and the second winner is..........

Melissa and Matt!
Congratulations, with a whopping 67 comments you secured yourself a beautiful 16x20 gallery wrap! Thanks to everyone for their input and comments, this was such a FABULOUS contest!!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - post your comments now!

Hello everyone!
I just posted the last entry for the fabulous/not-so fabulous contest. Heather (fab/not-fab story #11) was the first lucky winner of a fine art gallery wrap from her wedding pictures. The next winner will be the person whose post has the most comments. All comments must be posted by midnight, MARCH 21st.
Good luck and thanks again for all of the stories!!!
Cheers!
Nancy

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #21

And the last entry is from Val, who got married in February of 2006!

"We loved that we chose to get married near Valentine’s Day – it really worked out great for everyone! For our guests, it was a fun and special evening out during a time when their schedules weren’t jam-packed with other weddings. For us, all of our first choices for vendors were available because it wasn’t “busy season” and they made all the difference in the world! Our live band, Java Jive, brought an incredible dynamic to the evening and are three of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. Lynne Valeri of Video Design created the most amazing video and Nancy Gould, as you know, is quite simply the best! It was absolutely worth it to invest in such talented professionals and we still receive rave reviews from friends and family to this day!

I loved our flowers – tall arrangements of mixed whites and greens with flowing orchids that lined the aisle of the church. We chose to get married at St. John’s Church in Cambridge where both my parents and grandparents were married. The church had never looked more beautiful! I’ll always remember how special and excited I felt as I walked towards AJ – we were about to get MARRIED!


The experience of finding and choosing my wedding gown was incredible and so much fun! I fell in love with an a-line allecon lace gown with scalloped hem at Allegria Bridal in Belmont on my first day shopping with my Mom. I just knew that the way I looked and felt in that dress was exactly how I wanted to feel on our wedding day – it was simple and elegant, and I knew that AJ would love it. Allegria Bridal was more than accommodating, extremely kind, and meeting the designer, Judd Waddell, when I purchased my gown was a moment that I’ll never forget!

People always ask – do you have your “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?” For me, this all came together perfectly! I wore my “new” wedding gown, an “old” pearl necklace that my Godmother gave me for my 16th birthday, and I carried a white handkerchief embroidered with blue trim with my maiden initials and wedding date engraved on it. The handkerchief was a tradition that began when I bought it for one of my best friends from college. Subsequently, over the next two years each time the next of our best friends got married (there were 4 of us), we would engrave the next Bride’s maiden initials and wedding date and present it to her on the night of their rehearsal dinner. We all loved knowing that each of us shared this meaningful, personalized “something borrowed, something blue” on our special day.




Lastly, in the “not-so-fabulous” category, I can honestly say, the only thing that we would have done differently is not have a head table. We chose to have a sweetheart table on a riser with a semi-circle table in front of us for our wedding party. Not only did we hate the way it was set-up but none of us really spent much time up there. In reflection, we should have just had a sweetheart table and sat our wedding party with their dates. Luckily, we promised each other to not think twice about anything that wasn’t perfect and rather just enjoy the day, so we had a blast and enjoyed our reception, and each other, to the fullest!"



Doesn't it look like she was having a fabulous time???
Thanks Val!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #20

Next up is Megan, another 2004 bride! I'm looking forward to seeing her again this fall at Sam's brother's wedding!


"So...about the wedding reflections. I think that our wedding planning was unique in that my sister Katelin and her husband were married 7 weeks before our wedding day. They were married in early September and we were October 30th, 2004. Both weddings definitely reflected the personal styles of each couple which was great. All of our parents were fantastic, supportive and really embraced this unique situation. It worked out so well because we were all in full-on "wedding mode" for about 11 months.

Highlights:

-Working with vendors we trusted and then backing off to let them do their thing. Whether it be the baker, DJ, photographer, florist, videographer, bagpiper, we ultimately hired artists who brought their experience, talent and insight to the day. They are the professionals who do this all the time, so we shared an outline of what we wanted and then it go. We ultimately LOVED the end result of everything.



-Given that my husband and I share a love of golf, our reception facility Charter Oak Country Club, was a perfect setting for our day. The meal was fabulous as well and my husband and I made it a priority to really enjoy our first meal together at a sweetheart table. We chose our favorite meal, a traditional Thanksgiving meal with butternut squash soup and all the fixings and we loved it! It was so nice to just sit together and take in the surroundings and all of the people who were there to help us celebrate our marriage.



-My husband and I are pretty laid back, but we did have a major concern regarding our wedding. Remember back in '04 when the Red Sox were battling for the World Series title? We had heard stories about how people were not showing up to weddings, or bringing little TVs into reception places in order to be loyal Sox fans. Game 6 was supposed to take place on our wedding night--but Thank God they pulled out the win in 4 games straight! The DJ incorporated some favorite Sox tunes and their win definitely added to the excitement of the day.

Lowlights: We didn't have any. The day was just perfect exactly as it was. We were so grateful to be marrying each other, that minor details couldn't have tarnished our wedding day.

Just a note: Sam's best man, his brother Ed, met Sara at my sister's wedding in September. They talked all night and continued to hit it off at our wedding, and will be getting married themselves this September! They will be using Nancy as their photographer as well and we couldn't be more delighted for them! Nancy was such a FABULOUS photographer and was so easy to work with. Her calm demeanor puts you at ease, and she and her assistant were always there to capture each moment. We continue to love her work!"

Thanks Megan!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #19

Next up is Jennifer - you may recognize some of her pictures from my sample album. She a bunch of things to share!

