Real Long Island Wedding: Gillian and Marty

Marty had been around for a while, but never really on my radar. We went to the same high school and once we had graduated from college we hung out with the same group of friends. My sister had seen Marty at a party once and thought the he and I would work out, but we were both dating other people at the time. Finally, at a friend’s birthday party, Marty came up to me and we started talking about how we both love to cook. He offered to cook me dinner at his place. Two weeks later we were laughing hysterically over delicious plates of chicken franchise and homemade gnocchi. We have been cooking and laughing ever since.

The proposal was a total surprise! While away on vacation in San Francisco with my sister and her husband, we went out to dinner at Burger Bar: the burger restaurant of Chef Hubert Keller (one of our most admired chefs -we even named our first plant after him). Everyone was enjoying their burger creations- I was enjoying a beer float, yes that’s beer with ice cream in it- and looking at the pictures from our first full day on vacation. When it came time for dessert, I had to be convinced to order something and lucky I did. Out comes Chef Hubert with a plate to set down in front of me. “Gillian, will you marry me?” is written in chocolate. I was so excited about the chef that I don't even see the plate, but proceed to say “you’re our favorite!” After a second look, gasps of surprise proceeded and I saw Marty down on one knee holding the ring. I shouted “Yes! Of course yes!” 
My wedding day was truly an expression of Marty and me. I knew that I wanted something vintage and glamorous, but not overly “pretty.” I wanted it to feel real. I started by looking at places, and knew I wanted a mansion. When I walked into Bourne Mansion I was completely shocked. It felt exactly right- almost as if it could have been *my* family home. I loved that all the rooms were used throughout the wedding and the ballroom blew me away with the high dome ceiling and beautiful moldings. I let the house uniform the rest of my theme choices. I went a bit subtle on my Edwardian theme, using things like keys, lace, paper tags and color to bring it all together. I also made my own monogram stamp that felt a bit like the wrought iron monogram on the front doors of Bourne Mansion. I chose a dress that felt perfect on me- a modified A-line bobbinet dress with lace appliqués by Lazaro. I wanted my bridesmaids to feel beautiful and when looking at Edwardian fashion I saw that color was a real party of it. I picked jewel toned chiffon dresses in blue, green, and purple and carried those colors through to my flowers, favors, programs, and decor. My mother hand knit 100 yarmulkes in the jewel tones. I was also inspired by a package of scrapbooking paper. I knew I wanted to do a lot of DIY, and when I saw this black and ivory paper that had coordinated but not matching patterns on it, I knew it would fit my theme and be unique. I used it for my STD’s programs, escort cards, and menus. 
The most memorable part would definitely be our first meeting and the photo session that took place after it. It was so wonderful to have my whole family there to see us meet for the first time. When I tapped Marty on the shoulders, he asked “Am I supposed to turn around now,” and everyone laughed; that was so typical of “us”. The time we got to spend just being silly in front of the camera was so special. I would not have wanted it any other way.
When planning your wedding, really think about what is most important to you and go with it. The most important thing we had on our list when we first started planning was that the food at the reception had to be good and nobody should have to wait for it. We had heard so many people talk about weddings and the first thing they said was if the food was good or bad. If the food was good, they also told us about all the other pieces of the wedding that they enjoyed; if it was bad, that was the only thing we heard. Once we knew we wanted great food and a lot of it, we were able to narrow our search down. When we hit on Bourne Mansion, we let the mansion itself decide the rest of the planning and design. At the wedding, everyone kept telling us how perfect the place was and how wonderfully the details fit into it. It seems odd, but I know they were able to enjoy all the little things because they were happy with the food- which was our plan from the start.