Lyndsey and Brian at Seasons Catering

How did you meet? Brian and I met through mutual friends in January 2012. For their first date, Brian picked me up and we went to Pappa Razzi in the Garden State Plaza for dinner and drinks. We had such a great time, but when Brian dropped me off at home, I wondered why our night ended so early. Luckily, that was just the first of many dates! How did he ask? Brian and I had a trip planned to go to Ft. Lauderdale to visit his brother and family. We got into Ft. Lauderdale very early so we got brunch and relaxed on the beach for a few hours. We finally were able to check into our suite after lunch at the poolside bar. When we went to open the door, Brian kept fumbling and handed me the key to open the door. Not thinking anything of it, I opened the door only to find a bottle of champagne, strawberries and cheese and flower petals everywhere! When I turned around to see what was going on, Brian was on one knee asking me to be his wife! For the first time ever, I was speechless and finally said YES!! We celebrated that night over champagne and a gorgeous seafood dinner in the hotel. Details of your day: It was very important for me to keep our wedding classic, traditional, and romantic. All of our flowers were white and blush with green accents. The bridesmaids all wore Blush Sorella Vita dresses, but chose the style they liked best. Brian wore a black and navy Ike Behar tuxedo while the groomsmen all wore navy tuxedos. In lieu of favors, Brian and I chose to make charitable donations. Brian’s father passed away in 2013 and after his death, Brian started a charity in his name so we felt it was appropriate to make a donation in our guests’ name. My grandmother passed away about three months before the wedding so we also made a donation to her church, in which she was very involved. Why did you choose your venue? When we were looking at wedding venues, we were absolutely blown away by what the Seasons had to offer. Besides being absolutely gorgeous, they were very organized, very professional, and checked off every box on our checklist. We absolutely were not disappointed after choosing them as they made our reception seamless and allowed us to enjoy every minute to the fullest! What was your menu? What kind of cake? Our menu started with burrata and arugula salad. They was also a choice of salmon and shrimp, roasted chicken, chateaubriand, or a risotto cake with roasted vegetables. Our wedding cake was triple tiered with a layers of cannoli filling, Bavarian cream, and chocolate ganache. How did you know your gown was “the one”? My gown was absolutely perfect! I found a photo of my gown, while aimlessly searching online right after I got engaged and definitely was not ready to go dress shopping. There was no designer or style number associated with the dress so I did some serious online stalking to find both the designer and style number. After finding both, I started calling every bridal salon in the ti-state area but no one had the dress in stock. I finally found a salon about an hour from my parent’s home that could get the dress for me to try on. The second I tried it on I fell in love. My dress was white organza with a sweetheart neckline and a large bow in the back. The train of the dress was a detachable and was the “ribbons” of the bow, so it was perfect for the ceremony and removable for the reception after I bustled the dress. Everyone knows how much I love bows so this dress was a perfect mix of classy, tasteful, and fun. What was your favorite moment? While the day was such a whirlwind, my absolute favorite moment was my first dance. To my own surprise, it was the only time during the day that I cried. That moment, I finally realized that I was married, shared such a special moment with my husband, and forgot about everyone else in the room. It was three minutes of truly encompassing everything that our special day was about. Detail you couldn’t live without? My necklace. My grandmother was one of the first people I called once I got engaged and she was 100% the most excited person for our engagement. She had been waiting very patiently for us to get engaged as she loved Brian like a grandson. Since we got engaged she always joked that all she wanted was to make it to my wedding and didn’t care about anything after that as she was “getting old.” My grandmother suddenly was diagnosed with leukemia in June and passed away about two weeks after finding out her diagnosis. Two days before my grandmother passed away, she gave me her pearl heart necklace that her husband had given her. While it was never spoken, we both knew that it would be proudly worn on my wedding day. Did anything go wrong? During our ceremony, we had some sound problems and while the musicians were playing a loud buzz would radiate throughout the church for minutes at a time. It didn’t affect anyone hearing our vows and if that was the worst of our day, I think we made out okay! First dance? Our first dance song was “Have I Told You Lately” by Rod Stewart. Any advice for other brides? The best advice that I received and will pass on to every bride I know is to make a separate wedding email right when you get engaged. With bridal expos, meetings with vendors, and all of the coordinating, having a separate email to keep everything straight made everything so much easier to access. I was able to be more efficient in emailing my vendors and communicating. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to Italy. We flew into Florence and spent 3 days in Tuscany. We then took a train to Naples and stayed in Sorrento for 3 days and then went to Positano for 4 days. It was absolutely perfect!