Was Born to Love You,” by Freddie Mercury. “We went to Mexico earlier in the year and saw a cabaret singer perform that song and immediately knew we wanted it as our wedding song,” says Eric. “We asked our officiant to encourage guests to stand and cheer as we walked down the aisle. We wanted it to feel celebratory.” For the recessional, they played “You’re My Best Friend,” by Queen.
From there, guests transitioned to the cocktail hour with—you guessed it—more disco beats. “We played Diana Ross, Chic, Donna Summer. It was a vibe,” says the couple. During cocktail hour, guests noshed on a raw bar, paella and assorted hors d’oeuvres. As for drinks, the pair “designed a custom cocktail menu with campy names to fit our queer ’70s disco theme.” Each drink got its own creative moniker: The Polyester Top, The Bell Bottom, The Prickly Kiss and Carpet in the Bathroom. Plus, a tray of Jell-O shots made the rounds throughout the evening.
To keep the atmosphere festive and relaxed, Max and Eric skipped a sit-down dinner. “We wanted the night to feel like a big party where everyone would be able to mingle. We had a floating dinner that was passed throughout the night: short ribs over polenta, cod over autumn vegetables and saffron pasta dishes.”
Since guests mixed and mingled all night long, they interacted not only with the couple’s drag-queen DJ, but also with a few surprise entertainers: a Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand impersonator, plus a favorite drag queen, Thorgy Thor. Fittingly, since The Jane once housed Titanic survivors, the latter performed Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” “When we first started dating, we frequented a gay bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, called This N’ That, where Thorgy would always host and perform,” says the couple. “A few years later, she ended up on RuPaul’s Drag Race and continues to be one of our favorite queens. So it felt special to tie her into our night. We told her to surprise us with the song she’d perform to, and it was perfect. She knew we loved Celine Dion.”
Looking back on the wedding, Eric says how meaningful it was to have people from disparate parts of his and Max’s lives all together in one place. “I grew up in the Midwest, went to college in the South and then moved to NYC. It felt special to see all of these circles intertwine.” Eric goes on to share that he was “disowned by my very religious immediate family when I was younger, and they weren’t at the wedding. All of the different people we had at the wedding have supported me throughout the years and are the reason I’m here today. Seeing them all in one room dancing, laughing and enmeshing into one big happy group was a healing moment for me. I’m so grateful for all of them.”
Experiencing that love and sense of community at the wedding informed the advice Eric has for other to-be-weds: “Get weird with it. Have fun, make it authentic to who you are.” The couple emphasizes that this is a once-in-a-lifetime event so it deserves to be unique. They encourage to-be-weds who value tradition to be mindful of loved ones who might not feel included in standard wedding routines. You can make small changes where possible so everyone feels comfortable. “Having authenticity in all aspects of the day really made our wedding feel special.”