"When I think back to my wedding day, there really isn't much I would change, mostly because I've basically been planning my wedding since I was in grammar school. My Priscilla of Boston dress was the first dress I tried on. I searched for many dresses after that, but I kept thinking the first one was "The One". Then it came time for the veil. I had a harder time looking for the veil I wanted at the price I could afford than for anything else. After MONTHS of looking for a veil, I finally had to get one custom made at Vera Wang. It was so beautiful so I closed my eyes to ignore the price tag, but I loved it. My only regret is not being able to wear it the entire night. At least it's getting a second use out of it, one of my friends is using it as her "something borrowed" this coming May.

Then my shoes....I knew no one would see my shoes, nor will I ever wear white shoes again, so I figured I'd look for a cheap comfortable pair I could get away with for one day. I mentioned it to my husband and he looked at me and started to laugh. He said he couldn't believe that someone who wears designer shoes every day was looking for a cheap shoe to wear on her wedding day. But come on, more money wasted for one day?? Then I read somewhere that Manolo Blahnik made a white satin dyeable, so I took a trip to NYC to buy them. What a better way to get my money's worth than to dye them another color after the wedding? Which is what I did, they are now black and I wear them to every dressy event!




I remember going downstairs to get ready to walk into the ceremony. I was super conscious about my husband and I not seeing each other before. I remember my father and I arm in arm getting ready to walk down the aisle. Right before they opened the doors for me, my father said "don't forget! Step with the right foot first." His way of still being the leading man in my life one last time. And then he stepped with his left. And I smiled to myself as the doors opened.



Picture taking was also a blur. I remember walking out to Copley Square, and it's probably one of the only times I remember seeing Nancy and Kelly all night. They were AWESOME. I don't know how they keep the masses on track in the chaos. I also remember Nancy on the ground in Copley Square taking one of our favorite photos with the Hancock. Did I mention Nancy was five months along with Jonah at the time? I remember telling her to get off the dirty ground!!


We had a black tie Boston-themed wedding. Almost all our guests travelled from all over the country and all over the world to come to it. I took care of every detail. The hotel gift bags had Boston-based goodies in them. We had done a little "travel guide" of Boston listing all our favorites eateries, things to do, secret public bathrooms along the freedom trail, etc. I had gotten some discount coupons from local businesses and museums. I wanted our guests to enjoy the city I live in.


Our menu cards were designed by a local artist and they were a watercolor scene of the Public Garden. All of our stationery was done by Arlene from Invitations & Company, and she was amazing. I will always use for any stationery needs, she was super nice and gave me beautiful products within my budgets. Our centerpieces were made by my husband. He took photographs of places we've been (which were the table names) and made them into hurricane candles that he dipped and molded himself. Since each one is a work of art of his, each table had a Boston-trivia game on it and the winner of the game got to take home the centerpiece. We see them in people's homes still.


One of the things we had a lot of guests comment on was that every placesetting had a list of each guest and his/her relationship to me or my husband. People really enjoyed reading through it, and they said it made each of them feel special in some way, like they were truly part of our new combined lives and families.


Our signature drink was the chocolate martini (my favorite with a specific recipe). I am famous for drinking them. The Fairmont accomodated my recipe and they were served with the cake. That is where my guests said they fell off the wagon, they were so good.


Our band, Studio C, was wonderful. They had taken the time to learn songs that were special to us and even change the tempo to what we needed. My father and I waltzed for our dance and the band slowed down the tempo of the song we wanted so we could use it. They even surprised me by singing our last song live (they had learned it in a week) when I was fully happy to have it play on CD. That was really special to me and I thanked the bandleader profusely for it.


The most memorable part of our wedding was that we had a live artist paint it. I found him in Starbucks, he speaks little English, but he understood what I wanted. He had never done it before and was very excited for the project. I said I wanted him to capture the essence of our wedding in an impressionist oil painting and that the only scene I did not want was the ceremony. I wanted something else. We could not have asked for anything better. He chose to paint our first dance. The scene is beautiful, the Oval Room at the hotel makes a perfect backdrop and he captured the scene perfectly. Many of our guests say they can pick themselves out in the painting based on where they were standing during the dance. And it was also the first time my husband showed of his moves from our dance lessons, boy were our friends surprised! We getting the painting printed up on notecards and used them as our thank you cards. People still have the card displayed in their homes today. "




Hope this gives some people some ideas - I know SO many people have commented on their custom painting. And I had no idea that those Manolos were dyeable - fabulous!!!!!!!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #18

Next up is Adrianne, she had a super-fun day with absolutely amazing weather.

"Top 10 Fabulous Things about Adrianne & Jeremy's wedding day:

10. A 75 degree, sunny beautiful August Saturday! I had fears of 95 degrees.

9. Not speaking to each other the morning of our wedding. It made the moment of seeing each other at the church all the more special.

8. Having our families and friends involved and around us to celebrate our marriage. There's nothing better than that.

7. Having a wedding day that had our stamp on it- from the Red Sox jerseys, to our first dance to Jimmy Buffett, and our last to Motley Crue. The day had "Adrianne & Jeremy" written all over it.


6. Taking a boat to our reception! We were definitely rockstars.


5. Having the greatest DJ ever! The ceiling on the first floor of the restaurant was shaking all night long.


4. Having each part of our day- the ceremony and the reception- happen in our respective hometowns. The ceremony was in mine & the reception in Jeremy's.

3. Having the best photographer we could imagine!!!

2. Our "moment" as we left the church- the piece of advice to take a moment to ourselves was one of the best we received among all that advice.


