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"Joe and I met on our first day of school at The Culinary Institute of America. We became inseparable and dated throughout the entire program. After completing our degrees, Joe moved back to his hometown in Massachusetts, and I went with him. He was working as the executive chef at his father’s restaurant, and I took a position as a manager for a steak house in Boston.
"Five years later, Joe took me out for my birthday dinner, and held off giving me gifts until our day off together. I thought I was getting a puppy. When he said it was finally time for presents, I closed my eyes and held out my hands expecting something warm and cuddly. Instead, when I opened my eyes, Joe was down on one knee holding open my ring box. I was in total shock. I barely even knew what to do. After a few minutes, I screeched yes!
"We decided that we would wait a year to have our wedding. During the first year of our engagement we bought our first house together, finally got the puppy, and set the date for our wedding.
"We knew our wedding would take place in my home state of New Jersey. Both being graduates of CIA and working in restaurants our entire lives, there was no way the food could be average. It needed to be perfect. After visiting The Nassau Inn, located in Princeton, and seeing their Prince William ballroom, we were in love.
"We met with Marianne Bilski, the director of catering. She couldn’t have been more helpful or professional. She held our hands that year throughout all our planning, and made each step of the process stress-free and enjoyable. Each and every detail was taken care of.
"Marianne introduced us to the idea of taking our wedding to the next level, by turning our evening event into a weekend celebration. Many relatives from both our families were coming in from out of town, and they all were able to stay in Nassau Inn’s beautiful accommodations. Also, by having all the shops and attractions around the Inn, it was like having our wedding in a big city. We also had our ceremony at the Inn, which enabled us to blend our Christian and Jewish backgrounds into one ceremony.
"To choose our menu, Marianne set up an amazing tasting, and we sampled just about everything they had to offer. It just kept getting more and more delicious! Joe and I wanted the evening to begin with a lovely cocktail party, then move into feeling like a dinner party, rather than a formal wedding. At our cocktail hour we had several passed hors d’oeuvres, including kalamata olive tarts, sesame chicken with Thai chili sauce, grilled lamb chops with teriyaki mustard sauce, and fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and pesto on crostini. "At our reception, our florist used lots of candlelight and elegant arrangements of hydrangeas and ivory roses. For dinner, our guests dined on a delicious five-course menu prepared by Nassau Inn’s executive chef, Paul Taylor, including a seared medallion of venison over wilted arugula, a blackberry cabernet sorbet intermezzo, and a choice of peppered duck breast with an orange and sun-dried cherry sauce, chicken Française with lemon sauce, and sea bass with roasted vegetable tapenade. After dinner, we danced the night away.
"The next morning, Nassau Inn created a beautiful buffet breakfast for our guests staying at the Inn. It was the perfect ending to our wedding weekend. The Nassau Inn and its entire staff are amazing. Our wedding weekend was exactly what we had imagined and we’re extremely grateful for everyone involved in turning our vision into reality."
Nassau Inn
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