My Wedding !!
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| Jennifer Stano |
The Venue
The wedding was 5.14.2011 at Oheka Castle in Long Island NY.
My Dress
My dress was by Pnina Tornai and I believe part of her 2010 collection- ( mother bought me my dress in 2010 and it took 9 months to make). When I went to kleinfelds for the first time Pnina was having a trunk show which I did not know about prior to arriving. After meeting with my consultant at Kleinfelds she took me out into the show room to look at dresses. The first dress I saw was the one I bought. It was actually the first and ONLY dress I tried that day at Kleinfelds; it was just perfect!
Pnina happened to be there and came and talked with me; she is GORGEOUS might I add and super sweet. I just fell in love with the dress and her and knew it was the right choice. Pnina said she wanted to measure me herself and took about 40 different measurements- I think its referred to as the "couture measurements" !??! The experience was just amazing!
I told Pnina I wanted a cathedral length train and veil- ( 10ft long ). The dress had a small train already that would be bustled up later for dancing but for walking down the aisle during the ceremony I pictured something LONG! I asked her if she could design something additional that we could attach. And within minutes she drew up and entire design of a detachable train that looked like it came out of a Disney Princess movie; exactly what I had in mind.
I also chose a head piece to match the crystals on my dress, earrings and a bracelet all by Pnina which they have there at kelinfelds. The veil also by Pnina had swarovski crystals on it as well.. I wanted to sparkle as I walked down the aisle and that is exactly what Pnina gave me... BLING!
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| At Kleinfelds for a fitting. Ellie was my alteration lady |
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| My veil by Pnina |
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| How beautiful. I LOVE the pleats and the stone work. AMAZING!!! |
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| Alteration time . Love the back of the dress |
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| Ellie and I. She was amazing with altering my dress. It fit amazing. |
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| How AMAZING is my train that Pnina designed for me. Doesnt it remind you of Cinderella's dress !! |
I asked my alteration lady at Kleinfelds if she could come to Oheka Castle the day of my wedding to dress me (1 less thing to worry about) and she said she was able to. It was the best decision ever having her there because she helped me during photos with my dress, knew exactly how to put the dress on and even did a quick hem during the wedding after I took my heels off. Ellie was amazing - if you can ask for her for your fittings at Kleinfelds :)
My Hair
When I was in High school I went to cosmetology class part time. Soon after I got my license and worked in a hair salon in white plains called Salon Savior as an assistant. I LOVED doing up do's and would always assist one of the stylists there who did phenomenal up-do's to watch her and learn- her name is Cynthia. So of course when I got engaged and had to choose someone to do my hair on my wedding day I knew it would be her. Cynthia had also done my mothers hair for her wedding and it came out amazing.
I told Cynthia I wanted most of my hair down but some pulled back so my hair wouldn't be in my face. I browsed the internet and found a few pictures to show her for my trial up-do;its always a good idea to bring pictures as hair stylists are very visual. Cynthia and I tried a few different things based off of my pictures until we found what worked best. I had a head piece to work in as well as a veil that would eventually be taken off; so all of this had to be taken into consideration and Cynthia nailed it.
I also had my bridesmaids and my mother go to Salon Savior fro their hair. I wanted all the girls to have "beachy waves"- so they all had blowouts with curls and they all came out amazing. We were there starting 8:00am!
My Makeup
My makeup was done by my good friend and makeup artist Victor Henao. I told him I wanted to still look like me- not too over done. We did browns and neutrals, smokey eyes and 2 sets of false eye lashes.
Im waiting for victor to do a post on exactly what he used on me. Im also waiting for my professional pics so you can see in better detail my makeup.
My Bridesmaids Dresses
I got my bridesmaids dresses at Fontanas in scarsdale NY. They were a deep purple color and the satin ribbon at the waist was suppose to tie in the front but I liked it way better in the back. For my maid of honor I got her a Swarovski Crystal broach to make her dress alittle different. The dresses were flowy, fun and easy to move in! The girls loved them
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| How cute are the dresses!!! My beautiful girls <3 |
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| My 2 beautiful cousins |
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| More of my bridesmaids |
My Gifts for my Bridesmaids
When I first asked my girls to be my bridesmaids I got them either a bracelet or a ring from Tiffany's and for my Maid of honor I gave her both. But for the wedding I had no idea what to do. I didnt want to get them some costume jewelry that they would probably never wear again so I decided to go with Black terry cloth Juicy Couture track suites ( in the original terry hoodie and the original snap pocket pant- my fav). I live in them so I figured they could wear it the day of while getting their hair done and then also use it again and again. I also got my mom the same track suit but in yellow- super cute! Part of their gift was also the cutest pair of Guess black flip flops from Nordstroms to wear the day of and also at the wedding when they took off their heels, and a roll on perfume set from Juicy couture.
