Our Big Fat Italian Wedding New PJ:6*12*10 Trump National/Dismoon: Pnina & Christian!

[DisWishes720]

Hi Everyone!!

Some of you may remember me as the very confused, newly engaged, Italian girl from NJ! A brief background...I'm still confused (only about what invitations to pick!), not so newly engaged, and now living in CT!

My DF and I were engaged in December 2008 in none other than Disney! I had dreamed of a DFTW my entire life, and was so excited to start planning it. However, with the economy the way it is and my fiance and I still trying to figure out where we were going to end up things didn't seem to go the way I had hoped. My fiance was laid off a few weeks before he proposed and the law industry literally stopped hiring. On top of not being able to find a job he was trying studying to get into Law School and our future seemed very up in the air. Until about August our engagement was a very emotional rollercoaster ride. My parents informed us that with our large families and the bad economy we cound not ask all of our friends and relatives to take money out to come to Disney for a wedding . I was upset and tried to fight this for a while, but then the second blow came...my father said he would not put any deposits down until my DF found a job...

Of course we were heart broken. My fiance was working so hard to find a job and get into Law School that it started taking a toll on us as a couple. My Dad was also very upset that we would be taking on a lot of debt for law school and again asked us to postpone. However, we must have had some pixie dust sprinkled on us because suddenly in July things started to turn around!

My fiance was accepted into every school he applied and ended up getting a full scholariship to UCONN (his home state)! He also found a job working in government for CT which finally put my Dad's mind at ease! I also was offered a job in CT working in the Athletic department of a school and coaching soccer, basketball, and lacrosse (a huge change from commuting to the city!) and we moved into his mom's for the next 7 months until the wedding to save money!

Our wedding planning is in full swing and I can't wait to share all the details with you!!


So let's start at the very beginning...it's a very good place to start. (Oh and if I haven't mentioned it yet, I'm a huge nerd)

 

[DisWishes720]

A little background about us and our big day!

Me: Jenna (24)
DFiance: Tony (24)
Our Puppy: Achilles (2)

Here's a picture of our crazy puppy:

Our Engagement:

We were engaged on December 15, 2008 in none other than WDW! We were there with both of our families staying at the BC and had an absolutely amazing time. Even though I had no idea he was going to propose because he had just lost his job, he pulled off such an amazing proposal! He proposed on the balcony of the GF at a private dinner overlooking the fireworks!

Here's our family at the Cali Grillmy mom, dad, and brothers are to the right of Tony and Tony's mom and sister are next to me)

We finally got to wear our Bride and Groom ears!!


This was thet setup my parents had for us when we got back from dinner:

The Ring
Here is a picture of the original ring. He was so upset because his original intention was to give me a big setting, but I loved my ring!! It's an oval just under 2cts.

But...after he got his job he came into the city one day to surprise me with a brand new setting. Now I know I said I loved my original ring but I LOVE LOVE this one!

Up next...big day details and bridal party!

 

[DisWishes720]

The Location

Ceremony: Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church
After we found out we weren't going to be doing WDW it took me a very long time to pick a wedding location, but the ceremony location was a no brainer. This is the church my parents were married in nearly 30 years ago and I can't wait to walk down the isle there!

Cocktail Hour/Dinner/Reception: Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, NJ
We spent months and months trying to decide on a venue for the wedding. Being an Italian wedding the norm is big banquet hall with tons and tons of food. I wanted to do something a little different from all the other weddings we have been to. Trump was this place for us. We fell in love with the amazing drive up to the estate. The glittering ballroom and fountain were beautiful and it's only 15 minutes from home! You may also recognize it because just this weekend Ivanka Trump was married here. I can't wait to see more pictures of her wedding!

The beautiful outside:

The Ballroom: We're doing all beautiful uplighting with candles and the dance floor is going to hopefully surrounded by vines.

