PART TWO: GETTING READY

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Getting ready with my best friends for the best day of my life was truly magical. It was also terrifying. I had put a lot of pressure on myself with the wedding since I planned the entire event myself and did not have a wedding planner. Knowing that it was all coming together that day and the pressure for everything to go smoothly really got to me! My biggest advice to future brides is to (if you can afford it) get a wedding planner … I think if I had one, I would have been way less stressed out! Or, designate someone on the day of to handle all the details for you and be the point person. Now, they aren’t 100% necessary, I still had a picture perfect wedding, but they will for sure help take stress of you!

HAIR & MAKEUP

We had the best of the best and we are so thankful for that! My girls were beautiful to begin with, but they looked absolutely stunning on my wedding day! I also felt so beautiful which is exactly how you want to feel on your wedding day!

Here is the info if you want to book Sarah and Stephanie for your wedding:

My Big Hair Day

Stephanie Ward Makeup

GETTING READY OUTFITS

I got my girls robes from Robed With Love and I was obsessed with them! They were so unique and a little more elevated than a normal robe! I also got everyone personalized slippers with their name and role in the wedding, they were so cute! Here are some of my favorite photos:

BRIDESMAIDS FIRST LOOK

Highly suggest doing this with you girls! After we finished hair and makeup, I went into the bedroom alone with just my mom to put on my wedding dress. This was a special moment for just the two of us, and then we walked in to the main room where all my bridesmaids were faced the opposite direction. I so cherish these photos with the genuine reactions. It was such a fun moment!

GIFTS AND LETTERS

After the first looks, I gave my co-MOHs letters and then gave each of my parents letters and gifts. It was super emotional all around and a lot of very special moments. For my mom, I gave her a pearl bracelet from The Gilded Oyster , (Code MOLLY10 for 10% off site wide), and a framed picture of a drawing of both of us in our dresses and a message that says: Today a bride, tomorrow a wife, forever your daughter. She loved them! For my dad, I had to get him a funny coffee mug about being the best Father of the Bride, and then I got him a handkerchief to put in his tux pocket about walking me down the isle, you can click on the image below to read it.

THE BOYS

Obviously I was not present for any of their getting ready time, but from the photos, they looked like they had fun! Jon gave each his groomsmen personalized cuff links and a watch from Vincero. Here are some of their photos:

PART ONE: REHEARSAL

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Friday night truly set the tone for our entire weekend. We had our actual rehearsal at the church and then headed to the Newport Beach House for the dinner with the wedding party. At 7:30pm, we opened it up to everyone staying in town for a welcome reception! For future brides, if budget allows, I highly suggest having a welcome party! Jon and I got to chat with so many of our guests and catch up so we didn’t feel the pressure to talk with everyone at the actual wedding. When people tell you your wedding day will fly by, they aren’t exaggerating! By having the welcome party, we were really able to kick off the wedding weekend with a bang!

VENUE: NEWPORT BEACH HOUSE

SPEECHES

I highly, highly suggest doing speeches at your rehearsal dinner! Not in place of the wedding speeches, but additional speeches. Don’t let anyone tell you that no one wants to hear speeches… it’s YOUR day! And in my opinion, speeches are some of the more special part of a wedding! Hearing your loved ones talk about your love is so amazing. At our rehearsal, Jon’s mom, Jon’s sister and my brother gave speeches. They all did an amazing job and it’s something we will remember forever.

PHOTOS

Your rehearsal night is also a perfect time to get some awesome photos! It also gives you time to bond with your photographers and videographers so you get any camera shy jitters out the day before!! Here are some of our favorites.

more memories…

LINKS:

  1. My dress - I am wearing a size small

  2. My shoes - Obsessed, I still wear them now post wedding!

  3. Newport Beach House - We were in the oyster lounge

  4. Our photographers - They truly are some of the best people on the planet

  5. Jon’s suit - Made from stretch fabric so it’s comfortable! (made for athletes)

BEST WEDDING ADVICE I HAVE RECEIVED

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Last week I asked on Instagram what your best wedding advice was! I asked what the most memorable parts of your wedding day were and what you thought was well worth it to invest your money in. I also asked what you think you could skimp on in terms of budget! As you can see from the below list, there are way more suggestions on what to invest in rather than what to skimp on. But I love the positivity!

What to invest in: 

  1. Videographer! This was the number one suggestion that every bride said she was so thankful she had and was their most cherished memory. Having video from your wedding is a must and finding a great videographer that will capture your day and your story is whats most important! My wedding videographer is Chris Thomas and I am SO excited! I told him the goal of my wedding video is for a random person to stumble upon it on youtube and have it make them cry (aka, super emotional, sappy video!!).

  2. Venue/Location: It’s where you are going to be all day and where majority of your photos will be taken, so loving your venue and its vibe is a must!

  3. Entertainment: If you have the budget, go for the band!! If a full band is out of the budget, find a DJ that will really help to get the crowd going. Getting people on the dance floor makes all the difference at a wedding!

