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The short story is, we were matched through EHarmony in September 2006. I lived a half-hour south of DC, he lived a half-hour north of Baltimore, so we probably wouldn't have met otherwise. Since our engagement in December 200, we have been busy consolidating our two houses, and now, planning our wedding. :-)
Our Wedding Plans
We are honored to be able to get married in Scott's childhood church in Joppa, Maryland.
Our Planning Experience
We set our date and secured the church in March, and the put planning on hold for a while, so we are pulling a lot together now that we're in the home stretch! We're doing a traditional church ceremony, but traditional receptions weren't our style, so we are hosting dinner at the banquet room at a favorite restaurant so we can enjoy a good meal and the company of our friends and family.
Our Advice
1. Spreadsheets are your friend! There are so many variations in what different vendors offer, the only way to know who has the best deal is to list all the details and their cost, and then do the math. You may be surprised to find that something that initially seemed expensive actually isn't.
2. When you go look for your dress, know that you also need to be able to afford $500 for alterations.
3. Set aside extra funds for hair or makeup trials, don't expect to find the right stylist for you on the first go-round. You may need to do more than one trial with more than one artist to find one that fits you.
Dear Scott & Wendy: Dottie and I have been to a lot weddings in our day. Truthfully though, your's was the most beautiful, elegant, refreshing, and joyous of all those we ever attended. Discussing it later, we could think of "nothing at all" that we would have changed. We wish you all the happiness and blessings that you surely deserve; and we believe these will be "Much" and "Many" Love, Bob & Dottie
Posted On: Oct 7, 2009 5:15 PM
Sonia and Ryan
Can't wait for the big day! We are so happy for you both.
Posted On: Sep 11, 2009 10:07 PM
Uncle Howard and Aunt Linda Leland
Wonderful plan, excellent locations, great day. Although they did not sail or e-mail, we know you will experience all the happiness of your Leland grandparents' October wedding. See you in five weekends.
Posted On: Aug 24, 2009 5:15 PM
Dottie & Bob Primavera
Dear Scott and Wendy - We are happy and excited for you on your forthcoming wedding. We have said from the start [when you first met] that you are perfect for one another. We look forward to celebrating your special day with you. Much Love, Dottie and Bob
Posted On: Aug 23, 2009 3:52 PM
Michael Primavera
Dear Scott & Wendy,
Excellent website for an excellent couple! Congratulations :)
Posted On: Aug 22, 2009 7:43 AM
Jan ,Jim,Jeff, and Bubbles
Hi, Wendy and Scott. I am soo glad we got a new computer so we could get in touch with your wonderful website. We are soo happy for you. I knew Wendy was perfect from the first time I met her at the Family Reunion in O.C. Can you give me a hint about the menu--which meal would look best on Uncle Jim's shirt? I'll be typing more to you! Much love, Uncle Jim, Jan, and Jeff and Bubbles. (Could Bubbles be a Flower Girl?)
Posted On: Aug 18, 2009 8:41 AM
Morgan Wilbur
Congratulations! We are so happy for you! Thank you for inviting us.
Posted On: Aug 16, 2009 9:00 PM
Stephen Primavera
You two are an awesome couple. Your website is truly incredible, and so proffesional and Perfectly Laid Out! I can't wait to see you both again. Thank you for inviting me to this Wonderful and Blessed Occasion.
With'a Much'a Love'a;
Stephano (Your-Cuzz'a)
Posted On: Aug 15, 2009 11:47 AM
Jeff and Jessica
Dear Wendy and Scott,
Neat site! The story and pictures are great. Looking forward to seeing you on your Big Day.
-Jeff and Jessica.
Posted On: Aug 13, 2009 9:47 PM
Sybil Leland
Dear Wendy and Scott,
What a wonderful site and soooooo helpful.
We certainly will register at the hotel you found for us all and are looking forward to the visit and the day's events.
Love, to you both as you wait for this wonderful event.
Anxious to meet Scott's parents and other relatives.
Love,
Aunt Sybil and Uncle John
We were so glad we found Ralph! We wanted a photographer who would capture the moments as they evolved naturally, but also get a few of the must-have portraits for posterity. From the beginning we knew he would be a good fit. We loved how straight-forward his website was, and that you could actually see a no-gimmick price. So many photographers say "call for a price," which really seems to mean "you can't afford me!" Like everyone, we wanted a professional photographer, but didn't want to break the bank. With Magic Light Photography you get a lot of bang for your buck! We loved that his packages include a professional-quality print of each final, touched-up image in a reference binder, along with the images on CD/DVD. Unlike some other photographers, he releases the copyright to the clients so they can use the images as they see fit. Not only did he have the business model we wanted, we loved his photos. He has a good "eye," and captured a lot of moments we don't remember happening! He was flexible and responsive to our needs, for example he had never done a "first look" session before but he gave it a try and it worked out great! We were also impressed that he attended the rehearsal at the church to get an idea of what space he had to work in, and how things would go. We were eager to see our photos, so we were thrilled that he turned them around very quickly, just two and a half weeks after the wedding. This is remarkable considering he reviews and touches up each one. Our only slightly negative comment is that, while it is great that people can order prints directly from the photo-hosting website he currently uses, the photo viewing website itself is a little awkward. Not horrible, but the interface is a bit frustrating even for the computer-savvy user. But that is a small detraction from an otherwise fantastic experience. We highly recommend Ralph of Magic Light Photography. We will treasure the memories he captured of our wedding and reception!
