Real Weddings
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Brianna and David at Mountain Creek

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Ariana Baio


David and I met online after we both graduated from college. We have mutual friends and acquaintances growing up a town over from each other. I actually knew who David was when we were in high school because he played on our schools hockey team. Our paths brought us back together in 2014 and we have been together since.

David planned a weekend trip to Lake George in August of 2017. We had planned to drive up and have a relaxing, fun weekend out of state. We had even booked a horseback ride up to the top of a mountain with a sunset dinner at the top, which is where David originally had planned to propose, unbeknownst to me. I had just started training for the New York City Marathon and had injured my hip. The day before we were supposed to drive up to Lake George, I got the call that I had a stress fracture in my hip and it would be best not to go horse back riding in my condition. We drove upstate as planned in a torrential downpour on Friday night. The next day we went out into town and did a few tours. We decided to do the scenic drive up the mountain with the stops along the way to take photos. David was so nervous he decided he would propose right then and there. He had some random people pretend to take photos for us, he got down on one knee and popped the question with some young girls cheering in the background.

I like to think of our style as relaxed rustic chic, with a lot of warm lighting around the lodge. We chose sage and dusty blue as our colors. David even wore two different tuxedo jackets, emerald green for the ceremony and navy blue for the reception. We wanted a lot of greens for our florals with some pops of blue. My bridal bouquet had white hydrangeas, white tea roses, some light pink peonies and blue delphinium with an arrangement of greens. The ceremony arch had similar florals with some deer antlers attached to add to the mountain theme. We decided to gift mini hot sauces from Connor’s Saucery to all the guests because David loves hot sauce and Connor is a young boy who is from my hometown and he has his own hot sauce company. We also tried to keep everything as eco-friendly as possible with no menus, dried flowers for the ceremony exit, and recycled paper for the invitations.

I had envisioned a more rustic, relaxed vibe for our wedding. We toured a few places that I liked, but nothing was really sticking out to me when we went. We also had a few restrictions placed on us in terms of distance from home and capacity. I somehow came across Mountain Creek online and figured it was worth a tour. We went up for a tour in October and took the gondola ride to the top of the mountain where the ceremony site was and I was sold. I thought it was the most unique thing for a wedding and symbolic for our engagement, I love the mountains and skiing so it fit perfectly. Once I saw the reception area, I fell in love with the site even more. It could hold 200+ people which was perfect for my big Italian family.

For dinner we had a choice of salmon with a saffron sauce, chicken breast with a lemon herb sauce, and NY strip steak with a peppercorn cream sauce along with a starch and veggie on each dish. Our cake we chose vanilla with lemon mousse, and chocolate with cannoli cream filling. We also had late night food for the after party which included breakfast sandwiches and Taco Bell, one of our favorite things.

My dress was a mermaid fit with lace and some nice sparkle. I had spaghetti straps with a beautiful plunging sweetheart neckline. There were also buttons going up the back and the skirt had some nice tulle, and it was more of a pink color rather than white which I loved. I knew I wanted a mermaid dress but didn’t realize I wanted straps until I tried the dress on. I felt so beautiful and feminine in the dress.

Of course seeing David in his tuxedo all gussied up was one of the highlights of the day. But being in a room filled with all of the most important people in our lives, celebrating our love, was so special. I loved sitting at our sweetheart table looking out at all of our friends and family having so much fun, knowing they had made the trip to celebrate us.

I had a faux leather jacket with calligraphy on the back that I wore right after we were officially married. I wish I could wear that jacket all the time! I think it’s so beautiful.

Yes! There was a threat of rain all day long and it poured throughout the day. I was so nervous we wouldn’t be able to have the mountaintop ceremony as we planned. But, luck was on our side and the clouds cleared up in time for us to do pictures and the ceremony at the top. It did rain again later in the evening, so we really lucked out! There were also issues with our dessert hour which no one noticed but me, we were short with time for photos due to all the confusion with the weather, and some props were missing or misplaced from where they should’ve been. Again, no one noticed except for me. Everyone had too much fun to notice all these small details. The fun memories last way longer than anything else.

“The Only Exception” by Paramore

Eat! I know that is said all the time, but it’s true. Also, hire a day-of coordinator to take care of all the small details. I thought I could do it all, but I was so stressed running around the morning of when I should have been having fun getting ready. Also, don’t sweat the small stuff. You’ll notice it, but if your guests are enjoying themselves it won’t matter one bit.

We did a small, four-day trip to Aruba right after the wedding. We are planning to take a full two weeks for our one year anniversary/honeymoon this year and we are going to Dubrovnik, Nice, and Paris, France.

the details

Hometowns

Glen Ridge, NJ

Reception Location

Mountain Creek

Photographer

Melody Battista Photography

Officiant

Father Jerry from Church of the Holy Spirit in Verona, NJ

Bride’s Gown

Stella York from Say I Do Bridal

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