My Big Fat Jersey Shore Wedding

Just over one month ago today was one of the happiest days of my life, the day I married my best friend.

I spent the week prior to August 10th feverishly checking the weather on every single weather website I could find, hoping and praying that the rain forecasted for that day would just magically go away.

All of my hoping and praying apparently worked because, on a Wednesday morning prior to our wedding, I woke up to see that not only would it not rain, but it would be a bright and sunny day.

I may have prayed a little too hard because a few clouds would have been appreciated. it was very hot that day and my dress was very heavy.

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I honestly don't remember chunks of our reception. People are not exaggerating when they say your wedding day flies by in a blur.

I want to help future Jersey Shore brides and anyone planning a big event in the area with a little run down of my vendors.

If you love looking at wedding photos, keep scrolling.

Let me add my disclaimer here...this is not a sponsored post. I paid these vendors and wanted to help future brides by writing my experiences. This is not an ad.

Since I was a kid, my dream was to get married at St. Mary of the Lake Church in Lakewood. It was my childhood church, the church where I was baptized.

I was fortunate enough to have those dreams come true.

My next dream that came later in life was to have my wedding photos taken at Cattus Island County Park. I volunteered there for the majority of my childhood, it is my favorite place in the world.

We kept things very Jersey Shore, having our reception in Seaside Heights right above Sawmill Pizza. Doesn't get more Jersey than that.

Park Pavilion is a stunning venue on the boardwalk, with amazing food.

Throughout the night, the bartenders at Park Pavilion would find my husband and me, no matter where we were in the venue, to hand us a fresh drink.

We had pizza at cocktail hour and an ice cream bar with dessert. Perfect, for a boardwalk wedding.

The hair and makeup team we hired was fantastic. Ooh Lala Beauty is based in the Cherry Hill area, I found them on The Knot. I was really pleased with their pricing and their portfolio before I booked them.

For 9 people we had one makeup artist, one hair stylist, and one girl who did both.

We started at 7 AM and we were done at 12 PM. (For those not planning a wedding, this is a useless comment, but for those that are...you're welcome lol).

Our photography team was Nicolosi Photography. We had two photographers and two videographers for the day.

Reminder, our wedding was on August 10th and we already have all of our photos back. This is pretty much unheard of in the wedding industry.

We can't wait to get our video, which is a cinematography style and we had a drone.

Our photographer sent us an online gallery with 2,741 photos, which gave us so many options for our album and to print for our house.

We really tried to have a wedding on a budget, so we skipped the party bus and went with a Ford Transit van from First Class Limousine in Englishtown.

The van fit all 14 of us, with space for two coolers, and the driver literally rolled out the red carpet when we entered and exited the van.

We have been getting so many compliments about our DJ and photobooth since the big day. Our guests have been telling us just how fun the wedding was.

They aren't wrong.

Our DJ, Starshield Entertainment, really knew us.

My husband loves Bruce Springsteen. Our first dance was to "Happy" and we had many Bruce Springsteen (and Taylor Swift) references around the wedding.

My husband casually mentioned that he loves the live 20-minute version of "Tenth Avenue Freezeout," but obviously you can't play a 20-minute song at a wedding.

Well, our DJ played about 10 minutes of the song, which made Nick so ecstatic.

For me, he played 7 Taylor Swift songs throughout the night and handed me the mic for me to yell/sing "Love Story."

To save money, we DIY'd a lot of the wedding.

My mom, maid of honor, and I made the centerpieces. My dad made us a champagne wall. I made my bridesmaids' bouquets, custom photo booth props, the seating chart, and a variety of gifts and other things.

I almost forgot the biggest DIY I did was my cake. I am an avid baker, who has made wedding cakes for friends in the past. There was no way I wasn't going to make my own.

I did a three-tiered cake with a fake bottom, the second tier was a white chocolate cake with a cranberry filling, and the top tier was chocolate with a chocolate whipped ganache filling.

Because I am a little extra, I made three other cakes.

I made a cookies and cream cake that was black, white, and gold, a cannoli cake that was covered in edible pearls, and another chocolate cake that was covered in real gold leaf.

I couldn't help myself.

I did not DIY my bouquet. I was originally going to make my own with fake flowers, but I decided I wanted real flowers so I could press them to save them.

Narcissus Florals in Toms River made my bouquet. I was gorgeous and heavy.

I was so happy that they were able to take a piece of my mom's veil to wrap around the bouquet and attach a charm I had made with my grandparent's wedding photo.

Let's get into the dress.

I only went to one boutique and I am so happy where I shopped.

Hand-Me-Gowns in Hammonton is a pre-owned dress shop. They sell both pre-worn and new dresses that were sample dresses at other bridal boutiques. I loved the idea of buying second-hand.

My mom, grandma, and maid of honor came with me. They had champagne and mini cakes for us, played whatever music I wanted (Taylor Swift), didn't pressure me into buying anything, had their entire store only filled with dresses that were my size and within my budget, and just provided the best shopping experience.

After buying my dress, I went back a few weeks later to buy my veil and the jumpsuit I changed into at the reception.

I'm a short gal so I needed my dress hemmed. I also added cups and shortened the straps on the dress. I went to Mona's Boutique and Tailoring in Brick.

This was the second time I went to Mona for dress alterations. She's absolutely fantastic.

Our entrance was pretty fun. I had Bruce Buffer, the voice of the UFC, record our intro, which sounded like he was introducing two fighters.

My husband loves watching UFC fights, so it was a nice personal touch.

The entire day, from start to finish was magical. We went on our honeymoon a few days after the wedding for a 10-day Mediterranean cruise.

We went to Rome two days prior to departure and went to Santorini, Athens, Malta, Sicily, Napoli, Florence, Villefranche-sur-Mer, and Monaco. It was perfect.