Our Wedding Day

the bridal collection

October 22, 2021November 6, 2021

Read Time:13 Minute, 14 Second

Happy almost-end of October, my darlings! I know it has been a hot second since you’ve heard from me, & I’m sure by the end of this post you’ll understand why. First things first.. your favorite thrifty bitch got married on September 25th, 2021 & for a lack of better words to describe it.. our wedding day was AMAZING! I deeply appreciated all the emails, messages, & correspondence from you all showing me so much love & support. I also received all the requests for pictures & information & heard ya’ll loud & clear!

When I took a breather after the wedding & started to brainstorm how I was going to roll out all of the bridal related stuff I had for you all, it took me a bit. I had so much bouncing around in my brain that I wanted to share, but obviously it needed to be structured & had it had to make sense. I decided that for this post, since it is the first one I’m writing, I’m going to provide you with a general overview of our wedding day & provide you with vendors used (& links to how to contact them if interested). The posts to follow will break aspects of the day down further with where I got things, how I made stuff, how much things are, etc. This way it’s more organized & you know which posts to be on the lookout for. As always, if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me & I’ll get you whatever you need ahead of time!

Here’s the inside scoop on the best day of our lives!

Yours truly, trying not to shoot my eye out with the champagne cork.

The day started with me waking up at the ass crack of dawn to drive to the venue & meet the glam team. 7 AM was the scheduled start time for six bridesmaids plus me to get hair & makeup wedding-ready. Thankfully my bridesmaids remembered that I hate mornings, especially early ones, & had coffee waiting for me (as well as food & champagne). The only thing that had to be done as far as set-up/logistics was the ceremony site, which my soon-to-be hubs had covered (with a little help from my future sister-in-law & my bridesmaid Jess, who has an attention to detail that is second to none). We had already visited the venue the night before to set-up everything else, & I was extremely thankful that we had been allowed to do this because it made for a more relaxing day of. So, I arrived at 7 AM, hung out with the bridesmaids while we got glammed up, & drank a few mimosas (I say a few because I lost count). I didn’t have to be ready until 2:30, which is when Ryan & I were going to have our first look.

Getting my hair did.

Joy & Taylor from Chameleon Hair Color Cafe & Spa in North Haven, CT worked their magic & turned me into a PRINCESS – to the point where I had to take a step back when I saw the finished product because I couldn’t believe it was me. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience with this salon, & I’m thankful because as most brides know.. you need to look the best you’ve ever looked on your wedding day. Ryan would ask me throughout the planning process why I was looking at so many different dresses & why I changed my mind so much on hair & makeup ideas.. welp, THIS is why. I wanted him to turn around at our first look & be blown away. *More on that later.

The bride, bridesmaids, & flower girl before we got dressed.

Before I knew it, it was time to start heading down to meet the photographer & see Ryan for our first look. For those who may not know what a first look is, Imma lay it out for you – some brides choose to let their groom see them for the first time when they walk down the aisle. Some choose to see each other privately before the ceremony commences, so they can share an intimate moment together before the craziness of the day ensues. I initially wanted Ryan to first see me when I walked down the aisle, then I changed my mind probably a month before the wedding because truthfully, I didn’t know how emotional I was going to be the day of. If I was going to be a sobbing mess, I wanted it to be more private so I didn’t have to ugly cry in front of everyone I knew. (Especially after spending that long getting my makeup done, are you kidding me?) I also wanted Ryan to feel more comfortable, because again.. it’s more private, & you feel more comfortable
when it’s just you two vs. in front of everyone you know. Ultimately, I am so glad we chose to do a first look because it turned out to be one of the most sentimental experiences of the day, & I’ll remember it forever.

Me, sneaking up on Ryan, like a creep.

We chose to get married at the Tamarack Lodge in Voluntown, CT after a friend told me about it. When we initially went to look at it, it was winter time & there was still snow on the ground. We hadn’t had the opportunity to see the resort with everything grown in, so when I showed up to set up the venue the night before, I was so excited. We chose this particular place because it was a beautiful location for an outdoor ceremony, the reception site was uniquely rustic & unlike any other place I’ve ever seen, & there was cabins onsite that you could rent out for people to stay in after the wedding. Having everything in one location was beyond convenient, & the fact that it was so amazing made the price seem too good to be true. When it came time to walk down & meet Ryan, I was brought to the other end of the resort, away from all of our friends & family as they got ready. Our photographer, Aram of Kataram Studios, was a saint. He had photographed a ton of weddings prior to ours, so he knew exactly how to direct us & what to do. He told me to walk up & tap Ryan on his right shoulder, so I did, & held my breath as he turned around to face me.

His reaction made everything worth it.

I look like I’m laughing like an asshole at him as he’s crying, but I promise I wasn’t.

Ryan’s not typically an emotional guy, & he’s a man of few words – so his reaction was everything. We spent a few minutes together as Aram snapped a few more shots of us, & then the rest of the bridal party joined us so we could get the majority of the pictures done prior to the ceremony. This was another benefit to the first look – we had more photography time, so later we could enjoy ourselves at the reception.

Here are few of my favorites:
He was definitely saying something perverted here, which is why I’m laughing obviously.

This picture makes me want to squeeze his cheeks & kiss him every time I see it.

I already made this one into a canvas. Didn’t waste any time.

Before long, it was time to get ourselves lined up for the ceremony. Ryan left with the groomsmen to go up front, & I guided the bridesmaids, flower girl, & my ring security team to the inside of the venue as we awaited our cue.

