Tara’s bridal jewelry consisted of earrings from The Collection, necklace from Tiffany and Co. (wedding day gift from Andy), bracelets are vintage from each grandmother

Something old/borrowed: bracelets from my grandmothers; Something new: dress and earrings; Something blue: not telling 🙂 Something DIY: my bird-cage I wore for the reception was designed and made by my grandmother

Tara’s advice for future brides: “Unless you have all the time and patience in the world, recruit some help! I had an incredible wedding planner, Katie Hunt, and florist that made the process so much easier and more enjoyable for me since I am already very busy with school. I couldn’t have done it without them, my mom, and everybody who offered to help me including bridesmaids, family, future in-laws, and friends. My advice is to accept the offer when someone asks to help because it makes them happy that they’re involve d and it keeps you from getting overwhelmed.”

Garter by nanarosedesigns from Etsy
Simply Roses put together the incredible bouquet which consisted of brooches collected by Andy’ mother

Tara adds, “We tried to make anything that was considered conventional more our own style. We had a stunning strings trio providing the music for our traditional Catholic ceremony, but we also had our very dear friend Jeremy Hearn on acoustic guitar adding his own sound to the mass. Adding our own special elements that we created ourselves also made our day unique.”

Tara says her favorite moment of the ceremony was seeing Andy for the first time as the string trio played Canon D

When asked about the biggest challenge faced while planning and executing the wedding, Tara responds, “Tropical Storm Andrea! We were tracking the weather the week leading up to the wedding, and it was always 60-80% chance of rain. The Friday before ended up being beautiful, and the first part of Saturday was blue skies. However, right before the ceremony started a storm hit. At that point we were just so overjoyed that the moment was finally here that we didn’t mind at all. We actually ended up enjoying the background thunder. It created a beautiful dramatic effect! The cocktail hour ended up inside instead of being on the boardwalk but we had such a fantastic wedding planner no one ever knew the difference!”

“We were inspired by a wine cave we visited in France. We incorporated wine stained invitations with DIY wine-stained envelopes complements of Andy. We love the rich purple hue of red wine; it’s both feminine and masculine. We knew we wanted to make the scene dark while still being beautiful and elegant.”

The centerpieces were a mix of high and low arrangements of florals, silver tree branches, and tea candles

DIY Elements: “We made framed chalkboards to display our program, drink list, and menu. We created our own Guest Book, place cards, and table numbers. The table numbers were also framed and written in chalk, and the place cards incorporated a vintage French post-card look anchored by wine corks.”

Menu Items: Appetizers: Spanikopitas, Crab puffs, Cucumber Sandwiches, Banderillas, Cheeseboard consisting of Manchengo, Brie, and Blue with assorted crackers and dried fruit Salads: Caprese and Mediterranean Chopped Entree: Chicken Piccato and Shrimp Scampi Side: Grilled asparagus with Dijon sauce and orzo with garbanzo and feta Dessert: Lemon Rosemary, Raspberry Pecan, and Peanut Butter Chocolate bars

Tara says, “Our favorite moment of the reception was our first dance. The song means so much to us, and the dance itself contained a little choreography, some improv, and a lift which made it even more fun to “perform.”

During the best man toast, Andy’s father had different people read “I Love You” in different languages

Throwing cake at the photographer!

Most comical moment? “Hands down Andy’s garter search. No further comments :)”