1. The end of the evening & knowing that it was really just the beginning."


Thanks Adrianne! They had Greg Hodges as their DJ and he was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #17

The next entry if from Becka, a 2004 bride.

"Almost 4 years after we were married, and still the only thing I wish I had done differently during my wedding was to look at Tom as I walked down the aisle. I was so afraid I would lose it (which I did during the ceremony) that I didn't look at him until I was right in front of him. Thankfully, you captured the moment when he first saw me, so I was eventually able to see it, but if you hadn't, I'd have never known how excited/nervous/happy he was during my walk with my dad.



One thing I was happy that we did was we only had a sweetheart table (I think that's what it's called) - no head table. It was nice to be able to talk with each other candidly and not feel like we were ignoring tablemates. "


Thanks Becka, that' great advice!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #16

Next up is from Jen, she got married in October of last year.......



"What I Should Have Had In My Emergency Day Of Kit!

Everyone thinks to include touch up makeup and a few extra bobby pins in their purse for the reception but I really wish I had asked my makeup artist for a little squeeze packet of eyelash glue! Needless to say, I was teary eyed for most of the day -- so toward the end of the reception the false eyelashes on my right eye began to come up! (Thankfully you can't see it in the photos!)

Also, a Tide pen/Shout wipe saved my dress! We returned to our sweetheart table after cutting the cake and Andy decided it would be cute to continue to feed me our chocolate peanut buttercake by hand. The cake was moist and the peanut butter was gooey - it was perfection... until it landed on my dress. Being the dutiful husband he is, Andy sprang into action and began trying to wipe it off my dress which, of course, only made the brown spot larger as he rubbed the chocolate into the lace. After some mild panic, Andy remembered the Shout wipes in the bathroom baskets. Voila! It worked like a charm.



Mission: Picture Perfect

Since we lived together before we got married, it was important for us not see each other the morning of the wedding. If there is ever a morning you don't want to have to fight for sink space - then it's your wedding day. But honestly, we wanted the "grand reveal" of seeing each other from opposite ends of the church aisle -- and all of the anticipation that comes with it. At the same time, we really liked the look of photos taken before the ceremony with the entire bridal party. Mainly, we liked that the photos are all taken at the same place. So we compromised. We decided that we would have our photos taken at the same location before the ceremony but at different times. It sounds easy now, but it had to be carefully orchestrated. It required down-to-the-minute Team Bride/Team Groom timelines, explicit instructions and directions (with maps!) for our limo driver and a lot of wishing and hoping that we would not run into each other! And did I mention we decided to do the photos outside? Unbeknownst to me, this whole plan caused my Mom many sleepless nights (she admitted this to me just yesterday). In the end, all the planning paid off and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day or more beautiful photos! Our pre-ceremony photos are exactly what we were after: there is a cohesiveness to Andy's photos and mine. Even though we weren't there at the same time, the look and feel of the photos is as if we were. "








That was tricky, Jen! But thankfully everyone was very prompt which made it easy!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #15

Well, I knew that Jennifer would have some good comments.....turns out she already has them posted on HER blog! (just scroll down about a page for the wedding stuff)

Here are a couple of my favorite entries......(I'm partial to Vows, because that's where I got my dress, too!


"So you became engaged, and you don't have anything to wear? That's what I said. At first I thought I would try to have my mother's gown altered to fit me since I grew up admiring my mother's beautiful bridal portait on the wall of our house. It's a beautiful dress, but as design would have it, I felt it looked better in the box than on me. A friend of mine told me about a place called Vows, a bridal outlet store located in Newton, Massachusetts that specializes in sophisticated designer wedding gowns for much much less.

Fortunately, unlike most of the other shops I had visited, I was able to fill my dressing room with many gowns that not only were beautiful, but were also within my budget. This shop had a very homey and relaxed atmosphere, with wonderful assistance. Vows been written up in the Best of Boston by Boston Magazine as the best place to go for your wedding gown for the past 5 years. I also used their searchable website to virtually pick out gowns before I visited to try them on.

As a result, I found a gorgeous ivory silk Ulla Maja gown that had a very simple a-line cut, and gorgeous cascading train in the back. My good friend Pamela Berberich let me borrow her beautiful veil that fortunately was the same hue of white. With shoes Ron had helped me find at Filene's ($19!!!), and flowers for my hair taken from a vase in our dining room, I was prepared to walk down the aisle in my finest. Hey, I clean up alright, don't I?



Here is a perfect recipe for place card holders: Chocolate boxes!! This allowed us to make a wedding favor, place card, and food-choice indicator all in one:

We used nice little white boxes I got out of one of my jewelry supply catalogs (100 of them for about $24), we filled them with chocolate coins (for good luck wishes) and then tied them shut with smart li'l black bows. To each box we tied the person's name using none other than the luxe papers from Paper Source - and each tag was color coded:

• Pink for salmon
• Checkered blue for chicken
• Sage green for vegetarian

Hope this helps you if you are looking for place card ideas."


Love all your ideas Jen! Has it really been two and a half years.........wow....

Fabulous/not-so fabulous - #14

Next up is a sad, sad story from Allison.........

"I was reading a magazine when I saw this picture of Eva Longoria with these fabulous wedding flip flops on! They were white and had a big fake diamond ring in between the toes. They were so cute and might I say expensive, but I had to have them and you only get married once (maybe)

So on my wedding day, we had them displayed for a photo memory of their fabulousness. They looked so cute sitting on top of my mother's bed all posed.

