Real Long Island Wedding: Lori and Eric

When midtown city girl, Lori, decided to venture downtown for a book reading at a bar called Kettle of Fish, little did she know what was in store for her. Eric was a regular at the bar that she was heading towards. On that night, he was also sitting at the bar chumming it up with the regular bartender.

Upon arrival, Lori took a seat next to an empty seat right next to Eric while she waited for the book reading to start. Being the loquacious guy that he is, Eric took the opportunity to strike up a conversation. After a few minutes of chatting, they realized they had a lot in common. They are both very computer savvy, love to watch anime, share similar political views and visit the gym on a regular basis.

When Lori excused herself to attend the book reading in another part of the bar, Eric decided right then and there to something he rarely does. He asked Lori for her number and the rest was history…

Popping The Question:

On a brisk, clear day in Nov. 2005, Eric asked Lori to meet him at Kettle of Fish, the bar where they first met, under the pretense of taking her out to celebrate their 3rd anniversary. Lori had an inkling that Eric might be proposing so she was on pins and needles the whole day at work. When she finally arrived at Kettle of Fish, Eric bought Lori her usual favorite drink, a whiskey sour, and they exchanged anniversary gifts. Then Eric lead them to a nearby place for dinner before they went home.

When they arrived home later that night, Lori resigned herself to waiting longer for the proposal so she headed for bed. It was at this moment that Eric revealed to Lori that the past 3 years they’ve been dating was the most amazing three years of his life.

He explained that a few years before he met her, he had been hospitalized with a serious illness. His doctors had even prepared him for the worse. His will to live was at all time low and he had almost given up on life because he felt he was a burden to his family. Little did he realize that a few years later he would find his true reason for living in the form of a petite Asian-American.

With that said, he got on one knee and professed his love and his desire to spend the rest of his life with her.

Ecstatic and crying at the same time, Lori nodded an enthusiastic ‘yes!’ through her tear filled eyes.

Going To The Chapel:

Lori and Eric had initially wanted a simple destination wedding with some close friends and relatives. For over 1 month they debated over whether to have the wedding closer to home or far away. But after some deliberation, they realized how important family meant to them. Having a family wedding would mean many family members may not be able to share in their special day!

Planning their wedding was a truly eye opening experience for Lori and Eric. Since this was the first time both planned a wedding, they didn’t know what to expect. At first Lori and Eric encouraged tips and ideas from friends and family. But very soon they realized that these ideas and tips do not necessary reflect who they are as a couple. Wedding planning became a chore as both learned the difficulties of balancing the ‘suggestions’ from family and their own needs.

It wasn’t until a friend told Lori about liweddings.com that they truly enjoyed wedding planning again. Lori even made a friend, greenfreak, from liweddings.com who she eventually invited to the wedding!

In the 10 months they had to plan this special day, they rediscovered themselves and grew even closer as a couple.

Ring Tones:

Lori and Eric decided to forego the traditional engagement ring over an engagement necklace. Since she’s always on the computer typing away and not at all used to wearing jewelry on her arms or hands, Eric bought Lori a pendant in the shape of a cherry blossom, Lori’s favorite flower. Cherry blossoms signify purity of intention, undying love, eternal fidelity, and a new beginning.

It was a great decision as Lori and Eric ended up splurging on a wedding band which both were able to customize to their hearts content. For her wedding band, Lori chose a 5mm wedding band that she designed herself. It has 5 cherry blossoms that vary in size encircling 1/3 of the ring. The middle cherry blossom is the largest and has a diamond embedded in it. Eric chose a 7mm tungsten carbide wedding band with platinum inlay. Tungsten carbide is a metal that is even stronger and more scratch resistant than titanium.nsience of life

Wine and Dine:

Appetizer - A combination course of grilled Portobello mushroom caps with roasted pepper and Roma plum tomatoes atop baby mesclun greens with a balsamic vinaigrette glaze.