  4. Open bar: Most people said the open bar was worth it! A few people also gave great advice to make it clear to the guest that the bar is an open bar so people don’t have to be awkward about asking to pay!

  5. Your dress: You will be in it all day and it will be in every photo! It is so important to be in love with your dress! I am so happy I already found my dress and I am obsessed with it. I can’t wait for you all to see it! I found my dream dress at Vows in Watertown, MA.

What to skimp on:

  1. Flowers: Most people said flowers were the number one thing to not invest as much in!! I was SHOCKED when I got quotes from florists for how expensive they are! In my mind, they are stunning, but they die… A lot of people suggested having more candles and greenery and less actual flowers to reduce the cost. 

  2. Invitations: Personally, I believe that the invitations set the tone of the wedding… but there are definitely ways to make them cost efficient! For example, websites like Minted can be really affordable! 

  3. Late night food: Everyone is dancing and having fun that no one is even worrying about eating. Focus on having a good meal and dessert and people will be all set and having a blast!

Other great advice: 

1. Guest list: Only invite close family and fiends. The night goes by so fast and you will only want people there that truly care about you and your marriage. I was given some advice that really resonated with me, “Only invite the people that you would take out and treat to dinner. If you wouldn’t buy them dinner, they probably shouldn’t be at your wedding.” 

Make sure you are following me on instagram for more wedding related content! Follow me here: @mollyjcurley

HOW HE ASKED

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I had been waiting for Jon to pop the question for the past 6 months or so. It was something that was brought up in conversation probably every few days. Jon knew I was quite the detective, so he was doing everything in his power to throw me of. He even went as far as to have a serious conversation with me about how he did not want to get my hopes up because he didn’t have a ring yet and he wouldn’t be able to propose till a month or so after Christmas.

On the day of the proposal, we had plans to meet our friends at a bar on Commonwealth Ave in Boston. We got there a little bit early so Jon said let’s walk around and see if we could find any Christmas lights near the commons. Nothing was lit yet because it was still the afternoon, so he said let’s just walk back down Comm Ave. He wanted to walk in the middle of the street though where there is a beautiful tree-lined walkway. That was flag number one for me because Jon never wants to go for a leisurely stroll through the city.

He then begins to ramble on about why we decided to move back to Boston, how much we both missed it here and he was asking me some of the reasons I wanted to move back to Boston as well. As we were walking, I actually felt the ring box in his coat pocket. Jon played it off like it was his wallet, but at that moment I knew. He then comes to a slow stop and turns to me. I said to him, “Are you actually doing it?!,” and he said with the cutest face, “yes.” He then began to tell me how much he loved me and that he knew I was the one from day one. He knelt down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.

We both honestly think we blacked out at the moment because neither of us really remember what was said. I remember him opening the ring box and being so blown away by the ring he had made. It was exactly what I wanted and more. It is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen in my life.

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One of the biggest things that I wanted for the proposal was for it to be photographed. Jon got an amazing photographer to capture the proposal and then walk around the city with us for a good forty-five minutes capturing photos of our pure joy, excitement, and love.

After our photoshoot, Jon told me that he made dinner reservations for my family and his family. When we got to the restaurant, I saw my family but then I also saw lots of phone camera flashes so I couldn’t see people’s faces. I soon realized that all those people were looking at Jon and me and it was all of our closest friends and family members.

The party was really the icing on the cake for me. It was so thoughtful and kind of Jon to plan something like that for me and to share our amazing news with the people that mean the most to us. My friends were so amazing and helpful to Jon with putting that party together, I truly can’t thank them enough.

HOW WE MET

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I first met Jon towards the end of my freshman year of college. We both went to college in Boston but were at different schools. One of Jon’s best friends from high school went to my college and Jon was visiting that weekend. That night, I ended up at a dorm party with a few girlfriends in what turned out to be Jons friend’s dorm room.

Now, this is Jon’s favorite part of the story. He had just come back from studying abroad in Australia, so he had on a University of Queensland Australia sweatshirt on. I saw him down the hall and thought he was a really good looking, tall, blond guy, how could he not be Australian? I walked right up to him and asked him if he was Australian. Sadly the answer was no, but we hit it off anyway and continued talking. The night went on and it was a typical college party night.

Due to the fact that we went to different schools and only met once at a party, we didn’t keep in touch after that first night in March. I actually ended up dating someone else later that semester and it wasn’t until June when we reconnected.

Jon was on Facebook one day in June and saw me tagged in a photo with a guy on his club hockey team. Turns out this person is best friends with my cousin and I grew up hanging out with my cousin and his friends. Jon asked his teammate who I was because he remembered me but he didn’t remember how he knew me. Once his friend mentioned that I went to Bentley, it clicked. He friends me on facebook and we started chatting on there.

After a week or two of texting each other every day, Jon took me on a date on July 13th, 2014, on the Cape after being at his friend’s house for the weekend. That date was it for us. We knew we had something special. We considered that date our anniversary for the past five years because all it took for us was one date to know we were it for each other.