The day went on, church, limo and finally the reception, the place where I could show off my purchase, until, "Oh No" where are they? I looked in my special wedding bag and they were no where to be seen!!! Where were they?, "I know" sitting perched on top of my mother's bed, lonely!! So sad, oh well at least I have the pictures to remember them by!"





When we found out, I offered her my Reefs I had in the car.....but it's just not the same. Maybe you can lend them to a friend getting married soon??

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #13

Next up are some tips from Cara, a 2005 bride. One of my favorite memories from their wedding was that they played "The Rainbow Connection" for Jon's dance with his mom - how cute is that? I totally teared up....

"There really isn’t a lot that I would do differently. Looking back (almost 3 years later) I still remember a fabulous day that was filled with all of our family and friends. What’s better than that?!

There are a few things that stand out in my mind that I’m glad I did do:

Sweat the small things well before your wedding day approaches. You always here people say “don’t sweat the small things” you won’t enjoy your wedding. Well I spent a lot of time and effort on every last detail but I got all of it done well before the 2 week mark and I’m glad I did. Details make a wedding, in my opinion, and I wanted people to appreciate all the work that went into the day. But I’m glad that I had the last few weeks to just enjoy what was to come – once I got to the actual day I didn’t have much to worry about. So while in an ideal world it would be nice to not worry about every last detail I just don’ think its practical advice for a bride…just get it all done early!

Relax as much as possible before the ceremony – take the time to spend the last few hours with your family and wedding party. You’ll actually remember this part in more detail because it was before all the chaos occurs.

Eat before the ceremony – it was one of the best pieces of advice I got and it was a life saver. Can you imagine not being able to eat until 8 at night after a long day of smiling and greeting people, especially in the summer months?

Savor your time with your new husband taking pictures. It will probably be the only time you’re alone (with the exception of Nancy being with you and she’s not intrusive at all!).


Take the time to talk and greet your guests at your own pace. We planned it so our picture taking would be done and we could enjoy the cocktails and food with our guests…while we did have a quick receiving line at the church being able to mingle with our guests during cocktail hour really was one of the more memorable moments from the reception for me.


I really wanted to have Nancy capture our guests at the reception – being the bride you get caught up in your own moments and I wanted to be able to look at the pictures and see what I missed and see our guests enjoying the night. Nancy did a fabulous job with this one request!!!!

Back to eating…eat at your reception. You spend all this time picking out the perfect menu….you should be able to enjoy it too!!

Entertainment is key to a fun wedding. Our number one priority was making the reception feel like one big party. We wanted our guests to have a blast and picking the right entertainment is the key to having this be a success. We chose a band and they were the talk of the wedding!



Lastly – try and take some moments with your spouse….the day will inevitably fly by but if you take the time to step back and look at what is going on you’ll have those memories forever!!

Oh and hire Nancy as your photographer…once the day is done and over you’ll only have the pictures and video to look back on and she does such a fabulous job capturing all the special moments! "

Thanks for the plug, Cara! :)
And she wasn't kidding about the entertainment. They had Felix Brown, and even the groom was doing the worm!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #12

Next up is a story from Sue. She says that she's not comfortable speaking in public, but I had no idea! She made a great speech about her dad with the cutest story of the two of them doing a paper route together.

"For my father/daughter dance, I had known for years that we would dance to "Unforgettable" by Nat and Natalie Cole. The song meant something to me and I had a story to go with it that i wanted to share with my family and friends at the wedding, just before our dance. Days before the wedding, things were of course hectic and I thought about skipping the speech. I had enough on my plate and really didn't like getting up in front of crowds to talk. I kept going back and forth about writing the speech. Finally, 2 days before my wedding, I put it together. I practiced, printed it on note cards, the whole nine yards. I didn't tell anyone about the speech because I wanted it to be a surprise for my dad but also if I chickened out no one would know. I can't tell you how happy I am now that I made that speech. I think almost everyone there came up to me and told me what a wonderful speech it was and how they had tears in their eyes. The speech was really about my father and how lucky I was
to have him as my dad. It meant a lot for me to have him hear this. You know, life's too short to worry about the little things. My wedding day was the one day where I could do whatever I wanted and every single person in that room was someone special to me and my husband. I got over my fear of public speaking (for that moment!) and I am so happy. I have that speech on video and I have my family's reaction to it. I am just so happy I didn't pass up this great opportunity!"








Thanks Sue!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #11

Next entry is from Heather, a 2005 bride. I remember her ceremony being very well-done and entertaining, as well! Sometimes having a friend or family member perform the ceremony can be a bit of a disaster, but not in this situation!

"I still glow when I think about what a phenomenal experience our wedding was. There were so many fabulous moments - many of them beautifully captured by Nancy! - but here are some come to mind immediately:

Our ceremony was awesome. Because we were a Catholic + Jewish marriage, we decided to have a ceremony that recognized symbols from both religions but without being overly religious. Since we didn't want a priest and/or rabbi, we asked my husband's two uncles to perform the ceremony. It was the most personal, poignant and comical ceremony. (It helps that my husband's uncles are award-winning Hollywood writers and directors and they excel at putting on a show!) I don't think that many people can say their guests were laughing out loud during the ceremony. In fact, I will never forget hearing my father's chuckling coming from the front row. The ceremony certainly had its more serious moments, but never seriously somber like some ceremonies can be. It was incredibly meaningful to have officiants who knew us well. I get the greatest pleasure from friends who still tell us that our wedding ceremony is the best ceremony they've ever been too. What a compliment!


