The Couple: Angela & Abrahm
Wedding Date: June 24, 2017
Photography by Chris Morairty Photography
Tell us a little about you and your beloved: Abe (Abrahm) and I met in my family’s owned bar in September 2008. I had been serving in the restaurant. My cousin had been serving as well and convinced me to go into the bar after we were off work for a drink. Abe ended up buying us a drink and he and I talked for a couple hours. We went on a date a couple weeks later. We’ve now been together for 9 years. I already had a one year old daughter when we met and in 2014 Abe and I had a son. We moved in together after I got pregnant. We had talked about getting married for years. Both of us had wanted to accomplish a little more before we did. Both as a couple and as individuals. But once our son was born and we were living together anyway, I decided I didn’t want to wait any longer.
In October of 2016 I saw a men’s wedding ring in a store that looked perfect for him. I proposed to him a couple weeks later at home. It wasn’t anything elaborate at all. Haha! But in November, a week before thanksgiving, he asked me to go shopping with him to buy my ring. At that point we were officially engaged. We had always thought we’d marry at his parents’ house. They have a beautiful yard with a small vineyard in the front. But after some thought I figured it’d be easier on his parents to have it at my grandparents’ home in their huge and beautiful yard. It also holds a lot of sentimental value to me. My grandfather, who had only passed a few years earlier, and my grandmother have put a lot of time and love into their yard and I have a lot of great memories there. And since both my father and grandfather had passed away, the two men I would’ve wanted to walk me down the aisle, I thought this would be the best way to honor my grandfather.
I had originally thought we could get away with a more simple and less expensive wedding. Not only because their yard is beautiful as is and wouldn’t need much to make it “wedding ready” but also because Abe and I have been together for years and we are both older and past the “fairy tale” wedding ideas. But, being an only child, my mom had different ideas. Haha!
The planning was pretty easy. I had my dress and bridesmaids dresses ordered by December all my vendors scheduled by January and invitations ordered as well.
Our wedding planner and photographer were the most helpful and absolutely amazing to work with.
What was the most amazing part of your day? Honestly, when we chose June 24th as our wedding date we knew it could be a little hot. But we had no idea we would have an awfully abnormal heatwave! It was 112 the day we got married. Every part of our wedding was outdoors. Of course there were some guests that had RSVP’ed they were coming that didn’t due to heat. But after inviting 320 people and getting 265 rsvps of yes we had 248 people come. That was so amazing and we are so incredibly grateful and blessed to have so many amazing friends and family.
What else would you like to share about your big day? A few things…first, because of the heat, I was so worried about my makeup and all my bridesmaids makeup melting away before the ceremony! I not only met the most fun and sweet friend, but she’s also an incredible makeup artist! Our ceremony was at 6. Happi had mine, my mom’s and my 7 bridesmaids makeup done by 3 and we never had to touch up anything more than our lipstick all day/night. Everyone’s makeup was beautiful and all looked uniform and as much as we were sweating it didn’t move!
Second, our florist/wedding planner was incredible! Again, an amazingly sweet woman and obviously loves what she does. She was available anytime throughout the entire process of planning and stayed almost the entire night of the wedding. And my floral arrangements were the most beautiful I’ve ever seen at a wedding. I was very specific about what I wanted. I was able to just explain to her my ideas and she made them come to life perfectly! We had 16 very tall and 16 short arrangements for guest tables and a thick 12 foot long floral garland on the head table. There is a barn where we did the reception that we didn’t use so she decorated the doors with garland and candles. She had an arbor she made out of tree branches that she decorated beautifully with fresh flowers for the ceremony. And we used fresh flowers on the cake. My colors were a little different. The girls wore, what I call, orchid purple and the men wore, what I call orchid blue. She made all that tie together beautifully with the bouquets and boutonnières. And most importantly, the flowers didn’t begin to wilt even before brunch the day after the wedding.
And last, Chris Morairty, our photographer, was amazing! He did our engagement photos, my boudoir shoot and wedding pictures. We originally had a family member that was going to take candids of our guests throughout the night and while dancing that couldn’t make it. When I told Chris he offered to stay to get some extra pictures of all our guests. He stayed until almost the end. I am so grateful for Chris. He’s definitely going to be our “go to” photographer for any future events and family pictures.
Ceremony and Reception Site: Private Residence
Photographer: Chris Morairty Photography
Wedding Planner and Florist: Anything’s Possible
Caterer: Granzella’s
Cake/Desserts: Denise McDade
Favors: Wine glasses that said “Cheers to love laughter and happily ever after”
Bridal Attire: Always Elegant Bridal & Tuxedo
Bridesmaids’ Attire: Vera Wang
Hair: Tammy Ashbaugh & Susan Fedora
Make-up: Happily Beautiful
Honeymoon Location: We were in L.A. for 2 nights and did the VIP experience at universal studios (so fun and worth every penny) and 4 nights at Breathless Cancun. That was incredible!! It’s an all inclusive adults-only resort. Our room was almost 1200 sq ft with a massive balcony complete with jacuzzi. The bedroom had a large soaker tub a few feet from the bed and a large walk in shower. We could’ve stayed in our room the entire time. But the beach was beautiful and the three pools were awesome! We literally never left the resort. We’re planning another trip there soon! 🙂
First Dance Song: “I won’t give up” by Jason Mraz
Any advice you’d give to our readers who are planning their weddings right now? Relax and enjoy the process. My mom had a different idea for my wedding than I did. Yes it was MY wedding but even though I would’ve chosen to have a more simple wedding, it was beautiful and fun and won’t soon be forgotten by anyone. And make a list of all the picture combinations you want so you make sure none are forgotten day of. And tell anyone you want in pictures to stay around after the ceremony so nobody has to go looking for anyone.
Anything that you would have done differently if you were given the chance? I would’ve made a list of everything I needed to bring from home. I forgot a few fairly important things. Luckily my house was close enough to my grandparents for a friend to go get some of what I had forgotten. But a couple things didn’t make it. It didn’t ruin my day. But I definitely would’ve preferred they had been there.
Blog post by Real Weddings Magazine’s Social Media Maven, Aimee Carroll.
Photos courtesy of Chris Morairty Photography.
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