Ceremony site, prior to any guests arriving.

I tried to keep ceremony decor as minimalistic as possible. I had a white sequin aisle runner (the sequins were necessary) & I bought floral vines & loose white roses to wrap the arbor with & to sprinkle around the runner. I had a ladder shelf set up with little decorative items that I thought spoke to us as a couple. I had a seating sign that I made, printed, & framed. Our big ceremony sign was made by an Etsy shop, which I ordered at the beginning of September because it made me LOL (this was
because we had to move our initial wedding date from12/5/20 to 9/25/21).

Ceremony sign by Gert&Co, which I then framed & used for the entry to our ceremony.

I made & framed the seating sign, & I burned our initials into the wood pieces.

The music started, & the ceremony began. For the processional song, I chose the instrumental version of “Redemption Song” by the Kanneh-Masons. I had my niece Faith (my girl is a pro flower girl at this point) start off the procession, & then my ring security detail (consisting of all of my nephews) followed suit.

Isn’t she beautiful?

I wouldn’t steal a ring from these guys if I were you.

Then, I had my bridesmaids make their grand, sparkling entrances one by one.

My Oscar trophies.

Of course I was going to have all my bridesmaids in sequins. As I’ve said numerous times before, I’m like a parakeet. I like shiny stuff. Their dresses are courtesy of Revelry’s sequin collection – I liked that the site had different necklines to choose from, & gave them autonomy to choose which one was most comfortable for them. I just asked that they order it in “champagne gold” (fitting, I know) so they all matched color-wise. I loved how my girls looked!

Another picture of us all together, just so you can see how sparkly they were.

Finally, it was time for me to make my entrance. I chose to walk down the aisle to the “Defying Gravity” piano instrumental by Benny Martin. This song is significant to me for several reasons. For those who don’t know too much about Broadway plays, this song is originally from the play “Wicked”. I saw it quite a few years ago, & it was incredible.
Even before that happened though, I had first heard the song while I was sitting outside my voice teacher’s classroom when I was fifteen years old. Another student was still inside, & she was singing this song. When her lesson time was over, I walked in & asked my teacher for the name of the song because I had liked it so much. My teacher told me where it was
from, but followed it up with “that song is a little too hard for you to learn right now, but maybe in the future we will revisit it”. I had just started singing lessons maybe four months prior, but I immediately took this as a challenge. I left the music school that day & asked my mom to buy me the soundtrack. (Back in the good ol’ days of CDs.) I then took the soundtrack home & proceeded to annoy the ever-living crap out of everyone in my household for the next few weeks as I sang this song over & over. & over, & over again.
My brother Dan’s room was next to mine, & I remember him making fun of me for it (which was another reason why I chose it because my brother unexpectedly passed a few years ago & wasn’t present for my wedding day). After I was sure I perfected the song, I walked into my next voice lesson & asked my teacher to turn it on. She was very confused by my request, but pressed play. I sang the song in it’s entirety, & when I finished my teacher burst into both tears & applause. She was touched by the fact that I put so much effort into learning it, & said that I “sure showed her the deal” because she had said I couldn’t do it. Singing was such a huge part of my life & the song meant so much to me throughout various challenges I faced throughout the 17 years to follow. Another aspect was due to the fact that my father couldn’t walk me down the aisle, the song was a symbol of my independence & how I rose up to become the woman I am now, in his absence.. but with his influence.

There I go.

I had asked one of my best friends since childhood, Neil, if he would officiate our wedding. Neil has an amazing public speaking presence, and I’m pretty much convinced he was born with it. I feel like I’ve been seeing him speak in front of people for decades now, without any formal training. And, I was honestly surprised that no one had asked him to officiate their wedding prior to me. Neil had
agreed & asked me if I wanted to review what he wrote prior to the big day, which I told him I didn’t. This was surprising for even me, only because I tend to be a bit of a control freak, but I knew Ryan & I had written our own
vows & neither one of us knew what the other was going to write, so I wanted Neil’s portion to be a surprise too. I had also planned pretty much every other little detail of the wedding day, so I wanted to at least keep some parts a mystery to.. well, myself.

Neil killed it.

To say that Neil killed it, is a drastic understatement. His ceremony was both emotional & hysterical at the same time. Not only was I so thankful that he did this huge favor for me, but I was thankful that HE did it. This was a piece of my childhood that helped shape me into who I am now, & it was only fitting that he took part bringing us into the next chapter of life.

Neil led us into our vows. Ryan read his first, & I was floored by what he had written about me & for me. It was honestly the most heartwarming & beautiful thing anyone has ever written for me, & although you would
expect that on our wedding day.. I wasn’t expecting for Ryan, a man of few words (as previously stated) to have gone as deeply as he did. He added humor at all the right moments, too. I loved it, & I keep re-reading them after the fact. I then read my vows, which was interesting because although
we hadn’t known what the other was going to write, we had mirrored what the other said. We talked later about this & said that it showed how truly in sync we are with each other, which in the end.. showed how
much love we had for each other, & gave further reason behind promising forever.

During Ryan’s vows.

During mine. This is another picture that makes me want to squeeze his cheeks.

Then, we exchanged rings.

And we were pronounced husband & wife!

From there, it was time to party!

Our DJ, Joey G, knew how to get everyone up & dancing – which is how you know you’re dealing with a pro. We laughed, we danced, we drank.. it was a truly magical day from start to finish.