I think Alisa’s approach to wedding planning was completely right. Do the work and plan out the details, but don’t stress out about it or let it consume you. She didn’t….and even planned the Big Day from overseas. (Now that is impressive). And I loved what she said about finding her wedding dress. What woman doesn’t want to feel like that?
Alisa & Andres | September 5, 2009 – Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York
How he proposed
We decided that we were going to get married while camping in Spain. Maybe it was all those beaches and sunsets.
The moment Alisa will never forget
I will never forget when our guests started arriving and Andres and I were walking to greet them and bracing ourselves for the wedding to really begin. We were nervous, excited and so happy that it was finally happening. It was a day unlike any other.
The ceremony
We chose to have our cocktail hour and ceremony outdoors, and the weather cooperated with a perfect, sunny 70 degrees. We had a simple and sweet ceremony with a non-religious officiant in the formal gardens of the museum. It was like an enchanted, hidden place among the trees, just for us. My 1 year old twin nieces were too little to walk as flower girls, so their mother and grandmother carried them down the aisle after our flower girl and ring bearer.
Walking back up the grass aisle lined with rose petals with our friends and family applauding us after the ceremony was an amazing moment. After that, we were ready to party.
The reception
One of the things that made our wedding different was that I planned it all from Switzerland! Spending so much time on the phone and on e-mail instead of visiting and looking was challenging, and I had to trust that things would come out right in the end even if I didn’t see many samples along the way.
Because our wedding took place at a museum with enormous grounds and a sculpture garden, we took the opportunity to get lots of beautiful and unique pictures – outdoors of course, and also with paintings and sculptures. We kept sneaking away from the reception to get another great shot in. I think one of the most important things about a wedding is to make sure you get pictures to remember it by.
The dinner tent was decorated in our colors (ivory, gold, and shades of peach and rose) with paper lanterns dangling from the ceiling and flowers everywhere. There was a luminary lantern path leading guests from the ceremony garden to the tent – it made the evening glow. We also had a lounge area where our guests spent a lot of time relaxing. Our favors were little ivory gift boxes filled with Swiss chocolate and tied with a gold ribbon.
Our reception was really aimed at entertaining our guests, some whom came all the way from Switzerland to support us. We had a jazz/American classics band, a slideshow, toasts, and amazing food and an open bar. Andres plays accordion and as part of our thank you toast, he played a few Swiss folk songs. Everyone was cheering and demanding an encore!
The wedding theme
Our theme was just good food, good drinks and good friends sharing the evening. It was our goal to bring together friends and family to an elegant but relaxed setting and throw a party they would always remember. I think we accomplished just that.
What made her wedding dress the “the one”
My dress was “Whitney” from Priscilla of Boston’s Vineyard Collection. It was the first and last one I tried on at Kleinfeld. I can’t exactly describe the feeling you get when you know the dress is “the one,” but it has a lot to do with feeling like you are the most beautiful woman in the world. I never wanted to take it off, and I think that’s exactly what you should feel when you’ve got the right dress for you.
Advice for other brides
Have fun planning! Planning the wedding is a journey in itself, and I honestly enjoyed every moment I spent picking out invitation styles, finding my dress and accessories and doing a few DIY crafts (recruit the fiancé to help). I feel that too many brides get caught up in the stress and forget that that’s is supposed to be a joyful time. We put aside time to really enjoy the planning and create things – that’s why the day really felt like ours in the end. We made the place card setup, menus, favors, and some fans for the ceremony. Also, something will always go wrong, so don’t think about it and just enjoy the day. At our wedding, the cake that I had lovingly labeled as “chocolate mousse and raspberry” on the menu had no raspberry in it – I guess our baker was having a rough day. Laugh about it!
