Jeff and Steph met while attending Elizabethtown College. They met their senior year at a St. Patricks day party at a local brewery. They played trivia where Jeff impressed her with his extensive knowledge and they won! When they went to leave, Steph had a flat and Jeff and his friends stayed to help her fix it. What happened next is seemingly straight out of a movie: Stephs car fell off of the jack and landed on Jeff’s foot. Despite the pain, he called her the next day and the rest is history. {Cute side story: Steph’s parents met because of a car accident they got into on the way to blind dates. Looks like car trouble is good luck for their family!}
The ceremony and reception were at Saint Clements castle in Portland, CT. Steph tells us
“Everything was wonderful. The staff was perfect, I even had my own little man who was always around to get me a drink or whatever I needed. They made special accommodations for our huge wedding and did everything exactly how we wanted!”
She bought her dress at April Rose in Gilford, CT. She loved every dress they had, more so then she liked any dress anywhere else. Best part? She got 15% off for making a deposit on her first visit.
Steph used Sharon Elizabeth’s for her flowers and was thrilled with the results.
“She was fantastic. Our appointment must have been at least two hours. She sat their and talked to us about everything while we figure out the details. She was so easy to talk to and so honest and open about working within your budget.”
For photos, she used Carley Photography. One word to describe them? AWESOME.
“J.C. is the head photographer and she took care of everything. She made decisions about where we went, when the boys were allowed to arrive, etc. Anytime she saw me getting even slightly stressed (my mom trying to button my dress!) She handled the situation without making anyone feel like she was taking over and clearly my pictures are BEAUTIFUL!”
One of her favorite vendors? Salon Nathaniel in Meriden, where the wedding party got their hair done.
“They were amazing!! They sent me flowers to my hotel room, they had food for us and they treated us ALL like royalty. I have never liked my updo’s before and my hair was absolutely perfect. I had Nathaniel all to myself and he took care of everything. i’ve never been one of those talk to your hair stylist people, but he was so easy to talk too. He squeezed the groom in for a trim the day before the wedding too!!”
Stephanie’s best tip for a bride planning a wedding in Connecticut?
My best advice would be get your dress first. I picked out bridesmaid dresses and colors and flowers before I found my dress. I ended up loving a dress that was completely different then what I thought I would pick and the short flirty blue/green dresses did not go with it AT ALL.. so we changed EVERYTHING after I found my dress.
Steph & Jeff now reside in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
What ideas did you get from Stephanie’s wedding? What are your ideas for your own wedding? What about your wedding was similar/different?