Derek & Jennifer Parisi - Wedding Story
Memorable [HIS SIDE]
It's your wedding day, so everything is memorable, but since I am forced to name some specifics, here goes. The one moment I will never forget is when Jennifer finally lost it on the altar. She was squeezing my hand and digging her nails into me, and I could feel her nervousness, but when that failed to calm her she reached for my coat pocket and whisked away my handkerchief to wipe her tears away. Another piece that is hard to forget is my brother's best man speech. I have seen a lot of speeches, but none with a power-point presentation. The crowd went wild with applause and left Jennifer and I thunderstruck.
Memorable [HER SIDE]
All of the wedding festivities were so very memorable to me. We wanted to make our wedding as unique and memorable as possible. After the rehearsal dinner we held a "Casino Night" at Parisi's Restaurant with the proceeds going to a charity funding scholarships. We had many businesses donate gift certificates and products as prizes for the winning guests all while providing for a wonderful cause with a great success.
What was a riot was the Best Man's speech. He used a power point with graphs and pie charts that not only was incredibly funny and entertaining, but also so heartfelt and passionate in such a unique way! We will always remember Travis's speech.
But I think what everyone loved the most about the wedding was when Derek and I were saying our vows. The moment was so beautiful to me because this was finally the moment I have been waiting for my entire life. So hearing Derek say that he would "cherish me til death do us part" was so special to me that I started to cry a bit. Then I realized that I forgot my antique hanky and I panicked a bit! I didn't know what to do! I then looked up and noticed Derek's pocket square and I thought."Why not?" So I reached out while Derek was still saying his vows and grabbed his pocket square, dabbed my tears, and handed it back to him and he instantly placed it in his pocket. I thought I did it fast enough that no one noticed but the minute we arrived at the cocktail hour so many guests commented how cute and funny that was.
Stressed [HIS SIDE]
The stress was a trickledown effect as the wedding day was never about me, but rather this was Jennifer's big day. Our problems were logistical, as the wedding was in South Bend, but she was living in Chicago, and I was working in Milwaukee for the time being. It was hard for me to add a helping hand being so far removed from the planning, and that put everything on Jennifer's shoulders. She made everything happen by herself, and all that work came with a lot of worrying, lost sleep, and short fuses for the both of us. Having a big Italian family didn't help things, as when our small quaint wedding turned into a 400 person head count, we were forced to cut back on things, and that meant Jennifer had to get that much more creative in putting our vision into fruition. When it was all said and done, Jennifer did an amazing job as I knew she would, and all her enthusiasm and ingenuity really paid off, even if we did lose a few hairs over it.
Stressed [HER SIDE]
While it is a little stressful planning for such a large wedding; it is an amazing blessing to have so many people in the world who want to celebrate the special day with you. We invited a little over 400 guests but we could have invited over 1000 people which truly is a special feeling. Both of our families are very large. I come from a large Irish family and Derek comes from a very large Italian family. But with big families comes big support and lots of love and I couldn't thank them enough.
Favorite [HIS SIDE]
Growing up in the restaurant industry, I am programmed to entertain, so nothing was better than seeing people's faces when they saw smoke rise from the signature martini, or the Dean Martin impersonator during cocktail hour, well before our reception band and our afterglow DJ. Of course I am missing the point of entertaining if I forgot to mention the food. We offered ethnic comfort food, complete with fresh pastas, fajitas, Chicago-style hotdogs, and fries just to name a few. All that wrapped up into a reception that went until 5:00 am with people still talking about the whole day, and that is what makes me smile. The fact that our guests came from across the country to be with us and left with devoted memories, leaves Jennifer and myself to share the same brilliant memories to last a lifetime.
