Real Long Island Wedding: Lisa and Jason

Jason and Lisa met in the seventh grade at Herricks Middle School in Albertson. Jason and Lisa had been best friends since they first met in 1997. They became great friends quite quickly, coming up with many 'inside jokes' and confiding in each other about their 'crushes.' Little did they know that it would take them all of middle and high school to realize that they were each other’s true lover. Jason wooed Lisa after high school and on December 28, 2003 they became a couple. They’ve been inseparable ever since. Lisa knew that Jason was 'the one' in early December 2003 when the two went on their first real date together. They had been friends for so long but finally during this time they were able to really focus on the fact that they had fallen for each other.

Jason and Lisa went to New York University together for their undergraduate degrees and lived in the city during this time. Jason majored in Recorded Music and Lisa in Medieval & Renaissance Studies. After college, Jason began working in the music industry and Lisa continued on to law school at Hofstra University on Long Island. She was graduating from law school in May 2010 and was turning 25 in June. In the back of her mind, she always assumed a proposal would come around that time. Jason, an accomplished musician, was a very private person so Lisa never thought that the proposal would be in a public forum - she just always thought it would be in more of an intimate setting. Jason shocked everyone on Christmas Eve - December 24, 2009 - during a Christmas celebration in front of both of their families when he proposed to Lisa. Lisa was expecting to open up a description of a vacation as an early anniversary gift from Jason. Instead, inside of the box was a framed poem that Jason wrote for and read to Lisa, proposing at the end of reading it. The moment was captured on video and is now a YouTube hit!
Because Lisa was still in school when they got engaged and they had both always dreamed of having a fall wedding, they decided to wait until November of 2011, a twenty-three month engagement, to prepare and plan for the wedding. Lisa and Jason, along their parents and siblings, particularly Lisa’s sisters Jillian and Courtney and mom Lisa, planned the wedding together. Jason and Lisa saved as much money as they could for their wedding, and with the help of their parents who housed and fed them during this time, it was all possible. After many late night hours of DIY projects, hours of dress shopping, trying on hundreds of headpieces, veils, etc. - it all came together on November 4, 2011. The theme of the wedding was 'Regal Elegance' with warm fall undertones. It was Lisa’s mission to stay away from the 'leaves everywhere' fall theme.
Lisa had always imagined that she’d wear a ball gown on her wedding day and find a headpiece and veil to compliment this style. After trying on close to a hundred dresses, Lisa finally found the one. From Eve of Milady’s 2010 ball gown collection a gorgeous duchess satin ball gown with lace overlay and gold and silver beading and threading throughout the bodice and train. Lisa’s mother had worn a gorgeous lace Eve of Milady gown thirty years earlier in 1981 so she thought it was fate that her daughter’s dress also be from Eve of Milady.
The ceremony was held East Northport, New York at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church. The ceremony was immediately followed by a six hour long reception at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, New York. One vendor Lisa could not have done without the day of the wedding was her Day of Coordinator, Leane Kondenar from Above and Beyond Events LI. Lisa’s sister, Jillian, had 'gifted' Leane to her for her wedding day so that someone else would be 'in charge' of taking care of mishaps. There were a few mishaps throughout the day and Leane handled them all seamlessly. Additionally, since Jason is a musician, the music was very important to both of them for their wedding day. They wrote and recorded their own wedding song as a surprise for their guests, but had their band Code Bleu entertain for the rest of the evening. Code Bleu’s musicianship was remarkable and Jason and Lisa wish they were planning another event to have Code Bleu play at!
The best advice Lisa and Jason ever received was to make sure that they stayed together at the wedding. It is easy for people to pull you in different directions at the wedding reception, but they made a plan and an effort to stay together, holding hands, for 99% of the night and it really worked out! There are very few pictures where they are not together and this is just the way they wanted it to be. Also, remember to sit back and enjoy what is going on around you. All your guests traveled to come to your wedding for you. Don’t lose sight of that. And remember, you get to marry your best friend!