“Falling” into Love: An intimate and gorgeous Hudson Valley Autumn Wedding

 Alexis and Chantell | October 1st, 2015

Chantell was mentioned to Alexis through a mutual friend. After months of unsuccessfully being able to meet, Alexis took fate in to her own hands and crashed a Birthday party Chantell was attending to meet her in person. The strategy worked as the two had an instant connection and have been inseparable from that moment forward.

Alexis attended the Culinary Institute of America in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York for College and after a vacation there with Chantell, the girls decided that the stunning views with the mountains, trees, and the Hudson river would be the perfect backdrop for their nuptials.

Playing off of the natural colors of the area in October, the entire wedding was in deep shades of Autumn brilliance: hues of gold, purple, copper, and green were mixed with wooden accents. All of the stationery items were made to compliment the color scheme and feel of the wedding location itself: The Garrison. A combination of scenic golf club, small country inn, and fine food restaurant nestled in Hudson Highlands with views of the river and Catskill mountains, the Garrison was both comfortable and elegant. The ceremony garden was accented by a inter-woven vine pergola complimented by Autumn inspired floral details.

The wedding was all about family…and friends who are as close as family. Many of the guests were friends and colleagues of the brides from Las Vegas, their home, who had traveled across the country in order to be present for this momentous occasion. Alexis stated to me, “After all that hard work of planning a wedding 3000 miles away, being at the alter and thinking that this was our time to start our lives together in front of all our loved ones; realizing how many people flew across the country or drove all that way to share our special day with us was our favorite moment.”

The ceremony was filled with intimate moments to share that love with all of the guests. There was a touching rose ceremony for the mothers, to honor their knowledge and the women they had helped to create, and a very sweet and funny moment at the end of the ceremony when a good friend ran up to the front to place a hand-painted stool in front of Alexis so that she could be as tall as Chantell for their first kiss as a happily married couple.  Alexis’ two nieces acted the flower girls and stole the show during the reception dancing and entertaining all of the guests.

It rained everyday leading up to the wedding, but that afternoon, the sun poked through the clouds and came out long enough for every single picture and the ceremony. The first drop of rain came as the guests made their way inside of the warmly decorated Husdon Room with huge all glass windows facing the river. The tables were all adorned with fall inspired floral centerpieces and matching stationery. The ceremony and cocktails were accompanied by live guitar switching to a selection of fun dance tunes after a delicious dinner of local Hudson favorites, followed by a dessert buffet of various pastries, cookies, and other delectables. As the sun started to set and it began to drizzle, the brides threw off their shoes and ran through the cold wet grass to capture a picture in front of the gorgeous Hudson Valley Sunset.

The soft storm that followed left drops of rain on the windows and the sound of it trickling off the roof added to the cozy warmth all felt inside.

The guests were all given fuzzy socks to dance the night away and The night ended with local chocolates and wines from Alexis’ home town in Ohio: a perfectly sweet way to send the guest back to their hotels.

When asked if the girls would change anything about the wedding, they responded, “We wouldn’t change our wedding for anything. It was perfect: everyone was thrilled to be there. Our Expectations were met from the first day we flew to New York until the last moment.”

Advise from Alexis and Chantell for other couples planning their wedding:

“Take your time!! We cannot stress this enough. By taking our time, we were able to have 95% of our guests present. You’re only getting married once, so do it right!  You will be much happier in the end. Stick to your budget and make it work. One thing we noticed is everything is negotiable. We did our wedding on a Thursday (Mid-Week) and people were willing to give us different rates to secure our business. Most weddings happen on weekends so there are often rebates when having your wedding on a day that normally the companies have no new business. It was a win-win situation for all!

Cathy was so incredible to work with! Her smile and warmth once you have you initial meeting made you feel at home. This could be a very stressful time for couples. Remember this is your 1st time doing this and you’re not an expert. Sometimes people get crazy and you just have to take a step back and have Cathy do what she does: she is a professional. She knew what we needed to do, at what time and how to achieve what we wanted for our wedding. She has been working in the Las Vegas area for years and her reputation is amazing!  Not to mention she traveled with us to NY to be apart of our day. I never worried about anything when she was around.

1st Impressions Invitations created our invitations, place cards and seating arrangement so all the pieces coordinated together perfectly. I had so many of our guests comment on how beautiful they were. The craftsmanship attention to detail is beyond what I could have imagined. The invitation is the “1st Impression” your guests will see of you wedding. Blow them away from the first moment you can!”

It was my sincere honor to be a part of this wedding celebration: congratulations Chantell and Alexis! May your future be filled with immense joy, laughter, and more love with each passing day. Cheers!