Favorite [HER SIDE]
I loved all the different things we did to make the wedding unique. We had purple dry ice martini's for our signature cocktail; the Dean Martin impersonator for the cocktail hour; my sister-in-law Yvonne made a cake box to hold cards that was rigged to play a jingle of our voices that said thank you every time a card was dropped in it; and we also had homemade wine placed on every table with our label on it. But I think my favorite part of the wedding aside from the vows and saying "I do" was the afterglow. We also had a "South Beach" vibe afterglow that went from midnight to about 3 in the morning to continue the dancing. We set up a tent on the patio of the reception with a DJ and special blue lighting and blue cube light up cocktail tables. We also were lucky to have Rocco's Pizza brought in to satisfy any hungry dancer. The party continued even later than that! Overall our wedding was so whimsical and beautiful and I couldn't thank our families enough for all the hard work and support they gave us to make this day the most beautiful day that I have always dreamed about.
Advice [HIS SIDE]
With a year and a half to plan our wedding we had all the time in the world, or so it seemed. We were always ahead of the game, as we had our vision from the start, and took care of the hiring of the vendors well in advance, but as the days tick by there is only so much you can do until two weeks until the wedding date. We were so worried about our vendors, as it seemed that they were not worried about making our big day happen, but the fact is, they are professionals and this is what they do, so they probably aren't worried, because this is what they do. That being said, the most important thing probably won't reign true until it's all over but relax and enjoy your wedding. Just remember you can't control everything, so items like weather or that crazy family member should be the least of your worries. The day is going to happen and it is going to be beautiful regardless!
Advice [HER SIDE]
My advice for future brides is to relax and enjoy the moment on the big day. Take a moment to appreciate all the hard work you and your family have done to make this the most perfect and beautiful day. The day will not stop for you; it continues on and before you know it the day is over. It is such a whirlwind. So take the time and live in the moment and realize that this is your wedding day and you will remember it the rest of your life. So don't worry if the flower girl is grumpy or the linens on the cocktail tables are not right, just enjoy and know that this beautiful day is the beginning of the rest of your life. Lastly, research the internet for wedding resources because most times you can buy items cheaper than renting them and selling them afterwards. For instance, instead of renting chargers buy them for a third of the price and then sell them for the purchased price, meaning you get your chargers for free!
It's your wedding day, so everything is memorable, but since I am forced to name some specifics, here goes. The one moment I will never forget is when Jennifer finally lost it on the altar. She was squeezing my hand and digging her nails into me, and I could feel her nervousness, but when that failed to calm her she reached for my coat pocket and whisked away my handkerchief to wipe her tears away. Another piece that is hard to forget is my brother's best man speech. I have seen a lot of speeches, but none with a power-point presentation. The crowd went wild with applause and left Jennifer and I thunderstruck.
Memorable [HER SIDE]
All of the wedding festivities were so very memorable to me. We wanted to make our wedding as unique and memorable as possible. After the rehearsal dinner we held a "Casino Night" at Parisi's Restaurant with the proceeds going to a charity funding scholarships. We had many businesses donate gift certificates and products as prizes for the winning guests all while providing for a wonderful cause with a great success.
What was a riot was the Best Man's speech. He used a power point with graphs and pie charts that not only was incredibly funny and entertaining, but also so heartfelt and passionate in such a unique way! We will always remember Travis's speech.
But I think what everyone loved the most about the wedding was when Derek and I were saying our vows. The moment was so beautiful to me because this was finally the moment I have been waiting for my entire life. So hearing Derek say that he would "cherish me til death do us part" was so special to me that I started to cry a bit. Then I realized that I forgot my antique hanky and I panicked a bit! I didn't know what to do! I then looked up and noticed Derek's pocket square and I thought."Why not?" So I reached out while Derek was still saying his vows and grabbed his pocket square, dabbed my tears, and handed it back to him and he instantly placed it in his pocket. I thought I did it fast enough that no one noticed but the minute we arrived at the cocktail hour so many guests commented how cute and funny that was.
