Reception.
When it came to the reception I knew I wanted to use farm tables. My Mom felt it was not as formal so we added table cloths to round tables and just a burlap runner to the farm tables. Mills Mansion has a flat area at the bottom of the hill. It’s close to the river so it made for a nice view. I had to upgrade the tent the day before to cover everything since we were expecting rain.
From day one my Mom wanted to do the centerpieces. She cut flowers from her garden that day. North Country vintage rentals added the antique charm. As I’ve said in previous posts, can’t thank my Mom enough.
My Uncle Colin owns a farm in Pemberton, NJ. He has a saw mill and cut wood rounds for us. One for the center of the table and smaller ones for the table numbers. Mom burned the numbers in.
We used Sabellicos Greenhouse and florist for the bouquets. When we toured the Greenhouse I saw they had succulents. I ordered one for every place setting. It was so beautiful. They cut them that morning. I left a note for each person to take it home and place it in a pot. I figured it could be an added wedding favor.
My friend Alicia’s boyfriend Bruce created the menus for us. Once I got the JPEG we printed them at Staples.
For the actual favor I wanted mini fall pies. Merediths bakery had the perfect ones. How cute are they?
http://www.meredithsbread.com/
To accompany the pies I added jars of pumpkin butter and apple butter. Each guest got a butter and pie.
While at Merediths Bread for a tasting we decided to add a pie table for dessert. I ordered 8 large pumpkin, apple and blueberry pies. Perfect autumn addition.
I was chatting a lot with Amanda, she and her family own Merediths Bread. She mentioned that she bakes cakes for fun. I asked if she would do our wedding cake. It was perfect. Thank you Amanda!
I found the love sign on ETSY and my Mom left flowers from her garden there. Amanda decorated it on site. It was perfect.
We rented the antique dresser and candelabra from North Country Vintage rentals. They styled our staged shoot scene, cocktail hour and bride and groom table.
From working weddings for years I was always sad to see that cake slices got tossed in the garbage at the end of the night. After all the food is served people never have room for cake. Although in my family cake is a big deal, I wanted a small quaint cake. In that case we decided to order 4 dozen cupcakes that were the flavor of the wedding cake.
In addition to the desserts that “Gourmet to Go” put out I asked my brother in law to build a donut wall. The day I asked he literally laughed out loud like WTH. He did a great job.
Trust me when I say I have tried dozens of cider donuts all over the Hudson Valley. When I worked at K104 I came up with an idea to have a new farm on every Tuesday morning in the fall and vote for the best Cider Donut in the Hudson Valley.
My vote was for Dubois Farm. They bake little apple chips into the donuts. HEAVEN.
We bought 4 dozen donuts and 4 gallons of fresh cider. When the cider was put out we left a bottle of fireball next to it. Spike it at your choice.
Donny also built the most beautiful beer bar from scratch. The caterer provided the beer pumps and we rented a cold plate from “Half time.”
My friend Colette made 5 gallons of Fall Sangria.
For the bar:
We bought all of our own liquor from “Arlington Wine & Liquor.”
We purchased red & white wine from Milbrook winery.
I love bourbon so I wanted to have a bourbon bar. We also put cigars out with the bourbon.
We have two refinished antique chests at home. I wanted them to be on-site. I decided to fill them with scarves. Upstate you never know how chilly it’ll get at night. My friend Melissa B bought 50 of them in the city.
My mom and her coffee clutch best friends had some fun with the scarves.
I will never have enough amazing things to say to express how perfect our band was.
Street Hassle is the number one thing I hear about when my wedding comes up.
I met Steve a few years ago and he is the nicest human. He literally brought a 16 piece band. They killed it.
If you are looking for a band for your wedding or special event you HAVE to book them.
I’ll never have enough words to express how grateful we were to have them. Thank you Street Hassle!!!!
Amanda and Connie killed it on the vocals.
Thank you Street Hassle you made our wedding day!
