Christie and Jack at Park Chateau Estate & Gardens

Posted on December 13, 2022 by New Jersey Bride

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How did you meet?
Christie and Jack met in 2012 at the George Washington University at a fraternity event on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Christie and her sorority sisters had taken a picture with one of the fraternity boys, which hung in Christie’s dorm room for 2 years. None of the girls knew who the boy was, however, as fate would have it, in 2014 Christie met Jack again at a party and realized that he was the guy from the picture! That evening, they talked and talked, and Jack eventually asked Christie to attend Evita at the Kennedy Center with him as their first date. Christie was so nervous on the day of the first date that she popped a blood vessel in her eye!

How did you get engaged?
After spending 6 months apart due to the COVID shutdowns, Jack realized he couldn’t live another day without Christie. He had bought the ring while she was studying for the bar exam. Christie had expected Jack to propose on his birthday, at the end of October, which was shortly after the two were reunited, however, Jack had planned a hike on Cape Code on Halloween 2020. Christie had brought her new DSLR camera that she had gotten for Christmas of 2019, which hadn’t gotten much use during the pandemic. Christie was walking around the wooded area taking pictures of mushrooms and trees, and the beautiful scenery completely unaware of what was about to happen. Eventually, the two got to a wooden bridge crossing a beautiful lake, with all the fall foliage in the background. Christie pointed her camera in one direction, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw what she thought was Jack falling. By the time she turned around, she saw he was on one knee! She was so shocked and surprised because she was sure he was going to propose the week before, that the only words she could get out of her mouth for the first few minutes were “no.” Jack even began putting the ring away, when Christie finally was able to say “I don’t know why the only word that’s coming out of my mouth is no, but I mean the complete opposite!” The two look back and laugh at how surprised Christie was.

Details of the day!
The wedding theme was an elegant fairytale, with undertones of Disney. Christie is a huge Disney fanatic, but didn’t want the colorful cartoons to take over the venue, and take away from the elegant vibes. The only decorations that incorporated Disney were a mirror on the placard table that said “Tale as old as time,” and the signature drinks menu which featured a prickly pear margarita (the Fantasia) and a watermelon mojito (the Hakuna Matata) and the respective movie characters. The remainder of the Disney elements truly came through in the musical selections. There was a string quartet that provided the ceremony and cocktail hour music, and the bridal party walked down the aisle to “So This is Love” from Cinderella, the bride walked down the aisle to “Tale as Old as Time,” while the recessional was the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean.

For the grand entrance to the reception, the bridal party was provided light sabers and entered to the main theme from Star Wars. This really added a bunch of energy into the room, and the bridal party got really creative! During dinner, Christie and Jack had a Frank Sinatra singer to serenade the guests. The older crowd really appreciated this, and also gave the DJ a little bit of a break! The wedding colors were white, navy, and lavender, with the bride’s bouquet incorporating purple and white flowers with lots of texture. There was also a beautiful flower arch at the front of the chapel that was moved to behind the cake for the reception. The cake was lavender with gold accents and had a cascade of purple flowers and gold butterflies. Because Christie and Jack did not do a first look, they extended their cocktail hour to an hour and fifteen minutes in order to ensure they had some time to enjoy it with their guests! During the cocktail hour, there was a magician to entertain guests in addition to a 7-foot ice bar from Jimmy’s Artistic that served Chandon champagne. During Viennese hour an ice cream sandwich truck rolled right up to the dance floor to serve the guests, provided by Lexylicious. As favors, Christie and Jack gave half bottles of champagne with bows attached and personalized bottles of Nutella.

Why did you choose your venue?
Christie’s whole life she had been told that she looks and acts like her grandmother, who had passed away when she was 12. When looking for a venue, she knew she was looking for elegant fairytale vibes, however, the Park Chateau is maybe 3 miles from where her grandmother is buried. Despite not being able to be there physically with her on the day, it was really special to Christie to know that she was always close. In fact, while getting ready and taking pictures in the bridal suite, the balcony windows all flew open at once completely unprompted and Christie immediately knew that was her grandmother coming to say congratulations!

