What Worked for My Wedding: "Moments Alone & More Time Dancing"

We sat down with a recent bride who reflected on what made her wedding special. Gina, a special education teacher, was married at Hollow Brook Golf Club.

What’s the best thing you did for your wedding?

The best thing I did was follow my rustic decor vision, because while most of our family members were used to traditional wedding ballroom decor, that wasn’t what Thomas and I envisioned. Our rustic setting and decor set us apart and made our wedding unique and memorable.

What was the best advice someone gave you while planning your wedding?

The best advice someone gave me was to take a step back with my new husband and take it all in. I am so happy we did. Prior to our reception we found a quiet spot on the front porch of our venue and were able to relax, talk, and enjoy some of our cocktail hour hors d’oeuvre selections with just each other. It was so nice to spend a married moment alone together away from the hustle and bustle of the day.

What was the worst?

The worst advice was what I actually gave myself. As a teacher, I have creative and artistic tendencies, so when it came to my wedding, I told myself I was going to do as much as I could myself. I felt that if someone could do it on Etsy, then I could do it too. But it became tedious to put together 200 favors three weeks before the wedding when I had a list of other things to take care of as well. I had a lot of help from my mother and bridesmaids but it still took days. Although I loved my favors, that was one task that would have been a lot less stressful if I had left it to a professional.

If you were to plan your wedding again, what would you do differently?

I was so happy with every aspect of our wedding day from the minor details to the vendors, everything was perfect in our eyes, but if I could do anything differently I would extend the length of our reception one more hour. I thought we would be exhausted by the end of the night so we never even thought about the possibility of additional time, but by the end of the night we were having a great time and we didn’t want the day to end. Even just one more hour on the dance floor would have been great!

Which of your vendors would you recommend?

I would recommend my photographer, Ricky Restiano Photography. To me having beautiful pictures to look back at was one of the most important decisions when planning.