WEDDING STORY and ADVICE if you are getting Married

I’m Renee the love columnist for this wonderful paper. After living in Santa Monica for over 19 years I am now officially a married woman. After over 15 years in the Love business I finally met my match and we are thrilled to be sharing some of our wedding photos with our neighbors and friends and a few tips if you are planning on getting married. We feel so blessed to be asked to share our special day. I always believed in love and I hope this story and advice will inspire you. We hope you enjoy the photos and some helpful tips!

Our wedding was like the Big Fat Greek wedding but without the Pig and bad bride’s maid’s dresses. Lots of beautiful fun Italians and Irish folks with tons of food, drinks, great music…and lots and lots of LOVE!

We got married at my family home in our home town of Wilmington, Delaware (my dream since I was a child) after meeting Joe again after 20 years ago on August 10, 2002.  I was home for a wedding that had been delayed due to my mother’s sudden passing in May. (Our entire love story is on our wedding website at www.weddingchannel.com just type in Renee Piane to check it out.)

What a wedding it was! I can tell you this no one ever can prepare you for the amount of work it takes to plan a wedding and you learn a lot about each other during the planning process. Since I run singles events and used to be a bridal consultant it was easier for me than most people to get ready. Here are a few tips if you are planning a wedding:

*If you plan on getting married make sure you have some support and pick the people in your wedding wisely. Picking people with financial stresses is not a great idea because it can be a financial drain for some folks and some people will say yes out of embarrassment. Be sensitive!

*Add some extra cash to your budget for all the unexpected things you’ll need to buy. Things crop up and it can cause stress.

* Have photos and choices of things (invites, gifts for the groomsmen, flowers… with examples) to show your groom so he doesn’t have to worry about looking up so many details…most men don’t want to do all this stuff!

* Delegate a few things for him to do in advance and let him do it (photographer, travel plans, airline tickets, his calls to groomsmen…) Give him a short list let him be and don’t nag him!

* Save pictures of things you like when you see them. (Gowns, flowers, hairstyles accessories) to save you time later.

*Make sure you plan in advance especially with your invitation list since you will need addresses from your in laws and these lists took me days to organize! Other things like dress fittings, hair appointments and ordering invites all take longer than you think! All the details rapidly catch up to you and can make you cranky! A cranky bride is no fun to be around and can scare a groom and friends away! We don’t want any more run away bride stories.

*You must ask for what you want and register or you’ll get things you don’t need or want. Ask and you shall receive otherwise plan on getting some ugly vases.

*Ask friends for help and you can get things done more rapidly. One friend took my data base and turned them into address labels for all my thank you’s and saved me hours of time!

* Info source! I used the wedding website to give out info about hotels, out of town info and registering gifts so I did not have to answer so many phone calls. The more info you give the less work for yourself later on.

*Look for bargains! The wedding world is Big business and you can get bargains if you know where to go! I designed my own dress and went downtown for accessories that they sell in most bridal salons. All my bridesmaids wore what they wanted in a solid color and everyone was happy. No ugly bridesmaid dresses for my girls!

*The way you handle stress before a wedding shows how you’ll get along! For example one of our stresses was our first dance! We wanted to do a special dance for the family so we went to the best in town to prepare us 5 months in advance. It took hours of patience and a few tiffs but we felt like we were on “Dancing with the Stars” when we did our performance. We took private dance lessons from the amazing John Cassese, also known as The Dance Doctor in Santa Monica and everyone was blown away since Joe has never been a dancer, he has size 15 feet and is twice my size. Thank god for John or we might have been tripping on each other. We surprised our families and got a standing ovation.  I highly recommend The Dance Doctor but don’t wait until the last minute or you’ll be tripping on your wedding day!

*Enjoy each moment. The planning and preparation is the wedding not just the day itself. Every invite, every appointment is all apart of the fun.  Remember this is for a very important day and be present with it all or you’ll miss the magic!

*Thank people along the way! We were so grateful to every person who contributed to our special celebration and we let then know it every step of the way! All of our friends and families were happy to give to us and we appreciated it. That is what life is about appreciating life gifts!

More about the wedding!

We are very blessed with large families and both Joe (my husband) and I have 5 siblings along with hundreds of aunt’s uncles, cousins and friends. Our families like to do things large, eat a lot of food and thank God my father is a caterer!  Dad had won the nations first 5 Star catering award for the US several yeas ago so food was not a worry. There were many surprises we did not know about. When we arrived in Delaware on Sept 1st, there was a pergola built in the yard along with a Red carpet for the guests to walk down. Since my invites said “Dreams Do Come True” it was like stepping into a storybook. A huge tent was erected to cover the entire yard in case of rain (which we did not have) and the theme was a Garden Goddess and my sisters and Aunt Carmella helped me choose the decorations. We made CD’s of our favorite Love songs to give away and carefully picked each song. It was very sentimental for us to give our friends and family music from our courtship and the ceremony for a lasting memory of this special time! Everything was decorated with ivy and white… simple elegance. Our ceremony was facilitated by Reverend Luzette McDonald (a friend of 20 years) and it was a very sweet sentimental ceremony written by both Joe and myself. We had Lisa Schneiderman sing for the guests as they arrived and I walked up the isle with my father to the theme from “Somewhere in Time.”

Since my mother was not able to be there in person I was a bit sad, yet just before I walked down the isle our chimes began ringing very loudly (and there was not any wind) so I knew she was there. When I walked down the stairs to meet my father to bring me to Joe, he asked me if I heard her ringing which made us both cry. As it turns out, above us over the pergola a beautiful butterfly was flying right above us and all the guests saw it going in circles during our vows and then it swiftly flew away when we were done speaking. It apparently hovered for 5 minutes and everyone said they felt my mother’s spirit there with us. We are awaiting the photos of this special visit.

We are inviting you to celebrate Love with us as we share our photos with you and to believe in Love in your own life. I waited for this man and he was worth the wait. To our family and friends we thank you for all your love. We are grateful!

I’m going to be here helping singles with my love advice and events which is my life’s passion! Call me if you need assistance with any love challenges, dating advice or wedding consulting …I’m here to help! Call 310 827-1100 or email me at: AskRenee@lovemechanics.com 

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