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Kelly and Vinnie at Perona Farms

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Kelly and Vinnie at Perona Farms

Posted on June 19, 2019 by New Jersey Bride

Their story:
Vinnie and I always worked in the same small office in NYC. I was always out and about with my team. One night at a work happy hour, Vinnie and I started chatting. I think his strategy was to be “kind of mean” to me so he was hard to get. I always like a challenge, so I guess it worked. He asked me to have a first official date the following weekend. He took me for my favorites, Irish food and to the movies to see the Muppets. I was sold! We didn’t spend any time apart after that.

Will you marry me?
Last November, Vinnie came to me one day and said he wanted to plan one last night out before our baby was coming (we were due in January with our son, Aiden). So he said he was going to take me for dinner in Hoboken, but it was a surprise. I thought that was sweet; when we first started dating we spent all of our time in Hoboken. We finally arrived and when I looked up, we were pulling into the front of the W Hotel. He told the valet that we were staying overnight and then pulled my suitcase out from the trunk. I was thinking this is the sweetest thing ever, even if who knows what he packed for me to wear! One last overnight before the baby is coming! A car came to pick us up for dinner and took us to the Chart House. Vinnie arranged a table by the window so we could see NYC. After dinner, came dessert with the message “will you marry me”. I don’t remember a word he said when he was down on one knee, but I won’t forget how special the moment was. I couldn’t wait to be his wife!

Details of the day:
Our themes were all over the map! My brain goes in too many directions to pick one thing I loved! The theme on our invitations was “Best Day Ever” in the colors of our bridal party—navy and pink. After we ordered those, we realized our theme really was garden-themed. We wanted everything at the reception to be in whites and greens. The rustic themes have been done so many times, so we wanted something fresh. We chose a lot of olive garlands, white gauze chair covers, string lights, lanterns and white linens. A lot of our décor was personalized for the day to add a unique touch. Our guests loved the outdoor space at the barn, it was the talk of the evening. It was all about the firepit and the summer night.

Why did you choose Perona Farms?
Vinnie and I travel often to our lake house in the Poconos during summer and early Fall. We are always amazed at how beautiful it is and how at peace we are when we are traveling there and after we’ve had a few days in nature. We knew a wedding in Pennsylvania might be far for our large NJ family, but we knew just the spot instead. Sparta is serene and always catches our attention when we are passing through. The mountain views and tree changes are amazing. So when we started looking, the Sparta area was our first choice.

Once we went on a tour of the barn at Perona Farms, we were smitten. It is just unique enough yet classy enough to make a perfect impression and give us our best day ever. Of course the barn is very popular and was booked through peak Fall season. So we took the next best date they had available! We knew we had to have our wedding there, and didn’t want to wait another year to make it happen!

Menu:
Our dinner menu was as follows: appetizers: roasted red peppers, olive medley, marinated mushrooms and fresh mozzarella with pesto. First course: Mixed greens salad with house dressing. Second Course: Beef Chateaubriand with Bordelaise sauce, Oven Roasted Crabcakes with Tomato Remoulade, Yukon Potatoes and Zucchini wedges with Parmasean. Cake was Palermo’s vanilla cake with lemon mousse filling and a vanilla buttercream frosting. It was served with a raspberry sauce. We also offered a passed option of vanilla or chocolate ice cream in homemade waffle cones. We had s’mores on the back patio and house made mini donuts as take home favors. Cocktail hour was a mix of stations and passed options. The best were the house-made charcuterie and italian meats. We also received raves for the Perona’s famous smoked salmon.

Your gown:
I knew going into the day that I wanted something elegant for our church ceremony, but something I could move freely in for the later part of the reception. I wanted to try to get the two dresses within my budget, so I searched a few places where I could do that. The staff at David’s Bridal in Paramus was amazing. I didn’t feel like I was in a chain bridal salon, I felt like this one is special. I struggled to find the dress I wanted for the ceremony, but during a second visit, I found the one! I knew I wanted something with a trumpet or mermaid shape, but still classic.

The Melissa Sweet gown I found was the one because I felt like I hadn’t seen something like that before. After a few visits, they all look the same but this one stood out. When I went back a few weeks later to look for a party dress, I was again overwhelmed with what I was looking for. Luckily their staff is amazing, and they read my mind even though I wasn’t saying it. I found a corset top dress with a light tulle bottom. It was perfect for dancing and I even got to slip on a pair of sneakers underneath, rhinestone encrusted of course!

What was your favorite moment?
There are so many moments to choose from! I think the best though was right after we arrived at the reception venue. We were dropped off in the back so we wouldn’t have to make our rounds just yet to our guests. We hopped in a golf cart they had waiting and asked what we wanted to drink. They brought us two of their house tequila punch and off we went. Perona Farms has over 100 acres of private property that is all gorgeous. So we went for a ride into the orchard and stopped for some photos. And then we jumped back into the cart and went off to the lake. I remember thinking, this is so peaceful and beautiful. The weight of the day was already gone and it was just me and Vinnie enjoying the scenery. After a few minutes, it was back to the cocktail hour. And then the party started! But for those few minutes, it was just us at peace with our wedding day!

One detail you couldn’t live without:
We have two little sons, Jackson is 2 and Aiden was 5 months. They are our everything on a daily basis. So our wedding day couldn’t be any different. When we planned our wedding, we thought about these guys with every detail planned. We knew we needed them as ring bearers, but had to come up with the how. Jackson has a mind of his own and Aiden doesn’t walk yet. We planned for them to come down the aisle right before me in a white wagon. They stole the show of course. I didn’t get to see them come down until after I watched video, but we could never have let the day go by without having them be the most important next to us!

Did anything go wrong?
I am a natural planner. I went into the day with the timeline and walked everyone through what I needed, etc. You spend so much time planning and running around, that at some point that morning I felt “this is silly”. I needed to enjoy the morning. I wanted to chat with my bridesmaids. I wanted to hear some music and have some coffee! I wanted my girls to help me play with hair and makeup. That was all fun, but suddenly you realize you’re the reason everything is now LATE! All the planning and timeline plotting, out the window once I got a hold of some makeup brushes and a glass of wine. So I’m not saying it went wrong, but the hour delay I caused started us off on a rushed feel for the day. And it compounds. But we made do and didn’t miss too much time once the cocktail hour started! It all works out.

First dance song?
Our “song” has always been “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. When we started working with our acoustic duo for cocktail hour, it turned out they did that song. So we changed our mind and let them dedicate the song to us as the last song during cocktail hour. We always laugh when “XO” by Beyonce cames on the radio because my husband somehow thinks he’s Beyonce? But while we were stalking other wedding videos online, we found an amazing cover of “XO” by John Mayer. We looked at each other immediately and laughed. We barely could mutter the words “this is what we’re dancing to”!

Any advice for future brides?
It’s cliche, but it will “all work out in the end”. You won’t remember the little things that went not as planned.

Honeymoon:

We wanted to stay relatively close by flight because of the little ones staying with their grandparents for only a few days. So we decided on the Bahamas. We stayed at The Cove at Atlantis on Paradise Island. They really go above and beyond to make you feel like you are on a dream vacation. We had such an amazing time and we will never forget the amazing dinners and excursions we got to have while we were away.

the details

Hometowns

Union, NJ

Ceremony Location

Queen of Peace Church, North Arlington

Reception Location

Perona Farms

Photographer

Abacus Studios

Officiant

Father Scott Attanasio, Queen of Peace Church, North Arlington

Bride’s Gown

Melissa Sweet and Galina Signature, both from David's Bridal

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Kelly and Vinnie at Perona Farms

the details

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