It’s reception time! Of all of the wedding planning, this is where we spent the most time thinking about every single detail. I wasn’t one of those brides who had a strong vision of what they wanted. When we kicked off the process, I didn’t know what vibe I wanted at all. I did know that I wanted it to feel very formal and traditional but struggled with a color palette, how much I wanted to lean into the holiday season, if I wanted round or rectangle tables, and more.
Thank GOD for the team at Birch Event & Design because they were SO patient with me (and my mom) and helped me really crystalize what I was looking for. We settled on a Bridgerton vibe but make it winter in NYC. This meant that we had overflowing flowers, over 70 chandeliers hanging from the perimeter of the room, and vintage-inspired stemwear and china. Everything about it was perfect.
We danced all night to the tunes of Element Music. A live band that we got SO many compliments on. They were absolutely incredible and people kept telling us that they felt like they were at a live concert, which we thought was so cool. In terms of special songs, our bridal party and parents walked into Welcome To New York by Taylor Swift, Tom & I’s first dance was Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You by Frankie Valli, my Father-Daughter dance was to Taylor Swift’s Never Grow Up, and Tom’s Mother-Son dance was Perfect Fan by The Backstreet Boys. We ended the night with Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Rihanna to match perfectly with our opening song.
Wedding flow is SOOOO personal but we wanted to make sure we had a good ebb and flow and dancing, eating, and drinking. When our guests entered our reception, they immediately started to dance, before Tom & I even entered the room. This created a VIBE when we walked in and I’m so happy we chose to do it that way. We kicked off the evening with a dance party segueing out of our first dance. When we sat for our salad course and for the waiters & waitresses to take orders, my Dad gave his speech, which was followed by a small speech from Tom and then my Father-Daughter dance. We then danced for a bit longer before sitting for dinner. During dinner, the Best Man and Maid of Honor gave their speeches, which was followed by Tom’s Mother-Son dance and our cat cutting. We then danced for the rest of the night!
While everything looked, sounded, and tasted AMAZING, it was the small details that I really loved the most. Here are a few of my favorites:
1| Personal Notes To Guests – During Tom’s speech, he said that he hoped to say hi to everyone (300+ guests) but in case we didn’t, a personalized note would be delivered to their table. We wrote personalized notes to every single person in attendance, and the response was VERY emotional.
2| Taylor Swift Easter Eggs – We had a few shrewd throughout the day but this lyric on the envelop flap of our escort cards was one of my favorites.
3| Velvet Bows Galore – I know this is starting to become a trend this holiday season, but each guest was greeted with a velvet bow across their table setting and many took them home as a memento.
4| Personalized Crests Everywhere – From our linen napkins to the ice in Tom’s signature cocktails, our branding was on point. Everything matched the crest that was originally on our invitation.
5|Late Night Treats – This is always my favorite part of any wedding and ours was no different. We had a Duncan Donuts cart to honor our little Golden Doodle Duncan complete with donuts for humans & dogs, a Nathan’s hotdog cart, and an Affogatto cart amongst other delicious passed dessert treats.
Okay, with that, I think I’m done making my wedding my entire personality for a bit. Thank you for helping me relive this special time and making my post-wedding blues just a LITTLE bit easier.