Entrees

Long Island Duck Marnier – Slow roasted with fruit filling in a Grand Marnier glaze
Estate Lamb Chops – Rack of lamb roasted with rosemary and natural juices
Stuffed Shrimp New England – Stuffed with Maryland crab and served with a mushroom cap
Grilled Norwegian Salmon – Rubbed with fine herbs, garlic and extra virgin olive oil
Filet Mignon – Whole tenderloin of beef crowned with a mushroom cap
Pollo Princess – Breast of chicken with asparagus spears and homemade mozzarella
North Fork – Grilled farm fresh vegetables served over saffron rice
All entrees served with chef’s selection of potato and seasonal vegetables

Dessert

Wedding Cake - Chocolate cake with chocolate mouse and raspberry filling
Raspberry Sorbet with a splash of Chambord and a sprig of mint
International Coffee and Cordial Table – Freshly brewed Lavazza coffee and a selection of imported herbal teas, cordials, espresso and cappuccino

The Bride: Lady Roi Fall 2005 Collection – Strapless, white satin bodiced gown with an organza skirt. A line semi cathedral train with an asymmetrical waist line that gathers on the side with a single flower. Beads and appliqués adorn the gown.

The Groom: Black Calvin Klein two-button tuxedo with satin trim. Silver weaved vest with silver striped tie.

The Bridesmaids/Matron of Honor: David’s Bridal halter organza tea length dress in truffle. Thin sash adorned the waist, with a single flower on the side.

Best Man/Groomsmen: Black two-button tuxedo with satin trim. Burgundy vest and satin tie.

Flower girls: Pink petal satin dress with organza overlay and fluttery ruffles. Waistband has large garden flower accents.

Mother of the Groom: Royal blue full length two piece dress.

Father of the Groom: Black tuxedo with satin trim and black vest and satin tie.

Affair of the Heart: Lori and Eric had a lovely garden wedding in the theme of cherry blossoms. Pink and chocolate were the dominant colors throughout the wedding. With her graphics design background, Lori was able to effortless design the wedding invitation, monogram, wedding programs and wedding favor tags in the cherry blossom theme. They also personalized their wedding vows and customized the cake with pink cherry blossoms.

The wedding favors each guest received was a box of lindt chocolate snaps and a full bottle of red wine from Pugliese Vineyards. The couple’s name and the date of the wedding were inscribed in gold script lettering on the wine bottle.

Event Highlights: Our first dance is probably the one thing that stood out the most in our mind. We took both swing and waltz dance lessons and kept it a secret until the day of the wedding. All our guests waited to see us do the standard “shuffle” since most don’t know we can dance. Well we ended up wowing all our guests! Not only did we do one dance, but two!

Eric and I started out doing the waltz to Bryan Adams “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman”, then we pretended that wasn’t going to work out so we stopped and had the DJ change to a swing tune, “Goody Two Shoes” by Adam Antz.

The look on our guests’ faces was priceless. A lot of them came up to us afterward and complimented on the dance numbers. We can’t wait to see the video! Not only did we knock our guests’ socks off but we didn’t make a single mistake for both dances!

Best Gifts:
It’s hard to define what was the best part of the wedding as the whole day was so amazing! From the way our room was decorated with all the beautiful flowers our florist, Designs By Rose, had carefully and beautifully arranged throughout the room to the wonderful music played, everything just came together very well. But honestly, the most amazing part of the wedding is the combination of seeing all our friends under the same roof and seeing them all enjoying themselves that made the day truly special. Sappy but true! We didn’t realize it would mean so much to us but we had a great turnout. Practically all the guests we invited came! And those who weren’t able to make it were apologetic or had very valid reasons for not being able to make it.

Our second best gift is a huge check Eric’s parents presented to us as a wedding gift. It was totally unexpected and completely floored me. It took me several minutes to compose myself before I was able to properly thank them.

Happily Ever After:
Eric and Lori both started their jobs recently so decided to postpone their honeymoon until next summer. They plan on going for a 2 week long Mediterranean cruise. In the meantime, they are both spending their spare time decorating the 2BR Hoboken condo they call home. A project both have been meaning to tackle but postponed due all the wedding planning leading up to the big day.

LIWeddings.com Vendors Used:
Hotel: Wingate Inn
Reception Hall: Westbury Manor
Officiant: Pastor April Gismondi
Bridal Registry: Fortunoff
Invitation: Pippy’s Sweets
Florist: Designs By Rose
Photographer: Duet
Videographer: Duet