You knew this was coming: a full wedding recap!
Since I couldn’t decide on which pictures to share, I decided to divide this up into a two-part series with photos, wedding planning advice and moment-sharing.
My girlfriends and I have been making a conscious effort not to apologize (women apologize too much), so for those of you who don’t give a toot about weddings, I don’t apologize. This was the best day of my life and I couldn’t be more excited to share these pictures with everyone who has been following along in my Inspiralized journey!
To those of you who aren’t interested, just ignore today’s post and I’ll see you Sunday, with a new recipe!
I’m so excited to share all of these photos (by our photographer, Nadya Furnari.) Nadya captured the day perfectly – our smiles, our laughs, our awkward faces, our private moments and our surprises. She’s even-keeled, sweet, kind, understanding, patient and professional. If you’re looking for a photographer, I recommend her!
We got married at Hamilton Farm Golf in Gladstone, NJ which is two small towns over from the small town I grew up in in New Jersey. Funny enough, I swore on my life that I’d never get married at a golf course. I worked at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ (which is right across the street from Hamilton Farm, ironically) and I was just burnt out from golfers, golf and golf courses.
So why’d I pick Hamilton Farm? Well, it’s simply breathtakingly gorgeous – the grounds, the mile-plus long driveway entrance and most importantly, the mansion where all private events are held. The mansion is this gorgeous estate with charm and character. We knew the second we saw it that we wanted to get married there.
As I was on the venue tour, this woman comes jogging up a hill and it’s Colette, my old coworker from my days at Trump National! She was the Director of Events & Catering at Trump and two weeks before our venue tour of Hamilton Farm, she started working there.
The stars clearly aligned, so we picked Hamilton Farm.
I knew we were in good hands with Colette and therefore, Hamilton Farm. She’s a star – she makes your dream wedding become a reality, truly.
So, the night before the wedding, I pulled an audible (which, in football terms, means changing the gameplan at the last minute) and slept over my parents’ house instead of spending that night with Lu.
Best. decision. ever.
Why? When I woke up, I was insanely excited to see Lu! The anticipation built up that whole morning getting ready with my bridesmaids and mother. Then later, our first look was that much more poignant and special. Lots of kissing!
Who knew that less than 12 hours could make you miss someone so much, eh?
Getting ready was a blast and set the pace for an incredible day – we got ready in the mansion, while Lu got ready in a cottage on the Club’s property.
We drank champagne out of glass flutes decorated by my best friend from college, Cassie, we laughed hysterically while we got our hair and makeup done (by Pink Comb Beauty) in the matching robes (well, a different color for my mother and a different color for my sister, the MOH.) I got the robes from Pretty Plum Sugar (I wore a white Bride silk robe from Victoria’s Secret – a gift from my mother.)
I also got hangers for everyone to hang their dresses when they first arrived in the morning (found here on Etsy):
All of my bridesmaids chose their own dresses, I just told them a few simple guidelines – floor-length, shades of lavender, and no lace! As you’ll see in the bridal party photos later, it worked out fantastically – and I love that each of their personalities shined through. I wanted them to all be comfortable on our special day – and I think they were!
It was absolutely the perfect day – all laughs, no drama, no tears (except happy ones, of course!), no stress and just so much love.
Well, some drama – Lu and his groomsmen couldn’t figure out how to tie his bowtie, so they had to YouTube it, haha! It definitely made for funny pictures.
But once he was ready, he looked so handsome.
When we were getting ready, we both had written letters to each other to read before our first look. Lu’s was so sweet, honest and made me cry (the only time I cried the whole day!)
Instead of writing a letter, I actually got this “What I Love About You” book and filled it out – there were 50 fill-in-the-blanks, like “My favorite thing you do in the morning is _______.” He loved it!
After that, my father came in to see me for the first time. He had seen pictures of me in the dress, but he hadn’t seen it in person (he didn’t go to any of my fittings at Kleinfeld’s.) The second he opened the door, he started hysterically crying (the ugly cry.) It was such a precious moment and I’m so happy the photographers caught it!
Once we were done getting ready, we were off for our “first look” and to take bridal party pictures. In retrospect, I’m absolutely thrilled that we chose to do a first look. Honestly, pictures are exhausting – they take forever, especially when all you want to do is hang out with your friends and family. I couldn’t imagine getting married and then having to take hours worth of photos!
Plus, first look pictures are so honest and private – instead of having hundreds of people watching your first look, you only have a couple of people there – your photographer and your videographer. It was such a special moment.
Lu stood in a garden and I came up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and he got to see me in my dress! He loved it – we couldn’t stop kissing!
After that, we drove around on a golf art and took pictures together – some of my favorite shots:
And the bridal party photos were so amazing, I have too many favorites, so here we go:
And I was absolutely obsessed with my bouquet (from Jardiniere Fine Flowers), full of peonies:
In case you’re wondering:
- Dress by Romona Keveza,
- Shoes by Jimmy Choo, (the Louise style with the snakeskin nude leather color – no longer available)
- Men’s blue suits by Express,
- Men’s tie and groom’s bowtie by Tiebar,
- Earrings and bracelet by Swarovski, and
- Bridal hair piece from Nordstrom, here.
Can’t wait to share more next week!
Anything else you like to ask about my wedding process so far? Let me know and I’ll answer in the comments or include it in next week’s recap!
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