Marisa and Dan’s Wedding Blog

Sorry it’s taken me a week to put up all the wonderful photos from my bridal shower, which took place last Saturday. The week that followed was crazy, exhausting and unhealthy (I came down with a bad cold a couple of days after the shower, which Dan caught later in the week). But now it’s the weekend again and I’ve finally had to chance to upload the pictures, which were courtesy of my photographically gifted stepmother, Karin. Check them out in our Photos section.

The shower itself was fantastic. While I can’t say it came as a complete surprise, I was nonetheless overwhelmed by the beautiful location (La Piazza in Merrick), the delicious food, the stunning decorations and favors, the diverse group of more than 60 women from all different time periods and aspects of my life who showed up to help me celebrate, and the MOUNDS of generous gifts I received. In fact, for several days after the shower, it was nearly impossible to walk through our living room due to the sheer number of boxes and bags. Luckily, we’ve finally found a home for just about everything — from the state-of-the-art coffeemaker that also grinds coffee beans, to the adorable “honeymoon kits” created by my bridesmaids, to the beer dispenser (yes, you read that correctly),  to the bird feeders made out of Fedele family heirloom teacups (yes, you also read that correctly). A million thanks to every single person who helped out with and/or came to my shower and made me feel incredibly loved.

In other news, as Dan mentioned earlier, the guys had their tuxedo fitting this afternoon at Men’s Wearhouse and all well smoothly. It’s amazing to me that Dan can walk in, choose a tux style and vest color, be measured, and be done in 20 minutes. I’d barely tried on one wedding dress in 20 minutes, mostly because it took longer than that just to pull the stupid thing over my body!

…that is, if you consider renting out an Italian restaurant in western Nassau County, packing in 75 of our closest family members and friends, and stuffing our faces with food and booze for 4+ hours a “regular old Sunday afternoon”!

That’s right, this past Sunday Dan’s parents threw an engagement party for us at Fianona, a wonderful little Italian spot in New Hyde Park. My mother and I used the party as an opportunity to test out some wedding hairdos and makeup at Paul Anthony Salon in Manhasset, which was recommended to her by a co-worker. We LOVED what they did for both of us, and will definitely be using them on my wedding day. I barely recognized myself!

The party itself was fantastic. Dan’s parents pulled out all the stops for us, presenting Dan and me with an arsenal of meaningful gifts (including the bonnet Dan wore home from the hospital shortly after his birth, Dan’s grandfather’s pocketwatch and bracelet, and a personalized fleece jacket reading “The Future Mrs. Fedele” for me!) and plowing us all with enough wine, beer and liquor to keep everyone smiling all afternoon long. Members of our families also got to meet each other for the first time, and I was finally introduced to some of Dan’s father’s relatives, all of whom were very sweet and gracious.

A cute shot of us:

And one of me with my bridesmaids (unfortunately minus the Oregon-based Christina, who couldn’t make the cross-country trip):

There are more great shots in the Photos section, although I must warn you that there’s a strong bias toward select members of my family and my bridesmaid party. If you attended the fiesta and have any of your own photos to add, please email them to us ASAP.

The moral of the story? Sunday’s party reminded Dan and me of how lucky we are to have families and friends who are so supportive and who care about us so deeply. We had a great time and it made us even more excited for November 14! Oh, and the truckload of presents we received didn’t hurt either. It took us nearly two hours to open everything after the party, and we’re still in awe of how much we got. Suffice to say our house-to-be is going to be filled with beautiful new things. (Thank-you notes are coming soon, I promise!)

It’s hard to imagine that I proposed just over a month ago, and we have so much under our belt already that I struggle to figure out what’s left. We managed to accomplish a lot just this weekend so I figured it was about time to make a new blog post.

First of all, there’s a very good chance that we will be married at Church of Our Saviour Lutheran in Manhasset, assuming of course we pass our whole Pre-Cana Inventory (the pastor, Ray Ormand, was very insistent that we don’t call it a test). Pastor Ormand was very stalwart in saying that we must show we’re compatible enough in the church’s eyes before he will make the commitment to marry us on the date that we stated. Thanks to modern technology, the Pre-Cana Inventory will be taken online, after we both get the link on Tuesday. Once we meet with the pastor a few more times, then we can make a down payment and secure the date for our wedding. In the meantime, here are a few pics taken of the place, thanks to Karin’s ninja-like photography.

The next day we scheduled time with Stefan’s Florist to get the flower settings all squared away. We had been thinking about a wine theme and after visiting a few vineyards recently, we came upon a really cool idea for the table centerpieces that reflects both of our tastes. We discussed it with the good folks at Stefan’s and they seemed to have a few good ideas themselves that they ran past us, and in the end we came to an agreement, making them our official wedding florist! (Don’t you wish we’d tell you more about our brilliant idea? You’ll just have to come to our wedding to see it…). Sadly we don’t have any photos to share, but when we go and visit them again we’ll be sure to take a few of the samples they have to show us.

And to end this blog post on yet another uplifting note, a bunch of people in the wedding party went out to celebrate Marisa’s birthday at Croxley Ales in Farmingdale on Saturday night, and all posed for this great pic:

From left to right: Eric, Dan, Kirsten, Marisa, Alan, Craig

Visit the photo gallery to view full-size versions of these pics.

This post will be just a quick update and an advertisement for a restaurant I like more than anything, but Sunday night I had dinner with my would-be groomsmen and told them who would be the Best Man. If anyone looked at the About page and noticed I had three Best Men, look again because it’s been updated.

We went out to dinner mostly because I had to tell them that Alan is my official Best Man, but also because it’s been a while since we all just sorta hung out for any reason. We went to the Black Forest Brewhaus, a German microbrewery in Farmingdale. In addition to brewing incredible beer (I suggest the smoked porter if you can get it in season), they also have German-style cuisine, all for under $20 too.

So regardless of wedding plans, I think we’ll be making it a semi-monthly thing to just grab dinner and hang out, since it becomes increasingly difficult to get everyone together for anything these days. Even still, for anyone that’s never been, I highly suggest the Black Forest Brewhaus if you’re ever in Farmingdale and are looking for a place to eat (that doesn’t sell burgers for over $25).