Well, this past weekend, we had three, yes count ‘em, three, weddings.  To say it was rough, was an understatement.  First Mother Nature was not cooperative at all and, we had a lot of driving to different states and locations!  (can you see my unsmiling face glaring up at the sky?)  Not only did she provide three beautiful couples of mine with rain, she made it teaming, like in cats and dogs rain!!!  We started out locally with our first one, then left for a destination wedding in Newport, Rhode Island on Saturday that finished up at 11 p.m. and then drove through Connecticut in the pouring rain to finish up with Jill and Chris’ wedding in Tarrytown, New York at the Castle on the Hudson.  Anyone searching for an English looking venue, complete with chintz sofas, dark woodwork to die for, a ballroom reminiscent of kings and queens (think Keira Knightly and any of her films) and food that is wonderful, should do themselves a favor and check this place out.  We have worked here before, but Jill and Chris are our first couple who opted to go online from this venue.  We met Jill and Chris through the internet, such a great planning tool for weddings, and they told us of their impending nuptials to take place at the Castle.  I sent him some photos from some weddings we did there, and, well let’s just say, the rest is history.  They live in Ft. Worth, Texas, and planning a wedding long distance is no easy feat.  But their wedding planning went off without a hitch.  We arrived before our happy couple, as Jill was busy at the hairdressers getting her and the girl’s hair done.  Once they arrived, we met for the first time, and the festivities began.  They were such a fun group to be around.  Jill donned a beautiful beaded Maggie Sottero couture gown

and snazzy silver sequined shoes.  She had pinned underneath her gown a hankerchief from her grandmother.

The flowers which were red and white roses were wrapped in strands of pearls and complimented their different, but all, black gowns.  Our flower girls wore white satin pick up gowns with black sashes.  All were too cute for words.

Our littlest flower girl, due to surgery, had little girly pink casts on her feet, but don’t think that stopped her from having a good time!

Due to the weather not cooperating, they had their wedding ceremony in the same ballroom, which when the light streamed in through the stained

glass windows, was beautifully theatrical.  Both dads did readings which was a touching gesture.

Then, for a quick break, the rain was reduced to drizzle and we asked our happy couple along with their fantastic wedding party if they wanted to run outside and grab a few pics.  They said “of course” and off we went.

For a while, she even gave us a touch of sunshine, although fleeting as it was.  The great thing about the castle is, besides it’s wonderful food and ambiance, they have this cool lifesize chess set outside.  Thank God the rain stopped as it always proves to be a cute place to take a pic or two!

Inside, our couple and their guests dined on arugula, spinach and endive salad with white balsamic vinaigrette and goat cheese croutons and for the main course, they could either choose from Chilean Sea Bass with Braised Fennel or Horseradish-Crusted Filet Mignon, yummy!

As the night befell us (can you tell I am in a castle mood and all things English), the room took on a red and yellow candlelight glow about it.  Simply beautiful.

While the guests ate, a classical quartet played Chopin and Mozart.  But after dinner, our dj pumped up the music and got this crowd jumping.

A funny moment came when it was time for our happy couple to cut their wedding cake.  Chris was nowhere to be found.  Jill said he was probably strolling the grounds, but after 10 minutes or so and for what seemed like an eternity for Jill, in strolled Chris to loud claps and cheers!  Jill played a childhood game of here comes the train, open up, with Chris and his cake!

This stuff always makes me scared as the bride has no clue that he has last licks [no pun intended] and you never know what can happen.  BUT, to make things fair, Chris was always a gentlemen, and fed Jill a nice and demure piece of cake.  Our happy couple are going to one of our favorite places of all, Costa Rica.  Of course, we couldn’t bid them goodbye without telling them of a couple of our favorite things to do there.  We know you will have nothing but a super good time.  To view more of Jill and Chris’ wedding photos, please click here, and let us know what you think!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Recent Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.