Our wedding vendors
Planning our wedding was definitely stressful, and of course the fall semester started back up just as we reached the final month of planning. I’ve never planned or curated an event before, let alone for all of the most-loved people in our lives, involving one of the most pivotal days of our lives, and on a day where I wouldn’t be available to execute and would have to entrust everything to others… so cutting one’s teeth on event planning with such high stakes is overwhelming! I guess that’s where “bridezillas” come from.
As a stubborn crafter, I insisted on making as much of the decor and stationary as I could. And we were looking for as many cost-saving measures as possible. But given the above concerns, we also acknowledged the things that would be better left to the experts. We ended up hiring out for the following services…
Venue + Food + Partial Accommodations
We chose 1754 House, a historic inn and restaurant in Woodbury, CT. Following a tip from my cousin (who we also hired!), we decided to look for venues that offered inclusive services. In this case, they offered:
Nine rooms on the upper floors (our immediate family, officiant, and a set of close friends stayed in these with us)
Multiple dining spaces to choose from (we used a smaller space for the rehearsal dinner and a larger space for the reception, in addition to the patio for our ceremony)
Food for the rehearsal dinner, and reception hors d’oeuvres and dinner
Wedding cutting and sheet cake (pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting)
Bar service
Linens and furniture: Tables, reception and ceremony seating, high tops, lawn furniture and games
Collaboration with dedicated event manager, Brittany Franklin (who was amazing!)
Photographer
As discussed in a previous post, we cut some costs by doing a DIY engagement photoshoot. This was a little tricky because we used my phone as a remote shutter for my camera, attached to a tripod, and there are a couple photos where you can see the phone. I also wish I was better at color correction, because in some cases the foliage behind us overpowers us in the foreground. But as a cost saving measure, they were fine. We didn’t need the photos for anything, mostly just so our families had something to share.
The videography set-up, and Tim at work (photo by Emily Misura)
We landed on Tim Nosenzo Photography; I had briefly met Tim at a friend’s wedding in 2018, and appreciated that he prefers to document rather than choreograph. Chris and I are rubbish at that. At the same time, we would have been completely helpless without direction, and he offered just the right amount of wrangling so we hopefully don’t look super awkward! On top of that, Tim’s pricing is very reasonable, so we were pleased with that.
After assessing how short our wedding day would be—the ceremony started at 5 and the reception ended at 9:30—We decided to pay a flat fee for a second photographer. I am really glad we did this. I spent so much time putting together all of the decor and one of the places we didn’t skimp was flowers, and I didn’t want to miss documenting all of that while Tim was documenting the main event.
Videographer
This was a late in the game trigger pull, but I was so relieved after we did it. Again, because of the short event, and because everyone says the day is a blur, I was worried I wouldn’t even be able to register a lot of what happened, let alone cherish it years later. Not to mention, I LOVE taking photos at weddings, and it was breaking my heart that I wouldn’t be able to document anything at my own wedding. We landed on Custom Made Video, which offered a reasonable price for simple documentation, and we appreciated that Carlos just tailed Tim and captured the day unfolding in an inconspicuous way. Now we will be able to look back at the vows, first dance, my dad’s toast, and everything in between, decades from now.
DJ
Originally we thought we’d be able to get by with a playlist on a laptop, but decided it would require someone to maintain it, might cause people to crowd for song requests, and overall would just make things messy. We hired Dave Parks (Spin Doctor), who does hundreds of weddings each year. And of course, with a DJ, you get someone to direct the flow of events throughout the night, so Dave was prompting us with the first dances, toasts, and other notable items on the agenda. He also made sure everyone could hear us during the ceremony!
Florist
We hired Floral Designs by Melissa, and it was such a good move. She met with me to discuss what flowers and colors I liked, and sculpted that into a full vision. She contributed such magical features as a floral arch for the ceremony, installations on our entry tables, a floral hair piece, and dozens of arrangements. I cannot wait until we have the photos come back documenting all of it. The photos below speak for themselves.
External hotels
Since the venue only provides nine rooms, we also booked two room blocks at large hotels that were each located about 10 minutes away. We used the Heritage Hotel and Wyndham Southbury, which provided discounts for guests. We also were able to host a casual after party at the Heritage tavern, which didn’t cost us anything. We opted to order nachos for the group though, just so people could fill their stomachs after imbibing. Both hotels also allowed us to drop off welcome bags to give out to guests when they checked in. Overall, the external hotels basically cost us nothing, since the blocks themselves don’t require payment.
Transportation
We felt bad that 95% of guests would be traveling from out of state, and didn’t want to add day-of travel to the list of logistics guests would need to plan. We landed on two shuttles from Gateway Limos for the hotels where we had directed guests. We also felt this would be safer, so people wouldn’t have to worry about designated drivers, or trying to pin down a Lyft driver in rural CT in the middle of the night.
Hair
From the hair trial in July
I had originally intended to do my own hair, but after a number of subpar attempts as a wedding guest earlier in the year that led to frustration, I finally accepted why people generally hire out for that expertise. We found Sarah Longo Hair Artistry through Dana Bartone & Company, and Sarah had me come in for a trial in July while we were visiting with the venue. She also did hair for some of the gals involved in the wedding so that they wouldn’t have to worry about it day-of.
However, I did still do my own makeup because I had fine-tuned my approach with all the weddings we attended, and I have very specific products that work with my skin and facial scarring. I’ve seen makeup artists go over the top with layers of foundation and didn’t want to feel weighed down either.
Baker
Although the venue provided the pumpkin cake, we were inspired by Emily’s wedding last year and wanted to also include a korovai, a traditional Ukrainian wedding bread. I’ll get into more of this later, but we found Lisa McDonald online and she shipped it to the venue. After we cut the cake, the staff added the two birds carrying the intertwined rings to our plate of korovai and pumpkin cake :)
Wedding Bands
We returned to Dogwood Jewelers for the wedding bands given how well the engagement ring came out, and Jamie designed a wedding band for me that would compliment the existing ring. She also showed Chris a number of samples for his, and he decided on a white gold, flat band. We’ve had them for six months already, so it’s so nice to finally enjoy them!
Manicure
I definitely talked a big game about doing my own nails and it was a point of pride that I had never gotten a manicure (I guess because it made me feel frugal). But my nails are pretty busted. And my mother-in-law is a pro at nail salons, so I figured if there was ever a time, it was now! I got what I think were gel tips (I’ll be totally honest, I had no idea what was going on most of the time), and Kathy helped me articulate what I was looking for. They turned out really, really nice. I’ll be honest, I felt like I couldn’t do a lot of normal things, like put on a necklace, get ice cubes out of the tray, or just, you know, pick things up. But my hands looked fly! We went to Top Nails and Spa in Attleboro, MA.
Note:
We also had a number of family and friends contribute their services to the wedding, but I’m planning to make a separate post to cover all of them! They include: Sharon Dunscombe (pysanky and embroidery), Emily Misura/Stringing Him Along (violin), Mary Misura (calligraphy), Ed Dunscombe (poetry), Sam Hayes (officiant).
