After a year’s worth of planning, this darling duo’s Big Day had a slightly unexpected visitor: the rain. But if you think that stopped them from celebrating their beautiful garden wedding in serious style, well… you’d be wrong. From the gorgeous blooms from Theresa Floral Design to the mesmerizing images captured by MK Photography, this is classic elegance at its very finest. See it all in THE VAULT.
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From the Bride… Only one word can describe May 14th, 2016: unforgettable! Our dream wedding was made possible with the help of our loving family, friends, and amazing vendors. But, of course, our story did not begin on May 14th. Alan and I met about six years ago on a group ski trip to Stowe, Vermont. We were immediately attracted to each other. However, our relationship started to blossom when we met again a couple of months later, when I was staying with some friends at his beach apartment after my sister’s wedding. During the week at the beach, we got to know each other and began our journey together.
Five years later, I got the most incredible proposal any girl could dream of at Stowe Mountain, where we met. We were on our last ski run when Alan suggested we stop for a picture on a secluded trail. It was lightly snowing and no one was around. He set up the GoPro, we took off our gear, and stood by the trees for a good shot. Then out of nowhere he took off his ski jacket, revealing a shirt and tie, and got down on one knee. Of course I cried and said, I DO!
We decided to take a year to plan the wedding. We slowly started to look for venues and when we visited Winterthur Museum and Gardens, we fell in love. The beautiful surrounding landscape and reflecting pond made it an easy choice. We decided to have the ceremony around the gorgeous reflecting pool and to have a tented reception on the grassy lawn outside the museum, next to a picturesque stream. We worked with Melissa Sapio and Ken Warner of Restaurant Associates, who work with Winterthur and made everything run smoothly, from vendor choices and food options to wedding day layouts. From there, we met with different vendors and started to brainstorm our theme and decorations.
One year later, the wedding day was here. Like any girl on her wedding day, I could not sleep. I was up early getting the house ready for the morning rush of all the bridesmaids getting ready, but being up so early allowed me to spend some quiet time with my dad at 6:00 am, practicing our dance and letting some emotional tears run. At 8:30 the beautifying began. We had the Newark-based Gloss Salon come to my dad’s house. They did an incredible job getting all the girls’ hair and makeup done in a timely fashion and I could not have been happier with my hair and makeup, done by Nickie Brousseau. Gloss Salon made the getting-ready-rush calm and enjoyable while giving each mother and bridesmaid a hairstyle and makeup they loved. After everyone was done, our photographer Mike Kehr and his partner arrived for pictures. We decided to go with MK Photography, which was the best decision we made. Mike and his partner kept the day on track, captured every special moment, picked out the best locations for photos, and we could not be happier with their work. After a fun photo shoot at my dad’s house we jumped in a bus and made our way to Winterthur.
It was finally the moment I had been waiting for. Alan was about to see me in my gorgeous dress and jewelry that I fell in love with at Kleinfeld’s Bridal a year prior when shopping with my mom, sister, and mother-in-law. Unfortunately, the rain started to come down right before our first look, but our photographer Mike found a perfect cove for me to stand under and wait to see my groom. Nerves started to race while I waited for Alan to come around the corner, but as soon as I saw his face they stopped and my smile did not leave my face the whole night.
The rain stopped just in time for our ceremony to be outside as planned. I could not have dreamed of such an amazing ceremony. My sister married us and did such an incredible job of portraying Alan and my love for each other, our new journey, and the commitment that lies ahead of us. My brother, uncle, and Alan’s sister also performed parts of the ceremony, making it feel so personal and unique. After saying our “I do’s” we headed to the cocktail hour and then off to the reception.
Alan and I got to take a sneak peak at the tented reception location before all the guests came in. We were thrilled to see all the decorations we had worked so hard to make on display. Almost all of our decorations—the welcome signs, a board for guests to sign, picture frames, and the centerpiece vases—were all DIY projects we’ve worked on over the past year. Our colors of light yellow and gray filled the tent along with the breathtaking flower arrangements on the tables. Our florist, Theresa Clower from Theresa Floral Design, was outstanding. Her ideas were unique, her creations were beautiful, and she made our ideas come to life. Our wish for the reception was to “bring the garden inside” and we couldn’t have been happier with how Theresa captured that theme.
Once everyone was seated at their tables, we were introduced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Decktor! From that moment on the party did not stop. We had a delicious dinner, great speeches, and the dancing did not stop until the last song was played. The music selection was perfect thanks to our talented DJ Justin Parkansky from Synergistic Sound and Lighting. He kept the partying going and knew exactly what songs to play at certain times throughout the night. We had such an awesome time dancing, taking pictures in the photo-booth provided by Escudero Photography, and getting to catch up with so many friends and family. Our videographer, Tom Johnston from TLJ Photography, did a fantastic job of capturing the whole night and making us and the guests feel comfortable being in front of the camera with his fun personality.
The day went by incredibly fast, but we enjoyed every single moment of it and, like I said before, May 14th, 2016 was unforgettable. Alan and I are so excited to start our new journey as husband and wife and are truly blessed to be surrounded with such support and love from our friends and family.
Photography: mkPhotography | Cinematography: TLJ Studios | Floral Design: THERESA Floral Design | Cake: The Master's Baker | Catering: Restaurant Associates | DJ: Synergetic Sound and Lighting | Venue: Winterthur Floral Dept
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