Elegant Meets Whimsical: A Long Island Wedding

He started a scavenger hunt for me. He said he was going to a “work event” out east. He said he had to go ahead of time to set up and I had to meet him. By the time I got out of the shower, he had left and there was a note starting a scavenger hunt which doesn’t seem so weird because he does leave notes or give cards pretty regularly. The first one was in the kitchen, then one by the door, then the car, then he led me to Montauk. It was raining and there was flash flood warnings! The first stop was Hither Hills where we go camping, then to John Pancakes House where we always get breakfast while were out there. Then Montauket where we watch the sunset and then finally to the gazebo in the center of town where he got down on one knee.  When you put all of the cards together, they spelt out ” Marry me?”

Uhhh, the shoes! Tom had asked me how to use my Cricut. He had told me he wanted to put something on the bottom of the shoe. He kept asking how to use it, so I gave him a quick tutorial. Not really thinking too much about it.  As I was waiting to walk down the aisle I said “oh! Tom said he put something on the bottom of my shoes!” I sat down and literally almost pulled a muscle trying to bend in that direction. [laughs] On the bottom of my shoe was a note from my grandfather. He had taken his signature from one of my birthday cards. I was very close with him and he is no longer with us.  Everyone instantly started crying, everyone. It was blue for my something blue.

It meant so much to me that he even took the time to learn to do that to do this for me. And to have my grandfather there with me. I was very upset that this big day would come and he wouldn’t be apart of it. Tom made it so that he was. He got to be with me as I walked down the aisle. I had a picture in a locket of my grandparents on my bouquet. I knew they were there.

I was like “oh my god, I only wrote one page” [laughs] Mine were really short. They were really sweet and heartfelt. When his voice started cracking I started to cry. It was a very emotional day.

Jay Lim Studios. LOVED them. Can’t say enough. I had given them a list of all the photos I wanted before hand. They had the list with them and were very meticulous about getting every single thing I asked for and getting it done quickly. Like the sparkler pictures, I really wanted that shot. They quickly rounded up the whole bridal party and took us all outside. For some reason, we sang the National Anthem [laughs] and were done. There was no stress, they got the shot and we could keep dancing. I chose them because my cousin used them for her wedding and they were great.They were reasonable, I feel like. Maybe somewhat reasonable [laughs].

Tom: I had missed the last day of the night because I was praising them. [laughs]

At my engagement party. I gave them each a wood box with their name on it. It had cute little things inside likes stress relief tea, a mini wine, bath bombs, etc. and a card that said ‘Will you be my bridesmaids?” But, I think that today theres so much pressure to be doing these cute little things that if you were to just have your friends over, pop some champagne, and ask them it would be just as fun and a lot less stressful. There’s so many good things about Pinterest, but also some bad. You think you have to do all of these things, but the day of, it all flies by so fast and then it’s gone and all of those things didn’t matter.

Yes, definitely. I think that for logistic reasons, it’s best for the guests. They like being able to go from the ceremony to the reception. I know it’s not about the guests, it’s your day. However, I liked that I got my hair and make up done and it was fresh. We went right into taking pictures and kind of had that done with. We got our pictures done and from there on out, we could just enjoy.

Everything. Oh my gosh, he was more caring about things than me. Writing our own vows was something that was very important to him and he did a lot better than me. (laughs) He wanted the string quartet, he was very set on that. He picked out all the music. He set up the afterparty. He made all the phone calls about the logistics. He had a lot of opinions. I had to run everything by him.

Pinterest! Using key words that describe your style to fine tune what you’re looking for. Instead of table numbers, search “copper table numbers.” Or if your theme is more barn-like, search “rustic table numbers.” I used the Wedding Wire app and Zola for contacts because I liked how on Zola you could put in the addresses and upload it to any format for invitations. I used Minted for our Save the Dates and Engagement Party Invitations

 

 

Do you have any advice for someone who just got engaged and is beginning to plan a wedding? Be ahead of the checklist.  Know your style. I’ve had friends who have zero idea of what they want or like and they had a really hard time. Because for me, I knew I wanted greenery in my flowers. I had a solid idea of what our wedding would be like so it was easy for me to make decisions.

The other thing I will say is have him do a lot because screw that! I remember when he went for the music and the DJ was like “this has never happened before, I’ve never spoken to the groom before.” He had said “it’s alway the bride calling” and I was like, why? He knows how to listen to music. He can pick songs. If I had things to cut out, he was cutting them out. Give him things to do, it doesn’t have to be all you.

Also, don’t stress or put too much thought on the little details. It’s easy to say that, but the day flies by and you won’t care.