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Alexa and Chris at The Palace at Somerset Park

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Alexa and Chris at The Palace at Somerset Park

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Allison Dupree

How did you meet?
In January of 2012, Chris recently moved back to New Jersey after living in Florida and Tennessee, and decided to sign up at the local LA Fitness, coincidentally where I worked at the time while I was in college. One day my coworker mentioned that Chris was asking about her, and thought it would be great if they go on a double date, so we went on a double date to the Stress Factory in New Brunswick. After the date, we began talking more at the gym, when eventually I asked Chris to come with me to Starbucks. Chris was sweet, kind, and super outgoing and always made me laugh. After numerous Starbucks dates, we officially started dating Memorial Day Weekend after a fun-filled weekend down the shore.

How did you get engaged?
Chris knew that my favorite time of the year is Christmas, especially decorating the tree, seeing all of the houses lit up, and watching Christmas movies. We went with my family to get a Christmas tree so that I could begin decorating it over the weekend. On December 2, 2018, I went to the City with my mom, aunt, and cousin to see The Nutcracker. After a long day in the City, I got home and saw Chris standing in front of the Christmas tree and a sign hanging from the ceiling saying “Will you Marry me?” Chris opened up a gold ornament and in there was a beautiful engagement ring. It was such a special moment!

Details of the day!
After our ceremony at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church on July 10, 2021, We held our elegant blush and gold, and bling-themed wedding at The Palace at Somerset Park with 200 guests. My bridesmaids wore sequin rose gold Mac Duggal Dresses. Since we both work in sports, Chris gifted his groomsmen dress socks and cufflinks of their favorite sports team. My flowers were all white roses, ranunculus, and lily’s with bling, while the bridesmaids’ flowers were blush, white, and a pop of brighter pink. Our cake was a custom 5-tier cake, the layers were blush and white with rhinestones to match our theme and included the exact white and pink flowers being used in the bridesmaids’ bouquets. To follow the Greek tradition, guests were given three almonds to symbolize the endurance and sweetness of our life ahead, as well as a custom white heart cookie with gold writing “A&C July 10, 2021”. The flowers on the cookie were blush and pink similar to the flowers used throughout the wedding.

Why did you choose your venue?
We fell in love with The Palace from the moment we walked in. Being Greek, I fell in the love with the columns and felt like it was a formal classic venue with Greek touches. The staff was incredible and was always there to answer any questions along the way. We loved the large staircase and walking down it as we were announced as the new “Mr and Mrs” was incredible!

What was on your menu?
The cocktail hour featured several stations including Hibachi which was a favorite among the guests, as well as passed hors d’oeuvres. The first course was the crispy shrimp strudel. The dinner options were all delicious, guests could choose between the grilled breast of free-range chicken, macadamia nut crusted grouper, or the Kona braised beef short rib. After dinner, guests were served the delicious wedding cake, which was devil’s food cake, with our favorite cookies and cream filling. Our favorite part was that the Viennese display that was in another room from our wedding reception – they opened the curtains and there was a huge room filled with desserts with anything that you can possibly think of from tarts, cakes, mini pastries, fruits, cookies and chocolate. In addition, The Palace has a fire and ice station which is golden Belgian waffles with classic bananas fosters. The chef prepared the dish with fire in front of us, and all of our guests in the main room after cutting the cake.

All about your gown!
From the moment I tried on the dress, I knew it was the one, even though Angela from Castle Couture insisted that I tried on others just to be sure. The gown was a gorgeous ivory lace dress with rhinestone detailing. The front was a plunge neck and rhinestones down the middle. I really fell in love with the back of the dress, I’ve always wanted an open back but one that was still elegant. The rhinestone detailing and long train was everything that I had envisioned as being a bride. Once they put on the long cathedral veil and made me pretend to walk down the aisle with fake flowers in hand, I began crying as it was the moment that I truly felt like a bride.

What was your favorite moment?
My favorite moment was our first dance. It seemed like at that moment we didn’t see anyone else in the room and all that mattered was us. We were just so happy to finally have our wedding after having to postpone due to COVID so at that moment it was just us, dancing to the song that was so special to us. We wish we could relive that moment over and over again.

One detail you couldn’t live without?
One detail that we couldn’t do without would be our amazing entertainment team Eclipse Events. When we met them, we told them the most important thing to us was to have all of our guests dancing the entire night and they did just that. All our guests were dancing the entire time. What made it even better was the live element of music from the percussionist and saxophone player. In addition to the music, the additions they provided blew our guests away from the dancing on the clouds, sparklers, two large TV’s that their onsite photographer uploaded the pictures two and the Mirror me photo booth that everyone was at all night long.

Did anything go wrong?
Besides the fact that we had to postpone our wedding a whole year later due to COVID, the only thing that went wrong on the wedding day was that the runner wasn’t taped down, so when I was walking down the aisle, my dress train was so heavy that it dragged the runner all the way up the aisle. I didn’t even realize until later in the day when someone mentioned it to us.

First dance song?
Our first dance song was Lifetime by Justin Bieber. We were at the gym one day, and Justin Bieber’s new album had come out so we decided to listen to it while we were working out. I got to the song Lifetime and found myself tearing at the gym and immediately told Chris to listen to the song. Before I could say anything, he goes this is our wedding song. The lyrics of the song spoke to us and felt like it was meant just for us.

Any advice for future brides?
My advice which I’m sure brides hear all the time, is enjoy every second of this time. It’s such a special moment in your life and the day truly goes by in a blink of an eye. Also, remember this moment is to celebrate you and your husband, so work as a team and ask your fiancé for help if you need it!

Honeymoon Location
We spent two weeks in beautiful Hawaii, we spent the first week in Maui at the Hyatt Regency and then spent the second week in Oahu on Waikiki Beach.

the details

Reception Location

The Palace at Somerset Park

Photographer

Dean Michaels Studio

Bride’s Gown

Maggie Sottero

Bride’s Shoes

Jimmy Choo

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Alexa and Chris at The Palace at Somerset Park

the details

Reception Location

Photographer

Bride’s Gown

Bride’s Shoes

Bridesmaid Dresses

Hair

Makeup

Groom’s Attire

Flowers

Cake

Invites

Music

Videographer

Transportation

Brides Jewelry

Brides Accessories