The Cigar Bar Area: We're uplighting the fountain and putting lanterns all along the back wall where the cigar bar will be

Bridal Party and Guest Count:

Total Guests: We're inviting 175 but hoping for 160
Maids of Honor: 3 (yes there is more than 1...they are very high maitenance and I couldn't pick!)
Bridesmaids: 5
Best Men: 3
Groomsmen: 5
Ushers: 4

I love this picture of the group at our engagement party. Only 2 people were missing, one of my maids of honor and Tony's best men.

Coming up next...already booked vendors!

 

[figment fan21]

I was wondering what happened to you! I'm glad you're back and that the wedding is in full swing! Congrats on everything and everything looks beauitful! can't wait to hear about all your plans!

 

[DisWishes720]

You would think after being engaged for almost 11 months that I would be ahead of the game, but alas...I'm soooo far behind!! Someone should tell you that wedding planning is a never ending process!

So in the past 11 months here is what I have accomplished...

Photographer: Marie Labbancz Photography (amazing wedding photographer based out of Philly)
Hair/Make Up Artist: Claudia Seyler (fantastic and based also out of Philly)
DJ: Jason Craig Entertainment
Florist: Jardinere Florist
Bridesmaid Dresses: Priscilla of Boston
We are doing two different dress designs, one for the bigger busted girls and one for the smaller...I mean it makes sense right?

All of the dresses will be in the plum purple color and the flowers on the waist will be in the same color. I love the back! So cute!

Having a background in design has been a blessing and a curse. Since I know exactly what I want it has made it really difficult to make decisions! Here's what I have for a design concept so far...

Theme: Italian Sunset

Color Scheme: Pale Pinks, Peach, Orange, Lavendar, Plum
I use this picture of the bridesmaids bouquet to describe the color scheme:

The table scape will look like this but the linnens will be a lavendar underlay with a white lace overlay on top. If you take out all the blue and add PLUM and LAVENDAR this is exactly what I want, maybe with some more pink!

The laundry list of to-do's is so overwhelming! Does any one else feel this way?? I get very stressed very easily when I think about all of the things I need to do.

Up next...HONEYMOON!!! M-I-C-K-E-Y!

 

[DisWishes720]

I was wondering what happened to you! I'm glad you're back and that the wedding is in full swing! Congrats on everything and everything looks beauitful! can't wait to hear about all your plans!

Hi Katie!! It's soo soo good to be back!! It was a rocky road there for a second but I'm back in full swing! Can't wait to catch up with everyone's stuff too!

 

[malibustacey]

WOW WOW WOW

You are a very cute couple, and you are going to have an AMAZING wedding!

I cant wait to read more!

Do you have a dress? SHOW SHOW SHOW mee!!

 

[DisWishes720]

WOW WOW WOW

You are a very cute couple, and you are going to have an AMAZING wedding!

I cant wait to read more!

Do you have a dress? SHOW SHOW SHOW mee!!

Hi Stacy!! Thank you soo much!

Ohh I definitely have a dress! I'll try to put up some pics and explain the story of that tonight!

 

[figment fan21]

Hi Stacy!! Thank you soo much!

Ohh I definitely have a dress! I'll try to put up some pics and explain the story of that tonight!

Oh yes you MUST!

And i LOOOOVE that bouquet! its amazing!.... your color scheme is beautiful too. I'm so excited for you!

 

[pezaddict231]

Welcome to the boards! All your plans so far are great. I really like the color scheme. It's very pretty and unique. The reception location looks wonderful!

Yea, lets see the dress!

 

[MainStMandy]

Oh Congratulations!! You guys are so cute!! Your ceremony and reception site look great and that bouquet is very pretty and unique. I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

[starling]

A proposal under the fireworks is my *dream* ... oooh, I'm jealous! Your DF is such a romantic guy. I'm so glad your wedding planning is underway again, it's going to be magical!

 

[DisWishes720]

Oh Congratulations!! You guys are so cute!! Your ceremony and reception site look great and that bouquet is very pretty and unique. I'm looking forward to reading more!

Thanks Mandy!!

