Our wedding was wonderful!  We were very lucky to have spectacular weather for our outdoor ceremony.  We were surrounded by our family and friends, and it was the best day of our lives.  Everything went smoothly, and it was a lot of fun to see all of the planning come together.

If you would like to view my planning bio, it can be found HERE. 

Pictures from our honeymoon can be found HERE. 

Most of the wedding pictures are professional pictures by Niki Rossi.  Please give her credit if you use them!

If you have any questions, page me on the Upstate NY board.

Happy planning!

 

 

Michael from Ambiance Florals did an amazing job of replicating a bouquet I fell in love with from a magazine.  (See planning bio for original.)  Our flowers were one of my favorite parts of the day!

 

Ok, so this was one of those cheesy wedding purchases I made that everyone laughed at (along with my "Future Mrs." hoodie).  It is this adorable metal "orb" with a porcelain interior with the words "To Have" on one side and "To Hold" on the other.  I love it and think it is adorable!  It was what our rings were carried in for the ceremony.  It's from Scarlett Alley.

 

I love these photos!

Our best man Justin with our rings.  It's also a nice shot of the guys' lemon leaf and thistle bouts.    And, Sean and one of his brothers doing some pre-ceremony horsing around...  Too funny! 

  

Sean's vows were super secret until right before the ceremony when he let Justin read them.

ceremony

 
 

 I love this picture of Sean's brother and the rest of the guys. 

Our programs.  I made them and I love them!  They were "layered" and tied together with sheer ribbons in purple and green, which were the accent colors for our black and white wedding. 

 

My dad was so excited.  He kept joking around on our way down the aisle which kept me from getting nervous.

 
         

Sean's aunt did a reading from Corinthians.  Our friend Heather read from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

We both wrote our own vows.  His were wonderful.  People are still talking about them!

 

 

Us greeting our maid of honor and best man as they left the ceremony just before the receiving line.

I love this photo of our bridesmaid Jordan watching the receiving line.

Sean's dad... this is such a wonderful picture... he's not usually a big hugger!

  

With our parents.

reception

 

 

Being introduced...  

We and the rest of the wedding party walked in to "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.

   

Our first dance was to "Better Together" by Jack Johnson.

 

My dad and I danced to "Isn't she lovely" by Stevie Wonder.   The picture on the right was taken by my brother.

 

Sean and his mom danced to "In my life" by The Beatles.

 

Our best man Justin gave a hilarious and very kind toast.  He started by saying he was going to keep it "short and sweet... just like Sean" which had us all cracking up.

 

Our maid of honor Sarah gave a wonderful Irish wedding toast.

  

I don't normally like photos of myself, but I love this one of me watching Sarah give her toast. 

 

  Then came the Greek dancing!  It was so much fun! 

I'm telling you... people got really into it!  Especially the ones who had never done it before.  It was a hit!

 

And then there was the Irish drinking song!  Everyone circled up, sang along with the Barley Mo, and chugged a pint of Guinness. 

 

Our cake was beautiful!  J&S Watkins replicated one that we loved from Martha Stewart weddings (pic in my planning bio.)  The little one on the side was for me to eat during the cutting ceremony -- it was gluten free!  :) 

 

A warning... no smooshing!  And there was none.

 

Our candy buffet was a hit!!  (It looked fuller when the Jordan almonds wrapped in tulle arrive and were scattered on the table in between all of the containers.)

 

The sign I made that matched our table numbers (pics of those in my planning bio) and the programs.

 

Our signature mat (the infamous Pottery Barn one).  It filled up with about 130 guests!  We used Zig Millennium pens with archival (acid free) ink. 

Our card box (the infamous picture-frame-on-lazy-Susan model that is so popular with knotties)  :)  

 

Our centerpieces were great.  The DJ gave them away with some sort of odd game that involved passing a dollar around the table until the music stopped and then going the other way etc.  I was generally un-thrilled with our DJ... but he was a last minute replacement so I can't gripe too much.  Ugh.

 

Our friend Alex is living in England for a year on a Fulbright scholarship.  He was there in spirit, via life-sized cardboard cutout!  He hung out in the bar most of the night...  If the real Alex were there, he would have been in the wedding.

 He was a hit with the ladies!  :)  And yes, that is Luke Skywalker's body...  I was hoping for James Bond so he'd be in a suit, but he got Luke to make sure we remembered vividly his nerdy tendencies.