I went with Richardsons as they had such a good reputation in the community. I'm so glad I did! When I first met with Chris I had absolutely NO idea what I wanted for my flowers. We went over the wedding colors and wedding party attire, and he showed me some photos to start figuring out what I liked and didn't like. Then he did something brilliant -- he brought out bouquets they had prepared for another wedding so I could see some real flowers. That made all the difference in the world! After seeing a couple sets of bouquets and boutonnieres, I had a much better idea what I liked and disliked, but I still didn't have a particular scheme in mind. But Chris did! He brought out some loose flowers that were samples of the actual flowers he was thinking of using for me, and put them in different combinations to show me how they would look together. They were beautiful! To illustrate how good he was, when we first sat down to talk about colors I told him I hated pink. Well, guess what colors I ended up choosing? Different shades of pink! And I LOVED them! The flowers were absolutely beautiful, and they lasted for two weeks afterwards. Chris knew just how to find out what would work for me, and best of all he worked with my budget, listened to what I wanted, and never pushed me toward more expensive options. I highly recommend Richardsons!
We only have one complaint about Sweet. They have ruined our enjoyment of anyone else's cake! ;-) Since our wedding we have been craving more cake, and every other cake we have tried just simply falls short of Sweet's. We highly recommend them! We wanted just buttercream icing even though it may not look as neat and polished as fondant, but we were willing to accept that for a really yummy-tasting cake. But with Sweet we didn't have to sacrifice appearance for taste, we got to have our cake and eat it too, literally! The cake was very smooth and professional looking, and the design detail was obviously done with great care. (And I used to decorate cakes, so I can be a pit picky in this arena.) We got chocolate with vanilla filling, and lemon with raspberry filling. The flavors were wonderfully balanced, and the frosting was yummy, not too heavy or too sweet. Our guests raved about both how it looked and how it tasted. It was our only dessert and we wanted people to be able to have both flavors if they wanted to, so we ordered more than 200 "servings" for 65 people (yes, 65), and we only had enough left over for 3 people to take a couple of slices of the lemon cake home. Granted, the restaurant sliced them larger than the usual wedding cake serving size, but I was still surprised how quickly it went! And don't believe anyone who tells you that people don't like chocolate cake, we went through all 100 servings and there wasn't even a crumb left over! We couldn't have been happier with our cake. Our only problem now is that waiting a year to get our anniversary tier will simply be too long! We'll have to find an excuse to get more cake from them soon just to satisfy our craving.
Isabel Donnelly Alterations Ellicott City, Maryland 21041
I have too many good things to say about Isabel, so I will start with the bottom line--Isabel is awesome! And just so you realize I'm not just a dizzy, gushing bride, I used to make clothing, and sewed my first wedding dress myself, so I know what it takes to do a good job. This time I bought my dress, and I loved it when I tried it on, but when it came in I was discouraged and dismayed, it fit so poorly it didn't feel like "The One" any more. Well, after my first fitting with Isabel Donnelly I loved my dress again! She didn't just make it fit me better, she worked with me to turn it into the dress I really wanted, for example we removed the train so the dress was just floor-length, and moved the straps to a better place. At each fitting we refined it a little bit more, and by my wedding day it fit me perfectly, and made me feel beautiful and special! I am so thankful I found Isabel. She really knows what she is doing, and she anticipates things you may not know that you need, for example she took the initiative to add elastic to the underside of the straps to make sure they would stay put (which they did!). I wouldn't have thought to ask for her to address those kinds of details, but I am so thankful she thought of them for me! She will also be honest with you about what will and won't work with the dress, design and undergarment-wise, and her advice is spot-on. Unfortunately many brides don?t seem to realize that even what may seem like a "simple" alteration to a wedding dress may cost hundreds of dollars. The truth is that details like extra layers of fabric, trains, beading, embroidery etc. mean that even a little change will require many hours of work and a great attention to detail. Isabel's prices are competitive, but she does such great work that even if she charged more I would recommend her in a heartbeat. Plus she is also so sweet, I felt more like I was hanging out with a friend and chatting rather than standing there for hours during the fitting, which I found quite refreshing while in the throes of stressful wedding planning!
