It is hard to believe that this day has come and passed, almost 2 years ago Caitlin called me about her recent engagement and wanting me to capture her wedding day. She already nailed down all of the essentials  when planning a wedding.  Caitlin and Anthony’s day was filled with so much love, laughter and family. Everything was planned to a T and it was my first semi choreographed first look which was fun and unique. I wish you nothing but the best and can’t wait to see your family grow! Congrats!

Love & Joy

Siobhan

Anthony and Caitlin met at work. Anthony moved down to New Jersey in 2011 to pursue an internship which later turned into an Accounting role at EducationDynamics. Caitlin arrived about a year later to take on an Executive Assistant position at the same company. Anthony thought Caitlin was old and Caitlin thought Anthony was annoying — however, an attraction remained obvious. For the next year they would have a “hot and cold” friendship. Some weeks they’d say nothing to each other at all, while others weeks would be spent having picnics and bike riding in Central Park, sipping hot chocolate at Serendipity, or taking rides down to the beach on the Jersey Shore. Something always brought them back to each other.

One summer morning, Caitlin found out that Anthony was leaving the company and Caitlin’s initial reaction was, “He can’t leave me.” It was only a month later before Caitlin and Anthony were in a committed relationship and only two weeks after that when “I love yous” were exchanged.

Just eight months later, they moved up to the Boston area into their very first apartment together. They even got a cat named Coco who they love and hate, depending on the day. Anthony is a Senior Financial Analyst at Liberty Mutual in Boston and Caitlin is an Executive Assistant at Constant Contact in Waltham. During the next three years, they watched a lot of Netflix, traveled to Punta Cana, Cancun, Arizona, North Carolina, Orlando, Denver, and Chicago, took a hot air balloon ride over a desert, spent most of their weekends traveling back and forth between Connecticut and Maine seeing their families, saw many of their friends get married, attended sporting events and concerts, and Anthony even made Caitlin start saving for her retirement. They built a life together, and a very happy one at that!

While celebrating Caitlin’s 28th birthday in Newport, Rhode Island, Anthony got down on one knee at The Elms Mansion (Caitlin’s favorite place in the world) and asked Caitlin to be his wife. She said YES (obviously) and they got busy planning a wedding.

While most of Anthony’s family resides in Maine, the Pine Tree state is a very special place to Caitlin. She spent many vacations with her family there and it was particularly a place where she spent quality time with her late grandmother, Joyce. Sometimes, it’s crazy to think that Anthony was just fifteen minutes away from Caitlin’s childhood playground and they found each other in New Jersey. Things truly happen for a reason!

Our first look. We semi-choreographed it to a song called “Give into me” and it was just perfect. The song was originally going to be our first dance song but we decided to repurpose it for this moment.  We both were nervous and anxious to see each other. We had our immediate families and wedding party in the back of the room to watch on because let’s face it, the best moment of a wedding is when the groom sees the bride and I wasn’t going to rob them of witnessing that moment. My father walked me halfway down the aisle and I gave him a kiss and continued forward to Anthony, symbolizing the letting go of the first man I loved, to my soon to be husband. It was incredible.

For both of us it was getting our attire for the day. Caitlin went out to a local shop in MA who only takes one bride at a time so you had the entire shop to yourself (Dreams Bridal, Sudbury, MA). We went one year to the day of my wedding and all my bridesmaids flew in from all over the US to be there. My mom and my husbands mom came too. It was just a blessing to have everyone together for that. Anthony went to Alton Lane on Newburyport Street in Boston to make a custom suit from scratch – and I was there to help him. We drank beer and whisky while designing each part of his suit from what type of lining, cuff style, and material used to construct his suit. He looked like a “G” on the day and I couldn’t have been happier with my dress choice!

1) Wait to send out your Save the Dates or don’t send them at all if it’s a local wedding. If it’s local, just tell your family the date and have them spread the word. We didn’t even do them and we saved ourself at least $300. The only save the dates worth doing in my book are magnets because guests tend to lose or throw away paper. My advice is to wait at least 3 months (if time allows) before sending them if you going to. So many friends come out of the woodwork when you get engaged to wish you congratulations and that doesn’t mean that you need to invite everyone who reaches out to you. Our general rule was that if you don’t talk to them on a regular basis or at least once every six months, it doesn’t warrant an invitation. Weddings are too expensive these days to invite everyone. Some people are just happy seeing pictures.

2) Journal. Take time from time to time to write down your journey to the alter. You quickly forget things and it’s so cool to look back and read the stuff that happened the days leading up to the big day.

3) Have a longer engagement. There is no rush – you’re going to get married and spend forever with your significant other anyways. Anthony and I had 18 months to plan, organize and save money and we are so thankful. We weren’t stressed or doing last minute wedding projects days before the wedding and we started off our marriage with money in our savings.

4) sorry, I can’t help myself LOL. Make a project list and assign yourself 2-4 projects a month to complete. There are SO many small things to take care of from writing out thoughtful cards to your Bridal party, to parent gifts, to signage to decor to booking your vendors. I took basically one project a week and by the time May 1 hit, I was done besides my escort cards. I was able to relax and just enjoy the last 20 days of our engagement.