A proposal under the fireworks is my *dream* ... oooh, I'm jealous! Your DF is such a romantic guy. I'm so glad your wedding planning is underway again, it's going to be magical!

Haha it was very out of character for him! He actually researched romantic ways to propose in WDW online too! I was like, who are you and what have you done with my DF??

Welcome to the boards! All your plans so far are great. I really like the color scheme. It's very pretty and unique. The reception location looks wonderful!

Yea, lets see the dress!

Aww thanks so much! I wanted something a little different.

Ok...onto the dress drama!

 

[DisWishes720]

You know how you're supposed to go dress shopping and immediately know that this is the one and no ifs, ands, or buts about it?? I have not yet had this experience. I have however purchased a dress and I'm still not happy yet! confused3

Ok I know I'm being judged...I mean I'm judging myself!! But let me explain the back story here and maybe you guys can help me out!

So back in January my mom and I quickly booked our first dress appointment at Kleinfeld's. She had purchased her dress there and had a great experience and hoped I was going to as well. I should also mention here that my mother always speaks her mind and has never had any problem telling me when she likes or HATES something I wear, but we'll get back to that in a second. So I like every girl has been dreaming about this dress my whole life. I should also mention that I am a bit of a fashionista and read W magazine and Vogue on a daily basis so my hopes for this dress was pretty high. Anyway, long story short, I had brought this picture of Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina as inspiration.

If just so happens that the designer Anne Barge was at Kleinfeld and she had designed a dress after that same inspiration! I tried it on and immediately the entire store told me it was the one, I looked to my mother for her thoughts and she said it was beautiful but that was it. We were pretty much pressured into buying the only dress I had seen or tried on. Here I am in it:

I know it's beautiful, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't want to be tied down to the black lace. I wanted a more traditional look and I didn't want a black and white color scheme. Thankfully Kleinfeld told me I could cancel any time before April because that's when the order gets put in and they would call me to tell me the dress was about to be cut just incase I had any doubts. So a few weeks went by and we decided to call and cancel the dress and use our deposit towards another dress at the store...or so I thought. Apparently they had already cut the dress (although they could not provide any photo evidence of this) and our deposit and full payment are lost. So after weeks of crying we tried to make lemons into lemonade and called to get the black lace taken off and ivory lace sent with the dress. Even though this sounds pretty, I really wanted something more unique and couture looking. So Kleinfeld told us we could design ways to embelish it and basically redesign the entire dress which is something we may do.

Then I started thinking about the stress of all of that and that it would basically cost just as much to design a dress as it would to buy another one. So right now I've tried these two dresses which I love and am still debating on:

This is a Melissa Sweet for Priscilla of Boston tulle gown that I love. I would probably add lace to the bodice and give a thicker satin sash to bring out my waist, but I LOVE the veil!

This is another dress that I think is really taking on the Anne Barge gown. It's a Vera Wang Luxe gown. All lace with beading and swarski crystal details on the train and under the bust. I absolutely love the detail and the amazing lace! It's very, very similar to the dress Jessica Simpson wore on her wedding day which I thought was bad luck, but she still looked pretty in it!

So here's where we're at now. The Anne Barge dress is coming in this week to Kleinfeld and I'm going in to look at it and the lace they sent, as well as sit down with a designer to sketch some ideas out. I will take TONS of pictures to get your opinion on the sketches and the way the dress looks. Also, tomorrow I'm going shopping with my future sister-in-law to try on some Carolina Herrera and Monique Llhulier gowns locally in CT. Mounds of pictures will be taken tomorrow too so maybe you girls can help me decide what to do!! I'm soo, soo confused , but still excited to go dress shopping tomorrow.

Maybe I'm just a girl who loves wedding dress shopping??

 

[Ann117]

Welcome! I love the black and white dress but I understand you wanting a more traditional dress. Good luck can't wait to see what you end up with!

