I’m still in awe at how amazing our wedding was and it was over a year ago! No one asked me for any of these details, but for my own personal record I wanted to jot down tidbits about each item that created our milestone event! Weddings are expensive, so my advice is don’t waste money on wedding things that don’t excite you! Our wedding was very special, in part because we made sure there was sentimental value added to everything – but not too much to get stressed out! If you overthink each tiny detail you will burn out, just make sure the day is meaningful to you and don’t get too caught up on the rules of what you supposedly “need” to have.
Engagement Date: February 3rd, 2017. We got engaged at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon following a 5 day hike.
Ceremony Venue: Tully United Community Church. We got married in our hometown of Tully, NY. Growing up, I attended this church and it is also the location where my parents got married in 1989. I originally wanted to have the ceremony outside in the woods, but in the end it was a better decision to have the ceremony inside and take pictures outside. For one, we didn’t have to worry about weather, and it turned out to be chilly with a slight drizzle that day. Additionally, it was special to get married in the church I grew up attending, even though it may not be the most impressive cathedral.
Ceremony Officiants: Reverend Keith Wimmersberger and Father James Carey. It was a collaborative effort between my retired pastor and the priest at the Catholic church that Greg and his family attend. Pastor Keith was the main officiant since we were in his former church. I’ve always had a nice friendship with him and his wife, so it was special to have them come back for our wedding.
Ceremony Musicians: Piano and Cello (Two women from my church). Check out my post titled “Our Wedding Ceremony & Reception Music” to see which songs we selected for our wedding. We put a lot of thought into it since music is important to us.
Dress: Lillian West gown (style 6390, Venice Lace and Soft English Net Gown with Open Back) from New York Bride & Company (Syracuse, NY). This dress is now discontinued! I LOVE it and it was perfect for me, so I’m glad it was available when I was looking. It was the first dress I tried on!
My mom and grandma came with me to look at dresses and at the very beginning we each chose a few that we liked as we browsed the racks. The woman helping me try on dresses also selected a few based on my expressed style. When we brought them all to the dressing room, I chose one to try first and it was one I picked off the rack myself and the one I ended up getting! I tried on several more and chose one runner-up option. We had another appointment at another boutique, but none of those dresses clicked with me. They were alright, but I didn’t connect with any of them like I did that first one. We got back in the car and debated whether we should go home, or go back and look at the those two dresses again. Since I had traveled home from Boston, it would be inconvenient to keep coming back and trying on dresses, so we decided to go back to the first store. I tried them both on again and we just loved the first one so much we decided to get it that day!
It was a surprisingly painless experience because I can be very indecisive. I originally was looking to get a dress with lace sleeves. But I tried one on and didn’t love the way the flesh-colored mesh looked against the skin on my arms. It almost made it look wrinkly! The cap sleeve ended up being the perfect amount of material since I really didn’t want a sleeveless dress. I was undecided on whether I wanted any amount of train, but the back of this dress is so incredible that it made my decision for me. The lace design down the spine extends all the way to the very end of the train and is so stunning and different. The lace itself is very flowery/leafy which gives it just enough of an earthy vibe. I love my dress so much!
Wedding Shoes: Betsy Johnson SB-Joy in champagne. My mom, grandma, and I went shopping at the mall after we chose my wedding dress. They were looking at dresses for them to wear, but when my grandma found these shoes she insisted that she buy them for me.
Groom Suit & Accessories: I’m not sure where Greg found the company Blank Label, but they do custom suits! We dropped into their Boston office and they measured him so quickly and we picked out all of the elements! It was reasonably priced and finished in about 2 weeks (my wedding dress took about 4 months)! He chose a blue suit with a yellow inner fabric. They also do custom embroidery in the inside of the jacket, so he had his initials and our wedding date sewn in. It turned out amazing! He purchased a custom-fitted white shirt from there as well. We bought nice brown shoes at DSW and found the perfect brown belt at Burlington. His socks came from The Tie Bar and matched those he gave to his groomsmen. His tie is from Dazi, in the Mardi floral design. I actually found this brand through an ad on Instagram! (Those advertising algorithms worked!) We got a LOT of compliments on his tie. We’ve since bought a few others including a bow tie!
Groomsmen: They wore their own grey suits (any shade/style) and Greg gifted them mint colored ties, as well as socks, tie bars, and pocket squares from The Tie Bar.
