cHill Weddings, LLC: Marisa and Ryan's Wedding

(images courtesy of Doll Face Studios, who take photos for the Cescaphe blog) All other images by cHill Weddings, LLC.

Whew! What a weekend!!

Saturday night was the much anticipated wedding of Marisa and Ryan. I was so excited for them, mainly because they were so nice to work with. Since the first time I met Marisa and her mom, I loved them both and looked forward to their glamourous wedding.

My favorite moment at our first consultation was when I was about to leave and Marisa sighed of relief, "I was worried we wouldn't get along. Thank goodness!" And with that, they hired me on the spot.

After the wedding, I checked in with the bride's mother to see how she was doing, and she said that she never stressed at all since she's hired me to coordinate the wedding! That made me feel like a million bucks! All the vendors were such a pleasure to work with and have nothing but high praise for all of them: EBE Talent: Miami, Barton Paul, Will from East Coast, Alicia from Il Fiore Bianco, and Cescaphe Ballroom.

Now, on with the wedding....

Here's my bride: She got ready at her parent's house and since she already had her hair done with the veil, she had to carry around her cathedral length veil all morning until Barton, the photographer arrived.

Marisa's family is Greek, so they had a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony. The ceremony was shorter than we had anticipated, but it all went smoothly. Pictured below are the crowns on the tray, and the almonds were on the bottom. Two large candles were placed to the side of the table, and the maid of honor and best man had to hold the candles for the majority of the ceremony. In this ceremony, there were no vows exchanged, and the bride and groom barely said a word. The vow of marriage is symbolized by the ceremonial walk around the table.

The wedding party was the largest I've ever worked with: 11 bridesmaids and jr. bridesmaids, 11 groomsmen, 3 flower girls, and 1 ringbearer. They also had the aunt as the Koumbara (who is like a Godmother to the couple). Despite the size of the wedding party, everyone was so cooperative and helpful.

The programs were designed, printed, and assembled by myself. The cover was a cardstock in ivory, and the inserts were in text paper in Khaki. Both papers are from Paper-Source, in addition to the stamp and embossing powder in "Twinkling Chocolate Brown."

After the ceremony, two limos were used to whisk away the bride and groom and the wedding party, the 300 stretch and Hummer Stretch Limo- both courtesy of Fancy Limos, in Cherry Hill New Jersey. Arthur was the driver of the Hummer, and he was so sweet and helpful. He came in and helped me fluff Marisa's dress before she walked down the aisle with her father.

Now, onto the flowers!

Alicia, of Il Fiore Bianco, was one of the bridesmaids and she did all the flowers for the ceremony, reception, and all the wedding party flowers.

The bridesmaids bouquets resting...

The reception took place at Cescaphe Ballroom, my former stomping ground. As always, the staff was great and the food was delicious.

Below, you can see the ballroom. I apologize for my awful photos! (You can also see Barton Paul- wave!) Alicia did a mix of high and low centerpieces for the tables, which were of varying sizes.

Here is the cake create by Joe himself of Cescaphe Ballroom:

(I think this photo was taken before he sprayed it gold)

After the bride and groom cut the cake, a surprise birthday cake for the father of the bride was brought out. It was all coordinated between myself, Cescaphe staff, and the band, Miami of EBE Talent.

Cescaphe is known for their enormous food spread. Here is a photo of the ice sculpture, surrounded by cocktail shrimp and raw oysters.

Below is the picture of the seating charts and the cardbox. Marisa chose to use a card box that belonged to her friend.

After the cake was cut, I snuck off to the Four Seasons to decorate their suite. Marisa thought I was going to just check them in and drop off their bags. I brought along candles, and 25 pink roses, and went crazy in their room:

Now, they're off to Sandals in St. Lucia! St. Lucia is a great place for a nice private honeymoon. My husband and I stayed there at a small village resort - I will write about that soon.