Somehow you can always tell when the bride is a wedding planner herself. Every detail is flawless, and the bride looks both fabulous and calm, and the entire wedding is perfect.
Here’s the story of wedding planner, Allison, and her June 2008 wedding to John Nick.
In Allison’s words:
How You Knew He Was The One:
John Nick and I met in January of 2002 during our junior year in college while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. We began spending more and more time together after only about one week into the semester, and ended up traveling with friends all over Europe throughout the time we were there. I swear that the first time I was introduced to him I knew there was something special about him…but he never believes me!
In the summer of 2006, we returned to Italy for a 10 day vacation. Our first stop was in Florence, and John Nick proposed there after we ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants where he had first met my dad while in town visiting almost 5 years earlier.
Ceremony Description:
We were married in a Catholic ceremony at Queen of All Saints Basilica, which is my family’s church and where I attended grammar school. Our bridal parties were a mix of family and our closest friends.
Carter, our 7 year old nephew was the ring bearer and our 1 and 2 year old nieces Taylor and DonnaBella were the flower girls. Right before they were supposed to walk down the aisle there were some tears from the girls…and they didn’t end up making it. They looked super cute in their dresses though!
John Nick’s mother passed away a few years ago, so a close friend of ours read some things aloud that we had written to honor her. I also had a piece of both her dress and my mother’s dressed pinned underneath mine in the crinoline. We all three had worn ivory lace dresses!
When everyone was getting communion, we were supposed to be kneeling, but we kept turning around and waving to everyone…We were so excited to see all of our family and friends that we couldn’t keep our backs turned away!
After the ceremony, I added a sash and custom brooch to my Monique Lhuillier Rocha wedding dress to make it into a little more of a “party dress!”
Reception Description:
Our cocktail hour was held outside on the Shanghai Terrace. When guests arrived, they had to walk down a short flight of stairs. We had 6 violinists playing to welcome everyone as they arrived from the church.
Throughout the entire planning we were nervous about having an outdoor cocktail hour, and when I woke up that morning the weather man said it was expected to be the “best weather of the year”…so we were really lucky! We had two specialty drinks – a mixed berry mojito and a raspberry champagne cocktail.
The reception was held in the ballroom. Décor is my favorite part of wedding planning – we wanted something that was sophisticated and modern, but still having an elegant feel to it. Our main colors were raspberry and gold, with accents of black. Our flowers were all raspberry Phalaenopsis Orchids placed in black vases. For the table numbers and escort cards we used pieces of acrylic that we had cut and hand calligraphed.
We had a fabulous band that included three “rock violinists”. Being a wedding planner, I hear so many bands that it was important to me to find the right one!
Favorite Detail About The Reception:
John Nick plays bass, so later in the night he got up with the band and played two songs – Good Love and Soul Man. It was a surprise to most of our guests!
Advice For Other Brides:
Don’t over-complicate the planning and lay out all your priorities right from the start. Your engagement should be a fun time amongst your family and friends. Be prepared for small glitches throughout the day…Most of the time they’ll be things you will look back on and laugh!