Bridesmaids: Dresses (dark green, knee-length, various styles) from Azazie. This website was so convenient! There were so many colors and styles to choose from that everyone was able to chose one that suited their style. One of my bridesmaids was conducting research in Costa Rica for most of the year and she was able to easily order her dress online! They all looked so great! For shoes, one of my bridesmaids suggested beige color and I thought that would look great with the dark green! So each of them wore whichever shoe style they preferred. For nails, they each chose their preferred shade of mint/blue green or light pink. At the rehearsal dinner, I gave them each a personalized necklace but told them they didn’t have to wear it at the wedding if they had something else in mind. They all wore them and looked amazing!
Engagement Ring and Groom’s Wedding Band: Greg was recommended DeScenza Diamonds by a coworker. I had NO IDEA that he had purchased my engagement ring. And even once he had the ring in our apartment, I never came across it since it was hidden so well. I LOVE the setting he chose and of course the diamond is beautiful. The setting is very me. It is a simple solitaire with a white gold knife edge band. Then on the side you can see a tiny diamond on each side with a little bit of scroll detail. He knows my style. I don’t think I could have picked out my own setting – too much pressure!
For his wedding band, Greg thought he wanted a dark metal/silver color ring. Both of our dads have the classic gold band. The band we chose is so interesting! It has a strip of white gold in the middle and a strip of yellow gold on the top and bottom. The effect of the finish makes the different color golds somewhat meld together and reflect a cool combination of both.
Bride Wedding Ring: I looked at bands at DeScenza (where my engagement ring and Greg’s wedding band were purchased), but they were all so “plain” to me. They were all simply a band of small diamonds, which is very popular and nice, but I wanted something more simple yet more detailed. The paradox of my life! I had seen so many ads for Brilliant Earth, so we went to their showroom in Boston and they definitely had more options along the lines of what I was looking for, but nothing where I felt – THAT’S IT! Then we looked at Imagine in Skaneateles. I used to babysit for the owner of this store, so I knew they sold some interesting bridal jewelry. I found rings by jeweler Cole Sheckler and his style was perfect! There was a band of white gold with yellow gold vines/leaves and that was the one! They said he could make me one that was all white gold and I was sold! I even used a really old gift certificate that they gave me when babysitting! I finally found something really special to put it towards!
Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas (“All in One”). I guess Wedding Paper Divas has been absorbed into Shutterfly since I purchased our invites, but essentially the invitation envelope unfolded into the actual invite! So no envelope needed. I thought that was a really innovative concept. Another cool feature was that the RSVP postcard was a tear-off piece off the bottom of the invite. So creative!
Save the Dates: Vistaprint. We took the photo ourselves using a tripod and saved on postage by sending them as postcards.
Wedding Dress Alterations: Touch of Design. When I set up an appointment to pick up my wedding dress in Syracuse at New York Bride & Co., I thought it was a fitting for alterations as well. It was actually just to try it on and I would have to come back for a fitting on another day. They were really booked and I would have to come back several times for multiple fittings. Since I picked up my dress on July 8th, I only had until the beginning of September to get alterations and I couldn’t come back to Syracuse every weekend for fittings.
We decided to take the dress home and I would find someone in Boston to do it. It was nerve-wracking because I had to choose someone and hope they didn’t mess it all up! I found tailors that had positive reviews, but then they would have some slightly negative reviews that made me hesitate. Then I found Rosa (Touch of Design) and she had ONLY positive reviews. I gave her a call and she already put me at ease, saying she could definitely do it in that short time frame and she would take care of me. I knew I couldn’t handle someone pushy for this stressful situation (someone cutting up my expensive dress!) so I liked how confident yet relaxed she was. Every appointment was so smooth and she guided me to make my decisions with her expert opinion. My dress fit perfectly and she made sure I could dance and not trip! My bustle was probably more complicated than others, and I like that it still looked like a nice dress rather than just a pinned up train.
Bride Jewelry: My mom found the earrings at Marshalls. Opal is my birthstone. The necklace I wore was a gift from Greg years ago, for my birthday in our freshman year of college.
Hair: Elsie, one of my bridesmaids, did my hair based off this picture. Although my dream would be to have my hair done like Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, I have very thin hair and didn’t want to invest in any extensions or anything too complicated. So even though my braids were fairly simple, I LOVE the way it turned out! It ended up like Daenerys’ hair in this scene. My greenery hairpiece was made my mom’s friend based off this picture.
