An Over the Top Celebration at a Historic Family Estate

Melissa Hammam
May 17, 2023
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, Seasonal Wedding Trend, Summer, The Blog, Whimsical

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The wedding colors were neutral tones with a pop of soft blush.

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After all, we had been together as a couple; naturally, we were ready to celebrate and go BIG! We held a 3-day affair in Northern NJ on my family’s farm estate that I grew up on. We had 225 guests in attendance from 15 different countries and 14 US States, as well as 60 guests from London specifically! We incorporated British, American, and Indian wedding traditions over the course of our multi-day celebration. Each event was hosted on properties in the area that hold significant meaning to me and have been in our family for over 100 years.

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]

My love story is far from picture-perfect. It’s quite the opposite, but it’s still far more captivating and inspiring than any other fairytale love story could be. My husband Arijit and I met back in 2018 in Ibiza, Spain when I was in the middle of traveling the world for a year. I had recently experienced a devastating heartbreak while living in Bali and found myself on my own version of an “Eat Pray Love” journey. Eventually, that journey brought me to a holistic wellness retreat in Ibiza, where I happened to meet my husband. While he is from London and I am from NJ, a relationship between us seemed pretty far-fetched, but we ended up beginning to date a few weeks later while he was visiting NYC. A few days into our relationship, Arijit unexpectedly discovered he had Stage 4 Cancer. I ended up moving to London that summer while he was undergoing treatments, and for the rest of the year, we continued to date long-distance, as I would go back and forth to London every few weeks to be by his side as much as possible. We received the best gift by Christmas – Arijit was in remission! We continued our long-distance relationship but began traveling more together as he continued to recover; we were finally finding a sense of normalcy in our relationship. Three months later, we were propelled into a worldwide pandemic, and our relationship hit yet another hurdle as we battled quarantines, lockdowns, and travel bans together. We became engaged during the lockdown in London on the balcony of our apartment when nonessential retail was still shut down. Arijit proposed with a beautiful placeholder ring that his mother provided, and later we designed a ring with it as our inspiration!

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[section title=”The Fashion”]

[field title=”Wedding Gown”]

As quite the nontraditional bride, my dress was a custom blush floral gown from Suzanne Neville in London.

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[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]

My bridesmaids wore mismatched dresses from Revelry in champagne and blush to compliment my gown.

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[section title=”The Details”]

[field title=”Food & Drink”]

Our menu featured nods to American, Indian & British fare with a 90-minute cocktail reception, plated dinner and late-night food truck with classic New Jersey munchies!

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[field title=”Florals & Decor”]

As a wedding planner myself, I designed all of the florals with one of my all time favorite floral teams, Blomst Floral Design! I was inspired to create a garden-style aesthetic that didn’t overpower the beautiful outdoor landscape where we hosted the event but rather complimented the surrounding foliage. The style was romantic and whimsical, with a lush floral arch at the ceremony, varying tablescapes, and a dramatic 30-person head table! We also implemented a seating wall with greenery weaving between antique mirrors as the entrance to the reception area.

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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]

We had a three-tiered Cheesecake from the famous Anthony’s Cheesecake of NJ.

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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]

My Italian Friend Lorena sang an Italian love song as the entrance song for my bridesmaids, and my entrance song was my husband’s favorite techno song, Robert Miles: Children. A highlight of the reception was when the DJ played “Eye of the Tiger,” which has always carried a tradition for my dad to attempt some one-arm push-ups on the dance floor! My husband and some friends joined in for a hilarious performance mid-dance party!

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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]

Our welcome event which was hosted at our family lake house where I spent summers as a child, featured an arrival by boat, Indian attire, a Hennah artist, and a cigar roller to kick off the party!

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The main event was held on the main farm property which still has 7 of our families living on it. We used the main barn hill, which overlooks the rolling hills of Northern NJ, for our ceremony location. This hill is also the same place where my parents got engaged as high school sweethearts! The cocktail hour followed in the Orchard with a live band, a petting zoo, and games. We incorporated many performances throughout with an extended format to keep our guests entertained over the course of our 10-hour party! Moving into the main tented reception, we had an aerialist who poured champagne, a main choreographed aerial performance during dinner, and a party set with an LED lyre and electronic violinist suspended from the ceiling later in the evening!

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[field title=”Special Detail #3″]Being that so many guests came from a distance, the following day we hosted a farewell recovery pool party complete with free flowing prosecco, another epic performance by a contortionist while floating on the pool in a ball, a pizza food truck, and dunking tank!

VENDOR TAGS:

Main Wedding Day

Wedding Planning & Design: AMV Weddings @amv_weddings

Photographer: Andreas Georgiou @andreaskgeorgiou

Videographer: Martin Weddings @martinweddings.co

DJ: Anthony Priore @anthonyismydj_

Florist: Blomst Floral Design @blomstfloraldesign

Caterer: Encore Catering @encorecateringnj

Wedding Cake: Anthony’s Cheesecake @anthonyscheesecake

Cocktail Hour Music: Boho Entertainment @bohoentertainment

Hair: Prostyled Bride @prostyled.bride

Make-up: Looks by Katiness @looksbykatiness

Dress: Suzanne Neville @suzanneneville

Shoes: Emmy London @emmylondonofficial

Stationary: Laura Elizabeth Patrick @lauraelizabethpatrick

Signage: VG Custom Artwork @vgcustomartwork

Site Coordinator: Honeycomb and Prince @honeycombprinceweddings

Babysitter: My Fair Nanny @myfairnanny

Aerial Artists: Inverted Aerial, Jennifer Kovacs @jakdance @invertedaerial

Other Performers: Cirque Central @cirque_central

Wedding Late Night Food Truck: Shore Good Eats and Treats @realshoregood

Vintage Style Rentals: Rustic Charm Vintage Rental @__0rusticcharmvintagerentals__

Tent: Sperry Tents @sperrytents @sperrytentsnj

Rentals: Please be Seated @pleasebeseatedrentals & TriState Rentals @tristaterentalsnj

Linens: Nuage Designs @nuagedesignsinc & Choice Party Linens @choicepartylinensinc

Cigar Roller (Welcome Event): The Mobile Cigar Lounge @themobilecigarlounge

Hennah (Welcome Party): Dhara Suvarnakar, Mehndikälogie @mehndikalogie

Pool Party

Wedding Planning & Design: AMV Weddings @amv_weddings

Photographer: Andreas Georgiou @andreaskgeorgiou

Videographer: Martin Weddings @martinweddings.co

DJ: Anthony Priore @anthonyismydj_

Florist: Blomst Floral Design @blomstfloraldesign

Signage: VG Custom Artwork @vgcustomartwork

Performer: Cirque Central @cirque_central

Tent: Sperry Tents @sperrytents @sperrytentsnj

Rentals: TriState Rentals @tristaterentalsnj

Linens: Nuage Designs @nuagedesignsinc & Choice Party Linens @choicepartylinensinc

Food Truck: Pie Oh My @pieohmynj

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