Allison and Tim Muenkel, April 29th, 2011
We were the royal wedding! No but seriously, it was unique sharing that date with the royals. I had to hear about it every minute, especially at the grocery store!
On the morning of my wedding, I woke up to Kate waving to everyone on the TV. It made me mad at first, but then I thought..."Well it's her day too, and it's mine, what a great way to get in the spirit of getting married!"
Location: The Clubhouse at Patriot Hills, Stony Point, NY
We went to a family wedding there and were blown away by their food and beautiful atmosphere. The outside of the building was gorgeous, as well as the grounds.
I knew there would be a lot of great spots for photos and the place just has that WOW factor when you pull up.
The staff was so professional and very well organized. One thing that sold us was the food! The cocktail hour is so lavish and full of amazing choices and there is a wide variety for every appetite! The quality of the food is amazing and very satisfying. The food is the best part!
Dress: Alita Graham, Kleinfeld
I bought my dress at their annual blow out sale. I was number 28 out of 300 women! I saved $1,500 on my dress!
Tux: Men’s Wearhouse
Tim wanted to look like James Bond, so he purchased his own tux by Calvin Klein and had it fit like a glove to his body. I thought he looked so hot!
Cake: Homestyle Desserts in Peekskill, NY
We had a custom-made pistachio cake with pistachio filling and a light chocolate mouse. SOOOO good! And light and fluffy for spring.
Other vendors:
Shoes: Something Bleu (bought on eBay!)
Jewelry (for bridesmaids and bride) and bride’s hairpiece: Dahlia Designs by Michelle Quale. Portland, OR (503) 860-5954
Flowers: Flowers by Jo Ann, Washingtonville, NY (845) 496-3343
Entertainment: The DJ Solution, Poughkeepsie, NY
Photographer: Uplift Photography
Hair: Beauty by Nicole, Chester, NY
Inspiration and colors
I had a spring wedding, so I wanted to stick with traditional spring colors, but still wanted to have a modern and contemporary touch to everything. I love the softness of light purple, but didn’t want it to be sooo light and spring-like. So I wanted a different shade of purple, and accent colors and some sparkle that made a pop and tied everything together.
My colors were exotic fuchsia, silver, and navy blue. My bridesmaids wore dresses by Belsoie in a color called exotic fuchsia. The color was not quite fuchsia, and not quite violet, but just beautiful. The dresses were chiffon, but the material had a beautiful sheen to them, which I thought added to their formality.
I added in accents of sparkly silver by having custom made silver Swarovski crystal beaded jewelry sets for my bridesmaids, I bought them beaded silver flip flops for when their feet were aching, and my invitations also highlighted my colors as they were silver and fuchsia.
I wanted a bit of sparkle everywhere, so I even added Swarovski crystals to my shoes by hand! I had silver mosaic candle vases set around the reception, and had purple orchids throughout the reception, on my cake, and in the bridesmaid’s bouquets. The navy blue was added in only here and there, like with the ribbon that wrapped the bouquets and centerpieces, and with my maid of honor’s headband I purchased for her from Be Something New.
Our colors were evident throughout the wedding day from our little cloth rice baggies we made for the ceremony, to the custom made recipe book favors.
I did not have a planner so we did a lot of things ourselves with the help of my mother, who is a graphic designer. She made the invitations (we got the inspiration from a design we found on Etsy.com). Then she custom made our programs (which were accented with a silver bead on the top) and our favors.
Our favors were the best idea (if I do say so) that I could come up with to make an impact and leave guests feeling special and loved. Over months and months, I collected recipes from members of all sides of each of the families. We had recipes from great grandmothers, grandfathers, moms, aunts, brothers, sisters, distant relatives, etc… It was great and so put together.
In the end, we had a real book with an index, photos, and detailed stories about the history of the recipes and instructions for 45 recipes ranging from breakfast to dessert and everything in between. We titled the books Family Favorites: From Our Tables to Yours.
We wanted our wedding to have a personal touch wherever people looked. From the custom made recipe books, to our photo guest book, to a framed collage we made with our parent’s wedding photos along with our grandparents photos. We wanted our guests to get to know us when they came to our wedding.
Allison’s advice for future brides
Book off-season! We saved $4,500 at our reception site for booking off-season and on a Friday night. Peak season is usually May through October, and we booked two days before May and it was beautiful out and there were so many flowers around. It was great.
If you book a bit off-season you can always find vendors that are willing to work with you and your budget. Just ask!
Let it be. We take all this time to plan our big day, make sure it is just how we want it, and we spend a ton of money and many hours of our time making it perfect. But sometimes things just don’t go as planned. You brides out there need to just take what comes at you on your wedding day and let it be what it is.
I ran over my dress with a golf cart, ripped it and had black tire tracks all up the train. Also the shuttle transporting 35 of my guests was 45 minutes late to the cocktail, hour costing us a lot of money. I mean, I cried a bit, but I didn’t let it ruin my day! When these two things happened (which were almost at the same time), I remember thinking “I am going to flip out on someone!” But I didn’t (with the help of my husband and wonderful photographers calming me down).
But we watch these wedding shows all the time and the brides act crazy and that’s where they get the term “Bridezilla.” Well those brides let the things that were unplanned ruin their moment, and ultimately their whole day. Don’t do that.
My mother said that the things that don’t go as planned are what make a wedding so special and unique and ultimately a day to remember. The most important thing to remember when something doesn’t go right: it’s not the end of the world.
The most important thing on your wedding day is the commitment you make to the love of your life, not that you ran over your dress. Love conquers all.