I also got them all their matching jewelry to wear with their dresses ( earrings and bracelet ).
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| How beautiful. Juicy track suits and Hair done by Salon Savior. Makeup by Victor Henao |
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| The flip flops I got everyone by Guess from Nordstroms |
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| The pants- my fav from juicy |
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| The roll on perfume set from Juicy- great to keep in your purse and car :) |
My Second wedding dress
I decided to get a second wedding dress only a few months before my wedding. As I said before- I had only tried on 1 dress at Kleinfelds and ended up getting the 1 and only I tried. So while my mom was at a bridal store near my house called Fontanas looking fro a dress for her to wear, I decided why not try on a few more myself. I found this one that was the total party dress, and weighed 1/4 the weight of my Pnina gown; it was perfect for dancing. The dress is by Stephen Yearick. I made a few minor custom adjustments to the dress and it came out pretty good.
I lowered the back of the dress so it was a "V" , I kept both straps on the dress, 1 that snapped behind my neck and the others as regular straps, and I dropped the poof part of the dress to below my butt so it wasnt so much a "princess dress" but more a mermaid style- more fitted. The dresses are totally 2 different categories all together- it was hard to not compare. All in all I was very happy with my second dress and it worked great at the end of the night. I think I changed right before we cut the cake.
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| How pretty is the beading .. 2 more of my beautiful cousins |
The Cake
Our cake was all RED VELVET ! AMAZING!! It also stood 6ft tall !!!! ( 9ft tall counting the table ). Oheka has an amazing in house pastry chef who I met with to discuss the cake. I showed him a picture of my dress, and all the detail on the top part of it and told him I wanted the cake to resemble features of my dress. You'll see on the cake he made pleats to mimic the pleats on my dress and we used swarovski crystals appliques from M&J trimmings in NYC to decorate the cake !! ( a little secret that will save you a TON of money ) The pastry chef had drew out the cake we designed together and gave me a copy of it. I took it with me to M&J trimmings down town with my mom and my aunt patty and chose all the appliques together based on the picture. The cake came out amazing. Although somewhere along the way someone messed up the color pallet of the flowers that were suppose to go on my cake. I wanted all Ivory roses- but I ended up with pink and purple. I mean it still looked amazing- BUT it wasnt what I wanted lol.
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| The cake was made to resemble my dress, the pleats and swarovski crystals. The applique was bought at M&J trimmings in NYC- great little secret :) The flowers were MEANT to be IVORY ONLY- but oh well. |
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| Cake cutting time <3 |
The ceremony was meant to be out doors- but a few hours before the ceremony was scheduled to start, it started to rain. It was also pretty cold out so we decided to move it indoors so everyone wouldnt freeze- which worked out to be an amazing decision.
The florist we used is called Stefans in Long Island NY. I wanted the ceremony to feel very whimsical and went with a rod-iron gazebo decorated with flowers and ivy, as well as stone urns that lined the aisle with bright colored flowers. Denae is the owners daughter who helped us with everything and did an amazing job conveying my wishes into reality!
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| They started to set up- and then it started to rain LOL.. oh well |
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| The guys moving everything inside |
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| How beautiful !! |
For inside the reception I wanted the flowers to be more neutral and soft since everything was gold toned in that room. We came up with the idea of doing 2 different center pieces in the room, to keep it from looking too matchy matchy. 1 candelabra had 5 tall candle sticks at the top while the other had candles in the center with flowers. All tables had an eclectic feel with floating candles and bunched flowers. Stefans did an amazing job with everything.
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| Style 1 with the votives in the center |
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| Style 1 |
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| Style 2 with the Candles at the top |
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| Our table was simple with 2 candelabras and a cascading center piece. |
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| The flowers on our table |
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| The card table was the same color theme , very simple and elegant |
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| My bouquet and my bridesmaids bouquets. |
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| my bouquet was all ivory, light pink and blush pink with tiny pearls in the center or small white orchids |
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| The front entrance was all soft color as well along with floating candles |
The Band
We went with a 9 piece band instead of a DJ. The band we used is through a company calledHank Lane- the specific band is called Michael Hart and everyone couldnt stop talking about how AMAZING they were. We were really happy with them and would recommend them to anyone. How amazing is the band stand that lit up !!
