So we had our church, our photographer, and our reception hall. Now we needed to find someone to actually make it a party!
John and I felt that a DJ, rather than a band, would be the way to go for our wedding. We both felt strongly that we wanted our first-dance song, whatever it would end up being, to be sung by the original artist, not by a random person in a wedding band. I also asked my friends their opinion on the matter, and my matron of honor (then just a "maid" of honor since she was still 8 months away from her own wedding day), Paige, said that a friend of hers had a band at her wedding but it was a little restrictive, as the band could obviously only fulfill requests if the request was already part of their repertoire!
But sometimes DJs, like wedding photographers, can be so cheesy. Sometimes they try to make themselves into some sort of celebrity for the night and let their personality get in the way of everyone's fun. They might completely ignore your requests for songs that are "must plays" and "do not plays," and maybe also ignore songs that you specifically wanted for the reception "events," such as the grand entrance or cake cutting.
So how would we find a good DJ?
When we booked Grand Marquis, they gave us a list of vendors that they often work with. They made it a point to verbally recommend Dash of Class to us, and said that they are so excellent, the Grand Marquis pretty much considers them their "house DJ's." I thought the name looked familiar, and I realized that Dash of Class was also on the "recommended vendors" list given to us by The Palace! With our two favorite reception halls both strongly recommending them, we figured we might as well give them a shot!
I called the number on the sheet and spoke to Vito, one of the owners of the company. He told me that Dash of Class was holding a showcase at a reception hall in Freehold and that we were welcome to swing by and check it out. John and I met my parents there and we were led to an office on the 2nd floor, where we met Vito. We liked him right away, and he explained his philosophy of making a wedding into a great party: play the easy-to-dance-to stuff early in the night so that the older crowd gets out on the floor right away, and then play the faster stuff later when younger crowd is adequately fueled by alcohol to take over! He asked us about our general musical tastes and what we would like to hear at the wedding, and more importantly, what we would NOT like to hear at the wedding. Vito also showed us video clips and photos from previous weddings he had done, and he explained that we could make a bunch of upgrades to our package, including lighting setups, video shown on plasma screens, and more. He impressed all four of us.
And, in true Lisa fashion, we booked him a few days later, ha ha. Vito was the only DJ we interviewed.
Ironically, a few days before the wedding, I learned that Vito would not be able to DJ at our wedding due to a last minute emergency. So who would keep us rockin' all night long? Stay tuned to find out!
Click to read more!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Picture perfect
By mid December we had the two most important decisions regarding the wedding answered: where and when? Then it was time to start officially recruiting members of "Team Lisa & John" as we began the search for the perfect wedding vendors.
When I returned to the US after grad school, my first job was as a retoucher and production assistant for a high-volume wedding photography studio in Wall, NJ. However, working for the photographer made me more aware of what I hated about wedding photos, instead of what I liked about them. I hated cheesy, posed portraits and I despised that cliche shot of the bridesmaids' bouquets laid around the bride's train. In general I found myself more drawn to a documentary style, and I appreciated shots that were a bit outside the box. I was determined to find someone who was less of a "wedding photographer" and more of an "artist."
I turned, once again, to the pages of NJ Bride magazine and searched for local vendors on theknot.com, but didn't really find anything that struck my fancy right away.
At the time, I was working in the corporate office of a chain of gifts and occasions stores, and around the holidays the corporate employees always lent a hand in the field by actually working in the stores during those high-traffic and high-stress times. When I showed the girls in the Middletown store my ring and told them about our wedding plans, one of the girls, Kate, told me "You HAVE to look at my wedding photographer's website, he was amazing!" She directed me to www.jefftismanphotography.com.
I was pretty much blown away by his online portfolio and accompanying blog. Jeff had a really unique style and reading his online bio helped me understand how his style came to be: he came from a background in rock 'n' roll photography. Now this was an exciting prospect! I was pretty certain Jeff wouldn't be subjecting me to any cheesy bouquet shots!
When I went home that night I excitedly showed John the website, and he agreed that the pictures were awesome. So, the next day I emailed Jeff and requested a meeting, mentioning that my co-worker Kate had recommended him to me. Jeff responded within only a few hours and we set up an appointment for the following weekend.
Within a few minutes of sitting down with Jeff in his studio, I knew we were going to be hiring him for the wedding. He was very chill and laid back, and the samples of not only wedding photos, but also dog photos and baby photos, in his studio were beautiful. In fact, we liked him so much that we may very well have switched our wedding date if he ended up being unavailable on 5-9-09, ha ha! But luckily we were still a year and a half away from the day, and although Jeff did already have many 2009 dates booked at that point, ours wasn't one of them. (Yet!)
What I found amusing, though, was just how much my mind had been warped by working for a cheesy wedding photographer for so long. I retouched over 400 photos of brides a day for almost a year, with nearly all of them posing in front of trees and flowering bushes or other "wedding-appropriate" backgrounds (the beach, sunsets, a lake, you name it). So when I mentioned to Jeff that the ceremony would be up at Rutgers University and that they supposedly had a beautiful botanical garden with flowering dogwood trees, he winced. He said to me "The thing is, when you stand in front of a tree or some flowers, those trees and flowers could be anywhere. Rutgers has so many cool backgrounds, everything from great stone walls to old iron gates, that would be more unique and make a more interesting shot." And it was like, I finally saw the light!
