Julianna & Matthew at The Birchwood Manor

After an Up-themed proposal and before their honeymoon to Disney World, Julianna and Matthew had their “dreamy Disney wedding” at the Birchwood Manor. The venue holds a special place in Julianna’s heart. Not only is it the spot where her parents wed, but her communion party was also at Birchwood. During that party, she told everyone, “when I grow up, I am gonna get married here.” Guess all her dreams really did come true!

Their Story

“We met in 2015; we were both 18,” says Julianna. “It was our first week of college. We did the awkward middle school flirting for a while and eventually told each other we liked each other. We went on our first date November, 2015. We have been together ever since!”

The Proposal

“We love Disney, so naturally it was a Disney-themed proposal,” says Julianna about her May 8, 2021 proposal. “One of our favorite movies is Disney Pixar’s Up. That morning, my parents told me my youngest brother had a baseball game and that myself and my other brother HAD to be there for this game. I must preface and say I did KNOW it was going to happen. I don’t know why, but I just had a gut feeling it was the day. My other brother drove me and was silent the entire car ride. Whenever I spoke to him he got very stressed out (trying to keep the secret!). My brother pulls into the parking lot of County College of Morris, where I met Matthew, and told me to head in. I walked into the building with the auditorium and was greeted by all of our family members standing in a line with balloons. I walked down the line with tears in my eyes collecting every balloon. I walk towards the doors of the auditorium, which is the place where we spoke the first time and made so many memories. Matthew was waiting on the stage for me dressed in a suit and bow tie like Carl from the movie Up, he was playing the “Married Life” theme song from the movie, he had a glass jug filed with change for our wedding fund and a mailbox from the movie. The mailbox was filled with postcards from all the friends and family members that couldn’t be at the proposal due to Covi-19 restrictions. I said yes and our lives were changed for the better!”

Their Birchwood Manor Wedding

For their October 20, 2023, big day, the overall vibe was “a dreamy Disney wedding with an ode to the Disney movie Tangled.” There were lanterns and lights everywhere. The color scheme was lavender, gold, yellow and ivory.  All of the bouquets/women’s corsages were from Sola Wood.  In lieu of favors, the couple did a donation to the Trevor Project.

Why Birchwood Manor?

“We chose this venue for so many reasons,” says Julianna. “One, it is absolutely stunning! Two, my communion was there when I was seven. I had worn a big goofy white dress and I told everyone ‘when I grow up, I am gonna get married here’ and we actually held the ceremony in the same room as my communion party. Lastly, my parents were married at this venue in 1996. They immediately recognized my parents when we went for the first tour and they took the best care of us. We had our reception in the same room as my parents. The same guy, Michael Marino, planned both of our weddings. Truly, The Birchwood was the ONLY real option for us.”

Favorite Moment

“I loved our entrance!” says Julianna. “Our DJ had our bridal party and parents meet us in the center of the dance floor. It was so special to dance and sing our entrance song with them. Our final dance was so special. No one else was in the room. We cried, we laughed, we danced—it’s only five minutes, but it made our night even more special. Also getting ready with my girls was so special. We are all very theatrical people so we all sat around the piano singing terribly in our matching robes and it’s a moment I will hold forever. Something we were really passionate about was making sure our ceremony was FOR US. We wrote the ceremony and the officiant (my aunt) added a few surprises that day. Our best man did a reading of lyrics to one of our favorite songs and we included a poem written by my husband’s grandmother, who had passed. We also wrote our own vows. Everyone said it was the best ceremony they had seen. I truly felt so special that day.”

Favorite Detail

“Our maître d’, Farrell, was phenomenal,” says Julianna. “She was our go-to girl the entire process no matter what was going on. The other MUST was doing a first look. If we didn’t do the first look, our day would have been much different and we would not have gotten as much time together as we did. The first look was such a special moment. It doesn’t take away from walking down the aisle, it actually alleviates some of those nerves and emotions when you walk down the aisle, in my experience. We had time for cocktail hour and dinner and dancing. We didn’t miss out on the event because we were taking photos all day—our photographers were really good about that.”

Advice

“Remember, it is YOUR day,” says Julianna. “This day is supposed to commemorate your relationship, don’t forget to spend that time with each other. Get a perfume/cologne JUST for that day and your honeymoon. Scent is a very strong sense. Every time you use it in the future you will be reminded of that day. At the end of the night, set a reminder to take a video of you and your partner talking about the day—you will always have it to look back on!”

Honeymoon

“We of course honeymooned in Disney World!” says Julianna. “It is our favorite place in the world. We go often. But we made this trip more laid back than we usually do. We went to the Disney halloween party, we did a private photoshoot (10/10 recommend), we did the food and wine festival, we booked late-night reservations to be in the park after hours and to take some photos.”