So You're EnGAYged, a LGBT wedding blog

Thanks so much to Circas Photography, a pro-gay vendor on So You’re EnGAYged, for shooting and then sending us this wedding via Two Bright Lights!

Not to sound cliche, but our day was perfect. Nicole and I definitely wanted the wedding that we dreamed of when we were little girls. We like to refer to our wedding as “our big fat gay wedding”. We are blessed to have the family and friends that we do; there were 220 people in attendance. It was very moving to lookout from our sweetheart table to see a room full of our family, extended family, friends and coworkers under one roof celebrating our love. To be surrounded by so much love on the most important day of our lives was just overwhelming.

The room was elegant, each table lit with candles and covers on each chair. The food was amazing and the cake was beautiful. The music was perfect as the dancefloor was packed with people all night. We had a large wedding party stand up for us 10 bridesmaids and ushers, we each had a maid of honor and our two nieces stood in as flower girls and my aunt even performed the ceremony. We danced all night and even got to see my mom and Nicole’s dad dance with a friend who has a mohawk and tattoos on all visible parts of her skin, which is something neither one of us would have ever invisioned! We know how lucky we are to have the family and acceptance that we do. We only hope that others are able to experience what we did and have the wedding that they dream of having. Ultimately the highest point of the wedding is when we said our I Do’s and became partners in life, love and marriage.

I think we are both in agreement; seeing each other for the first time was out favorite moment. We wanted everything as traditional as possible, so we didn’t see each others wedding outfits nor did we stay with eachother the night before the wedding. The day of the wedding we spent with our parents, maids of honor and our brides maids. The first time we saw eachother was when we walked into the room. I walked down the aisle first with my dad and then waited for NIcole’s entrance. Nicole walked down with her dad and step dad. That moment was the first time we saw eachother. It was so amazing and at that moment it became so real for both of us. It was a beautiful moment. Nicole was so excited to see me, you could see it in her face, infact theres a picture that captures it too.

We hand wrote the ceremony using bits and pieces from traditional and non-tradiotional ceremony’s. We also added our favorite poem into it at the end. It came together perfectly. We wrote out and planned each part of the ceremony. We even added a hand ceremony to which Nicole’s mom and my mom came up and joined our hands together, while Nicole’s step mom read the poem. This was a nice touch because it incorporated our moms into the ceremony where our dads got to walk us down the aisle. Without having a church wedding it’s really up to you how you’d like to do things. We REALLY enjoyed putting this part together. How our bridesmaids and ushers entered, to where they stood, every part of that ceremony was exactly what we wanted.

We wanted things traditional, so everything was very simple yet elegant. One thing we really were excited to do was the music. We hand picked our music for our ceremony and definitely added our personal touches. We used the classical song Flower Duet when we walked down the aisle and when we exited the room it was the quicker tempo, house version, of the same song. We love music, so this was something we really enjoyed doing. Everyone told us afterwards they really could see all of “our” touches in things and music was one of them. Because of our love for music, we also created CD’s as favors, which was another way for us to get some use out of our engagment pictures and show them off to people.

We had friends tell us so many things and we really listened. We made sure to step back at times and look over the room so that we remembered everything and took in all the moments. We made sure to eat, so many people say they don’t and we definitely did including the appetizers during cocktail hour. I guess if I had to suggest something to someone else reading this… Make sure you do a rehearsal, definitely necessary for all party’s involved in it. Make sure to organize your family photo’s before hand. Make sure you are comfortable with your event planner, they do SO much before and during that day. We absolutely LOVED Charles from Angelica’s, he was absolutely amazing and even let us borrow his own personal candleabra’s for the ceremony.

One thing I would suggest, if you have a drinking crowd at your wedding, see if they can open two bars or do a beer and wine only setup and another bar for cocktails. Helps keep the lines a little shorter.

We had great experiences from all vendors, the venue, and pretty much anyone who had anything to do with the day. Since the wedding we have heard from so many people that this wedding was the best wedding they’ve ever been to. It’s been two months since the wedding and we are still hearing from people about the time they had. Since most of the people in attendance had never been to a gay wedding before, this is that much more meaningful.

All images by Circas Photography

Planner: Charles Saggesse (he was the function co-ordinator at Angelica’s)
Photographer: Ciras Photography (excellent!!)
Venue: Angelica’s in Middleton, MA (ceremony and reception – rented 2 rooms) (HIGHLY recommend)
Florist: Tina @ Platinum Posies
Caterer: Angelica’s
Dress/Suit/Accessories: Nicole’s dress – Precious Memories in Malden MA (dress: Maggie Sottero) Cara’s Dress Suit – Custom Designs in Wakefiled MA (one of a kind creation by owner Florence Alvino)
Cake: Montillio’s in Brockton, MA

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• Real Wedding Southampton, MA: Tara and Robin