 

[DisWishes720]

Is anyone sooo looking forward to their honeymoon?? I can't wait to just relax with my hubby! So we are planning on a 14 day honeymoon of Walt Disney World and Anguilla! We're booking this weekend and here's what I have so far...

We're having a brunch on Sunday after the wedding with all of our guests who stayed over Saturday night so we won't be able to leave until 3:00pm Sunday night, which also means that we won't be able to land in WDW until most likely 6:00pm. But we can still have an amazing dinner!

WDW: June 13th - June 18th

Resort: Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
Room Type: Theme Park View in Main Lodge
**We always stay at the Beach Club so we are really excited about staying at the GF!! Unfortunately the Honeymoon Suite was booked...so we settled for the next best thing! I'm pretty sure we can rough it!

Restaurants:
Dinner: Victoria & Alberts
California Grill
Citricos
Artist's Point
Narcoosie's
Breakfasts: Chef Mickey's
Kona Cafe
Lunches: TBD

I can't wait to be with the mouse!!

Our second part of the trip...

Cap Juluca, Anguila: June 18th - June 26th

Resort: Cap Juluca
Room Type: Luxury Room, Beach Front
**We have never, ever been here but we've heard such amazing things!! We've picked a lot of fun things to do like snorkeling and private dinners on the beach but I think the thing I'm looking forward to is our sunset cruise!! I won't drag on about the restaurants on these restaurants because let's face it...it's not DISNEY!

Has anyone gone to Disney that week in June?? I'm scared that it might be a bit crowded but I'm sure still amazing!

 

[DisWishes720]

Welcome! I love the black and white dress but I understand you wanting a more traditional dress. Good luck can't wait to see what you end up with!

Thanks Ann! It is a really beautiful dress, maybe it will look amazing with a different ivory lace...we'll just have to see!

 

[curiouser]

Your church is adorable! So picturesque! I do like the Anne Barge and the Vera Wang, but you have to be happy. I am so sad to hear that you didn't enjoy your experience at Kleinfeld. Who was your consultant? I never thought I'd find "the one" either but Debbie was so sweet and brought me dress after dress and she totally nailed it in the end. I hope they can work with you to modify the Anne Barge; but I do find it weird that they said you could still cancel that late. I am fairly sure my contract said I only had 72 hours to cancel. Good luck!

 

[DisWishes720]

I can't believe it's been so long since I've last updated!! This has been such a crazy holiday season that I'm finally starting to get my bearings back!

I realized I haven't updated on the dress yet! As you guys know it's been a bit of a process finding a dress. At first I thought I wanted the classic ball gown but as I started to loose weight I began to second guess it! After much deliberation and searching for that "perfect" dress I decided to give Kleinfeld a call to have the original Anne Barge Couture dress in with ivory lace. My mom purchased her mantilla veil from Kleinfeld 30 years ago and it is still one of the most beautiful veils I have ever seen. I really wanted to try to figure out a way to incorporate that into my "bridal look".

So long story short, we decided to keep the Anne Barge Couture dress for the ceremony and then I went back to Kleinfeld to find a dress for the reception! The Anne Barge dress is really classic and elegant. I am going to pair it with a pale peach sash with a smaller white sash over it and either a flower or broach in the middle of the bow. The lace is a really elegant chantilly from France and goes perfectly with my Mom's veil!

This is the dress with out the lace added to the bottom or the sash:

Here is the lace laid on the bottom:

This is a close up of the lace:

Here is the back with my mom's veil over it. I love how romantic it looks!!

Since my mom's veil was a little damaged we had to have it redone. A wonderful seamstress in NJ took the veil apart piece by piece and reconstructed it from scratch! We went in last weekend to take a look at it before she finalizes the comb. I think it's turning out really well!

I'm so happy I decided to stay with this dress. It really has the classic romantic look I'm going for during the ceremony and my first dance with Tony . I can't believe it's coming up so soon!!

Up next...Reception dress and a taste of Louboutin!

 

[aimeeblonde]

Love the detail on the train!

Congrats BTW!!!