Real Long Island Wedding: Monica and Rodney

Rodney and I met back in 2005 when I began working for the United States Postal Service.  We had always been friends, but it wasn't until we went to a Mets game on Labor Day weekend, 2009 that we began dating.  I think we knew very early on that we wanted to get married.  We talked about it a lot, but it wasn't until Rodney presented me with a ring and soup that it became official.  It all happened while I was sick with the flu, which explains the soup.

We wanted to keep our wedding intimate and simple.  We began looking at halls, and made our decision once we saw Chateau Briand.  Rodney and I share a love of all things celestial themed (sun, moon and stars) so it wasn't hard deciding on a theme for our wedding.  We chose royal blue and yellow as our colors.  I believe what made our wedding special was how much of ourselves we incorporated into everything.  I accredit myself as a Do-It-Yourself bride, having created our save the dates, invitations, menu cards, programs and aisle runner.  I had such a hard time finding the items we envisioned that I knew I had to do them on my own.  I spent months agonizing over my invitations, with everything from two printers breaking to not liking the designs, but in the end everyone loved them. 

It was absolutely amazing to see everything come together the day of the wedding.  My cousin, who is an ordained minister, performed our ceremony while our families and close friends participated.  I would have to say what I remember most was making eye contact with Rodney as I walked down the aisle and feeling so at peace during the ceremony. This amazed me because I was such a nervous wreck the whole day before and the morning of.  What we will remember forever is the love we felt from everyone who attended our wedding.  It was so amazing to share such an intimate experience with the people we love surrounding us.  There is no feeling in the world like looking around and seeing tears and smiles all around you and watching everyone celebrate.

Our advice to anyone planning a wedding is to take time and enjoy the planning aspect, as well as your ceremony and reception, because it goes by SO FAST!  Rodney and I had so much fun putting together our DIY projects! It was a great experience for us and it made us appreciate seeing everything on the day of.  TAKE YOUR TIME - when choosing your vendors and your wedding party! It's very easy to want to go overboard when planning, but try and stick to your budget.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  People at your wedding will not miss what was not there!  Most importantly, never forget the reason why you are doing all of this, and be sure to surround yourself with people who love and care about you.  They will be your biggest support, outside of each other.