John and I took a copy of Jeff's contract with us when we went home, and I probably said something about "having to think about it" or perhaps "we have other photographers to interview" or whatever, but they would have been lies. We were so excited on the ride home, I immediately got on the phone and told my dad "We found our wedding photographer!" The contract and deposit were in the mail within days.
Now, perhaps you are thinking to yourself while reading this blog, "Gee, Lisa, what gives? You only look at one church and then book it. You only look at three reception halls and then book one. You only interview one photographer and then book him. What's the rush?" The thing is, sometimes you just KNOW when something is right. I used that same instinct for every single vendor we hired, and we ended up with as close to a "perfect" wedding as we possibly could have hoped for. We also used our most trusted vendors' recommendations for other vendors, which proved to be invaluable as well. Through Jeff, we found our florist and videographer. Through the Grand Marquis, we found our DJ. But those are stories for another time! Click to read more!
When I returned to the US after grad school, my first job was as a retoucher and production assistant for a high-volume wedding photography studio in Wall, NJ. However, working for the photographer made me more aware of what I hated about wedding photos, instead of what I liked about them. I hated cheesy, posed portraits and I despised that cliche shot of the bridesmaids' bouquets laid around the bride's train. In general I found myself more drawn to a documentary style, and I appreciated shots that were a bit outside the box. I was determined to find someone who was less of a "wedding photographer" and more of an "artist."
I turned, once again, to the pages of NJ Bride magazine and searched for local vendors on theknot.com, but didn't really find anything that struck my fancy right away.
At the time, I was working in the corporate office of a chain of gifts and occasions stores, and around the holidays the corporate employees always lent a hand in the field by actually working in the stores during those high-traffic and high-stress times. When I showed the girls in the Middletown store my ring and told them about our wedding plans, one of the girls, Kate, told me "You HAVE to look at my wedding photographer's website, he was amazing!" She directed me to www.jefftismanphotography.com.
I was pretty much blown away by his online portfolio and accompanying blog. Jeff had a really unique style and reading his online bio helped me understand how his style came to be: he came from a background in rock 'n' roll photography. Now this was an exciting prospect! I was pretty certain Jeff wouldn't be subjecting me to any cheesy bouquet shots!
When I went home that night I excitedly showed John the website, and he agreed that the pictures were awesome. So, the next day I emailed Jeff and requested a meeting, mentioning that my co-worker Kate had recommended him to me. Jeff responded within only a few hours and we set up an appointment for the following weekend.
Within a few minutes of sitting down with Jeff in his studio, I knew we were going to be hiring him for the wedding. He was very chill and laid back, and the samples of not only wedding photos, but also dog photos and baby photos, in his studio were beautiful. In fact, we liked him so much that we may very well have switched our wedding date if he ended up being unavailable on 5-9-09, ha ha! But luckily we were still a year and a half away from the day, and although Jeff did already have many 2009 dates booked at that point, ours wasn't one of them. (Yet!)
What I found amusing, though, was just how much my mind had been warped by working for a cheesy wedding photographer for so long. I retouched over 400 photos of brides a day for almost a year, with nearly all of them posing in front of trees and flowering bushes or other "wedding-appropriate" backgrounds (the beach, sunsets, a lake, you name it). So when I mentioned to Jeff that the ceremony would be up at Rutgers University and that they supposedly had a beautiful botanical garden with flowering dogwood trees, he winced. He said to me "The thing is, when you stand in front of a tree or some flowers, those trees and flowers could be anywhere. Rutgers has so many cool backgrounds, everything from great stone walls to old iron gates, that would be more unique and make a more interesting shot." And it was like, I finally saw the light!
John and I took a copy of Jeff's contract with us when we went home, and I probably said something about "having to think about it" or perhaps "we have other photographers to interview" or whatever, but they would have been lies. We were so excited on the ride home, I immediately got on the phone and told my dad "We found our wedding photographer!" The contract and deposit were in the mail within days.
Now, perhaps you are thinking to yourself while reading this blog, "Gee, Lisa, what gives? You only look at one church and then book it. You only look at three reception halls and then book one. You only interview one photographer and then book him. What's the rush?" The thing is, sometimes you just KNOW when something is right. I used that same instinct for every single vendor we hired, and we ended up with as close to a "perfect" wedding as we possibly could have hoped for. We also used our most trusted vendors' recommendations for other vendors, which proved to be invaluable as well. Through Jeff, we found our florist and videographer. Through the Grand Marquis, we found our DJ. But those are stories for another time! Click to read more!
Friday, May 29, 2009
It's time to PARTY!
So with our ceremony location locked, it was time to decide where the party would be held! Again, I turned to the pages of NJ Bride and made a list of a dozen or so venues that looked beautiful or that were well-reviewed, and I also listed a few venues that friends and family recommended. But then I had to start crossing venues off of my list almost as quickly as I added them, for logistics had to prevail. Some venues were just much too far away from our New Brunswick ceremony location to be realistic options.
In the end, we narrowed our list down to only five venues: Battleground Country Club in Manalapan, Grand Marquis in Old Bridge, The Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset (duh), The Imperia in Somerset, and The Heldrich in New Brunswick.
Battleground Country Club was the first stop on our list.