 This is what he was doing that day across the pond!  It was one of our very favorite gifts!!!  He is awesome.

 

     

One of our bridesmaids (Mary, the lawyer... who gave a long and compelling argument to the bartender) convinced the catering staff to pour us shots even though it wasn't something they usually do.  She is hilarious.     

 

A wedding party toast - the fruit of her labor!

Our groomsman Dave was hilarious on the dance floor!

 

My brother and sister-in-law.

 

My grandparents.

 

  

These are just a few more of the reception pictures I love.  Niki Rossi really is a fantastic photographer.  The picture of my grandmother dancing cracks me up every time I see it...

 

vendor reviews

wedding and reception venue:    the altamont manor 

The Altamont Manor is a wonderful place to have a wedding!  It was the perfect size for ours, which involved about 130 people.  Harvey, who owns and runs the Manor, is a sweetheart and is very prepared to help couples book vendors and organize the day.  He acted as something like a day-of coordinator, which was very helpful.  The garden is kept in pristine condition and his attention to detail really pays off!  He also lights the columns on the veranda and the garden around the fountain for a low cost, which was a nice touch to have.

caterer:    nicole's

Nicole's is fantastic.  Margaret worked with us to make sure we had exactly what we wanted.  She took into account our dietary restrictions, which can be a major pain (vegetarians AND gluten free!)  The room looked great.  They did black "skirts" on the tables with white overlays and black napkins.  Having that little bit of black at the bottom made the tables pop and the black and white color scheme looked great with our vibrant centerpieces.  They also did a nice job working with our cake baker and ensuring all 3 of the packages made it to the wedding.   The bartenders did a good job and as far as I could tell there wasn't a long wait for drinks, which meant they were efficient because I think people were taking full advantage of the open bar!

florist:    ambiance florals 

Michael did an AMAZING job with our flowers.  I absolutely loved them!  He replicated a bouquet I fell in love with from an In Style Weddings magazine.  He used the same picture as the inspiration for our centerpieces.   The price he charged us was very reasonable and he set everything up for us (he put out the candles on all of the tables, set up the cake table, and was just generally fabulous to have around on our wedding day!)  I would highly recommend Ambiance to any bride to be!

photographer:    niki rossi

What can I say?  Niki is wonderful!  I will admit, just after our wedding, I doubted her.  She took so many photos so fast (unbeknownst to me) that I thought she didn't get some of the great photos I wanted.  (For example, I didn't think there would be many great shots of Sean and I!)  Boy was getting our proofs a wonderful surprise!  I never should have doubted her!  She has an amazing eye, and her photo-journalistic style is just beautiful.  And, for the rates she charges, she is a total steal!  If you are anywhere near the Capital Region of NY, book her ASAP!

cake baker:    j&s watkins 

They did a great job!  Sue replicated a cake that we loved from Martha Stewart Weddings.  They also made us a gluten free satellite cake so that I could eat something for the cake cutting ceremony.  I think they are one of the only cake bakers in this area that does that, and it was really good too!  They were also really flexible about delivering the cake (to Nicole's a day early) and that helped us avoid a delivery charge.  

hair:    dernier cri salon (anna lisa)

Anna Lisa is fantastic!  She was getting married less than a week after me, and was very calm and collected when she arrived that day to do 6 up-do's on her own!  She was fun to have there for the big day because she knew exactly how I felt!  And it was so much fun to support the business of another knottie!  I plan to go back to her to have my hair done regularly.  Her salon is beautiful  I would recommend her to other brides in the area.  Her salon also provides makeup artists and you can take your bridal party there, or have them come to you.  Their prices are very reasonable, and you won't find a nicer person!  

makeup:   cheryl anderson

Cheryl is a freelance makeup artist.  I met her when she worked at the Clinique counter at Macy's. I really like her a lot (she's really nice) and I liked that she used Clinique makeup. My skin is VERY sensitive and their products are something I can tolerate. She was so sweet before the wedding giving me advice about what to do to "prep" my face for the big day. Since I first met her and got some skin care advice from her, my skin has really improved. I loved my makeup on the wedding day, and so did the two bridesmaids that had their's done. If you'd like her contact information, page me on the Upstate NY Board and I can email it to you.