Makeup: I did my own makeup. My mom bought me a few things from the Clinique counter after having a representative do a simple makeup look. I also had makeup I’ve received in my Fabfitfun subscription boxes. The trickiest part for me to master was the eyeshadow. I based my eye makeup off this image and I like how it turned out! My mom and I got eyelash extensions done by Jessica at Innovations and I highly recommend extensions. I got a natural look, but you can get more intense lashes if you want. It was so nice not to worry about my mascara running while crying because I wasn’t wearing it! Plus, they last for several weeks. For my nails, I did them myself the day before. I used the Essie Gel Couture polish in the color “Lace Me Up“, which is an awesome shade of very light pink so it looks almost white. It’s my favorite.
Reception Venue: We knew we wanted our reception in a barn style venue. We scoured the internet and narrowed it down to three options. The day after I picked out my wedding gown, we visited those three venues (on a freezing 10 degree day!). We looked at Arlington Acres in the morning, then redbarn20 in Cazenovia and MKJ Farm in Deansboro in the afternoon. MKJ was a huge barn that would have fit everyone we could ever think to invite, but he didn’t have any Saturday availability until the next year. Redbarn20 was unfinished so we had to imagine what it would look like in the fall, but everything seemed like it would be amazing. There was a brand new hotel down the road that would have been perfect for our guests to stay. However, the weekend the venue was available for us coincided with a large event in town and the hotel said they were already very booked. Arlington Acres was perfect for us because it was very close to our ceremony location and is run by a local family that we know. The venue is actually an old dairy barn that my grandfather grew up around and played with the kids of the family that owned the farm. It had exactly the vibe I imagined, so we booked it! The date they had available was September 9th, which determined our wedding date! It was actually very lucky that we heard about the venue because it never came up on our internet searches! We learned about it from the priest at Greg’s church who had known others who got married there and knew we were looking for a barn. It was fate!
Wedding Website: We used the free website feature on The Knot because I liked their designs the best. I did like using both Wedding Wire and The Knot to search for vendors and do research.
Photographer: Jared Willis Photography (included engagement session). I wanted our photos to be somewhat dark and moody. We loved Jared’s photo style and his personality! Our pictures turned out amazing – just what I wanted.
Videographer: Dave Bigler Photos & Films. I cannot recommend wedding videography enough! Though it can be costly, the way video preserves memories is priceless. I LOVE the way our wedding highlight video turned out, and we also have the footage from each part of the day (full ceremony, speeches, dances, etc.). Dave Bigler and his team were so professional and experienced – he actually helped us make our timeline for the day while on a video call!
Band: The Swooners are a band local to Rochester, NY that Greg found online via Gigmasters (now called The Bash). They were SO AMAZING! A live band (versus a DJ) was a priority for Greg. So many of our guests commented about how great the band was. One of my friends actually booked them for her own wedding for the following year (her brother-in-law booked them as well)! When we saw the band at our friends’ wedding, they recognized us!
Registry: Crate & Barrel, Target, and Amazon. We chose Crate & Barrel because there is a store near our apartment in Boston and they hold wedding registry events. The event was neat because they let you in before the store opens. Target was another choice because they have tons of options, there are Targets everywhere, and who doesn’t love Target?? Amazon was an obvious selection because of their practically limitless inventory and the ease of ordering online.
Hotel Room Blocks: Best Western Tully (now a Quality Inn!) and Courtyard Marriott Syracuse. Greg and I stayed at our respective parents’ houses the night before and the Marriott the night of our wedding.
Rehearsal Dinner: We rehearsed the ceremony at the church then had dinner at The Loft. Greg’s parents organized the dinner. Thanks Mark and Janis!
Ceremony Programs: Designed by me using Microsoft Publisher and printed at home.
Unity Candle: Greg and I found a birch log on a hike and I bought 3 white candles at Michaels. My dad and I trimmed the ends and drilled holes into the log to make the candles fit. It was a little wobbly, but I like how it turned out.
Flowers: All of the flowers were grown and arranged by my mom in our backyard. Thanks Mom! The vessels were from various second-hand shops and the dollar store. The hydrangeas in my bouquet actually came from a neighbor who offered the flowers in her yard for our use. The greenery for my headpiece came from Wegmans. For the table numbers, I drew numbers on paper and cut them out to look like tags. Then we tied them to the wine bottles that held flowers on the centerpieces.
Place cards: My mom wrote everyone’s names on rocks and displayed them in trays filled with moss (all from the dollar store). I don’t have a picture, but it looked like this.
Drinks: Beer and wine, apple cider, water, lemonade. We purchased all of the drinks ourselves and hired two bartenders. I don’t drink alcohol so I wanted to make sure that there were fun non-alcoholic drinks available at a party that I was hosting. Greg and I LOVE apple cider, and since our wedding took place in the fall, it was a perfect choice.
