It's Our Anniversary!

It’s Our Anniversary

May 24, 1998

What a wonderful experience I had planning my own wedding, and I swear I’m not just saying that!!  There were a few bumps and turns during the planning process, but we got thru it with huge smiles on our faces. Every year I re-enact that weekend in my mind so I never forget.  We began planning in August of 1997.  Torrance, had lost his mom that May so the planning process was bittersweet for both of us, but we kept her in our hearts and mind during the planning.  

We chose our Wedding date for Sunday, May 24, 1998, which was Memorial Day weekend.  We thought it would be great for a holiday weekend since half of our guests were coming from out of town.  We chose Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church located in Hamden, CT, which was also my mother in-law’s Church, so we know she would be smiling down on us.  Our reception was to be held at Sante’s Manor located in Milford, CT.  To be sure that’s where we wanted it to be, we attended a Mother’s Day brunch with both sides of our family.  We all loved it and the food was great!!!  

Our color palette was matted gold/cream/champagne.  Our bridal party consisted of 22 people...did she just say 22...YES 22!!!!  Out of that 22 I had 8 Bridesmaids/3 Flower Girls/ 1 Ring Bearer/8 Groomsmen/2 ushers. I created a booklet of information for the bridal party, and sent them MONTHLY updates, rather they cared or not...lol!!  I had a friend make the bridesmaid gowns..........I highly advise against that!!!  I found my gown at David Bridal, paid under $450 for my gown.  I chose my gown by going ONLY with my mother and I tried 3 gowns on and whatever one made her cry...that was my gown of choice!!!  Torrance had his tuxedo hand made from a gent out of NYC and let’s just say it cost more than my gown!  My florals of choice were white Calla Lilies and white Anthuriums.  Our favors were gold wedding belles, miniature bottles of white wine and matte gold picture frames which also served as place cards!!

Things were moving along...or so I thought.  When we booked our Wedding with Sante’s Manor, they offered us a great package which included a cake, centerpieces and my white Rolls Royce, which was the ONLY thing I was really excited about!!  Well as I checked in with my bridal party, I did the same with Sante’s Manor and my “great” package started to get smaller with what they offered and then they decided that they were not using the white Rolls Royce anymore and I had to find my own transportation...oh really??!!  So with only 3 months left and a deposit of $1,500 that we could NOT get back, we went to Fantasia located in North Haven, CT which just opened the year before.  We explained to them our dilema and needless to say, they accommodated our every need and then some!!!  As for Sante’s Manor [which no longer exists] and the $1,500 we already paid to them?...we had our rehearsal dinner there AND also invited our out of town guests, total guests for rehearsal dinner...85!!

The weather on our Wedding Day was absolutely gorgeous!! To ensure the ladies including myself would not be late, I had 2 hair stylists, and 1 makeup artist come to my home to do the ladies hair and makeup, and of course I provided breakfast and all types of goodies! I was so calm and relaxed.  Soon as my Rolls Royce pulled up [that’s right I ended up with my Rolls Royce, I had to travel an hour to find one, but I found it!!] the butterflies began.  Me and my dad rode in total silence to the Church, just holding hands.  We arrived at the church at 2:30pm and by 2:55pm my dad escorted me down the aisle.  The church was full and the ceremony was beautiful!

Fantasia did such a beautiful job, the service was top notch, the food just kept coming, which made my guests very happy and of course an open bar who could ask for more!  Our bridal party was the first large party they had to handle, our bridal party table was two-tiers.  The toasts were great, we laughed and cried and of course there was that one family member that took the mic and toasted us for almost 10 minutes...LOL.  We had an awesome Master of Ceremonies that made our reception flow throughout the evening.  Of course  I had a day of coordinator that handled all the details!!  Our guest count was 240 and most of them stayed on the dance floor just having a great time!!  

Where did we go for our honeymoon...you ask?   We went to DISNEY WORLD!!!