Overall we weren't terribly impressed by the menu, by the pricing, by the decor, or by the customer service we received at Battleground. Admittedly the views of the golf course were quite nice, but as I pointed out to John and to my parents, in May it would be getting dark between 7-8pm, so choosing a venue based on a view that you would only get to see for 2 hours is kind of silly. We decided to move on.
We stopped at Grand Marquis a few hours later.
Now this was more like it! We were impressed the second we walked into the lobby. Everything just seemed so much more elegant and contemporary than at Battleground. We met with Joe, who explained that Grand Marquis had two large ballrooms: the Dome Room (the smaller room for parties of 100-200 people) and the Marquis Room (the larger room for 200+ guest affairs). They almost always do have two weddings going on at the same time, but the hall itself was constructed in such a way that we would never see the other party while we were there. He also handed out copies of the different menu options.... wow, that's all I have to say. Our mouths were watering just reading about the different choices!
Then he showed us the Dome Room:
So pretty!! The black dance floor was so eye catching and much nicer looking than the typical fold-out parquet floors you see at reception halls, and the dome was just spectacular. Plus, my parents are huge fans of oval-shaped tables at weddings, as opposed to circular ones; they feel that conversations are generally much easier to have at oval tables. Needless to say, we were all abuzz with excitement as we left the Grand Marquis and we wondered if any of our other contenders would hold a candle to it.
About a week later, we had back-to-back-to-back appointments at the remaining three venues. Our first stop was The Palace at Somerset Park, and it was most certainly impressive!
The word "grand" doesn't even begin to describe this place. It is totally opulent, indulgent, and completely over-the-top, in a good way of course! It was featured on WE's "Platinum Weddings" show, though, so I was naturally worried that the price tag could give Dad a heart attack.
And I was right. Although the customer service seemed great, the setting was stunning, and the menu options looked just as delicious at the ones offered at Grand Marquis, the price per head was WAY more than we were willing to spend... like almost double what we were hoping to hear! And sadly, the only way that they were willing to go lower would have been for us to move our beloved wedding date to one of their "off" months, such as January. Oh well, too bad, it would have been nice. But honestly, I think the Palace would have been TOO grand for our little wedding of 150 guests. The rooms were so cavernous, I think we would have felt lost.
As we walked from the Palace to the parking lot, my mom said, exasperated, "What are you DOING, Lisa?! None of these venues are going to be as nice as Grand Marquis. Grand Marquis has the Dome Room free for your wedding date. We should just call and book it!"
I was curious to see the Imperia and the Heldrich (especially the Heldrich since the ballroom was in a hotel located only 5 blocks from Kirkpatrick Chapel), but I knew deep down that Mom was right. We were all just so impressed with Grand Marquis, and John and my parents were familiar with the parties thrown there first-hand; my parents had been to weddings there before, and John's company threw their annual corporate party there for the past few years in a row.
So, I got on the phone and cancelled my appointments at the Imperia and at the Heldrich, while Dad got on his phone and called Joe at Grand Marquis. Later that night, Dad and I were sat in the Grand Marquis foyer signing contracts. It was a done deal: we would be partying all night in the Grand Marquis Dome Room on May 9, 2009!
As an aside, I always wondered what "could have been" if we ended up checking out those other two venues. As it turns out, though, it was a good thing we didn't check out the Imperia, because we found out almost a year later that a member of my extended family would be holding her April 2009 wedding there... she would have totally stolen our thunder, ha ha! And as for the Heldrich, I ended up booking a suite there from May 8-10 so that I could have a nice, relaxing experience getting ready for the wedding so close to the ceremony location. It was a fabulous, gorgeous hotel with excellent service and attention to detail. However, when I took a peek at their ballroom, I was glad I didn't choose it, as the bright orange carpet left a little to be desired ;-) Oh well! Things definitely worked out for the best, and we were so happy with our decision to have our wedding at Grand Marquis. Click to read more!
In the end, we narrowed our list down to only five venues: Battleground Country Club in Manalapan, Grand Marquis in Old Bridge, The Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset (duh), The Imperia in Somerset, and The Heldrich in New Brunswick.
Battleground Country Club was the first stop on our list.
Overall we weren't terribly impressed by the menu, by the pricing, by the decor, or by the customer service we received at Battleground. Admittedly the views of the golf course were quite nice, but as I pointed out to John and to my parents, in May it would be getting dark between 7-8pm, so choosing a venue based on a view that you would only get to see for 2 hours is kind of silly. We decided to move on.We stopped at Grand Marquis a few hours later.
Now this was more like it! We were impressed the second we walked into the lobby. Everything just seemed so much more elegant and contemporary than at Battleground. We met with Joe, who explained that Grand Marquis had two large ballrooms: the Dome Room (the smaller room for parties of 100-200 people) and the Marquis Room (the larger room for 200+ guest affairs). They almost always do have two weddings going on at the same time, but the hall itself was constructed in such a way that we would never see the other party while we were there. He also handed out copies of the different menu options.... wow, that's all I have to say. Our mouths were watering just reading about the different choices!Then he showed us the Dome Room:
So pretty!! The black dance floor was so eye catching and much nicer looking than the typical fold-out parquet floors you see at reception halls, and the dome was just spectacular. Plus, my parents are huge fans of oval-shaped tables at weddings, as opposed to circular ones; they feel that conversations are generally much easier to have at oval tables. Needless to say, we were all abuzz with excitement as we left the Grand Marquis and we wondered if any of our other contenders would hold a candle to it.About a week later, we had back-to-back-to-back appointments at the remaining three venues. Our first stop was The Palace at Somerset Park, and it was most certainly impressive!