Another cool moment was when my parents, husband and I were escorted into the Ritz ballroom. (It is now the Taj ballroom, but it will always be the original Ritz to me!) All of the guests were still in the cocktail hour and the wedding planner pulled us aside to "present" the ballroom to us. We didn't expect a private viewing. Where we had been under the chuppah just an hour before had been magically transformed into our glamorous reception! It was a wonderful moment, it gave us a few minutes of down time to just enjoy what was happening...and it totally thrilled my parents!


Finally, another fabulous moment was the hora. I had never experienced the honor of being raised up in the chair. Neither had my 65 year old, Catholic-schooled father! He made 'the sign of the cross' as he was being raised up in the chair. Not sure that's ever been done before!


Not so fabulous - There was one seating error at the reception- oops! There was a bit of a fiasco with the tux vests in the 1-2 hours leading up to pictures. The tux rental shop didn't get all the sizes right so the Groom and Best Man were running up and down Newbury Street to the store trying to get the right ones. Lesson learned: make sure the Father of the Bride tries on the vest the day before the wedding! "


Thanks Heather!!

Heather is also the winner of the first gallery wrap - congratulations!!!!!!!!

First winner of fabulous/not-so-fabulous contest!

and the winner is........

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #10

Here's the next entry from Lori! Her cake was so beautiful, what a shame they didn't get to eat it!!

"There are definitely a few things that I loved about my wedding as well as a few things that I wish we had done a little differently.

Things I loved (there were so many great things, I don’t know where to start):
Having the sweetheart table – it was the only time that Mike and I had a chance to sit and talk to each other for a few minutes

Taking pictures on the waterfront – they came out beautiful

Wearing a dress that was comfortable
Staying over in the hotel that night…..because we could keep the party going at least for a few more hours
Having a reception line at the church – gave us more time for dancing during the reception

Things I wish we had done differently:
I wish we had a chance to eat the cake!! We never even got to taste it

I wish we made an announcement that the cake was available, I felt like most people missed it as well as the cappuccino bar"


Thanks Lori!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #9

Next up are some tips from Meredith and Chris who definitely had a relaxed, fun day. I absolutely loved her nephew who had a green lollypop in his hand coming down the aisle. He didn't wear his fancy shoes, but in the end, it doesn't really matter!!

"There honestly isn’t much we would have changed about our wedding day! Fortunately, we both had a “whatever” attitude about the small things that did go wrong (note to future bride and grooms – things will go wrong – so just plan to go with it!)

Here are some of our favorite moments:

We were so glad my sister carried our not so thrilled ring bearer down the aisle. It was so important to us to have him be a part of the day. Now we have funny memories of him not wanting to put on the shiny shoes he was so excited about the day before… and of course him munching on a bag of marshmallows during the ceremony. What else would you expect from a 2 ½ year old!!


We absolutely LOVE the photo of all of our wedding guests that was taken at the end of our processional. It was a fun way to ensure that we have a photo of all of our guests, even the camera shy ones!


We wanted to do something slightly different for our centerpieces – and since I really don’t like the table numbers that you so often see popping out of the vases – we decided to have words to identify the tables. Each word was related to love and marriage - for example our table was “amore”, others were honesty, patience, devotion. And the simple arrangement the florist (A Whole Bunch in Burlington) put together went perfectly with the idea!


We were very happy with all of our vendors… from Nancy and her assistant (of course!!), to our DJ Shannon (Red Hot Entertainment), as well as, Lucille and the caterers from Vinwoods. Our goal was to have a fun, relaxed reception and these people helped to make that happen! We loved the beautiful ceremony given to us by Reverend Elizabeth King. We were very fortunate to have found her. The tone was perfect for us – everything was very personal and relaxed.

My favorite moment of the day was during our first dance. Feeling everyone’s love and happiness for us in the room was really amazing. We were just looking at all of the smiling faces looking back at us – it was a really beautiful moment. All of the planning and bits of stress along the way were well worth it for that feeling!


Our advice to future brides and grooms is to try to relax and to take a step back – a moment at some point during the day to stop and look around to take it all in. Chris and I keep saying we wish we could have another wedding because not only does the day go by so quickly (like everyone warned us it would), but it was also so much fun! I mean really, really fun!

-Meredith and Chris"

Thanks Meredith and Chris!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #8

The next installment is from Lisa - some of you might recognize her pictures (even though her wedding was before I was keeping a blog!) because I have been using images from their wedding in a slideshow that I show clients when they come to meet with me. My favorite one of these stories is the one involving Peter laying down in the backseat with a belly full of cake after a "tasting"........



"First, I will begin with the good... I truly believe one of our best decisions was to have our 'formal' photos taken before the ceremony. Since we had a fall wedding, it allowed us to take our photos outdoors while the sun was bright and shining. We also wanted to spend every possible moment of our reception with our guests. More importantly, I am a worrier! I spent most of the morning in a ball of nerves stressing about the zillion little things that could go wrong. However, the moment that I met my husband at the park where we were taking photos all of my worries vanished. I truly realized that I could not care less if the cake was not perfect or the trolley was late or the kids wouldn't walk down the aisle.... because I was marrying this amazing man TODAY! From that point forward, the day was nothing short of relaxed and wonderful!



I would highly recommend having some version of a 'receiving line' after the ceremony. My husband and I greeted everyone as they left the church. Since it was only the two of us (my mom and dad are talkers so we sent them over to the side...) it moved quickly, however, it provided us with the opportunity to greet every guest and thank them for attending our wedding. This freed up the reception for us to enjoy the party on the dance floor with our guests rather than spending hours going table-to-table welcoming everyone.