officiant:    lynn ashley

I actually found Lynn through  Anna Lisa who did Lynn's hair also.  (I know, random!)  She turned out to be a fantastic discovery!  She is a Unitarian Minister and was very caring and committed to our wedding ceremony and making it everything we wanted it to be.  She worked with us to incorporate bits of our families' culture and beliefs while keeping it very non-denominational.  

ceremony music:    donna adams-profeta, celtic harpist

Donna is very nice and her harp is beautiful.   The Celtic Harp is smaller than a traditional harp, and has a really beautiful sound (there are audio clips on her website.)  She was easy to work with and her fee was very reasonable.  Everyone really enjoyed the music at our ceremony, and having a live musician there created a very nice atmosphere. 

The songs we used were: "Brynna's Aire" for the processional
"Cannon in D" for my walk down the aisle with my dad
"Wedding Reel" for the recessional
She also played various other songs for about 1/2 hour before the ceremony as guests were being seated, and for 1/2 hour after the ceremony as guests began to enjoy cocktails and hors d'oeurves.

dj:    jeffrey scott (and shawn gillie)

I have some gripes with this vendor, and I feel bad about it.  Jeff is a nice guy and probably a good DJ.  It took him a long time to send me some information I needed (the sheet to write out what songs we want played when.)  At our final meeting about a week before the wedding, Jeff informed us he was unfortunately in need of surgery and would likely not make it to our wedding.  His former business partner, Shawn Gillie agreed to fill in, which was super because we would have been in trouble otherwise!  Jeff was very apologetic, and I understood.  I mean, you can't plan a medical issue!  He promised to send us a certificate for $500 towards a future performance by him in leiu of him making it to our wedding . We never got this, which was a little disappointing.  Shawn did a good job for having only a few days notice, but I wish he had been a little better prepared by Jeff.  He played the right entrance song and the correct first dance and cake songs, so that was good.  He didn't, however, play ANY of the  other songs we requested.  This was a little disappointing, but I was so distracted during the wedding I didn't have time to deal with it.  Like I said, we were very grateful that he was even able to do our wedding, and all in all it wasn't a disaster. 

transportation:    all occasions limo

These guys were really great.  I booked our limo very late, because I couldn't decide if we actually needed it.  After deciding we did, I called around and they had some of the best rates I could find.  I ended up changing the pickup time on them at least twice, and they never sounded irritated with me.   (They are probably used to crazy brides, LOL!)  They were on time for everything and the limo was in great condition.

invitations:    invitations by alecia

I LOVED our invitations!  I was really worried about ordering something so important online, but after getting her sample and comparing it to the invitations I saw in stores, I was convinced I had to go with Alecia's work!  She was very flexible about customizing our invitations so that they were exactly what we wanted.  (See my planning bio for photographs of the final product.)  Alecia was great about communicating via email, and faxed me proofs until things were exactly right.  Once I signed off on everything, we got the invitations quickly.   I am still getting compliments from people on beautiful they were!

my dress:    peggy's bridal shop

We worked with Jeanne at Peggy’s, who I thought was very nice.  My dress was Paloma Blanca 3558.  Peggy's was great to work with from day one.  Linda was the seamstress that did my alterations, and she was amazing!  That dress was SO comfortable and fit me like a glove!  The cost of my alterations was very reasonable.  I also ordered my veil from Peggy's.  It  was a little more than I had planned on spending, but after trying one on that I ordered online, I knew the quality was worth it.  I LOVED my veil and ended up wearing it all night instead of taking it off as I had planned. 

tuxedos:    choppa & son

I didn't really want to do tuxes, but not many of the guys had black suits and I couldn't ask them to spend the hundreds of dollars each on them.  So. we did simple black tuxes.  The groomsmen wore black vests, the dads wore charcoal gray, and Sean wore white.  All of them wore long ties that matched the vests.  The tuxes were good quality (especially compared to those at some other local tux shops).  They were all in on time and everything fit just right.    Their prices are very reasonable and they are easy going, which is nice!

jewelry:    northeastern fine jewelry

Sean got my engagement ring at Northeastern, and when we went to look for our wedding bands, we decided to head back there.  We like their service and the quality of their jewelry.  

 

for aruba vendor reviews and pictures from our honeymoon, check out our honeymoon page here. 

thanks for looking!  :)