Special thanks to:

The Garrison

2015 U.S. 9, Garrison, NY 10524

www.thegarrison.com

Floral Fantasies by Sara-Flowers

ffbysara@gmail.com

Hudson Valley Officiants

Rev. Louis

Chris Carter Photography

www.chriscarterphotography.com

Gene Pino-Guitarist

Gene@genepino.com

1st Impressions Invitations

www.1stinvite.com

Cool, Classic, and Sweet Wedding

Love stories and celebrating the best day of a couples’ life is the greatest part of this job. Being able to work behind the scenes to ensure it goes smoothly….that’s unparalleled! Here, another installment of a recent collaboration with Harry O Productions, 1st Impressions Invitations' Event Coordination...

Cool, Classic, Sweet….

Sometimes your friends know better than you….that was the case for Amy and Jeff. They had mutual friends who just knew that the two were perfect for one another and had been talking each other up for over a year before the two met in person. From the moment they were introduced on their first date with their friends Brooke and Peter, Amy and Jeff knew that this was indeed everything their friends had mentioned and more.

After getting engaged on a wine trip to Napa, the two decided on the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas for their July 10^th wedding. With a sweeping terrace and large waterfall as the background, it was the ideal location for a posh and intimate wedding ceremony.

The entire event was based off the bride and groom’s personalities: cool, classic, with touches of fun and sweet little details.  The invitations were a clean black and white with just a touch of red added in the small heart on the invitation and the custom liner in the envelope. The remainder of the couples’ stationery items all coordinated with the invitations in look and font style, right down to the thank you notes following the event.

Keeping it classic and posh, was Amy’s gorgeous and sleek wedding gown, care of Couture Bride: with a long cathedral length veil and low dramatic back, Amy was beauty in motion. Meanwhile, Jeff was the epitome of classic cool in a perfectly fit modern black suit.

When you have the opportunity to work at a gorgeous location like the Four Seasons, you find that very little adornment needs to be added. In Amy and Jeff’s case, we kept the flowers and decor simple and let the incredible food and ambiance of the luxury hotel be the focal point of the event.

The ceremony was sweet and intimate, focusing on the couple’s love for one another with reading by the groom’s children, Jenna and Ryan, and a very sweet love letter ceremony, performed by the funny and sincere Pastor Pete. Amy surprised Jeff with live serenaded music: a crowd pleaser of  Meghan Trainor’s “Dear Future Husband”  was used as Jeff’s entrance for the wedding and Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” was used as the rousing recessional.

In lieu of a traditional sit-down dinner, the couple, who love to entertain, opted for heavy hors d’oeuvres and cocktail party. The food was a fantastic mixture of stylish nibbles and home-town favorites like macaroni and cheese. The guests were treated to multiple carving stations and a fully appointed bar, including the special drink of the evening, “The Pyle Driver” in celebration of the new married surname.

Dancing went into the wee-hours and the guests, shoes in hand, made their exits after enjoying individual shaped cakes in three different flavors and custom made chocolates and cookies. The flower girl, the bride’s adorable tom-boy god daughter stole the show on the dance floor in her sparkly gold high-tops!

The Bride and Groom’s favorite moment of the Wedding Day…

The first look.  Planning a wedding is stressful and seeing each other for the first time on the balcony of the hotel was magical, everything else went away and it was just us.

Moment of Truth/Behind the Scenes of the Day….

It was very windy on Amy and Jeff’s wedding day which resulted in some quick re-designing at the ceremony location. We had originally planned for an aisle runner lined by rose petals but the wind whipped up and ripped the runner and realizing it was a losing battle, we opted for sprinkled rose petals all over the ceremony site instead. You never know what extra variables will come into play on a wedding day and often have to roll with the punches. When you have opted for a location as luxurious as Four Season’s Terrace though, it isn’t an issue: the ceremony was gorgeous and beautiful. One added benefit of the wind: Amy’s veil looks incredible in the pictures! The couple had their own “Wind Machine” courtesy of Mother Nature.

Words of Advise from the Beautiful Bride…

Although weddings are expensive and you try to keep your budget in mind- make sure you wont have any regrets…I wish we hired a videographer.  At the time we didn’t think we needed one, but looking back- it’s the one thing we wished we had to capture the day. 

Our day was amazing and simply magical, and I know without Cathy it would have been 1000 times more stressful, and we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the day. As stressful as weddings can be, having Cathy made the entire experience so manageable.  We loved having a sounding board and friend to guide us.  Cathy really got to know us as a couple and became an amazing friend.  Truly, we found 1^st Impressions Invitations and Harry O Productions to go above and beyond, Cathy was able to make recommendations for other vendors, and they were superb.  Not to mention, we loved our invites and thank you’s, which perfectly captured our style.

Special Thanks to:
Dawn at Couture Bride

Four Seasons Las Vegas

Pastor Pete Starzyk

Harry O Productions

Photography Courtesy of Laszlo Rathonyi

Enchanted Florist

Hair/Makeup Amy Curiel and Patti Jones

Singer Cristina Wojo

1st Impressions Invitations