I would also highly recommend not just setting a budget first and foremost, but discussing what both of your priorities are for the wedding. For us, excellent food and beverage, music, and photos were our top priorities. We realized we were willing to 'skimp' on other things but we had to find the best cater, band/DJ, and photographer that we could. After all...if our guest didn't have a fabulous time and we didn't have photos to remember our day by we would have been disappointed. Everyone's priorities differ but it is important to not skimp on something and realize later that it was incredibly important to you!

Now, on to the things that we could have done better... We decided to have our wedding in October in Salem, MA. After booking our venue and date, I worried for months about the logistics of holding a wedding in the midst of a major tourist season. We could not block hotel rooms for our guest and I panicked about parking availability and traffic. I wish I had spent more time prior to booking our date thinking about what it would mean to have a wedding during a 'high season' in a small city. In the end, it all worked out beautifully, however I put many hours into trying to 'control' the logistics which were completely out of my control.


Remind your husband-to-be that it is a cake TASTING! We met with two bakers in one day. At the first bakery he decided it would be 'rude' not to finish the entire piece. They gave us eight pieces of cake...and he finished them all! He proceeded to lay in the back seat of the car the entire way to the second bakery because he felt so ill and inform me that he would not have any more cake. Fortunately, at the next bakery he rose to the challenge and managed to finish the 4 additional pieces of cake.

If you are not 'crafty' and do not have a lot of spare time and extra hands to help...skip the 'do it yourself' projects. Most people will not notice if you have individually created seating cards and hand-created decorations...but you will remember the hours you put into them and the money spent on these projects adds up!

Lastly, I could rave about all of my vendors...I was truly fortunate and had a very good experience with all."


Lisa had all of the wedding vendor rockstars.....Vinwood Caterers, Gina Joubert and Kimberly Fosher, Allegria Bridal, and Paul Natale.

Thanks for the stories Lisa!!!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #7

Next entry is from Sarah - they had such a fun day last June up at the Gloucester Elks at Bass Rocks........ (I love her comment about Pringles and M&M's......what could be bad about those? I am also guilty of paying about $8 for 10 Pringles from a mini-bar and loving each and every one....)

"After months of planning and jittery nerves for weeks, when the doors opened to the church and I saw my soon to be husband everything fell into place. Standing up there and promising our lives to one another was thrilling, we kept just smiling and giggling at each other.


The dance lessons were the best investment we ever made! We took dance lessons on Saturdays for a few months before the wedding. We had so much fun spending time together before the wedding learning our dance---laughing, practicing and thinking about the big day. I never thought our guests would love the dance so much or that it would be one of the highlights of our reception. I'll always remember the huge smile on my husbands face while showing off his moves on the dance floor.


The caterers forgot to give us our prepared food plates so when we arrived at hotel at 1AM we were starving. I ate here and there at the reception but the hunger hit us both when we took our shoes off to relax. We wanted a nice sampler of all the wonderful food our guests ate. Instead we ate the entire mini-bar at the hotel! I would have enjoyed the mini-crab cakes or sirloin but Pringles and M&M’s did the trick!

The early bird catches the worm and this applies on the absolute best day of your life. Start getting ready early for the wedding. Make any hair or make-up appointments earlier than you think. I never felt rushed and really enjoyed spending quality time with the bridesmaids before the wedding. Once the flowers arrive the day takes off and never slows down. If you get ready early you have more time for pictures, nobody is stressed and then the rest of the day runs smoothly. Nobody wants to feel rushed on their wedding day or not have time to take a few extra pictures with their husband because they are needed someplace else.


I didn't know much about what I wanted for my wedding, but I knew I wanted a chocolate cake! Each tier of the periwinkle and brown confection featured a different flavor: chocolate raspberry, mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip, and (for nonchocoholics), yellow cake. I’m so glad I went with chocolate icing on my cake. I received so many compliments on how incredibly beautiful it was. If you don’t like white icing don’t put it on your wedding cake because the bridal magazines tell you it looks prettier. I walked by the news stand the other day and on the cover was a huge wedding cake, with chocolate icing---apparently chocolate icing is now “in” because it’s different. It’s always been my favorite!


I wish I had not spent so much money on my veil. I wore it for the ceremony, a few pictures and it was off. It was beautiful but kind of a pain and I wore it for maybe a total of 45 minutes. I could have done something cheaper. Perhaps I’ll open up a used veil shop!

For some reason I thought ALL DJ’s were cheesy or bad – mainly just because all the ones growing up were! We listened to all sorts of CD’s and DVD’s from popular bands. We went through all of their play-lists. We made lists of pros and cons of each band; it started to get real complicated. We didn’t really have time to start scheduling appointments to see different bands and my fiancé was insisting that most bands (that cost thousands of dollars) sounded like, “cheesy garage cover-bands” and I was fed up. I almost forgot I was planning a wedding since in my free time I had become a band consultant. After a few months and my fiancé saying, “That doesn’t sound like the original song” I realized maybe DJ’s were popular for a reason. I can look back and laugh because our DJ did a great job the night of and the dance floor was packed the entire night. Even before the dance floor “opened” people were up there dancing, he was awesome. And he just really wanted to make us happy. A good thing I learned, just because you don’t get the most talked about/recommended vendor doesn’t mean that you won’t get a fantastic one anyway. Trust your instincts; not getting a band was the right decision for us!


I am in the television industry so having the perfect videographer was important to me. I’m really happy with the results, but I have watched the video 5 times. I look at our beautiful wedding pictures around our apartment every day! They are truly works of art. It was the best investment we could have made in our wedding. Sometimes I got consumed with the wedding details—bands, linens, place cards, programs...the list could go on forever. At the end of the night the details are all gone and the pictures last forever. "

Ok - please don't feel like you have to say how much you love your pictures in these stories, but I'm so glad you do!!!!!