I booked the BEST Dj’s in the biz. Bryan Junior had worked some events with K104 when I was there. I loved his style. After watching his Snapchat stories I had to see if he was available. Every wedding he worked the crowd was having a blast.
https://www.facebook.com/inmydna/
The band & the Dj had never met. They asked to be in contact. The day of the wedding they made the best team. It was as if they had worked together a thousand times. Jay was the perfect Hype man.
Bryan on the left & Jay on the right. I’m so sad I never got a picture with them.
That’s Patty! She literally ran the entire wedding. I owe the day to her too. http://www.gourmettogony.com/weddings.php
This was during our entrance. By far one of the funniest moments. Just as they called us in, the power went out. I mean the place went black. As everyone scrambled to get it on, the crowd started to chant and clap in unison. It was hilarious. Expect the unexpected.
Best man & Maid of honor.
Our Mommas!!! Love this picture.
As we made it in the power came back on.
We went straight into our first dance. We chose Ed Sheehan, “Tenerife Sea.”
After dinner it was time to turn it up. As for dinner we did stations. I didn’t want everyone sitting for too long eating. The stations were perfect. Check out the menu.
This was after the Best Man and Maid of Honor speeches.
Cake cutting time.
Throwing of the bouquet.
OMG Mom!! haha
Alicia swooped in for the win.
The series of pictures here crack me up.
The one grabbing it is Alicia’s boyfriend Bruce. LOL.
After that my sister got on the mic and did her rendition of “Baby got Back.”
My favorite picture. Parker must have loved that in her belly. Ha.
My biggest regret was not getting one single family picture with either my Moms side or my Dads side of the family. So sad.
Now it was time for the Mom & Son dance. They chose “Because you loved me” by Celine Dion.
For the Father daughter dance I wanted to do something special. I wrote about how Dad and I danced to our song “My Girl” while he was on Hospice. For the night of the wedding I decided to dance with the important men in my life.
My brother Kevin
My brother-in-law Donny, who I’ve known since 13.
Marc Wynne. Our families are best friends. He’s like a blood brother to me.
Tommy Wynne!!
And I ended the song with the most important man of all.
It was one of the most emotional moments of my life for sure. One I’ll never forget.
I remember Bill Beale giving me the biggest hug. He was one of the many that knew how much my Dad meant to me.
Barbara!! Like a second Mom. I love you Barb.
We have a tradition at each wedding where we form a circle and sing, “That’s what friends are for” by Dionne Warwick.
What a night! One really cool thing happened. It was supposed to rain on our day. There was a hurricane that hit south and the rain traveled to us the week of. We didn’t get one drop the entire day. The party went over by an hour to midnight. As we were cleaning up my friend Tricia came to say goodbye. We were standing at the edge of the tent. We heard this weird noise. As we looked up it was down pouring. Torrential rain. She looked at me and said, “Now if there was ever a sign he was here.” OMG he held that rain back until the last dance was done. Thank you Dad. xoxo
It was the greatest party of my life with all the people we love. Thank you to everyone who made it a success. Thank you to my husband Sean for making me so happy.
XOXO, Annie
Band: Steve Hantis with Street Hassle http://www.streethassle.com
DJ’s: Bryan and Jay from https://www.vargasproductions.com
Caterer: Billy & Patty from http://www.gourmettogony.com/weddings.php
Tent, table and chair rentals: Gourmet to Go handled it.
Photo Booth: Nick from http://www.devinephotobooths.com
Liquor and wine: Joe at Arlington Wine & Liquor https://www.arlingtonwine.net
Wedding favors and cake: Amanda at Meredith’s Bakery http://www.meredithsbread.com
Cider donuts & Cider: Dubois Farm http://duboisfarms.com
Antique Rentals: http://northcountryvintage.com
Golf carts: Annie at https://associatesservice.clubcardealer.com
Venue: Mills Mansion http://millsmansion.org