We also had 2 huge TV monitors that played pictures that were taken throughout the night as well as a picture montage that they put together for Alki and I.
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| Michael Hart Band from Hank Lane was amazing |
The Lighting
The lighting company we used is called Fusion Lighting. Everyone says dont skimp when it comes to lighting- and I couldnt agree more. It totally made the room pop and gave it that wow factor. We went with all amber lighting to keep the feel really warm. All the center pieces were lit with white though so you didnt lose the color of the flowers. They also had a design uplit on the ceiling and our initials on the dance floor. The room looked amazing and Marcus did an amazing job. Fusion has also been featured on "My Fair Wedding" with David Tutera !!
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| White lighting above the center pieces to keep the true color or the flowers |
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| See the design on the ceiling.. I loved it |
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| amber lighting everywhere |
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| The room looked amazing |
The Photographer
The photographer we used is a company called Brett Matthew's. Our photographer was Sheri- who I believe is the owner and deff the TOP DOG photographer lol. She was amazing and all of the work we have seen of hers blew us away. What we liked about her photos were the angles, colors, candidness and feel. So far we only have 1 photo but there are many more to come and I cant wait to share them .
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| Photo by Brett Matthews |
Photobooth
At the wedding I HAD TO HAVE a photobooth and it turned out to be a HIT!!!! The booth prints 2 sets and soon after the company sends you a CD of all the photos people took to make a cute candid photo album. Everyone loved it and its so nice looking back at the pics remembering the night. The guy stayed all night and helped people with everything. The photobooth we got is through a company called Apple Industries .
Funny Moment
Iv entered the ceremony room with my father. We begin walking down the aisle, Im starting to tear up and all of a sudden my veil starts to fall off. I stopped in my tracks was able to reach it , stuck it back in my hair and kept walking LOL.. It deff made me stop crying * wipes sweat off forehead* LOL
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| Thanks for your help Rachel <3 |
Our Rings
I bought Alkis ring from David Yurman and Alki got my ring from a popular jewelry store here in Beverly Hills called XIV Karats.
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| A classic eternity band |
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| Alki's wedding band by David Yurman. I had engraved "Your make it Real" 5.14.11 <3 Our wedding song and date <3 |
I got us both new scents for our wedding day. For Alki I bought Green Irish Tweed by Creed and for myself I bought Love in White by Creed as well. They are sold in Neiman Marcus
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| Hers |
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| His |
My Nails
I hadn't had tips on my nails in a while so I went and got the traditional french. I got white tips put on and then they dipped my nails in powder. For color I used 1 coat OPI- Bubble Bath and 1 coat Essies Sugar Daddy. Same for my toes.
My Shoes
My shoes are by Brian Atwood
Songs
Bridesmaids and family walked down to- Air on G-string
I walked down to- Pachebels Canon in D
Reception Entrance song fro bridal party- Till the World Ends (chorus)- Britney Spears
Reception entrance song for us- Raise your glass (chorus) - Pink
First Dance- You make it Real -by James Morrison
Father Daughter dance- In my Life- The beatles
Mother Son dance- Wonderful World- Rod Stewart
Cake cutting song- Sugar pie honey bunch- by Temptations
Throwing the bouquet- Dirrty- by Christina Aguilera
Throwing of the garter- Girls girls girls- Motley Crue
I cant believe the wedding has come and gone. All the planning, all the stress... It was a beautiful wedding and Im so happy and excited that Im able to share it with you. Thank you so much for checking out my blog- and congratulations to all the newly engaged, and brides planning their weddings. Enjoy the entire process. All the stress, emotions, tears, anger, happiness, frustration... everything. That day comes in the blink of an eye and before you know it- its just a memory.
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| Me and my Husband- where we had our "first look" on the stairs |
Special thanks to my mother who did all of the event planning and acted as my party planner. It was a huge job and responsibility and I'd just like to say thank you to her for helping me plan the wedding of my dreams. I love you mom
post from www.jenniferstano.blogspot.com
Beautiful everything! You look like a princess! Love the photobooth always a great idea. Xo
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