Card Box: My brother made us an amazing wooden box! I wanted something that didn’t have the word “cards” written on it so it could be used again for something else! I liked the idea of a simple wooden box since it could have many alternative uses after the wedding. My brother likes to make things out of wood so I asked him if he would be interested in making us a box. I told him it could be simple, four sides and a bottom, without a lid even. Or, he could make it as complex as he’d like! Free rein! He made an amazing box with handles and a hinged top. The sides were put together using the dove-tail technique and he etched our names into the top using a wood burner. Thanks Sean!!
Guest Book: I didn’t feel much desire to have a guest book because in my experience it was usually just a blank notebook and only a handful of people sign it, so you’re left with a blank notebook with two pages of signatures. At our friends’ wedding the year previous, they had made a photo book using their engagement photos (that I took! :)), leaving some blank areas for people to sign. So I did the same! I made a photo book on Shutterfly using our engagement pictures and photos from throughout our dating history. It was really fun to look back on all of our memories together when choosing which pictures to include. Then at the end, you have a nice memory book regardless of how many people sign it. Plus, I think people are more likely to sign it since they are interested in looking at the pictures anyway.
Dinner Catering: Bull and Bear Roadhouse was recommended to us by the venue (the owners used them for their own wedding the year before) and we already knew we liked their food so it was an easy decision. We had a fun tasting that both sets of our parents attended. They were very accommodating with any changes we requested and we didn’t have to worry about coordinating the setup at all because they had been at the venue several times previously.
Dessert: Halfmoon Cookies from Holland Farms. Greg’s father’s family is from the Utica area so we are pretty familiar with their famous foods and the number one for us is chocolate bottom halfmoon cookies! When I was brainstorming alternatives to cake, I thought about all of our favorite desserts: ice cream, cookies, pie… Then I remembered halfmoon cookies – THAT’S IT! They are a very cake-like cookie (mmm that frosting!), they are already individual (no cutting needed), everyone loves them… it was a perfect fit. Our videographers in particular were super excited about them! My dad built a wooden shelf display for all of the cookies that turned out amazing! We saw something like it at a baby shower and on Pinterest it was simple enough to make. Thanks Dad!
We had one large halfmoon cookie wedding “cake”, with extra frosting flowers, that we displayed on a cute plate from Mud Pie (from our wedding shower) that says “Best Day Ever”. We also had a small Mud Pie plate (from our wedding shower) with Mr. and Mrs. forks for us to eat the cake. For the cake topper, we had seen Han and Leia (we are big Star Wars fans) wooden figures on Etsy, but by the time we decided on them, it was too late to order them. It was actually faster for Greg to order plain wooden figures and paint them himself!
Snack: I saw this image of a trail mix bar on Pinterest before we were engaged and I always knew we would have to try and make it happen at our wedding someday since we love hiking. I love that it’s a healthier version of a candy bar (although I love those too!) and can provide sustenance for guests as they dance the night away. I don’t agree with spending money on party favors just for the sake of having them, but I figured it was a little bonus that people could take their bag of trail mix home and feel content.
Photos/Art: I had the idea to display wedding photos from both our parents and both sets of grandparents. We were able to locate all 6 photos and I included their wedding date as well. It was really special to see all of their wedding photos on our wedding day.
Being that the venue is a former dairy barn, part of it includes a loft which they transformed into more seating. To prevent people from climbing the old ladder, they added picture frames for clients to insert their own photos. We chose to use one from the moment we completed our Grand Canyon hike (right before Greg proposed), 3 photos from our engagement pictures at Taughannock Falls in Ithaca, and a photo from our junior prom.
Greg’s sister is an artist/animator, so we asked her if she had enough time to draw us in our wedding attire for us to display at the reception. We sent her pictures of the dress and the suit as well as our accessories and she did an amazing job! Thanks Trisha!
Thank-you notes: I stocked up on boxes of cute thank-you notes from Marshalls.
Mini Honeymoon: As our wedding got closer and we were so busy with planning, we had no time to plan a honeymoon. Plus, Greg didn’t have any vacation days available for a long trip. Greg’s workload leading up to our wedding lessened so he actually had a bunch of extra time to look into fun towns to go to and he stumbled on Woodstock, VT. It was a very cute place and I talk about it more in a previous blog post! We are hoping to have a longer trip someday! [Update: we went to Australia and New Zealand in January of 2020! You can read all about it here.]
I think that’s just about everything! It is always stressful to plan a wedding (especially when you plan it in less than 7 months!), but in the end we are so happy with the way everything turned out. I compiled a bunch of video clips and photos into a video if you want to check that out as well!
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
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