Review Date: 10/30/2009 Services Used: Ceremony Music
5.0 out of 5.0
Quality of Service:
(5.0/5.0)
Responsiveness:
(5.0/5.0)
Professionalism:
(5.0/5.0)
Value For Cost:
(5.0/5.0)
Flexibility:
(5.0/5.0)
Robert did a beautiful job!!! We highly recommend him. Since the majority of both of our families and many of our friends have musical backgrounds, it was very important to us that our ceremony music would be very polished and professional. And that is what we received from Robert Hanson! We booked him after having listened to just a few clips on his website, and never actually met him until after our ceremony, so it was a bit of a leap of faith. But it was totally worth it! We were concerned that the size of the church would make his job difficult; since it would take the bridal party only about 20 seconds each to walk down the aisle, we needed him to shorten the selections and seamlessly transition the music to a logical-sounding end point based on when we arrived at our places. Robert did a great job adapting the music to fit our actions! His timing was perfect, there was never a gap where we were standing there waiting for the music to finish or start. And his performance was flawless. He was great to work with, very good at responding to phone or email queries, and he arrived at the church early (and well dressed) to check out the area and set up. In choosing our selections it would have been nice if he had more samples to listen on his website, but from the list of possible selections he provided, we found videos of other guitarists that gave us an idea of what the various songs would sound like on the guitar. Robert had suggested we use a phrase from Lagrima as the Matron of Honor's processional, and it was a great choice! He even ad-libbed it a bit when it took her longer to start on her processional than we expected, but he made it sound like it was meant to be that way all along. The bride's processional, Bach's Air on the G String, is usually 3 minutes long, but he made it fit the 20-second processional perfectly. As the bride and groom we didn't get to hear any of the prelude music, but we got a lot of great comments from our guests. We wish we could have heard more! Perhaps the best compliment we could pay to Robert is to say that after the ceremony our mother/mother-in-law, who initially had been quite skeptical about our choice of classical guitar for the ceremony, told us that if she needed live music for an event she would book Robert Hanson. And we too would book him again in a heartbeat!
On our wedding day we wanted to arrive in style and also enjoy the ride along the way, so we chose a vintage car from City Lites Limousine. We had seen their cars listed on other websites, but learned that it is more cost-effective to book directly with them because they are the actual owners of the cars. It was still a bit of a splurge, but it was worth it! Setting up the arrangements was easy. We did have a bit of a miscommunication about the wedding day contact info, when we got home after the wedding we had a message from the driver saying he was at the hotel, but that was not big deal as we could see him waiting for us through our hotel window. The driver arrived at the hotel early and waited for us to be ready, and we departed the hotel right on time, helping make the day-of a stress-free experience. We had booked the 1952 Bentley, but ended up with the 1935 Rolls. The contract does say they can substitute cars, but we would have appreciated a heads-up about the change. However that was a minor thing, because ultimately it worked out SO much better than we could have planned! The Rolls was lovely, and it made for some really great photos. We had noticed that the car was a convertible, but it didn't occur to us to ask to put the top down. Thank goodness the driver was thinking about these things for us! Before we left the church he put the top down and set us up with the bridal bouquet for some really unique photos. Those are some of our favorite pictures from the day! We were also so grateful for the cool drink the driver gave us as we drove away, by that point we had been running around without a break for a few hours so it was a very welcome refreshment. Overall it was a wonderful experience, and a great way to make the day more special.
Review Date: 10/30/2009 Services Used: Beauty & Health
5.0 out of 5.0
Quality of Service:
(5.0/5.0)
Responsiveness:
(5.0/5.0)
Professionalism:
(5.0/5.0)
Value For Cost:
(5.0/5.0)
Flexibility:
(5.0/5.0)
I hate wearing makeup, my usual skin care routine is soap and moisturizer, and my idea of "doing my hair" involves pulling it back in a pony tail. I'm also very pale with freckles and some wrinkles, plus my hair is baby-fine and hard to work with. So I knew I needed to find someone special who could make me look great without making me feel like I had fallen into a vat at the Lancombe factory or had been attacked by an Aqua Net addict. I'm so glad I booked Mindy of MG Beauty, she not only met the challenge, she exceeded my expectations! From the moment she arrived (on time!) at my house for the trial I was impressed by her professional demeanor. All of her supplies were clean and neat, she set up a very tidy workspace, and when she was done she cleaned up the space and thoroughly cleaned her brushes before putting them away. Instead of big bottles of stuff that get gunky with use, she used new products and sample sizes of the top-of-the line cosmetics like Bobbi Brown. This was a big deal for me, as it always kind of grossed me out to think of having stuff put on my face that might have other people's germs in it. Since I had told her I was particularly concerned about finding a style that would work with my fine hair without using a lot of product, she enlisted the help of her associate, Kishia, to focus on my hair while she did the makeup. I loved the look Mindy designed for me right from the get-go, and fortunately both she and Kishia were very patient as we tried many different looks with my hair until we hit on "the one." On the wedding day they arrived at our hotel ahead of schedule, and not only did they do a great job with both my sister and myself, they were also good company. While I never felt like I was wearing a lot of makeup, it withstood my crying throughout the entire ceremony! I was so busy and enjoying myself so much at the reception that I never once thought to go check my makeup or hair and touch it up, but it still looked good at the end of the day. The bottom line is, I felt SO beautiful on my wedding day, and never felt self-conscious that I was all dolled up. I got so many compliments that day, and continue to get compliments about how I look in the photos, ranging from "beautiful" to "stunning." I've never been called stunning before! I'm sure that makeup artists must get tired of hearing the phrase "I want to look like me, only better," but MG Beauty truly made it happen for me!
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