Also, Katrina Hess, her make-up artist is running a spring makeover special right now! Now through the end of May you can get a consultation and application in her Newbury Street studio for $50! I'm tempted to do it myself! :)

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #6

Next entry is from Sue who had one of those "no way to prepare for it" moments the day of her weddding...........


"I got married on May 19, 2006-the day of a methane truck rollover on the Mass turnpike in Hopkinton-where I live!. No traffic was allowed on the Pike from 10am-7pm-the day of my wedding!!! It all started with a call from a bridesmaid saying she couldn't get to the hair salon because traffic wasn't bad-it was completely at a standstill!!! We called the State Police and they told us what had happened....

I had my cell phone in one ear trying to re-route people and the curling iron in the other ear-while at the hair salon.
As if your nerves aren't frenzied enough the day of your wedding!!! ...

The flowers miraculously arrived on time to my house .....My wonderful photographer was there because she lived the next town over. My parents who live 20 minutes away and usually take Route 135 decided to take the MASS PIKE! They completely missed the pre-photographs at our house.
When I walked into the church-it was practically empty. My very best friend from upstate NY never made it to do the reading- so we had someone stand in...

It took us hours to get to the reception in Concord. Miraculously....everyone made it...albeit late. People spent all day in the car driving to the reception. They had to forego the ceremony because it was impossible to get there."

Here's Sue & Shawn in good spirits despite it all before, during, and after the ceremony!! You just can't let the challenges get you down......





"The best thing I can say to brides to be is bring a pair of comfortable white slippers so you can boogie down at the reception after the heels come off! I'm still in wedded bliss almost 2 years later-with a 1 year old baby boy too!"

OK - this is becoming a theme!!


and just for kicks......here's the cutie-pie!!!





Thanks Sue!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #5

Here is the next entry from Monica & Chuck, they had a shorter engagement, so did everything on a more abbreviated time frame:
"Things we loved/the best things we did:

* The best thing: getting married!

* We got engaged on Memorial Day in May and were married in October. The planning could only take up about 4.5 months, which were wonderful (and hectic), but we’re really happy to be already married now.

* Three of my very good girlfriends from college, in from out of town, stayed with me for the 2-3 days leading up to the wedding. We had a wonderful little mini reunion... They kept me entertained and relaxed and it was a wonderful way to end single-hood, among close friends.

* Allegria Bridal, in Belmont, was a great place to get a dress and bridesmaids dresses. I recommend them very highly.

* The seamstress who did my dress (Rosa, at Rosa’s Customized Tailoring, Watertown, MA) not only did a fabulous job on my dress, but she also did an impromptu last-minute fix on one of my bridesmaid’s dress. My friend had asked her seamstress (out of town, in a rural area) to put in bust-cups, but the seamstress didn’t have any, so she had cut what we think (we’re really not sure) were shoulder pads in half, and then tacked these in as a pseudo bust-cup. They didn’t quite look right, leaving a sort of horizontal shelf across the dress and my friend was understandably a bit stressed about it. Rosa took a look at the job, tut-tutted a bit about the other seamstress, and then fixed everything there on the spot with new materials, all 2 days before the wedding.

* I had a fabulous florist (Jess Wrobel, in Ipswich) who listened to what general colors and look I wanted, and then who did absolutely everything else on her own. I loved not having someone keep asking me what specific types of flowers I wanted.


* We got married at a site that only does functions, so we won’t be able to go back there easily in the future. A friend who had her reception at the Colonial Inn in Concord mentioned that one thing she loved about it was that it “would always be there” and they’ve been able to go back for their 5- and 10-year anniversaries...

* We took a “mini-moon” for 2 nights after our October wedding, on Cape Cod. That gave us a getaway for ourselves together, but made it really easy to pack for it, and it was a wonderful relaxing 2 days. One of the best parts was waking up at 3 a.m. after the wedding and talking about all the wonderful things that had happened and about how happy we were with everything. And looking at each other and saying “you married me! Wow!”. We were also still able to catch up with some friends in from overseas when we got back. We took our real honeymoon to Hawaii three months later, and had a wonderful time.


Things maybe we should have done differently?
* We probably shouldn’t have left printing the wedding day programs to 4 pm on the day before the wedding, using my home printer. It jammed on the thick paper, and then some small black plastic piece broke off of something inside. A quick trip to the local Staples, handing over the printing job to them, helped to solve the problem, but we were left without time to pick up the printed copies that night, since we were off at the rehearsal dinner. Thankfully, my husband’s best man was able to jump in the next morning to head back in to Staples to pick up the printed programs when Staples opened at 10 am on Sunday morning, and other friends pitched in for a rapid folding session at the reception site before most guests arrived for the 11:30 ceremony.


Things we still don’t understand:
* Men get to rent shoes to go with their tuxes. And they fit! Women would never rent shoes (and they’d never fit!) and women have to spend all this time going around to find exactly the right shoe and right shade, when their shoes will only be under a long gown. What’s up with that?


I hope that this helps. Chuck says to add in “the very overwhelmed groom was very happy to hand off planning to his bride-to-be”.


Thanks Monica! Many of my brides have a great experience at Allegria Bridal, I'd love to stop by there someday.

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #4

So, the next tip is from Karen & Todd who had their wedding at the Emerson Inn by the Sea in Rockport. Karen & Todd had a more non-traditional day and they paid for everything themselves, so they could pretty much do whatever they wanted!