The word "grand" doesn't even begin to describe this place. It is totally opulent, indulgent, and completely over-the-top, in a good way of course! It was featured on WE's "Platinum Weddings" show, though, so I was naturally worried that the price tag could give Dad a heart attack.And I was right. Although the customer service seemed great, the setting was stunning, and the menu options looked just as delicious at the ones offered at Grand Marquis, the price per head was WAY more than we were willing to spend... like almost double what we were hoping to hear! And sadly, the only way that they were willing to go lower would have been for us to move our beloved wedding date to one of their "off" months, such as January. Oh well, too bad, it would have been nice. But honestly, I think the Palace would have been TOO grand for our little wedding of 150 guests. The rooms were so cavernous, I think we would have felt lost.
As we walked from the Palace to the parking lot, my mom said, exasperated, "What are you DOING, Lisa?! None of these venues are going to be as nice as Grand Marquis. Grand Marquis has the Dome Room free for your wedding date. We should just call and book it!"
I was curious to see the Imperia and the Heldrich (especially the Heldrich since the ballroom was in a hotel located only 5 blocks from Kirkpatrick Chapel), but I knew deep down that Mom was right. We were all just so impressed with Grand Marquis, and John and my parents were familiar with the parties thrown there first-hand; my parents had been to weddings there before, and John's company threw their annual corporate party there for the past few years in a row.
So, I got on the phone and cancelled my appointments at the Imperia and at the Heldrich, while Dad got on his phone and called Joe at Grand Marquis. Later that night, Dad and I were sat in the Grand Marquis foyer signing contracts. It was a done deal: we would be partying all night in the Grand Marquis Dome Room on May 9, 2009!
As an aside, I always wondered what "could have been" if we ended up checking out those other two venues. As it turns out, though, it was a good thing we didn't check out the Imperia, because we found out almost a year later that a member of my extended family would be holding her April 2009 wedding there... she would have totally stolen our thunder, ha ha! And as for the Heldrich, I ended up booking a suite there from May 8-10 so that I could have a nice, relaxing experience getting ready for the wedding so close to the ceremony location. It was a fabulous, gorgeous hotel with excellent service and attention to detail. However, when I took a peek at their ballroom, I was glad I didn't choose it, as the bright orange carpet left a little to be desired ;-) Oh well! Things definitely worked out for the best, and we were so happy with our decision to have our wedding at Grand Marquis. Click to read more!
Going to the chapel...
The second question everyone asked was "Where are you having the wedding?" For a long time I dreamed about having a small, intimate wedding with only our closest friends and family in a destination such as Italy. My parents even showed me a picture they took years prior on the beach of Positano and they said "This is where you should have your wedding!" and I was more than OK with that suggestion!
But John objected, saying that his family would never be able to, or want to, travel overseas. Boo!
So then I came back down to earth, and we realized we needed to find a local place to get hitched. My parents insisted that we have a Catholic ceremony in a church. But I hadn't been to church since being confirmed, and John is Russian Orthodox, so therefore neither of us had ties to a church that would have worked.
I started looking through wedding magazines trying to find a solution. In an issue of NJ Bride I saw a small black and white ad for Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers University. The ad copy said that the chapel has been hosting both religious and non-denominational weddings for decades, and it looked very cute in the picture with its Gothic stone facade. Plus, John is an alumnus of Rutgers so it made sense to check it out. We decided to take a ride out to the chapel on a weekend in early December just to see what it was like.
It was GORGEOUS. The interior was bright red with dark wood everywhere and a beautiful slate floor. We liked it instantly, and it didn't hurt that it was decorated with Christmas poinsettias and pine garlands everywhere in preparation for a holiday concert by the Rutgers choir. We walked down the aisle and I got chills because I realized that this would definitely be the aisle I would walk down on our wedding day!
We took a bunch of pictures to show our families, but the photos didn't really do the chapel justice because it was just so impressive inside! Nevertheless, we contacted the chapel manager that week and booked the 2:00 timeslot for May 9, 2009. Click to read more!
But John objected, saying that his family would never be able to, or want to, travel overseas. Boo!
So then I came back down to earth, and we realized we needed to find a local place to get hitched. My parents insisted that we have a Catholic ceremony in a church. But I hadn't been to church since being confirmed, and John is Russian Orthodox, so therefore neither of us had ties to a church that would have worked.
I started looking through wedding magazines trying to find a solution. In an issue of NJ Bride I saw a small black and white ad for Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers University. The ad copy said that the chapel has been hosting both religious and non-denominational weddings for decades, and it looked very cute in the picture with its Gothic stone facade. Plus, John is an alumnus of Rutgers so it made sense to check it out. We decided to take a ride out to the chapel on a weekend in early December just to see what it was like.
