Our Wedding (Really, Really Long)
Well, as everyone says, in the beginning of the planning, it seems your day can`t come quick enough, but as the months turn into weeks and weeks into days, the time just goes really, really fast ... almost to the point you wish you had just a little more time for the smallest of the small details.
Our rehearsal went really well. It was probably the most thorough we had ever been to, and all seemed to go well .. my niece (age 4 1/2) and my nephew (age 1 1/2) made the walk down the aisle hand-in-hand on the second attempt! :) That had to be the highlight moment!
The rehearsal dinner was at IRISH COFFEE PUB. I was initially given a hard time by a woman (Newla) in trying to book a room, but was handled much more professionally by Fred when I called a second time. And I`m glad I called back. One small glich ... when we walked into what was supposed to be our room, the woman tending to the seating (I don`t know her name), came and told me we had the wrong room. I told her the Dublin Court was what we booked. She came back and said I was right. Minor annoyance that shouldn`t have happened. After that, everything was perfect. The food was amazing and the service was great. I wish I remembered the waitress`s name. She was really sweet, and delayed dinner flawlessly at our request while we handed out gifts.
As for our wedding day...
I woke up at my parent`s house to a gray sky despite the forecasts for clear skies til Tuesday. Well, I checked the weather channels, and the weather was going in the wrong direction, bringing rain in from the south-east. Sure enough, the rain started and barely let up all day. Just once I think the sky brightened for just a few minutes, and that was well before we left for church.
On to the vendors...
KRISTEN (of Enchante Salon and Day Spa in Smithtown) came just after 9 a.m. Mom went first, and my niece was so excited, she insisted on being next. Everyone`s hair and makeup turned out great, and Kristen was so efficient on getting us all done so quickly without compromising our looks that we had time to just sit and relax before getting dressed.
FLOWERS BY BRIAN sent their delivery early, which is always appreciated, and the driver even said, if he had to, he would wait outside the church til later in the afternoon if it was locked when he got there. The flowers were absolutely stunning. The only time I (sort of) paniced all day was when I thought we were one boutineer short, but when I called them, they quickly set me straight .. turned out I just had the color schemes wrong on who got what! (Duh!) But they knew without pausing in the conversation. The only thing that was wrong, was the berries were missing from the flowergirl basket .. no big deal. I have to say, even men have been commenting since the wedding on how stunning the flowers were. And they have held up so well since.
MICHAEL O`NEILL and assistant Mark were next to arrive. They were lots of fun to work with the whole day through, and were very patient in dealing with all the craziness in my parent`s cramped house as we all prepared in the final hours before the wedding. Since the outdoor pictures were washed-out, Michael suggested heading back up to their studio for our portraits. They were ready when we arrived and moved fluidly through the shots to get us in and out quickly. While we haven`t seen our proofs yet, we can say we loved working with them.
The limos arrived next. I had always heard great things about ROYALTY, and knew they had a reputation of arriving early, which is exactly what happened with our cars. The Jaguar was sitting outside my parent`s house by something like 2:30, when it was supposed to pick up the girls at 3:15. The Rolls Royce, expected at 3:30, arrived about 3:00. My only knock against them was having to tell the drivers how to get to their destinations. To me, it wasn`t a big deal, but they really shouldn`t have been asking how to get everywhere. The woman driving the Jag was a tremendous help at the church, and Gus, who drove the Rolls, was lots of fun. We also had a car come back at the end of the night, and here too we were giving directions. Again, to me, not a big deal.
The Church was great. My niece and nephew did go down the aisle hand-in-hand, though he didn`t carry the ringbearer pillow despite my sister-in-law`s (matron of honor) futile efforts. I shrugged and told her let him go without it. Some things you just can`t stress over. I was also glad I did the programs and included the readings. I also had the ushers ask people if they needed John Anthony`s map cards while handing out the programs.
The videographer, part of Michael O`Neill Photography, was not abtrusive at all. I barely noticed him throughout the whole event, including the reception. I think the only time I cringed was when the limo drivers and I had to hike my dress up as we made our way from the limo to the church, and I saw the red light flashing on his camera .. I was hoping he wouldn`t tape that, but it was part of the day! (And I did ask the lady limo driver to make sure I wasn`t flashing anyone). :) Basically the only time I got upset was at the end of the night. The videographer asked if Mike and I wanted to say anything to each other, then I remembered how he was supposed to have asked us questions like how/when/where we met, how/when/where we got engaged, etc. and he hadn`t. At first he made it seem like it couldn`t be done anymore, but we worked it out. It ended up being done in our bridal suite under pressure during the final half-hour of our reception, but did get done. However, I don`t really know if we were happy with the way our stories were told by us. Guess we`ll see how it turns out on the video.
As for our DJ, Eddie Terryn of PARAMETERS, overall I`d say we were very happy with him. He checked in with us numerous times throughout the night to make sure everything was okay, and I thought that was absolutely great. Every little request I had when he came to us, was met promptly. As for our MUST PLAY list, I can`t say for sure that everything was played since we got sidetracked on more than one occaison. The only knock, is that Mike`s dedication to me was played opening the dinner set when everyone had been seated to eat. We hesitated for a moment, then got up and danced to the song while our guests ate. Unfortunately, this moment, his dedication to me, will be missing from the video because of the timing.
The moment of the night for me, was when Eddie did the 10-year-anniversary dedication to my brother and sister-in-law. I gave him their wedding song, and he played it for them opening the set after dinner. It was great seeing them recapture the moment from their wedding, and their little girl joined them shortly into the song. Unfortunately my nephew had fallen asleep in the minutes prior to the song.
A friend of ours assisted in the intros to the reception. He is an amazing bugler, and did a fanstastic job. Later in the night, he did a fabulous 'America the Beautiful.'
