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Monica was one of the first brides who booked me last year, and I have had so much fun working with her! She is incredibly busy, and wanted as long as possible to plan the wedding because she knew she wouldn’t have enough time to do it on a “typical” wedding planning timeline. I helped her out with her timeline throughout the process, as well as keeping her payments on track and finalizing everything with her vendors over the last four months before the wedding. I even went to her floral “mock-up” trial for her and took pictures, negotiated alternatives, etc. which was a lot of fun!

The ceremony and reception both took place at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. It is a gorgeous location no matter where you end up, but the Atrium is by far my favorite. The lampposts are just so unique and unexpected, as is the glass ceiling. My assistant and I arrived at 3pm to make sure setup was going according to plans. There was a miscommunication interms of linens, where the rental facility had just dropped them off and no one was sure who was supposed to be setting up… It was cleared up quick enough, and Silk Thumb went to work with the centerpieces while I laid out all the chargers on the tables.

Monica’s “extras” were all done by Gourmet Invitations, including table numbers, menu cards and programs, as well as the seating chart which directed guests to their table in lieu of place cards.  Instead of a traditional guest book, a typewriter was brought in for some “old fashioned” messages to the bride and groom. They also had a wish bowl out to give guests a choice. The cocktail hour went by quickly, as the bridal party finished up formal pictures on the grounds of St. John’s. They were lined up by 7:15, a couple minutes late, after Monica was bustled by her grandmother and changed into a birdcage veil!

Dinner was a bit different than usual - they chose food stations scattered around the adjoining rooms! The choices were a carving station, salad station, stir fry station, and pasta station with a simply sweet finale for dessert! It was fun to get up and walk around, try different things, and not feel bad about getting up for more!The cake was added to the sweets table, which left the couple with a ton of leftover cake! It was done by Elite Sweets, topped with flowers from Silk Thumb.

Another cool addition that Monica and Freddy chose was lighting - they had Amber wall washes around the room, as well as a custom gobo that shone on the highest brick wall. I love lighting, it adds so much to a room once the natural light has gone for the day, or in a room without any natural light whatsoever. St. John’s now offers their own lighting packages, which I am very excited about! It makes it a lot more affordable for couples to choose lighting, as well as a lot less hassle to bring in outside vendors.

Above the head table, Monica had four pomanders that she wanted hung. We got out the ladder, and one of the St. John’s waitstaff was willing to climb up and tie them for me! The only problem arose when the head table was blocking one of the four sides… There ended up being two people on the ladder - one to tie and the other to hold - but the job got done and it looked great! Taking them down at the end of the night was trickier…

Monica’s professional photographs (as opposed to the point and shoot ones you see on this page) were done by the phenomenal Blaine Siesser, who was so much fun to work with! They also used Videocrafters for videography, who never stopped working for a minute and always seemed to just love what they were doing (I love that!). Finally, their DJ Wayne from Rock Out Entertainment did a great job at getting and keeping people on the dance floor - it was full until lights turned on at 1:00am!

Congratulations on a beautiful wedding Monica and Fred - you are a wonderful couple and it was a pleasure working with you to make your wedding come together as wonderfully as it did!