It was GORGEOUS. The interior was bright red with dark wood everywhere and a beautiful slate floor. We liked it instantly, and it didn't hurt that it was decorated with Christmas poinsettias and pine garlands everywhere in preparation for a holiday concert by the Rutgers choir. We walked down the aisle and I got chills because I realized that this would definitely be the aisle I would walk down on our wedding day!We took a bunch of pictures to show our families, but the photos didn't really do the chapel justice because it was just so impressive inside! Nevertheless, we contacted the chapel manager that week and booked the 2:00 timeslot for May 9, 2009. Click to read more!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Great Date Debate
So naturally, when a couple announces their engagement to friends and family, the first question to be asked is usually "Did you choose a date yet?"
I always thought I would be an autumn bride. I used to work for a wedding photographer as a retoucher, and I always loved the photos of autumn brides taken in front of brightly colored trees. I just naturally like autumn: the colors, the temperature, the foods, hayrides, pumpkin picking, wearing cozy sweaters, and apple cider, mmm! And furthermore, I HATE the extreme temperatures of summer and winter, so they were never options. John agreed on all points, and so we set a tentative date of October 24, 2009.
However, as I started to brainstorm ideas for my wedding color palette, I began to feel very restricted by the season. Even though I do like autumn colors, I didn't necessarily want shades of red, orange, or gold in my wedding palette, and especially not brown. In the mid 2000's chocolate brown became THE wedding color and I feared that using brown in my wedding would look very dated when I looked back at the photos in a few years' time (well, let's face it, they will look dated no matter what, but I didn't think chocolate brown would help matters any). Plus, I didn't like the clashing of chocolate brown bridesmaid dresses against black tuxedos. I know that brown tuxedos exist, and brown vests under black tuxedos are also a popular option, but I still wasn't that big a fan of either option.
Then I remembered a pretty wedding gown that I fell in love with when going with my friend, Paige, to shop for bridesmaid dresses for her own August 2008 wedding. It was a white satin gown with pick-ups and a soft pink beaded sash around the waist. I thought the pink sash was just lovely, and since I am always striving to be a little bit different, I thought the touch of color in the wedding gown was really nice. But soft pink in the autumn?
I also wasn't digging the nearly 2-year long engagement we had in store. Not to be morbid, but it was important to me that our grandparents attend our wedding (ironic considering that my Nonni wasn't able to make it in the end), and since our grandparents were already in their mid to late 80's, I didn't want to have an extremely long engagement and risk them not being able to attend due to illness, or worse.
So then I started thinking about pushing the date forward 5 months to May 2009. May would hopefully be late enough in the spring to avoid all those "April showers," yet still be comfortable temperature-wise... not too cool, not too warm. I decided that if May 9 fell on a Saturday, it would be a sign, and then that would have to be our new wedding date. (Nine is my lucky number, and I was devastated when I found out that 9-9-09 fell on a Wednesday.) And hooray, it was! I started dreaming about wearing that dress with the pink sash and realized that I would have a plethora of beautiful flowers to choose from in the spring as well.
But then there was one tiny problem in that John's friends Nick and Cheri had already chosen an early June date for their wedding. They got engaged a few months before we did, and we worried that maybe we would be "cutting in line" by moving our date to the month before theirs. But in the end we had to do what made the most sense for us, and the May 9 date stuck. (Sorry Nick and Cheri!!)
We then started to notice some fun coincidences regarding our wedding date. It ended up being our exact 50-month anniversary, since we officially became boyfriend/girlfriend on March 9, 2005. Also, 23 is John's lucky number, and 5 + 9 + 09 = 23! I was just happy that I got two out of three possible 9's in my date, ha ha, and as Meat Loaf so famously put it, "two outta three ain't bad!" Click to read more!
I always thought I would be an autumn bride. I used to work for a wedding photographer as a retoucher, and I always loved the photos of autumn brides taken in front of brightly colored trees. I just naturally like autumn: the colors, the temperature, the foods, hayrides, pumpkin picking, wearing cozy sweaters, and apple cider, mmm! And furthermore, I HATE the extreme temperatures of summer and winter, so they were never options. John agreed on all points, and so we set a tentative date of October 24, 2009.
However, as I started to brainstorm ideas for my wedding color palette, I began to feel very restricted by the season. Even though I do like autumn colors, I didn't necessarily want shades of red, orange, or gold in my wedding palette, and especially not brown. In the mid 2000's chocolate brown became THE wedding color and I feared that using brown in my wedding would look very dated when I looked back at the photos in a few years' time (well, let's face it, they will look dated no matter what, but I didn't think chocolate brown would help matters any). Plus, I didn't like the clashing of chocolate brown bridesmaid dresses against black tuxedos. I know that brown tuxedos exist, and brown vests under black tuxedos are also a popular option, but I still wasn't that big a fan of either option.
Then I remembered a pretty wedding gown that I fell in love with when going with my friend, Paige, to shop for bridesmaid dresses for her own August 2008 wedding. It was a white satin gown with pick-ups and a soft pink beaded sash around the waist. I thought the pink sash was just lovely, and since I am always striving to be a little bit different, I thought the touch of color in the wedding gown was really nice. But soft pink in the autumn?
I also wasn't digging the nearly 2-year long engagement we had in store. Not to be morbid, but it was important to me that our grandparents attend our wedding (ironic considering that my Nonni wasn't able to make it in the end), and since our grandparents were already in their mid to late 80's, I didn't want to have an extremely long engagement and risk them not being able to attend due to illness, or worse.
