Vintage Luxury

Fall of 2015 had held a lot of...interesting and some exciting new things in this world. Adele is making people cry, Donald Trump is making people cry harder and my personal favorite,  the 2015 fall edition of the The Knot is not open to the public (it's a wedding magazine, duh!) 

Looking through this magazine for a couple of weeks and marking it up with ideas that make my jaw drop, I am going to write about my favorite featured wedding. 

Barbara & Trevor

August 23, 2015. 

 Sands Point, New York

Photographer: KT Merry Photography          Event Design: Cheeky Details 

"For their Luxe Long Island wedding, Barbra Racanelli (28) and Trevor Ferguson (29 and an entrepreneur) were determined to make Hempstead House, a sprawling Gold Coast mansion, feel like home- and for their guests to feel like they were attending an intimate dinner party. To pull off their vision, Barbra and Trevor filled the vacant estate with vintage furniture dating back to the days when F. Scott Fitgerald used to visit. They even incorporated Barbra's grandmother's dining room table and her mother's vanity into the decor. With muted shades of gray, cream, blush and gold, they created a stylish aesthetic with just the right amount of gram to make Gatsby himself proud. -MO" 

The Dress:
An Oscar de la Renta gown accessorized with a dramatic cathedral-length veil. 

The invitations: 
Letterpress invitations with a custom crest and sketch of the Hempstead House; wedding venue. 

Ceremony Traditions:
The minister summed this wedding up perfectly. He sweetly said, "May your marriage be modern enough to hand the changing times, yet traditional enough to last forever." 

Cocktail Hour:
Between the ceremony and reception, the couple hosted a cocktail house in the backyard to enjoy the mansions beautiful scenery. Vintage couches were placed through the area, for guests to watch the perfect sunset.

The Reception: 
Family style is the best style. The tables were accessorized with neutral colored flowers to complement the stunning glass ceiling that took center stage.  

               

1988

My aunt hosted this past Thanksgiving, as usual. Thirty of my family members went to her house to have dinner, enjoyed each others company and share lots of laughs and memories. With my sister and cousin getting "almost" engaged, the marriage and love spirit was in the air that day. With nana being excited and the aunts looking at wedding dresses, memories of old weddings come up. Everyone, every single aunt, uncle, grandparents and cousin said that my parents, Kathleen Grady and Tim Gover, had the best wedding anyone has even attended. 1988. 

Let's start off with their story. On fathers day of 1987, my mother went to the bar with her sisters and friends for the night. Just across the room, she spotted a dashing young man in his coast guard uniform and asked him to dance. Although, my dad likes to change the story around so it doesn't make him sound too much of a chicken. A year later they were getting married.

My grandmother was a caterer and event planner so naturally, she took charge. She bought the wedding dress, booked the venue, picked the food and made sure everything went has smooth as possible. In fact, my mother did not even see her wedding dress until the day of. As you could imagine...that was an issue. 

Anyway, the wedding was hosted at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston's Back Bay area; top floor with a view of the city. With a whopping 400 quests, there was no dull moment. Yes, the camera man missed her walking down the aisle and the band was an hour late, but my grandfather bought a push cart of free alcohol so everyone had a great night. 

Weddings can go bad, so super awful. But as long as you have 400 of your closest friends, family, acquaintances and mailmen there with you, its will for sure be a great time. 

Here is my parents being super cute.

It's A No For Me

There are just a few things that a wedding should not have, things a bride and groom should not do and things that should not be expected from guests. Here they are:

1) Please do not have the wedding reception in a hall with purple light. Please.

2) Dear guests, don't wear white. Even if the bride isn't SUPER specific on it, don't do it.

3) Don't have a cash bar; let you guests have fun.

4) Have the actually wedding and reception right after each other. Don't make your guests wait.

5) Don't go crazy with the DIY. I'm sure your super crafty and what not but it's not shunned upon to buy a couple things. Also, super stressful on yourself.

6) Do NOT forget to eat! Things may seem more important than food on your wedding day but like...they're not.

7) Wear water-proof mascara. You're welcome.

8) At the reception, go around to every table and every guest to thank them for coming. My cousin didn't do that at her wedding and it turned into this whole stupid family feud thing.

9) For your first dance, pick a song that has some type of meaning or relation to you and your husbands life. Not just one of Ed Sheeran's newest hits.

10) I just asked my cousin what the 10th "don't" of a wedding should be and he said, "don't wear cam." So, don't do that I guess.

You're Welcome.