Our Wedding- Pt. 1

Our wedding on May 7, 2022 was genuinely the best day of my life. I'm happy crying just thinking about it. Why has no one mentioned that you'll be an emotional mess after your wedding?? It's been almost 3 weeks and I cry so much looking at photos and thinking about how much time and effort we put into planning, and it truly paid off.

Let's start with our rehearsal. First, it rained our entire wedding weekend (so thankful we chose indoor venues). So by the time we left the hotel to drive to Saint Joseph's University (where we went to school, met, dated, and where our ceremony was), our feet were soaked and we were freezing. But once we walked through the actual ceremony details, we went straight to Harp & Crown in Philadelphia and had truly the most unique and fun rehearsal dinner (when our grandparents and priest rave about it, I think it's a hit lol). I really wanted to stay away from the traditional sit-down dinner vibe. I love being able to mingle, and have an activity at an event. So when we were researching restaurants and saw that Harp & Crown had two bowling lanes downstairs in their speakeasy bar, we knew it was for us! There was so much seating in the form of classic arm chairs, and plush couches, I wasn't worried about anyone having to stand too long or struggle to eat while standing. And of course, the bowling was an absolute hit. Patrick was first to bowl, and nailed a strike. Our guests went crazy and the tone for the evening was set.

The food was absolutely delicious, which I knew would be most important to our families. There were fresh pizzas (my personal favorite was the mushroom and arugula), prime beef, shrimp cocktail, and so many cute handheld desserts I couldn't make it through them all. The staff was absolutely incredible, and so attentive. At one point a waitress asked if she could get a drink for my grandpa, to which we said "I think he just ordered one." She replied "I got him a drink, but he didn't like it haha." I guess they didn't have his requested frozen margarita.

I figured our my move for the night, and it worked for the whole weekend, which was to eat super early at the restaurant so I made sure I got to eat, but then had time to mingle. Hands down my best decision - worked like a charm and I was never hungry. Before the champagne toast, I was talking with my maid and matron of honor (slash best friends) when another waitress came up to us and said, "You look like the in-charge ladies - when would you like the champagne to be passed around?" We looked at each other in delight when she called us the "in-charge ladies" and kept that title all weekend.

I can't describe how perfectly this kicked off wedding weekend. Great drinks, food, and great people, all in one place. And I even bowled a strike too. Oh and they boxed up leftover pizza for us to take back to our room.

Stay tuned for wedding part two, where I cry all over my keyboard talking about the actual wedding day.