So then I started thinking about pushing the date forward 5 months to May 2009. May would hopefully be late enough in the spring to avoid all those "April showers," yet still be comfortable temperature-wise... not too cool, not too warm. I decided that if May 9 fell on a Saturday, it would be a sign, and then that would have to be our new wedding date. (Nine is my lucky number, and I was devastated when I found out that 9-9-09 fell on a Wednesday.) And hooray, it was! I started dreaming about wearing that dress with the pink sash and realized that I would have a plethora of beautiful flowers to choose from in the spring as well.
But then there was one tiny problem in that John's friends Nick and Cheri had already chosen an early June date for their wedding. They got engaged a few months before we did, and we worried that maybe we would be "cutting in line" by moving our date to the month before theirs. But in the end we had to do what made the most sense for us, and the May 9 date stuck. (Sorry Nick and Cheri!!)
We then started to notice some fun coincidences regarding our wedding date. It ended up being our exact 50-month anniversary, since we officially became boyfriend/girlfriend on March 9, 2005. Also, 23 is John's lucky number, and 5 + 9 + 09 = 23! I was just happy that I got two out of three possible 9's in my date, ha ha, and as Meat Loaf so famously put it, "two outta three ain't bad!" Click to read more!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
"...Don't you have something to ask me??"
So, John and I moved in together in May of 2007. Our first place was a little one-bedroom apartment in Bordentown, NJ, located only three miles down the road from my workplace at the time. Moving in together was an interesting step for me. It suddenly occurred to me that after moving in together, the relationship could only go one of two ways: either we'd end up getting married, or we would have the most horrible, messy break up in the history of break ups!
And although we bickered and argued as any couple would when first learning how to live together (it still drives me nuts that he leaves dishes in the sink instead of rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher!), after a while we found a comfortable middle ground. Once in a while we would talk about "if we get married" or "when we get married," just sort of dreaming away, but we never seriously talked about a time frame for an engagement. However, John did joke during our 2006 trip to Disney World that if he had it his way, he would propose to me on the Maelstrom ride in the Norway pavilion of EPCOT. (Which would have been awesome.)
After a few months of living together, we decided to plan another trip to Disney World for December of 2008. I thought, for sure, John would follow through with his jokey plans and propose to me sometime during that trip. It made sense, we would have been dating for almost four years by that point. In my head I could see John getting down on one knee at the California Grill with fireworks filling the air. Or, perhaps while waiting on line at Space Mountain, ha ha! At any rate, I was sure, he would ask me to marry him in Disney World.
But it didn't work out that way!
John's 25th birthday landed on Black Friday, November 23, 2007. He had the day off from work anyway, so he asked me to take off from work as well so that we could spend the whole day together celebrating. We started by going to see the film "No Country for Old Men" in Hamilton, where I was annoyed the entire time by a coughing, talking old man who sat next to me in the theater. We then drove around Monmouth and Ocean Counties picking up some Christmas gifts for friends and family. We ran out of things to do after a while, and our dinner reservation at the Melting Pot in Red Bank was still hours away. John suggested that we go to Red Bank early and just stroll around the city. It was a sunny but brisk day, and the holiday decorations were already up, so it sounded like a good idea to me.
We pulled into the White Street parking lot across from the little Red Bank arthouse cinema where John and I had our first unofficial date seeing Sideways. I held John's hand and said "Aww, this is like our first non-date." and he said "Yeah, let's sit over here for a while." There was a grouping of park benches in front of the theater and John led me, of course, to the one bench that was in the shade. After a few seconds I was absolutely freezing and told John so. He said "I think I have something that can warm you up." I leaned toward him assuming he was going to give me a kiss on the cheek, but instead he outstretched his hand with his palm facing down, holding something that I couldn't see. I gasped when I realized it was a ring box!
Inside was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was a princess-cut diamond solitaire in a Tiffany setting of platinum, and it just sparkled away. I looked at John in disbelief and I just kept saying "Are you serious? Is this for real? Are you kidding me?" and he smiled at me with tears in his eyes.
...but he didn't say anything!
So after a few seconds I prompted him: "...Don't you have something to ask me??"
He smiled and with a shaking voice he asked "Will you marry me?" and of course I said "YES!!"
John then took the ring and slipped it onto my finger, and realized that the ring was about three sizes too large, ha ha. He made the mistake of comparing the engagement ring to a celtic band I usually wore on my middle finger. I was so sad that I had to keep the ring in the box that night, but we took it back to the shop the next day and had it resized before I showed it off to friends and family and told them of our good news!
That was one decision I am really glad I made: not to tell anyone about our engagement until the next day. We were able to enjoy a peaceful 24 hours of bliss before the inevitable "Did you set a date?!" questions started being fired at us ;-) I tried to hold out on buying wedding magazines but I don't think I had as much willpower in that situation. I remember reading NJ Bride before the week was through.
So it may not have been a "perfect" proposal but it was perfectly "us." Click to read more!
