Looking back at the year it took for me to plan our wedding, I can honestly say it was worth all the time I invested. Our wedding day was absolutely perfect – it was the ethereal fairytale full of love, laughter, and blissful happiness that I had always dreamed about. The most common thing we hear about our wedding is that the day was so “us”. After our wedding, Chris and I have been so happy to hear so many of our guests comment on how perfect everything was.

The dreamy, garden courtyards were lush, blooming with flowers and greenery wrapping around the ivory pillars surrounding the outdoor fountain. The whimsical, Cinderella glass conservatory that held our ceremony and reception became a real-life vision I imagined from a lifetime of wedding-Pinteresting. Our florist had filled the room with candlelight, wild roses, and eucalyptus. Florals hung effortlessly from the vaulted glass ceilings where they were met by grand, romantic crystal chandeliers.

As we got to the venue, it became very real that this was my wedding day. I had a bridal assistant and manager asking me what to do with this and that, a hairstylist timing out each of the girls’ appointments, and photographers taking bridal portraits. Being in that suite with my mom, sisters, and best friends was so special. I will never forget the feeling of anticipation and excitement that I felt in those hours before the first look.

The First Look.

I am SO GLAD we did a first look! It gave Chris and I the opportunity to be alone with each other for the big reveal and that made it so much more memorable. My nerves were completely swept away as soon as I saw Chris. We laughed and cried and the happiness was overwhelming! The first look gave us another moment to have in our memories rather than everything happening all at a once so quickly during the walk down the aisle.

After the first look, we jumped right into Bride and Groom photos and the photographers at Benchwerk Photography captured the most beautifully precious moments of Chris and I. The venue was stunning and the garden was private, just the two of us alone together. It was perfect.

Our Vows.

Of course, the highly anticipated walk down the aisle was a little nerve-wracking. I was full of butterflies but mostly just excitement. I’m so thankful my Dad was right there by my side making me laugh and being his calm, cool, and collected self. I held his arm pretty tight before those doors swung open lol.

When it came to the vows, Chris and I knew we wanted to write our own. We didn’t talk about them beforehand at all, or even discuss what our ideas were. We both kept our vows completely secret, which made the experience of hearing them for the first time at our ceremony so much more meaningful. Every word meant something to each other, and we both cried and laughed right along with our guests.

Our First Dance.

As our song “Lover” by Taylor Swift began to play, the dance floor filled with clouds below us, Chris took me in his hands, and we started dancing. Giant, gold sparklers began to fly in the background and Chris leaned in and whispered, “I don’t know how to slow dance.” And I said back to him, “It’s okay, follow my lead.” Haha! And that moment was just so US!

I knew Chris didn’t know how to slow dance beforehand but for whatever reason, I didn’t want to practice to try and make it into something rehearsed. I knew our first dance would be a special memory and I just wanted it to be authentic and natural, and that moment, Chris saying he didn’t know how to dance, was perfect just the way it was.

The Food.

One thing that really made our wedding so incredible and memorable was the menu. Chris and I LOVE food, and it was very important to both of us that our wedding HAD to have the best food available. We got exactly what we wanted and then A LOT MORE! Our venue, the Brownstone, worked with us and our parents to meet our every request and ensure our menu would include everything we could ask for, including a premium, full open bar. Even up until the week of the wedding, the menu expanded to include some last minute must haves.

Cocktail hour

Where do I even start…we had a full sushi bar, lobster bar, and raw bar. There were crab crakes, burger sliders, a carving station, shrimp scampi, and eggplant rollatine. Butler style servers roamed throughout the garden carrying plates of mini lobster rolls and lamb lollipops. We had a fresh mozzarella station next to the grilled octopus and Thai striped sea bass. Shrimp cocktail, clams oreganata, chicken scarpiella, and calamari. There was more but I can’t even list it all!

In the outside garden, there was a photo booth next to the garden bar where everyone lined up to take memorable snapshots of their night. I loved seeing all the silly photos of everyone after the wedding as a copy of every photo taken was put into an album and gifted to me as a present from the photo booth photographer.

Dinner

Everyone was completely shocked (almost terrified) that after the cocktail hour there was MORE food…a sit-down, formal, 3 course meal to be exact. Chris and I laughed because of course, we knew to save room. Dinner had a salad course, pasta course, and main course. Salad choices were a Caesar or warm goat cheese tart. Pasta choices were the penne vodka or spicy blue crab bucatini. Entree choices included filet mignon, free range pignoli encrusted chicken, pan seared chilean sea bass, veal chops Milanese, and veggie lasagna. Chris and I got served one of everything (when in Rome right?) and I still dream of reliving that dinner spread.

The toasts were heartfelt and real. Stories from our parents, bridesmaids, and groomsmen filled the room with laughter and happy tears. It was an unforgettable feeling of love and pride that filled the room.

Dancing

Somewhere in between al the eating, there was a party going on. Thankfully, we are generally blessed by being friends with fun people so we had the dance floor popping! Family didn’t stay far from the action either. I had my Father-in-law “getting low” to Pitbull, my mom dancing side by side with my girls to Bay Area rap, and my swing-dancing uncle twirling me around the center of the floor.

I can’t forget to mention that Chris requested that his friends lifts up on chairs like they do at Jewish weddings…even though we are not Jewish, but it was a hell of a lot of fun lol.

Dessert

Dessert was yet, another grand affair. Our wedding cake was a 3 tier, white iced cake with fresh roses arranged tapering down the side. I chose to do an almond cake with Bavarian cream filling and vanilla buttercream icing, which was a creation of my own and is now my ultimate favorite. After the cutting of the cake, guests spilled into the outside garden which had been filled with tables on tables of dessert wrapping from the outside bar, all the way around the back of the garden to the corner fountain. In addition to our wedding cake, there was carrot cake, chocolate cake, vanilla cake, tiramisu, and cheesecake. There was a fresh waffle and ice cream bar next to the chocolate fountain and fresh fruit. The Italian pastries were stacked on dessert shelves next to the cookies and croissants, fresh beignets, and eclairs.

At the end of the day, a wedding is a wonderful celebration of love between two people who want nothing more than to be with just each other, forever. Our wedding day was simply the most perfect day I have ever had, and honestly, the best wedding I have ever gone to! It brought our families closer, our friends celebrated our happiness, and Chris and I simply floated a cloud. That day will always be a reminder to us that our love is worth everything. I finally got my Happily Ever After <3

With love,

Ashley Jo