fabulous/not-so-fabulous….erica and james || wychemere harbor

Next entry is from Erica, who just couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t fabulous! Fantastic!

“1)Sweetheart Table and Extended Cocktail Hour
James and I had been told by so many people that we wouldn’t really get to enjoy our wedding let alone eat anything at the event. You will be too busy we were told, have to talk to too many people. Well, James and I not only ate a full meal (why not? After all that planning and tasting, etc!) we got to sit back and relax during dinner and take it all in, the whole day, just the two of us, as we opted for a sweetheart table. No one bothered us while we ate (thanks to the 2 staff members who guarded our table!) and we got to eat a full meal, and notice how much fun all of our family and friends were having. I think it was really important that we got that 15 minutes to ourselves. It is such a busy day, but it’s a day for the two of you, and you should get to enjoy it too. Also, having an extended cocktail hour meant we could also mingle with family and friends for a bit. We finished up our group and portrait photo’s and still got to grab a glass of wine and some appetizers! You shouldn’t miss your whole wedding!

2) Take dance lessons before
We received a lot of compliments on our dance. It was nothing special, but it was obvious we had practiced. It is an important moment in your life, and you should make the most of it! I notice at weddings now if the bride and groom have a practiced dance, and you definitely notice when they are doing the high school slow dance sway, and I think it takes away from the moment (and the photo op!). James and I had so much fun during our 2 dance lessons and it takes the stress out of the whole planning process, even if it is only for that 2-3 hours. We grabbed a nice dinner in Boston after, and looked forward to showing off our moves come the big day! ”

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"3) Have your cake, and eat it too!
We loved, loved, our wedding cake from Montillio’s and didn’t want to wait a full year to eat the top which we saved and froze. So, my parents kept it at their beach house for a few weeks, and we ended up sharing it with my mom, dad, sister and close friends over Labor Day weekend with a nice bottle of wine on the back porch! It was fun to reminisce about the day and eat the cake before it was covered in a nice layer of freezer burn!"

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"4) Take a day
Don’t leave for your honeymoon the following morning/day! We had a brunch the next afternoon, had to head back to Boston in Cape traffic, unpack our wedding stuff and make sure we were all packed for our trip to Puerto Rico. We never would have been able to do all that just one day after the wedding, so take at least one day to decompress and unpack all those details first. You will still have a fabulous trip and won’t be so frazzled! "

Thanks Erica!!!

fabulous/not-so-fabulous……deb and bill || hawthorne hotel

The second entry in my fabulous/not-so-fabulous contest is from Deb, who was married in November of 2008. I remember this moment so clearly, I love to hear her tell the story!!!

“We got married November 29, 2008 and the reception was at the fabulous Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. Everything was amazing. My Not-So-Fabulous (which actually turned into a Fabulous) has to do with our so-called first dance. If we could do it all over again, I think my husband and I both agree that we would change our song. We picked some slow-dance Elvis song because we really didn’t have a song and it was the best “appropriate” song we could come up with after poring over iTunes for hours and hours. Who knows which one we actually picked – I can’t remember, and I’m certain that our guests and family members don’t remember (we’d have to watch the wedding video again to remind ourselves). We were too chicken to pick the song we really liked/wanted/that explained “us”… Survivor’s “The Search is Over.” We thought our guests would think we were stuck in the 80’s (the song came out in the early 80’s – 1984 to be exact) or that Bill really was a cradle robber…since I was 9 when the song came out. Thankfully (very thankfully!!) you stuck around until the last party shoe dropped and took pictures as our fabulous DJ played the song. I think you were actually packed up and had said goodbye, but you walked back to the dance floor and kept shooting. I’m so glad you did. It was my favorite moment of the night (Bill sang the whole song in my ear, I still laugh thinking about that) and has turned out to be my favorite picture from the wedding – I was so happy and the picture really shows it.”

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Seriously, could they look any happier?? I don't think so. Thanks Deb!!!