And although we bickered and argued as any couple would when first learning how to live together (it still drives me nuts that he leaves dishes in the sink instead of rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher!), after a while we found a comfortable middle ground. Once in a while we would talk about "if we get married" or "when we get married," just sort of dreaming away, but we never seriously talked about a time frame for an engagement. However, John did joke during our 2006 trip to Disney World that if he had it his way, he would propose to me on the Maelstrom ride in the Norway pavilion of EPCOT. (Which would have been awesome.)
After a few months of living together, we decided to plan another trip to Disney World for December of 2008. I thought, for sure, John would follow through with his jokey plans and propose to me sometime during that trip. It made sense, we would have been dating for almost four years by that point. In my head I could see John getting down on one knee at the California Grill with fireworks filling the air. Or, perhaps while waiting on line at Space Mountain, ha ha! At any rate, I was sure, he would ask me to marry him in Disney World.
But it didn't work out that way!
John's 25th birthday landed on Black Friday, November 23, 2007. He had the day off from work anyway, so he asked me to take off from work as well so that we could spend the whole day together celebrating. We started by going to see the film "No Country for Old Men" in Hamilton, where I was annoyed the entire time by a coughing, talking old man who sat next to me in the theater. We then drove around Monmouth and Ocean Counties picking up some Christmas gifts for friends and family. We ran out of things to do after a while, and our dinner reservation at the Melting Pot in Red Bank was still hours away. John suggested that we go to Red Bank early and just stroll around the city. It was a sunny but brisk day, and the holiday decorations were already up, so it sounded like a good idea to me.
We pulled into the White Street parking lot across from the little Red Bank arthouse cinema where John and I had our first unofficial date seeing Sideways. I held John's hand and said "Aww, this is like our first non-date." and he said "Yeah, let's sit over here for a while." There was a grouping of park benches in front of the theater and John led me, of course, to the one bench that was in the shade. After a few seconds I was absolutely freezing and told John so. He said "I think I have something that can warm you up." I leaned toward him assuming he was going to give me a kiss on the cheek, but instead he outstretched his hand with his palm facing down, holding something that I couldn't see. I gasped when I realized it was a ring box!
Inside was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was a princess-cut diamond solitaire in a Tiffany setting of platinum, and it just sparkled away. I looked at John in disbelief and I just kept saying "Are you serious? Is this for real? Are you kidding me?" and he smiled at me with tears in his eyes....but he didn't say anything!
So after a few seconds I prompted him: "...Don't you have something to ask me??"
He smiled and with a shaking voice he asked "Will you marry me?" and of course I said "YES!!"
John then took the ring and slipped it onto my finger, and realized that the ring was about three sizes too large, ha ha. He made the mistake of comparing the engagement ring to a celtic band I usually wore on my middle finger. I was so sad that I had to keep the ring in the box that night, but we took it back to the shop the next day and had it resized before I showed it off to friends and family and told them of our good news!
That was one decision I am really glad I made: not to tell anyone about our engagement until the next day. We were able to enjoy a peaceful 24 hours of bliss before the inevitable "Did you set a date?!" questions started being fired at us ;-) I tried to hold out on buying wedding magazines but I don't think I had as much willpower in that situation. I remember reading NJ Bride before the week was through.So it may not have been a "perfect" proposal but it was perfectly "us." Click to read more!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Let's start from the very beginning...
John and I met through our mutual friend, Paige. Paige was one of the first friends I made when my family moved from Maywood, NJ to Howell, NJ in the summer of 1986. We were in the same first grade class and I noticed her immediately. She had pretty, platinum blonde hair and she was wearing a hot pink shirt with black stars all over it (very appropriate for the mid-80's!), as well as a "birthday girl" crown, as her early September birthday always coincided with the beginning of the school year. I liked her immediately and we became really great friends.
I eventually left our elementary school before the start of third grade to join a G&T program at another school in Howell, but luckily Paige joined the same program the following year, so we were able to complete fourth through eighth grades together. We were also each accepted into the Humanities special learning center program at Howell High School, and it even looked like we might go to the same college, as we were both accepted to Drew University. In the end I opted to go to TCNJ instead, but we remained great friends throughout our college years and to this day. She even flew thousands of miles just to visit me while I attended graduate school in Glasgow, Scotland!
In fact, while I was in Scotland, Paige told me that she took a part-time job at a local supermarket and met a very nice guy named John while working there. She described him as an intelligent, sweet, athletic guy, and he even became a running partner for her as they jogged around the Manasquan Reservoir together.
After I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art and returned to the United States, Paige threw a party in honor of her 24th birthday in September 2004. At that party she introduced me to John, and I remember thinking "Oh right, this is the John she told me about" and thinking he was quite good looking, although we didn't really talk at all that night.
John and I met again on New Year's Eve 2004. Paige was throwing a party at her new townhouse, and a group of the guests met for dinner at Chili's before heading over to Paige's to join the festivities. The group included myself, my high school friends Amy and Kristen, Kristen's boyfriend Andy, and Andy's cousin.... John! We chatted a little bit at dinner since we sat next to each other in the booth, and chatted more at the party, where we traded Pulp Fiction quotes such as the famous "Royale with Cheese" scene.
The next day I was feeling a little bit under the weather due to the festivities of the previous night, but nevertheless I accepted Paige's invitation to join her and John at her parents' house for a viewing of Napoleon Dynamite and The Naked Gun. I guess I made a good impression that night despite my hangover, because two days later John called me and asked if I would like to see the new film Sideways with him.
