How did you meet? Tim and I first connected on a dating site but never met because we lived about 40 minutes away from each other. Over a year later, Tim came across my profile on a different site and noticed she had moved to NJ so he reached out. We decided to meet for dinner and drinks at an outdoor bar/restaurant. It was the coldest day in August and the waves crashed underneath, but sparks flew. We liked each other so much that we planned our second date. It would be 3 days later at my twin sister’s wedding!
How did you get engaged? Tim planned to take me back to the spot of our first date to celebrate our anniversary. He had a whole speech planned for the proposal. Unfortunately, it rained all day so plans changed. After dinner, we got back into the car and Tim made his modified speech. I, naturally, yelled at Tim and told him to just ask the question.
Details of the day! The weather the week before our wedding was very dreary. It rained every day and the forecast didn’t look promising for the day of. I ran out the day before and bought 10 clear bubble umbrellas to gear up for the impending rain. It rained in the morning and both Tim and I were convinced we would need to change the first look location and get married indoors. While on the way to Divine Park in Spring Lake, I looked out the window of the limo and noticed the sun peeking out of the clouds. A minute later the sun was shining on me! My mom said it was my grandfather shining down on my special day!
Why did you choose your venue? About a week after the proposal, I made appointments to visit three venues. I visited The Mill Lakeside Manor with my mother. The venue was under construction but we saw potential. I was very excited to hear about all of the updates that were being made. The bar was finished and was beautiful. What sold us on The Mill was the menu! This was the first and last venue visit.
What was on your menu? The Mill Lakeside Manor did not disappoint when it came to food! There were passed hor d’oeuvres and eleven Captain’s Stations. The stations were Ocean’s Harvest Seafood Bar, Italian Salumeria & Antipasta, International Cheese Station, Mediterranean Display, Sausage & Risotto Station, Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Cornucopia, Churrascaria de Brazil, Slider Station, Pizza Station, Tailgate Station, Martini Luge. The first course was rigatoni with plum tomatoes, prosciutto, and ricotta served with garlic bread. The entrees offered were chateaubriand, chicken with prosciutto, eggplant, & mozzarella, salmon teriyaki served with olive oil poached shrimp, and vegetable lasagna. After dinner, guests were offered a taste of any of the entrees of their choice!
For dessert, there was wedding cake and a choice of apple crumb tart, vanilla cheesecake, or molten chocolate cake. Wedding cake flavors were funfetti with vanilla pudding and chocolate with chocolate pudding. There was also an ice cream sundae bar during dessert. At the end of the night, guests were given pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches, fried zeppolis, salt water taffy, coffee, and water.People are still talking about how amazing all of the food was and how much there was!
All about your gown! I wore a Sophia Tolli tulle fit and flare gown with plunging sweetheart neckline featuring a partially concealed peekaboo. A mix of illusion and solid lace appliquĂ©s with sequin adorned the dropped waist bodice and lightly trailed down the skirt. The back zipper was trimmed with tulle and satin buttons. The gown had a chapel length train. I had no intention of wearing a strapless gown and told the bridal consultant at Castle Couture this. After trying on about ten gowns that weren’t for Lauren, the bridal consultant begged her to try on the Sophia Tolli gown. Feeling like I’d never find “the one”, I agreed and fell in love. The gown was perfect and fit like it was made for my body. My gown was not at all what I thought I’d wear on my wedding day but wound up being everything I ever wanted.
What was your favorite moment? My favorite moment of the entire wedding day was the ceremony. Having Tim standing in front of me looking into my eyes with so much love was the best feeling in the world. To me, it felt like we were the only two people in the world.
Tim danced on a chair to “Pony” and was lifted by a friend during “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”. He didn’t stop all night!
One detail you couldn’t live without? I worked very hard planning and DIYing the details of our special day so to say there is no specific detail that would’ve made the day any better or worse is a little painful but it is true. As long as Tim and I had our friends and family, we could’ve gotten married anywhere.
Did anything go wrong? Where do we start? I got a phone call from the bakery the morning of the wedding letting me know that the florist did not drop off flowers for our cake the night before. Fortunately, this was resolved later in the day. Then, I had some unnecessary stress caused by the bridal party.
About 30 minutes before the ceremony, Tim and I found out that the flower girl dresses were forgotten and were en route to the venue. During cocktail hour, my gown was bustled and that made it a little heavy and caused the boning in the dress to dig in to my chest and abdomen.
While greeting guests, I had to be excused to remove my dress for a few minutes. The gown continued to cause issues and I become overheated so, right before the bridal party was announced, I had to sit in the walk-in cooler.Â
First dance song? Our first dance was to “You and Only You” by We The Kings. I love the song and we wanted something that wasn’t the typical first dance song.
Any advice for future brides? Take it all in. There is so much about the wedding day that I didn’t see or can’t remember. While Tim and I looked through our photos, we exclaimed “I forgot about that” more than once.Â
Honeymoon Location? We went to Paradise Island, Bahamas for a week. We stayed at the Riu Palace Paradise Island. Our intention was to relax and eat good food and we did just that!
For dessert, there was wedding cake and a choice of apple crumb tart, vanilla cheesecake, or molten chocolate cake. Wedding cake flavors were funfetti with vanilla pudding and chocolate with chocolate pudding. There was also an ice cream sundae bar during dessert. At the end of the night, guests were given pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches, fried zeppolis, salt water taffy, coffee, and water.People are still talking about how amazing all of the food was and how much there was!
