Matthew and Natasha Fairfield: April 15, 2011
Location: The Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, Poughkeepsie, New York
We had our ceremony and reception in Poughkeepsie, New York. Matthew was living in the Bronx and I was living right outside of Yonkers in the town of Dobbs Ferry, New York. Why did we pick Poughkeepsie? When we started planning the wedding we realized that we had a lot of guests coming from out of town. Therefore, when we started to look for wedding locations we knew overnight accommodations were a must.
I came across some information for The Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel on my search for wedding locations and scheduled an appointment, along with three other wedding venues in the surrounding area. It wasn’t too far from where we lived so we gave it a shot.
The Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel was our first appointment and it ended up being the only venue we saw. We fell in love with the place and booked it right away!
They include so many things and are on top of every little detail. They actually had a wedding going on when we went to our appointment and we got to see them in action and how organized everything was. We knew it was the place right away.
Our ceremony was held at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel. I actually heard about this little chapel and how beautiful it was from another bride here on this website. She wasn’t lying! It was perfect!
The outside of the chapel is beautiful and always well kept. There’s not only a big four-tier stone water fountain but there’s also an amazing “wedding bench” made out of concrete. The inside is equally beautiful. I can only describe it as timeless and elegant!
Vendors
Our vendors were all professional, attentive, and (most importantly) delivered on everything they said they would. Here’s a list of some of my vendors and what we loved about them.
Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero
All of Maggie Sottero’s dresses are great quality, reasonably priced and are classic modern looks. Very happy with my decision.
Grooms Suit: Indochino
You send in the measurements, which they walk you through online, and choose everything from how many buttons, the opening of the suit, the color, lapel style, slit in the back of the jacket, etc.
Best of all, your custom-made suit is made in only 2 weeks! I just recommend ordering early on in case you do need a few adjustments—which they do free of charge.
Flowers: Lucille's Floral, Fishkill, NY
This is the vendor that The Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel uses. We were very happy with the service and how everything came out.
Cake and Deluxe Viennese Table: The Pastry Garden, Poughkeepsie, NY
This is another one of the hotel’s vendors. Absolutely delicious! Each layer of cake was a different flavor just the way we wanted it. The Viennese table took up the whole back wall of the ballroom and had every dessert you can imagine—including a crepe station and a banana flambé show.
Entertainment: Spinning with Style, DJ Bri Swatek
Highly recommended! DJ Bri stayed in contact with us throughout the whole process and really listened and understood the whole vibe that we wanted. He did our monogram on the dance floor, our uplighting, the slideshow during dinner, and he kept everyone dancing the whole night!
Photographer: Surprise Photography
Melissa Surprise is a wonderfully talented person. I don’t remember how I found her, but I’m happy I did. She is a true professional, has a lovely personality, and knows exactly what to do.
I almost forgot she was even there until I saw the pictures and the amazing shots she took. We’ll definitely be using her again!
Hair and Makeup: Beauty by Nicole, Chester, NY
Nicole knows exactly what she’s doing and immediately makes you feel at ease. She brought Johanna, an assistant, with her to do the makeup. Nicole does makeup herself, it just depends on the amount of people and your timeline. They nailed the looks we were all going for and finished on time.
Antique Rolls Royce: Top Class Limo, Yonkers, NY
This is the place to use. They were reasonably priced, on time, and so helpful. The driver was super polite and helped me getting into and out of the car along with helping with the train of my dress. He had champagne waiting for my husband and me and truly understood what a special day it was. Words can’t say enough!
Shoes: Badgley Mischka, Weddingism
They have great shoes and give great customer service. The owner contacted me directly to help get these specific shoes from the buyer.
Bride's bracelet and earrings: Tejani
Great customer service and so many classic and elegant styles. The great thing is that you get to customize the finish and sizing to your liking. Best of all it arrived in one day!
Inspiration
My inspiration for the wedding was simple and elegant. I really loved the idea of blush pink and gold. However, I don’t like everything being “matchy matchy” either. Therefore, I used slightly different hues of gold, champagne, and pinks here and there to avoid that.
For example, the invitations were a marigold color, the linens were an antique gold, the flowers were blush pink and light champagne, and the uplighting pulled it together with an alternating hue of golden and pink.
I had also always pictured Matthew in a grey suit so I stuck to that idea and kept his shirt white with a white tie and then his brother (the best man) wore a golden tie with a grey suit to match the maid of honor.
I really just went with my gut that items would look great together once it was the big day. I trusted my vendors with my vision and I’m glad I did.
Wedding Finds
We had a photobooth for all of our guests to use during the night. We got it from Party Booths and it was one of the best—if not the best—decision we made. It was a big hit!
It included unlimited pictures, 4 picture printouts with free personalization, a DVD for the bride and groom with all of the pictures, and an online gallery for all of your guests to see for one full year. We bought a bunch of props for it and everyone had a blast!
Another great find is Etsy. I used it to get Matthew’s custom-made cufflinks with our initials and for the Just Married umbrella. There are so many different and unique items on this website. You must check it out!
Natasha’s advice for future brides
1) Go with your gut. You more than anybody should know what you look good in and what the overall look and atmosphere you want for the day is.
2) Details do matter and you’ll be surprised by how many of them people actually notice. You don’t have to go crazy over them but they definitely add so much more to your day and you’ll be glad you included them in the end.
3) Think about your guests and what they would enjoy. I kept this in mind throughout the whole process and tried to think of what would make this day great for everyone.
4) Lastly, enjoy every moment because it goes by so fast.
All photos courtesy of Surprise Photography