But was it a date? Or was it just a guy who wanted to see a movie but had no one else to see it with? Ha ha. I decided that if he paid for my ticket, it would be a date. And he did! We had a great time and laughed out loud at all the same jokes during the movie--always a great sign. But when we went to Applebee's after the film and he suggested that I pick up the tab to keep things even, I decided it probably wasn't a date after all, ha ha.
We got together for a few more dinner-and-a-movie outings after that, but I still wasn't sure if we were dating or not. And I guess John felt the same way, as one night he called me and said "I have a question... are we dating?" Ha ha! We agreed that we liked each other and would like to see it through, but we both felt strangely awkward about it since we had Paige as a mutual friend. We didn't want things to potentially get messy and have her in the middle of it. So we agreed that we would basically ask her for her blessing before officially dating. And luckily, she gave it to us!
John and I dated throughout January and February and then became boyfriend/girlfriend on March 9, 2005. During those early years of dating we were happy and in love and although we never really had any plans to get engaged any time soon (it was always a "maybe we'll think about it in another year or two" sort of thing), things started to progress in that direction as we moved in together in May of 2007. And chances are, if you're reading this blog you can pretty much figure out what happened next, ha ha, but I'll leave that story for my next post! Click to read more!
I eventually left our elementary school before the start of third grade to join a G&T program at another school in Howell, but luckily Paige joined the same program the following year, so we were able to complete fourth through eighth grades together. We were also each accepted into the Humanities special learning center program at Howell High School, and it even looked like we might go to the same college, as we were both accepted to Drew University. In the end I opted to go to TCNJ instead, but we remained great friends throughout our college years and to this day. She even flew thousands of miles just to visit me while I attended graduate school in Glasgow, Scotland!
In fact, while I was in Scotland, Paige told me that she took a part-time job at a local supermarket and met a very nice guy named John while working there. She described him as an intelligent, sweet, athletic guy, and he even became a running partner for her as they jogged around the Manasquan Reservoir together.
After I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art and returned to the United States, Paige threw a party in honor of her 24th birthday in September 2004. At that party she introduced me to John, and I remember thinking "Oh right, this is the John she told me about" and thinking he was quite good looking, although we didn't really talk at all that night.
John and I met again on New Year's Eve 2004. Paige was throwing a party at her new townhouse, and a group of the guests met for dinner at Chili's before heading over to Paige's to join the festivities. The group included myself, my high school friends Amy and Kristen, Kristen's boyfriend Andy, and Andy's cousin.... John! We chatted a little bit at dinner since we sat next to each other in the booth, and chatted more at the party, where we traded Pulp Fiction quotes such as the famous "Royale with Cheese" scene.
The next day I was feeling a little bit under the weather due to the festivities of the previous night, but nevertheless I accepted Paige's invitation to join her and John at her parents' house for a viewing of Napoleon Dynamite and The Naked Gun. I guess I made a good impression that night despite my hangover, because two days later John called me and asked if I would like to see the new film Sideways with him.
But was it a date? Or was it just a guy who wanted to see a movie but had no one else to see it with? Ha ha. I decided that if he paid for my ticket, it would be a date. And he did! We had a great time and laughed out loud at all the same jokes during the movie--always a great sign. But when we went to Applebee's after the film and he suggested that I pick up the tab to keep things even, I decided it probably wasn't a date after all, ha ha.
We got together for a few more dinner-and-a-movie outings after that, but I still wasn't sure if we were dating or not. And I guess John felt the same way, as one night he called me and said "I have a question... are we dating?" Ha ha! We agreed that we liked each other and would like to see it through, but we both felt strangely awkward about it since we had Paige as a mutual friend. We didn't want things to potentially get messy and have her in the middle of it. So we agreed that we would basically ask her for her blessing before officially dating. And luckily, she gave it to us!
John and I dated throughout January and February and then became boyfriend/girlfriend on March 9, 2005. During those early years of dating we were happy and in love and although we never really had any plans to get engaged any time soon (it was always a "maybe we'll think about it in another year or two" sort of thing), things started to progress in that direction as we moved in together in May of 2007. And chances are, if you're reading this blog you can pretty much figure out what happened next, ha ha, but I'll leave that story for my next post! Click to read more!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
It's all over!
Our wedding was this past Saturday, May 9, 2009. It was like a dream. Everything was perfect (or as close to perfect as I could really hope for). The weather was ideal for photo-taking (warm and overcast), our first dance went remarkably well, I didn't cry during the ceremony, all of our vendors showed up on time (or EARLY) and were amazing to work with, and everything was absolutely beautiful. And the FOOD, the glorious FOOD! (Well, I heard the food was great, anyway... I wouldn't know because I barely had a bite to eat all night, boo.)In fact, there was only one major thing that went wrong: my grandmother was rushed to the hospital before the wedding and unable to attend; I had no idea until after the ceremony when I asked my mom where she was, as we stood outside of the church. But thankfully Nonni is expected to make a full recovery and we will have a wedding video to show her very soon!!
In this blog I will be recounting the wedding day itself plus all of the steps it took to make the day what it was. I put my blood, sweat, and tears (a lot of tears) into the wedding planning over the past year and a half, so I am very proud to share the process with all of you. Enjoy! Click to read more!
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