What was on your menu?
For the canapes and hors d’oeuvres: rack of lamb, estate shrimp cocktail shots served with cocktail sauce, escargot aux fine herbs in tasting spoon, mini lobster rolls, spicy tuna on a crisp wonton, edible tasting spoons with mozzarella and tomato, brie with raspberry in a phyllo cup, watermelon with mango dressed with tequila, maple glazed scallops and wrapped in bacon, beef wellington served with wasabi sauce, smoked salmon on brioche toast with hummus and garnished with lemon zest, individual meatball with classic marinara topped with Gana Padang, and triple grilled cheese paired with tomato soup in a demitasse cup. For the chafing dishes: hickory smoked barbecued brisket of beef, eggplant cannelloni in signature marinara sauce, Spanish seafood paella, braised short ribs of beef, gnocchi tossed in a sage walnut sauce painted with fresh pesto, chicken Veronique. There were also many stations: raw bar, martini bar, Nannie’s famous hot Italian seafood station, Peking duck, steakhouse, outdoor grill station on the patio, chicken and waffle cone. The dinner menu: solei salad, chateaubriand with cabernet sauce, chicken a la park, Chilean sea bass, eggplant tower. Lastly for dessert: full Viennese table, Lexylicious ice cream sandwiches. Their cake: vanilla cake with lemon mousse filling and vanilla buttercream.

All about your gown!
Christie had read an article from Kleinfeld about a woman whose wedding dress was so beautiful and detailed and weighed over 50 pounds. When she saw the detailing on her dress, she immediately hunted down the designer, which was YSA Makino. The dresses by YSA all look majestic and beautiful, and very princess-like. She scoured the entire state of New Jersey looking for anyone that sold these YSA Makino dresses. Christie only went to 3 bridal shops before she knew she had found the one at Castle Couture. It was New Year’s Eve of 2020 when the sales associate pulled out “this one last dress.” It was so big, Christie didn’t fit in the dressing room trying to put it on! This dress met all of Christie’s criteria – she had wanted something with straps, and a slightly longer torso, so that she would still look proportionate in the large dress, and most important of all it was HEAVY. In total, the dress weighed upwards of 60 pounds from all the tulle, silk satin fabric, and intricate embroidery and details. Christie immediately knew it was the one when she saw it. She felt like a princess.

What was your favorite moment?
Christie and Jack’s favorite moment was singing their first dance! They wanted to do something special and memorable, and they thought that the first dances can get really boring for the guests. Jack did acapella in college, and Christie is a classically trained singer, so it seemed like the right opportunity to put on a show, and give everyone a surprise! They didn’t tell anyone except the DJ, so in their photos, you can see everyone is utterly shocked. What made it even more over the top was that Christie and Jack had the fog machine so that it looked like they were dancing on the clouds, and the indoor sparklers, which really made it feel like a full Disney production.

One detail you couldn’t live without?
The best thing Christie and Jack decided to do was to have the flower arch behind them during the ceremony and then have it moved behind the cake during the reception. It was absolutely stunning and the photos look unbelievable.

Did anything go wrong?
The entire day went seamlessly!

First dance song?
Instead of Jack and Christie dancing to their first dance, they actually sang it, which really added an incredibly personal touch to the reception. The couple sang “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the Lion King, while they danced on clouds and had indoor sparklers set off.

Any advice for future brides?
Give the bridal party something to do for the grand entrance, besides just walking into the room! Christie and Jack gave the bridal party lightsabers for their grand entrance and the bridal party got really got creative. They loved that they had something to do besides awkwardly walk in to a room of people that they didn’t know, and the guests were entertained. Besides that, Christie’s advice would be that you can’t plan for everything and everyone. Things happen. It is not worth your time or energy panicking over something, because in the grand scheme of things, as long as the groom shows up the day is going to be perfect.

Honeymoon Location?
They went to the Ritz Carlton Farm Islands, Maldives, and the Kempinski Olare Orok in the Masai Mara, Kenya.