It’s the cutest thing ever when it’s the wedding day and you can tell by the couples’ elated expressions that they are on top of the whole wide world. Nothing matters but marrying their love and we think it’s beautiful. A fabulous photographer can capture that excitement the way 4Eyes Photography did – and that’s pretty important. It’s one of the happiest days of your lives, so you’ll want a nice, big gallery to flip through for years, and years, and years!
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Sal and I met in a dance class in 2005. His 2 sisters and I had been taking dance classes together at the same studio for 20+ yrs. When my teacher decided that she wanted 3 guys to be part of a dance we were choreographing, Sal was recruited by his sister. His job was primarily to sit on a stool while I danced around him. When Sal later asked his sisters about me, their response was simply “stay away from my friend”. A year would pass before we would see each other at a dance competition where Sal came to cheer on his sisters (and secretly me I would later come to find out). He hung out and joked around all afternoon with the girls and in the evening when the competition was over I said goodbye to my “dance partner”. It wasn’t until our 3rd chance meeting, celebrating a mutual friends birthday at a bar, that Sal asked me for my number.
The song by the way that we danced to together in that dance class was Fever by Peggy Lee. I knew I wanted to incorporate the song somehow in the wedding so I had the DJ play Fever during our cake cutting ceremony.
Sal and I don’t get many days off together, so when we do we tend to sleep in a bit. Early one morning I could tell Sal hadn’t been sleeping and when I rolled over to see if he was ok he said very casually “Can I ask you a question. Will you marry me.” This had been a question he had asked me jokingly around the house for months now and my answer was always “sure”. So I casually said “sure” and rolled over to go back to bed. He said ” No I’m serious. Will you marry me”. I rolled over again to find him holding a ring that had been under his pillow all night. I cried and said “sure”.
Our first thought was to get married in Cape Cod where I vacationed every summer as a kid and a place that Sal has come to love as well, but as much as we loved it, the thought of having a destination wedding was a little overwhelming to me. The only real request that Sal had was to get married in a church so we chose to get married at our local church. Sal and I made colorful felt flags that read YAY! for our friends and family to wave outside the church. It was the only place I chose to used bright colors. I tried to keep everything else very neutral.
We wanted to invest more in the things we felt were most important like our photographs and save in other areas like our invitations. A friend from work who is a graphic designer helped me design the invitations. I had a local printer print them and I bought matching envelopes at a paper supply store. It saved me hundreds of dollars.
I tried to keep the bridal party small but it felt like Sal kept adding guys every week. We ended up with 6 groomsmen. To keep on the simple theme we told them to just wear any black suit and white shirt they had and Sal bought them all matching ties and pocket squares. To stand out a little bit Sal bought a navy suit instead of black.
Since I only had a matron of honor and one flower girl,I chose to buy simple dresses from J.Crew. I loved my wedding dress but what I really loved were my shoes. They were a simple pair of nude shoes that I bought for $50 dollars and they were so comfortable that I danced in them all night long. I wanted a nude color so I could wear them again after the wedding.
I knew I wanted to keep the reception real simple and intimate and when we came across the Bernards Inn we fell in love with it. It was quaint and elegant with lots of character. With beautiful chandeliers and a fun black and white dance floor, I didn’t have to do much to decorate the room.
I wanted the center of the tables to look like a runner of flowers so I had 6 low square vases down the middle. I made sure to have low flower vases so my guests could talk to the person across from them not just the person next to them.
Since we had decided not to have our wedding in Cape Cod, we thought we would bring a little bit of the Cape to our guests. We got salt water taffy from our favorite taffy stand in the Cape and we put them in glass bowls near the bars and photo booth. Our guests loved snacking on taffy throughout the night.
I loved my cake. The Inn has an amazing in house pastry chef. I showed him a picture of this rustic looking cake that I saw in a magazine (it was Hillary Duff’s wedding cake) and he replicated it perfectly. I just loved the fresh flowers and the exposed layers and the fact that it wasn’t the typical sea of white fondant.
No matter how long you take to plan your wedding, whether it’s 6 months like I did or 2 years, there is one thing you cannot plan on and that is the weather. Sal and I were suppose to get married on August 27th 2011. That weekend we got an uninvited guest named Hurricane Irene!
I am a pretty easy going person and had embraced the fact that I would be one of those brides with rain on their big day. I even went out and bought rain boots to wear with my wedding dress thinking it would look cute in pictures. It didn’t really dawn on me that I might have to postpone the whole day until my venders starting calling me the day before asking me if I had a backup plan. I did not have a backup plan.
When my planner at the Bernards Inn said we could postpone the event to a future date considering the circumstances, we agreed. We were very lucky to be able to have the wedding the following weekend on September 4th.
Sal and I live in a flood zone area and we were told we should evacuate for the hurricane. After finishing all our phone calls and texts to inform everyone about the change of plans, we spent what should have been our wedding night drinking coffee and watching reruns of Monk at my parents house knowing we made the right choice.
Since we had to postpone the wedding day the number of guests changed as well. Guests who had planned to attend now couldn’t make the new date and some who thought they were going to miss the big day now could attend. Since our seating plans had to be rearranged, Sal and I did a last minute DIY project of handmade seating cards.
For me, one of my favorite moments was seeing Sal tear up as he watched me walk down the aisle. My other favorite moment when when Sal and I were having our first dance. Towards the end of the song, the DJ invited everyone up to join us on the dance floor. Since the song was about to end I thought no one would bother. But when I looked around the room, not one person was sitting. We were surrounded on the dance floor by all our loved ones who had supported us through that crazy week and who rearranged their schedules in order to share in our special day with us. It truly was a special moment.
Photography: 4Eyes Photography / Venue: The Bernards Inn / Floral design: Jardiniere Fine Flowers / DJ: Scratch Weddings / Bride’s bouquet: Wildflowers / Gown: Vera Wang / Bridal shoes: Nine West / Bridesmaid Dress: J.Crew / Grooms suit: J.Crew / Wedding Cake: The Bernards Inn / Photo Booth: Eclipse Entertainment
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