Stressed [HIS SIDE]
The stress was a trickledown effect as the wedding day was never about me, but rather this was Jennifer's big day. Our problems were logistical, as the wedding was in South Bend, but she was living in Chicago, and I was working in Milwaukee for the time being. It was hard for me to add a helping hand being so far removed from the planning, and that put everything on Jennifer's shoulders. She made everything happen by herself, and all that work came with a lot of worrying, lost sleep, and short fuses for the both of us. Having a big Italian family didn't help things, as when our small quaint wedding turned into a 400 person head count, we were forced to cut back on things, and that meant Jennifer had to get that much more creative in putting our vision into fruition. When it was all said and done, Jennifer did an amazing job as I knew she would, and all her enthusiasm and ingenuity really paid off, even if we did lose a few hairs over it.
Stressed [HER SIDE]
While it is a little stressful planning for such a large wedding; it is an amazing blessing to have so many people in the world who want to celebrate the special day with you. We invited a little over 400 guests but we could have invited over 1000 people which truly is a special feeling. Both of our families are very large. I come from a large Irish family and Derek comes from a very large Italian family. But with big families comes big support and lots of love and I couldn't thank them enough.
Favorite [HIS SIDE]
Growing up in the restaurant industry, I am programmed to entertain, so nothing was better than seeing people's faces when they saw smoke rise from the signature martini, or the Dean Martin impersonator during cocktail hour, well before our reception band and our afterglow DJ. Of course I am missing the point of entertaining if I forgot to mention the food. We offered ethnic comfort food, complete with fresh pastas, fajitas, Chicago-style hotdogs, and fries just to name a few. All that wrapped up into a reception that went until 5:00 am with people still talking about the whole day, and that is what makes me smile. The fact that our guests came from across the country to be with us and left with devoted memories, leaves Jennifer and myself to share the same brilliant memories to last a lifetime.
Favorite [HER SIDE]
I loved all the different things we did to make the wedding unique. We had purple dry ice martini's for our signature cocktail; the Dean Martin impersonator for the cocktail hour; my sister-in-law Yvonne made a cake box to hold cards that was rigged to play a jingle of our voices that said thank you every time a card was dropped in it; and we also had homemade wine placed on every table with our label on it. But I think my favorite part of the wedding aside from the vows and saying "I do" was the afterglow. We also had a "South Beach" vibe afterglow that went from midnight to about 3 in the morning to continue the dancing. We set up a tent on the patio of the reception with a DJ and special blue lighting and blue cube light up cocktail tables. We also were lucky to have Rocco's Pizza brought in to satisfy any hungry dancer. The party continued even later than that! Overall our wedding was so whimsical and beautiful and I couldn't thank our families enough for all the hard work and support they gave us to make this day the most beautiful day that I have always dreamed about.
Advice [HIS SIDE]
With a year and a half to plan our wedding we had all the time in the world, or so it seemed. We were always ahead of the game, as we had our vision from the start, and took care of the hiring of the vendors well in advance, but as the days tick by there is only so much you can do until two weeks until the wedding date. We were so worried about our vendors, as it seemed that they were not worried about making our big day happen, but the fact is, they are professionals and this is what they do, so they probably aren't worried, because this is what they do. That being said, the most important thing probably won't reign true until it's all over but relax and enjoy your wedding. Just remember you can't control everything, so items like weather or that crazy family member should be the least of your worries. The day is going to happen and it is going to be beautiful regardless!
Advice [HER SIDE]
My advice for future brides is to relax and enjoy the moment on the big day. Take a moment to appreciate all the hard work you and your family have done to make this the most perfect and beautiful day. The day will not stop for you; it continues on and before you know it the day is over. It is such a whirlwind. So take the time and live in the moment and realize that this is your wedding day and you will remember it the rest of your life. So don't worry if the flower girl is grumpy or the linens on the cocktail tables are not right, just enjoy and know that this beautiful day is the beginning of the rest of your life. Lastly, research the internet for wedding resources because most times you can buy items cheaper than renting them and selling them afterwards. For instance, instead of renting chargers buy them for a third of the price and then sell them for the purchased price, meaning you get your chargers for free!
