Weird Wedding Must Haves

As a bride, there were a few things that I had to have at the wedding, it was not an option not to have these things at the wedding. Some I’m sure a lots of brides would agree with and others, may just be me :)

Vintage Car: I can’t explain why but I have always dreamed of driving to church with my dad in and vintage car and then driving away with my new husband in the same.  I actually called two limo companies and they couldn’t provide one to me for the wedding. I didn’t realize how much it meant to me until I heard them say they weren’t available. Fortunately, we found an amazing company, First Class Limousine, who had a spectacular Bentley and my dream came true! We also had fantastic pictures which we will treasure!

All Photos Taken By Ashley Bartoletti Photography 

DJ: Dave and I always wanted to work with a DJ more than a band. A DJ can play exactly the song you want to hear and also can change the beat, tone and mood with the flip of switch to keep the energy excited. Our entertainment company, Weddings by Xtreme Event Group, were phenomenal, they played all the best songs, and also provided the best emcee, uplighting and spotlighting on the dance floor.

Videographer: A photographer is an obvious must have, but I know for many a videographer is not necessarily a must have, especially if the budget is tight. However, we needed to have a videographer, it was just as important to me as a photographer. As much as I treasure our pictures and can relive our day through them, our video is the actual memory of what happened and we can watch it for years to come hopefully with our children and grandchildren just like we do with Dave’s parents.

Chivary Chairs: The venue we had our reception venue was beautiful but they didn’t have chivary chairs. Again it was a weird thing that I didn’t realize how much I wanted until I saw I couldn’t have it. Our venue was so wonderful working with the chair vendor and when the room was set up with the chairs and the lighting and flowers, it all looked so stunning.

Church Decorations: This is another area that would an easy thing to cut, especially when working on a budget. After all, not everyone attends the wedding if it’s at a church and you are only there for an hour at most. But the ceremony was so important to me and I wanted the church to be decorated as beautifully as the venue. And the pictures looked fantastic! Each pew had a white ribbon tied to it and then a bouquet of baby’s breath popping out. And on the altar we had two large arrangements of white flowers with candles, it all looked so romantic.

String Quartet: Nothing screams “wedding” to me like Canon in D played by a string quartet. Again, this falls in the “I’ve dreamt of this since forever” category and just had to have it. My sister’s friend is a professional violinist and generously agreed to play at our ceremony. She organized a quartet and helped me choose a variety of different songs. I had my dream Canon in D for the bridal party procession and Here Comes the Bride for my procession. But there were also some very beautiful contemporary pieces, such as A Thousand Years during the Eucharist and All You Need is Love for the recession. Needless to say it was a dream come true.

All About My Bridal Style!

I’ve been so excited to post pictures of my wedding dress on the blog! Last year when I purchased my wedding dress, it really was a dream come true! If you recall from my post of shopping for my wedding gown, it was the very first dress I tried on. I instantly knew it was the right dress for me, but of course tried on a few others just to be sure. Now I can finally talk in more detail all about the look!

The vision: The buzzwords I had in mind for the look were simple, classic, elegant and timeless. I wanted to look like Audrey Hepburn and Kate Middleton had a baby, and I think we nailed  it ;)

The Dress: This is a full lace dress with beading sewn throughout to give a touch of sparkle. The belt was also sewn in to accentuate the waistline. I was obsessed with the illusion neckline, I think it is so elegant and also so me. I never wear strapless shirts or dresses, so I felt very comfortable with a high neckline gown. However, the back was completely open so it felt like a whole different dress when I turned around, it gave it a different edge to the look which I loved. And the train was a cathedral length, over 3 feet long so it was dramatic and had a grand feeling. It really was the perfect dress for me and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better gown.

All Photos By Ashley Bartoletti Photography

The Veil: The veil was sick, it was also a cathedral length and longer than the train of the dress so it continued the drama and made for some killer pictures. Of course it wasn’t perfect the whole time, when the wind went up the veil was a virtual kite, my poor sister had to hold on to it to keep it from flying! It also was a tad uncomfortable to wear especially when walking because it felt like my head was being dragged but in the end it was so worth it! We had a phenomenal photographer and videographer and they knew how to get some great “veil flying” shots which I always wanted in our wedding photos. The edges were threaded so the veil look finished but it was otherwise all netting so it didn’t compete with the lace on the dress.

Hair Accessories: In my hair I had a side comb with kept the look finished, especially when I took the veil out but it was a simple piece that just accentuated my hair. I considered a headband or tiara, but in the end I didn’t carry them quite like the side comb.

Hairstyle: I wanted my hair to be down with the sides pinned up. To say I agonized with what to do with my hair was an understatement, I must have gone back and forth between half up, down, all up, some down for months. In the end, I felt like I was most confident with my hair mostly down and my hair stylist did a terrific job with creating a soft and elegant look that was very me, just a little more special.

Make Up: Make up was super easy though! If you watch my makeup tutorials, I’m all about neutral colors and enhancing natural beauty through easy techniques. With my eye makeup, I wanted to have earthy tones that looked natural, but still special. Since I like wearing makeup every day, I wanted to look more enhanced than my normal look and at the end of the day I’m happy that between my dress, my hair and my makeup, I felt special and glamorous, but very much still Melissa

Our Wedding Color Scheme

The last few years I’ve seen lots of weddings with blush pink colors and have fallen in love with that color scheme. It’s quite popular, I’ve seen many people using it, but I knew if I didn’t use it for myself, I’d probably regret it later on.

All Photos by Ashley Bartoletti Photography

When Dave and I set a date for April, I knew it would be a perfect color for a spring wedding. Blush pink was our main color with touches of gold and ivory to provide some contrast. The colors blended so well together and are very elegant and classic. I also love how pink is not too jarring next to ivory so in the pictures of me and the bridesmaids, we complimented each other so well.

When it came to bouquets, I wanted my bouquet to be all ivory so it was a continuation of the dress, same for the bridesmaids with their all pink bouquets. In the church we chose all ivory flowers because it complimented the red interior much nicer than pink would have. At the venue we had centerpieces made of different flowers in light pink and white and then we had them in gold candelabras to continue the color scheme. The tablecloths and seat cushions were ivory and we had gold chivary chairs so throughout the whole wedding everything was very cohesive. Finally, our cake was ivory with pops of pink in the sugar flowers. There was also gold lighting in the candles and Christmas lights and pink uplighting throughout the whole room.

I’m thrilled with how the whole look came together I think it was executed perfectly and the vision I had all came together beautifully. I almost choke up now when I look at my Pinterest board because all the pictures I used as inspiration came to life for our wedding.