Photo by Steph

Guests were ushered into the ballroom for the ceremony.  I loved the quote from When Harry Met Sally written on the black ceremony programs:

“I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night.  And it’s not because I am lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve.  I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Amy was radiant on her father’s arm as she walked down the aisle to George who was grinning from ear to ear.  “Surprisingly, I’m not nervous,” he’d told me.  “There are too many little things to take care of.”

Father Rich’s ceremony was warm, insightful and well received.  Of course, I would have like to been privy to the unspoken conversation happening between Amy and George during the service; watching the warm glances and smiles exchanged was heart warming.

Photo by Steph

The Details

During cocktail hour the ballroom was transformed into an elegant winter theme.  Snowflakes hung from the ceiling, black napkins were folded at each table setting around a centerpiece of white flowers and greenery accented with white feathers and pine cones set into a tall vase draped with faux crystal beads.

Guests were encouraged to take a New Year’s resolution off a silver tree, and leave one behind for someone else.  They also took black and silver New Year’s Eve tiaras, hats and noisemakers for the midnight celebration.  The white cake was accented with chocolate motif and a monogrammed cake topper.

The Toasts

George’s brother led off the toasts on a spirited note, and Amy’s brother followed.  He relayed his reaction upon hearing about the engagement, “What’s in it for me?” and proceeded to praise George for his auto maintenance skills, the fact that he was a “gun man…I mean, firearms enthusiast” with an arsenal that would be handy in a zombie apocalypse.

Photo by Steph

The humor served to highlight the love and fun spirit of Amy, George and their guests.

Amy chose a beautiful song for her dance with her father that had special meaning for them, “Leader of the Band” by Dan Fogelberg, a song they danced to in the living room when she was growing up.  Amy’s mother joined in at one point, and I imagined they’d danced that way years ago.

Hosting a New Year’s Eve wedding is a sure way to amp a wedding celebration up to the next level.  Amy and George did it in style.  Thanks so much for inviting us!

Villa Borghese

Photos by Digital Weddings

Ceremony officiated by Father Rich

Heather and John’s wedding caught the last of autumn’s spectacular foliage with the unparalleled views from the Eagle’s Nest. The hills lit up a brilliant scarlet and orange against the blue sky at sunset.

The ceremony was held on the porch overlooking that view. Guests awaited Heather’s arrival in the brisk air as Jeff performed his piece, “Union” for her walk down the aisle. There was much giggling and humor amongst the bridal party during Father Rich’s ceremony, and the flower girl played peek-a-boo with Jeff around his guitar.

The sun came out twice during the ceremony; once for Heather’s walk down the aisle and again just as Heather and John were exchanging vows. Father Rich delivered a powerful, impassioned sermon and pronounced them husband and wife.

Heather chose subtle fall colors for her wedding. The girls wore chocolate brown dresses with gold sashes and the tables were decorated with orange and yellow orchids with the added texture of the branches. Maryann from Flowers on the Porch did an expert job interpreting Heather’s fall wedding vision.

The newlyweds took extra care to entertain their guests by practicing a choreographed First Dance surprise. The medley we created started innocently enough with “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith. Then, a painful record scratch (I swear John’s father looked ready to kill us!) before slamming into “Apache” by the Sugarhill Gang, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and “Thriller,” as Heather and John danced their way through several songs before ending with Soulja Boy and sliding back into the remaining verses of the Aerosmith song.

It takes guts to pull off a First Dance Surprise, but the guests LOVED it. Heather’s father laughed as hard as I did, watching the two of them go through their routine.

What a loving family! The ring bearer, Anthony, dedicated “Angel” by SarahMaclachlan to his Aunt Heather and Uncle John, because he, “wanted them to have something nice.”

They did have something nice: an unbelievable wedding surrounded by the love and fun of their closest family and friends.

Ulysses and Jenni did such a phenomenal job with the engagement photos of Heather and John in their guest book that I can’t wait to see their photos of the wedding!

The Eagle’s Nest

Flowers by Flowers on the Porch

Officiant Father Rich

Photos by Ulysses Photography

Michelle and Brian braved cloudy skies and held their ceremony outside on the patio beside the tent. A light drizzle began as Jeff played the Canon in D for Michelle’s walk down the aisle. Father Rich dubbed it a “unity rain” and sped through the hand fastening and sand ceremony to get the guests out of the wet, and Michelle and Brian ran down the aisle as husband and wife, laughing and happy as the rain fell harder.

The bridesmaids wore sand colored dresses and the tables were adorned with lovely peach and white roses.

As always, my favorite moments came with the couple’s Love Letter Dedications. Michelle listed her Top 10 Reasons Why She Loves Brian, among them the fact that he let her throw out 90% of his wardrobe and dress him however she wanted, that he still lets her drive his car…even after she backed it up into a fence post, and that he lets her sleep in the middle of the bed. Brian confessed that he fell in love with Michelle at first sight and proclaimed himself the luckiest man in the world because, “today I married my best friend and soul mate.”

I (barely) managed to resist the Grandview’s Tableside Temptations dessert display of fresh berries, chocolates, and cookies, served with international coffee. (Probably only because I knew the Long Beach Island beach was in my near future.)

What a beautiful night it was!

The lovely photos are courtesy of Myles of Myles Studio. Thanks!

April and Mike had a lovely ceremony officiated by Father Rich Haselbach on the patio overlooking the Hudson River. The bridesmaids were gorgeous in rich, red dresses that matched the roses in the pedestal arrangements on each table.

Mike’s father gave a surprise toast. He unwrapped a huge bottle of Johnny Walker Red and told a story.

When Mike was only five years old, his father brought that bottle back from a trip to St. Thomas. Mike was fascinated with the bottle and asked his father when it would be opened. “I’ll open it at your wedding,” Mike’s father had told him.

Little Mike replied, “Dad, you’ll be waiting an awfully long time.”

All those years later, Mike’s father opened that bottle and raised his glass in a toast to his son on his wedding day.

I’m happy to note that the guests had a great time (with some helpful assistance from that scotch, I’m sure) kickin’ it to a mix of salsa, hip hop and good old rock n’ roll.

Blending Mike’s Latin heritage with April’s love for country music reminded me of the beauty in the way a couple’s differences compliment each other.

(Now if only I could get Jeff to like Shakespeare…)

The Grandview

Officiant Father Rich Haselbach