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Liz and Tommy at Smoke Rise Village Inn

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Liz and Tommy at Smoke Rise Village Inn

Posted on September 21, 2017 by New Jersey Bride

How did you first meet? Our first introduction was online in 2010. A mutual friend at the time suggested we “friend request” each other, and it all blossomed from there. After getting to know a lot about one another, we developed a great friendship and in time this led to our first date at Yankee Stadium. Go Yankees!! Will you marry me? After five and a half years, a new house and a brand-new puppy, our engagement took place Christmas Eve 2015. We have a tradition on this day every year, we both open one gift. This particular year we were headed to a family dinner and running behind schedule. After loading up the car with gifts I was ready to go! Tommy then wanted to open a gift. Huh?!! Now?!! After some convincing we went back into the house. I knew one of my gifts was a beautiful watch, which I picked out—yay!—and he thought it would be really nice that I wear it to dinner. He didn’t have to tell me twice! I opened my gift, lifted open the watch box and there lied the most gorgeous ring ever! I was so overcome with emotion I didn’t think it was real. That moment was pure joy and love. I will never ever forget that day! Details of the day: We knew right off the bat we wanted the day to be soft and romantic with a hint of glitz. We also wanted to add a lot of personal touches. Our details reflected muted colors of pink, champagne and white. My cousin (Life of the Party in Califon) was our florist and she created the most gorgeous bouquets consisting of hydrangeas, peonies, astilbe and roses. I added two floral hair pins my sister-in-law let me “borrow” into my bouquet as well. So pretty!!! The MOH and bridesmaids dresses were stunning. Pale pink (MOH) and navy blue (bridesmaids) Adrianna Papell gowns along with the linens gave us our hint of glam. My husband also makes awesome barn doors and various other rustic furniture pieces for clients (Distressed Outt, NJ). He built the most amazing barn doors for our ceremony!!! Absolutely gorgeous!! He also made other awesome pieces that were placed all around the venue. We received so many compliments on how beautiful every looked. We also have a good friend who did all the calligraphy pieces. Nick Beach from Loose Standards made all our signage and we loved everything he did for us during the planning stages. We enjoy our wine (who doesn’t, right?!) and we thought having stemless wine glasses as our favors would be a perfect touch. Why did you choose your venue? Smoke Rise Village Inn was the second place we visited. Upon driving through this beautiful gated community, passing by horse stables and seeing the overall grounds, we knew this place was special. The venue had the perfect mix of rustic and romance we were looking for. We booked it immediately. What was your menu? We went with a buffet-style reception. Who doesn’t love options, right? Cocktail hour had an endless array of passed hors d’oeuvres and stations for our guests to enjoy. For dinner we enjoyed two meat stations (sage-roasted turkey and filet mignon) along with other choices ranging from roasted-herb salmon to shrimp scampi, pastas, vegetable risotto and yummy desserts. Palmero’s Bakery made a beautiful naked cake. We went with dulce de leche and it was delish! My cousin garnished the cake with beautiful flowers. Your gown: I went dress shopping with a particular style in mind and ended up choosing something completely different—a story I’d heard from so many different brides, but didn’t think I’d be one of them. I was absolutely certain I’d go for something form-fitting and white! Instead I was saying “YES!” to a gorgeous blush-tone, a-line, Maggie Sottero gown. As beautiful as all the other gowns were that I tried, the minute I put on this dress I knew it was the one I was going to walk down the aisle in. I said out loud, “This is the dress Tommy would love, too.” I felt absolutely beautiful, I felt something special, I felt like a bride. Your favorite moment: If I have to pick just one moment that will always be my favorite, it has to be the first look. This was the one time, the first time, that my soon-to-be husband was going to see me in what I felt was the most beautiful moment of my life. Knowing how time was going to fly by, we loved that we were able to set some time aside to be alone and enjoy every single moment. Doing a first look was the best decision ever. One detail you couldn’t live without: Knowing that we wanted our day to reflect who we are it was only fitting that we incorporate one-of-a-kind rustic pieces that my husband makes. To stand in front of the most beautiful barn doors during our ceremony was truly a special moment. To receive so many compliments and hear how beautiful everything looked was amazing. Anything go wrong? If anything went wrong, it was so little that we didn’t notice or at that time didn’t let it bother us. We were so incredibly happy that nothing could make us feel bad. We had our ceremony outside and it was a beautiful sunny day! So, in our eyes, nothing went wrong. First dance song: Each summer we love hanging out at Asbury Park. During the car ride we always have Bruce Springsteen’s “Tunnel Of Love” blasting on the radio. It’s “our song.” So it was only fitting that it be the one we have for our First Dance. Advice for other brides: My advice is to enjoy every moment of this special time. Our officiant stopped us during the ceremony to turn and look at all our guests and take mental pictures of that very moment and we’re glad he had us do that. It’s over in a flash!!! We went back and forth whether or not to hire a videographer and we’re so happy we decided to do it. To be able to look back at our day and see how special the day was is incredible. It breaks my heart knowing other friends who got married and didn’t hire a videographer kick themselves now and say they wish they spent that extra money. Honeymoon: We honeymooned in the Dominican Republic and Key West.