Wedding Bells: Brookyln Edition

After a wedding filled summer, Bennett and Eileen finished of the season with an epic event !  Wedding part I took place in Brooklyn at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church- this was a very small ceremony (in a Very Big church) that was mostly just family.  Eileen looked amazing in her vintage brocade dress, like she had just popped out of the 50's.

They DO!

 I read the first reading at this mass- Genesis 2:18-24, and made it at least 3/4 of the way through it before crying.  I'll call that an achievement.  The priest did something that I have never seen before at a wedding... in place of doing a unity candle, he has the couple and the witnesses sign the Marriage License on the altar.

They still DO !

 I thought it was a cool touch!   The ceremony was really beautiful and intimate.  I really loved how small it was.

And they're off ! 

After the ceremony, we walked back to her grandparents house and had a celebration in their back yard!  We had decorated it with hot pink and bright orange poms that Eileen had found on Etsy... which matched her and her MOH 's hot pink and orange bouqets !  We ate, talked, and muched on 5 different pies.  Yes, I ate some from every pie.  #NoShameInThisGame.  (I had to make it a tag... it was quite the recurring theme)

Celebrating in the backyard ! 

the best picture of the poms I have

Family sigining their guestbook tree!

we're cute.

The finished tree ! 

So after the small wedding shindig- I can really see why people like small weddings ! It was fun to be able to see and talk to everyone.  I loved the simplicity. I loved the food. the backyard. the decorations. Loved it all! Also, the weather was amazing ! I couldn't believe that it was August! There was circa de no humidity, it was cool and breezy.  I now see why people look forward to summer !

Once the festivities wound down, we headed back to the hotel for the night to rest up for the weekend ahead!!

Shortly after we arrived in Cape May on Friday ( where I was greeted at the front desk by TWO packages!! 1. my cell phone that I had left at our lakehouse when we were leaving, which our neighbor so generously mailed to the hotel. and then surprise package 2.  Chocolate covered strawberries !! from the fabulous Olivia. ... I felt like a celebrity.  Who has packages waiting for them when they check in?  I milked the moment for all it was worth! ) we greeted our family that had just arrived then headed to the rehearsal at St. Peter's by the Sea.  

The church is old and adorable.  The organist had told us it could hold 100 people easily... maybe 125.  So that was going to make fitting the 180 guests pretty comfortable ! (it all worked out!!)    The rehearsal went well, by this time there was no need to be nervous since they were already married! :o)  My mom's cousin was officiating ( he also married my parents back in the day).  It was a really great, personal touch for Father Henry to be there with us.

The rehearsal dinner was at Cucina Rosa, and we had top floor to ourselves.  Dinner was delicious...

me and my tartuffo ... i miss thee

Like I said... #NoShameInThisGame.



to be continued...

Wedding Bells: The Vallone Edition

So my best friend from high school decided it was time to get married.  She also decided that last Saturday was the perfect time to make it happen!


When she and her fiance got engaged in December, she asked me to be a bridesmaid and I, of course, accepted with joy!  As the wedding quickly approached, we went into overdrive with finishing touches and last minute ideas.  I had so much fun getting to create things that were used in a real wedding, as opposed to my usuals "oooh-ing" and "aahh-ing" at such things on pinterest :o)

I volunteered to put together some sort of photo display of Veronica and Mark to be used at their rehearsal dinner and again at the reception.  I didn't want to just put frames on a table, mostly because it would be a lot of frames and I didn't know if there would be enough room to make it look uncluttered !  So I came up with this ...

It's not exactly a great picture... but you get the idea.   I found the baskets at Hobby Lobby and found inspiration! I filled them with aqua foam and then covered in moss that I glued down with a hot glue gun.  Then I backed the photos I had printed at walgreens (*funny side story ) to black cardstock...glued to floral wire and arranged! voila ! I also added some paper roses I had made...tutorial here and then added a bird's nest with two white doves in it (in the far left of the left basket) - the theme for their wedding was "Love Birds"   Oh, and then I stuck those little wicker balls on a stick in it for some zest!  ... I thought they turned out nicely and fit well with the wedding !

My next project for their wedding was a thumbprint guestbook tree!  I had seen these a few times online and then again at the beginning of the summer at a friend's beautiful wedding ! She had drawn it herself, as she is a legit artist.  So I used a photo of her's as a guide for mine.  I used a regular Uniball pen to draw the tree onto the board...  

then it got a little dose of color ...

and with a frame was ready to go!  Here's a picture at the rehearsal dinner after the stamping began... Mark and Veronica are the kissing love birds :o) !

Here's a shot of the whole table put together at the rehearsal dinner - aka, the trial run.  (rehearsing is a community event) 

After the reception I was so excited to check out the completed tree with everyone's finger prints and signatures! I think it looks so fun!

and some close ups, just in case anyone thinks its as cool as I do...

 There you have it !  I was so happy with the final product ! And I am so excited for Mark and Veronica! Their wedding was absolutey beautiful and they make such a wonderful couple ! I can't wait to see where the Lord takes them !

is she not adorable?