"I'm so glad that we had the cocktail hour before our ceremony. Obviously, the wedding was a bit non-traditional (but, I like to think, still tastefully done). This unusual element helped foster a relaxed atmosphere. It took the edge off everyone - from the bride and groom to the guests. It allowed those who travelled a distance to have a cocktail & hors d'oeuvres immediately upon arriving and to relax during our ceremony with no hunger pangs! People still rave to us, almost three years later, how much they liked our wedding and how fun it was."





Todd & Karen's event was definitely fun & relaxed from beginning to end..........

Thanks Karen!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #3

here are some short & sweet tips from Kathy:

#1. Pack a pair of super comfy flip flops for later in the reception. I wore the J. Crew ones with an elastic strap. They were a life saver!

#2. If you're in the Rhode Island area, I loved my florist, Jay at Golden Gate Studios.



#3. Pack one big bag with what you think you'll need- then put someone in your wedding party in charge of it.


#4. A popular decoration at our reception was wedding photos of our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings.

#5. If possible, get all of the the little stuff done two weeks before your wedding day so that you can enjoy the week leading up to it. My mom assembled a bunch of her friends, and we put all of the favors, welcome bags, bathroom baskets, and programs together two weeks before, and it was so nice not to have to worry about that stuff when people were arriving and I just wanted to spend time with them.



Thanks Kathy!!!!!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - KEEP 'EM COMING!

hey there!
just wanted to let everyone know that I have extended the deadline for the entries until this Friday! If you miss that (everyone procrastinates, I know......), you can still submit your story, and if I am still posting them, then you will still be eligible for the second portion of the contest - getting the most comments on YOUR post! Could there be an easier way to win a $250 gallery wrap???

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #2

The next entry is from Kelly - she has a LOT of great things to share, some do's and don'ts!

"I was hell-bent on wearing a strapless gown on my wedding day! I love my dress and would buy it again. During my fittings however, I decided not to wear a bra underneath. The dress fit me perfectly and held everything in place. Plus, I had been restrained for so many years… I didn’t need to wear a bra?! Well, the one thing they don’t have you do during your fitting is sit down. I had to sit down in the limo on the way to the church, during the ceremony at church (a couple times), back in the limo to the reception, and eating dinner. With all that movement…the dress naturally stretched just slightly and the girls started to fall a little south! I was “fixing” myself and the dress constantly. In hindsight, I should have worn the bra. Go figure! A friend of mine got married the following year. I gave her the stern suggestion to wear a bra even though she’s a bit smaller in the chest than me. She decided against the bra and surprise…she too regretted it.




The vendors…LOVED every single one except the DJ. Hated him even though several people told me they thought he was great! He played only a few of the songs I requested. He was supposed to have another system setup to play music in the cocktail reception area. When we arrived at the country club, it wasn’t set up. He did set it up after my mother argued with him about it, but wasn’t ready in time for the guests. Very unprofessional in my opinion. I thought I was getting a good deal but after I realize some things are too good to be true. Looking back, I would have researched and interviewed more DJs and even paid more money for someone more competent and dependable.


With the exception of the few don’ts I mentioned above, I would have done everything else exactly the same. But to mention a few of my favorite (of my favorite things)…

The flowers…it’s been said that you should pick a few things that are MOST important to you on your wedding day when working within a budget. For me, one of those things was the flowers and I wasn’t going to skimp on those. The room at the country club was very large so I wanted centerpieces that would take up some of that space and be the center of attention. Since most the attire was rather simple and neutral I wanted the flowers to make a bold statement without taking away from the simplicity. They were gorgeous! The centerpieces were so unique and fun with the jelly beans and the ribbons. My guests are still talking about them to this day!



The photographer of course! Nancy and her assistant photographer were fantastic! So accommodating, professional and friendly all at the same time. It was just a great experience and the pictures are proof. She captured every minute of the day. Despite the rain! In fact, the ones of us with the umbrella on the walk back to the reception are probably some of my favorites! I love the photo-journalistic shots of the guests and of every single detail. I very much enjoyed working with Nancy and feel like I’ve gained not only a photographer for life but a friend too!




I asked Andy to take dance lessons a few months before our wedding. Though he wasn’t thrilled with the idea, he agreed to go. Our instructor worked with us weekly for several months choreographing a dance specific to our song. And we performed it perfectly that day! I think it was very unexpected for most of our guests but Andy’s family mostly. They can’t believe he even agreed to go! My father-in-law told me just after the song was over that he was just in awe and was so impressed. He had tears rolling down his face. He’s not an emotional guy so that really meant a lot. Dance lessons whether choreographed or not are definitely worth every penny!




We took some heat from Andy’s family when we told them we were hiring a videographer for our wedding. They felt videographers were always in people’s face with a camera looking for a comment. That they were obtrusive. I can see their concern as I have been to several weddings where the camera just follows you around. That’s not the type of videographer I wanted. I found Lynn Valeri online and am so glad I did! She was just fantastic. No one even knew she was there. There was no commentary, no interviews. She just captured every moment as it happened. The result was an edited video to music that had both Andy and I in tears as we watched for the first time. I still cry every time I watch it. She did an amazing job. I’m so glad we decided to video the wedding. Along with the photos, it’s something we’ll be able to share with our children someday.




I asked Andy if he had anything to contribute. He said he really wished there was a way we could have slowed down the day. He blinked and it was over. Don’t we all?! Let me know if you come up with a way to make that happen!!! Haha."



I totally agree with Kelly that you should sit down when you are having your dress fitted. Make sure you are comfortable! Thank you so much for sharing Kelly!!