Real Wedding at the Links at Union Vale: College Sweethearts Seaside Inspiration
Our Story 
Tim and I are college sweethearts. We met through a friend on a blind date, and from the day we met till now we have been inseparable. We were dating for four years when he proposed on our anniversary. He took me to a gorgeous lighthouse overlooking the ocean on Block Island, RI. We spent the rest of the day wandering about the island and calling our parents. We wanted to see the rest of our families' faces when we made our announcement, so we waited an agonizing week to tell them at a party that was held at my parent's house the following weekend. I know that it was tough, but I think in the long run it was worth it to see their faces.
The Date – July 4th, 2009
We had a two year engagement and we were married on the 4th of July 2009. We picked the day because we had a lot of family that was flying in from different places. Tim was involved in all of the wedding details; he even helped with figuring out when to release the butterflies.
We could not have asked for better weather on the 4th of July. From the sunrise to the gorgeous sunset, there was barely a cloud in the sky. Yes, I will admit that it was a bit warm, but the breeze was great and helped our photographers take wonderful pictures.
The Dress – Bella Couture 
I would have to say the best thing was going to find my dress. I thought that because I am so short I would not be able to find anything. I went with my mother and sister to Bella Couture and the first dress that I tried on was the one. The one that--my sister will never let me forget--she found.
Bella Couture helped us find everything, including the same color sash for the flower girls to match the bridesmaids' dresses. And as short as I am, 5'0, they were able to get me a custom made dress that fit perfectly.
The Tuxes – Sossi Formals
The tuxes for the guys were easy. We knew that because we were going to be married in July that we could not put them in black tuxes. Tim found fantastic tuxes at Sossi Formals by Calvin Klein and they came in a nice light gray with silver trim.
The Hair Stylist – Salon Doriano
We started our day at Salon Dorianos getting our hair done. They were fantastic! They even had one of the flower girls, Bella, sitting and getting her hair done. All of us still looked the same as we did that morning, even by the end of the night.
The Ceremony
Our ceremony was a traditional one at a church I grew up going to. We are extremely close with our families and wanted a small ceremony and reception. But it was tough since we both have such large families.
My wedding party consisted of my sister Erin, maid of honor, Caroline, my cousin and Sara, Tim's cousin. His oldest brother Joe was his best man, Matt his youngest brother and his cousin Kyle were his other groomsmen. We each picked one God Parent to do a reading at the church and my cousin Sharlene sang, "The Prayer," by Josh Groban.
The Reception – The Links at Union Vale
Following the ceremony we had a beautiful reception at The Links at Union Vale. Our reception had about 130 people that consisted of family and some very close friends. We decided to have more of a relaxed reception that had a lot summer themed items. Our cocktail hour was partially outside on the patio and The Links even had great picnic tables where our guests were free to mingle on the lawn.
Our cocktail hour had an assortment of passed and stationary items, ranging from the traditional pigs in a blanket to an international cheese board. While guests listened to a guitar player they could help themselves to our signature drink; Tim and I kept with the summer theme and had a lemonade cocktail.
For the dinner, we first started with a salad served with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, then to a penne alla vodka, and finally the choice of Chicken Francese, Roast Rib Eye of Beef with Au Jus, or Stuffed Filet of Sole, stuffed with crab meat stuffing. For dessert, our cake was a marble cake with a Baileys Irish Cream filling with butter cream icing.
Everyone at the Links was awesome and my family raved about the 5 star treatment from the moment they walked in the door till when they told them to have a safe drive home.
The Flowers - Sabellico Florist
Our main colors were blue and silver with little touches of cream and green. The bridesmaids all wore blue dresses and had bouquets of blue and green hydrangea. My sister, the maid of honor, had little cream colored tea roses in her bouquet. My bouquet was all blue hydrangea with Vendella roses mixed in.
My two cousins who were the flower girls had blue hydrangea flower balls. In the church, we kept with that same idea and had hydrangeas on the altar and also as pew markers.
The groom's boutonniere was Stephanotis with blue hydrangea. The best man had Stephanotis and green hydrangea. The rest of the wedding party had just Stephanotis. Both mothers had a small bouquet of Vendella roses and the fathers had boutonnieres of Vendella roses as well.
The Décor – Summer Sand & Surf
To keep with the summer theme, my mom found giant seashells to hold tea lights for the cocktail hour. We found a giant lantern for the table when you enter the hall and placed one of our centerpieces in it. Our center pieces were glass candle holders that had an area on the bottom for sand, seashells and little blue and green sea glass. Our tables had a cream colored table cloth covered with a silver organza.
We had menu cards at each table, again with little touches of seashells on them as well. And instead of party favors we had book marks made. Since Tim and I are both teachers, we made a donation to the American Diabetes Association and told guests that on the book mark. They were blue with a little seashell on top being held by a silver ribbon.
Surprise Sweets!
My mother surprised us with a candy buffet. This included a wide assortment of different candies, a make your own ice cream sundae, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, petit fours and a fresh fruit display. My mom made sure to make custom bags with our names, dates and best wishes so that guests could take the candy home.
Fireworks – Sparklers and Holiday Celebrations
After we cut our cake, we went outside and had sparklers and watched fireworks that were being set off nearby. We had matches with our names and "a perfect match" written on them to light the sparklers.
The Music – Enriquez Entertainment 
Our DJs were fantastic! They knew that we love all types of music and they were able to give us just that...a little bit of everything.
We had our parents and grandparents come into Elvis Presley "Rock Around the Clock." Our wedding party came into Black Eyed Peas "Let's Get It Started" and we came into Tim's favorite song from Rocky Balboa, "Gonna Fly Now" by Bill Conti. Our wedding song for our first dance was "Then" by Brad Paisley.
Country is probably the genre of music that we love the most. But we realized that not everyone shares our love. Our DJ's, Mike and Andrew, were able to give our guests songs from the Cherry Poppin Daddies to Flo Rida. When we sat down with Andrew, he asked us what we like and what we did not like. From there, he made up a list of amazing songs that kept everyone up on the dance floor. They were both up dancing with our family and friends and taught them all sorts of dances.
The Limo - A.N.N. Transportation
Our limo driver was so great that even once he left, he came back to bring us something that we had forgotten in the car.
The Photos - True Life Fotos *All photos in this blog post courtesy of Ron Buffone and True Life Fotos. 
We loved our vendors!!! Everyone that we worked with was so professional. Ron and Paulo (Ron chose him to work with him the day of our wedding) and Andrew and Mike from Enriquez Entertainment made our wedding!!!
The Video - Magic Moments Video
We absolutely love how our video and pictures came out. I loved working with them all, they made us feel so comfortable and they were easy to get along with. It also helped that they are all great with kids; that made the process of taking pictures easier.
The Cake - Pastry Garden
We loved our cake from the Pastry Garden, it was unique and simple at the same time. Plus, an added bonus, it tasted fantastic!!!
Tara's Advice
The only thing that I may have different was maybe extending the reception...but other then that I would not change anything! I realized from early on, based on my previous experiences, stuff goes wrong. I knew that and did not worry about it. Things do not always go as planned, but at the end of the day I really only cared about Tim and myself being happy.
Do not, no matter what else you have to skimp out on, forget to get a videographer. I was told by a cousin that we were not going to be able to go back and do the day over again. I am so glad now that we listened. I would not go back and change anything!