OUR WEDDING RECAP AND HELPFUL TIPS

Hi hi! If you follow me on Snapchat and Instagram (username for both is @alina2189), you might have seen that it was our three year wedding anniversary yesterday! What can I say, time flies when you’re having fun…! I thought I would do a little wedding recap and share some tips that I have learned along the way because I know that wedding planning can be tough at times, although I found it fun even if we were planning it while I was in law school.

If you are in the New York area – I will give names and links to people/companies that I have used too! Hope you find this post useful and fun.

In the midst of wedding planning, only one thing comes to mind that is most important to us girls – the dress. Once you figured out the dress, I feel like you’ve completed 50% of the prep! I went to SO many fittings and boutiques with my family. From Kleinfeld, Pronovias to Bridal Reflections and some other random boutiques in the city – nothing I tried on was THE dress. I almost gave up and settled for a custom gown, but I’m a very indecisive person. So I was not thrilled about the idea of designing my own wedding dress from scratch – what if I didn’t like it at the end?! The last boutique I went to was Monica’s Bridal in Brooklyn. Because I was looking for more of a princess/tulle gown, the other stores I went to didn’t have what I was looking for. And if they did, the price was out of this world. I remember when I came out of the fitting room in my wedding dress, my sister told me “that is the face I have been waiting for!”

Pictures do not do justice for this dress. The entire bodice was covered with stones and pearls. The tulle skirt shimmered and sparkled every time I moved; you know, kinda like Cinderella =) I actually asked for an additional crinoline under my dress to make it pop out more. I got my veil from Monica’s Bridal as well; because I did not want a train attached to my dress – I asked for an extremely long veil.

I also kept my jewelry to a minimum because I wanted everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) to be simple and classy. I’m not all about overdoing anything, especially for our wedding day! I actually got my earrings and bracelet from a random website called Hair Comes the Bride and they were each really inexpensive – under $40. I got my pearl necklace from Macy’s and I borrowed the pearl ring from my sister.

Next order of business, SHOES! I’m a lucky girl. Alex surprised me with these beauties – I went into Saks and I sent him the picture, obviously going on about how much I love them. Andddd he got them for me =)

One of my bridesmaids actually made these sneakers for me! I planned to wear flats all day and just wear the heels for the ceremony and pictures – so she surprised me with these cuties. She just bought regular white Keds, glued little diamonds & used fancy shoe laces. It’s a really cute DIY idea!

For makeup, I used Katie Nova. I can’t say enough how much I adore this girl. I used her before and after the wedding on several occasions and each time she delivers. Check her out on Instagram as well – her handle is @katienovamakeup. I did not have to touch up my makeup once through the entire day. She was finished at about 12 or 1 PM. It still looked perfect 13 hours later – not kidding!

One of my other bridesmaids got my mom and I really cute ‘prep’ clothing. Mine came with sweatpants, but it was hot that day so I wore shorts!

On Snapchat, I talked about where I got my bridesmaid dresses! Okay, so I saw this dress on some fashion runway, on Pinterest – here is the exact pin. It was by Reem Acra; Olivia Wilde wore it to some awards. I died when I saw it. I searched high and low and found a RANDOM website. I’m telling, I debated for a month whether I should buy one to see how the quality would be. So, I did. It took about 2 weeks to arrive and I ordered a size 4. I figured it had to fit someone and if not, it could be altered! My bridesmaids and I LOVED it! I was so pleasantly surprised at the quality. Here is the exact link to the (cheaper) version of the dress. My wedding colors were white & yellow; so I was really pleased at the shade of yellow as well. After I was content with the quality of the dress, I ordered two more and they came right on time. The dress had pearl/stone cap sleeves, it was knotted at the bodice and the chiffon just flowed on the bottom. I swear, I would buy this dress in every color if I could.

We went to Central Park to take pictures before cocktail hour/reception, etc.

As for my flowers, I had a bouquet of white peonies and another touch of a random yellow flower. I honestly can’t remember the name! I asked our florist to add a little band of silver studs around the stems too. My bridesmaids had white baby calla lilies for their bouquet. I used a local florist in my neighborhood – if you want her specific name and number, comment below!

For our centerpieces and ceremony, it was a mix of hydrangeas, orchids, and yellow lilies.

Our wedding took place at Crest Hollow Country Club. They have a LOT of rooms available – we actually chose to add draping to the ceiling.

For our first dance, we chose the tango. I changed (yes I know, risky) and then changed back into my wedding gown.

I got the idea for our wedding cake from Pinterest (surprise, surprise). We asked a bakery in Brooklyn for it to resemble my whole ‘pearl’ theme and they did a great job!

Here are some over links to companies we used for the wedding:

Photography: we used Grey Line Photography. We are really happy with their work.

Video: Meni Mor

Hair: The hair stylist I chose ended up doing something completely different than what I wanted and she had to redo the whole thing. Because she was in a hurry, my hair was not perfect and I needed to fix it all day here and there. And I think I was definitely overcharged. So research, research, research before you commit. Even though I went through a dozen hair trials – my hair was still screwed up! As much as you want everything to be perfect on your special day – there will be things that won’t go as planned, but trust me – you won’t care. And if you do, try not to because this is THE most special day of your life!

I hope you found this post helpful and/or interesting to read! Thank you so much for following along – have a great day.