Some professional photos.

Our incredible photographer (Ashley O'Dell of Boston) already sent us some sneak peaks from our wedding on Saturday. I decided to write up a little overview of the wedding. We were able to have the most fabulous wedding of our dreams for a fraction of the usual costs.

From the beginning, we just wanted to get married and be husband and wife. The rest was just details. We had our wedding at the Arnold Arboretum park for free. We hired a justice of the peace for $200 (including a pre-wedding meeting) and our wedding license was $25. Once we knew that we had those things down, we knew everything else would fall into place and it did better than we ever imagined. We hired a professional photographer for an hour to photograph the ceremony and our families in the park, but she stayed a bit longer.

From there, my dress was $40 and my shoes were $40. My husband wore a beautiful suit. We will be able to wear these things many time in the future (and remember our wedding day fondly when we do!).

For the flowers, we got really lucky. We were going to make our own bouquets (my mother and mother in law were going to help me). When we got to our supermarket the night before the wedding, they had already made bridesmaid bouquets for $12. It was yet another omen that everything would fall into place.

We invited immediate family on both sides (10 adult guests and 2 children). We told them they could wear anything they would feel comfortable in. The park was beautiful and everything was blooming. We chose the perfect spot and the weather was favorable (although a bit humid!). The ceremony was wonderful and very emotional.

We took photographs in the park and then we went to the Oak Room, where we made reservations for a private room for $100. When we arrived, there were signs up pointing our guests to "Nathan and Jane's Wedding". We chose a 3 course menu for $55 per person (with two appetizer options, 4 main meal options, and two dessert options). The staff went above and beyond to make the lunch extremely special. The menus were personalized with "Nathan and Jane's Wedding". The service was above and beyond (but that's what happens at these fancy restaurants). They even personalized our desserts. Everything was fantastic. The day was perfect in every single way.

My advice for any brides is to take it easy, to enjoy the wedding and to not freak out over the details. It was these things that made this day better than I ever imagined and I will never, ever forget it.

Wedding 05/26/07

Our wedding was incredible. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Everything worked out better than expected and we had a beautiful, intimate time with our families.

These are just some of the photographs our family members took throughout the day.

Our ceremony at the Arnold Arboretum park:







Our families:





My sister, my sister-in-laws, and myself.



My siblings:





After the park we headed to the Oak Room where we booked a private room for $100. The price was $55 p/p. We had a menu with three courses and several options for our guests.



Appetizers (crab cakes or jumbo shrimp cocktail)





The main meals were harder to take photographs of because everyone dug in too quickly, but here is the aged New York Strip:



You could also order salmon, pesto chicken or Maine lobster salad.

And our beautiful desserts:





When we got to the hotel, our suite wasn't ready so we all got free drinks at the restaurant. That was one of the best parts!

Our wedding

We planned a wedding that we thought fit our personalities best: an intimate wedding with immediate family present (10 adult guests and two children). Our wedding is less than 2 weeks away and this is what we have so far.

The insanely in love couple:



We're getting married in the Arnold Arboretum in the morning.

Our Justice of the Peace is a wonderful woman named Phyllis Blotner. I highly, highly recommend her to anyone in the area. $200 (including a meeting before the wedding).

http://www.phyllisblotnerjp.com/

We hired Ashley O'Dell to do our wedding photography for a couple of hours in the park. She's extremely kind and agreed to do it for $200.

http://aodell.com/

After the ceremony, we booked the Wine Room (a private room) at the Oak Room. For $55, each person is going to get to choose one of two appetizers (jumbo shrimp cocktail or crab cakes), from one of four entrees (aged steak, salmon filet, pesto chicken or Maine lobster salad), a dessert, and coffee or tea.



http://theoakroom.com/

We rented the executive suite at the Four Seasons and we are planning on inviting everyone back to our room. We will use it to spend more time with our families and then it will double as our wedding night suite. We're planning on bringing lots of desserts and wine to the room so that people can have some if they are interested.

http://www.fourseasons.com/boston/guest_rooms_and_suites/deluxe_four_seasons_executive_suite.html

For our wedding favors, we are planning on getting truffles in cute little boxes from Teuscher. They are about $6 each, but with 10 guests that will only be $60.



My FH's aunt makes beautiful jewelry and she is creating three bracelets. They will be gifts to my sister, FH's sister, and my brother's wife.







She is also doing my wedding jewelry:



She is incredible at what she does. If anyone is interested in her jewelry for your wedding or anything else, you can email her at ganesh1008@comcast.net.

The excitement is overwhelming.