Andrea & Frank | Birchwood Manor | Whippany, NJ

English Garden Wedding

Frank and I met in Dallas at a work conference. He works in sales and I work in management. Our first date was a day trip around NYC, which turned into an 18-hour-long day.  After two years of dating, Frank and I took a trip to Miami to watch a big game between the Miami Dolphins (Frank’s team) and NY Giants (my team). The day before the game, Frank proposed to me on South Pointe Pier! 

Since our families live in different states and countries, we decided to keep our venue near where we lived. Once we visited Birchwood Manor and met Mike Marino, the banquet manager, we were sold. The Grand Ballroom was absolutely beautiful and the food selection (which included a beautiful cake) was amazing.

Through the whole process, Mike was so accommodating and answered all our questions. We were always able to stop by with other vendors to finalize details. On the day of, Jason, our maître d’, was on top of everything and always available to help.

Our traditional Catholic ceremony was beautiful and our priest, Father John, gave a great personal homily. Our family members read passages and my grandmother, who came from Portugal, read a special passage in Portuguese. Cocktail hour was an hour and a half, thanks to Birchwood. This gave our guests and us time to mingle with everyone and to sample everything.

Butlers passed champagne with fresh berries and hors d’oeuvres such as beef teriyaki brochettes and coconut chicken. We also had several food stations, including a wok stir fry station with various meats and vegetables and a spectacular seafood ice carving with shrimp, clams, oysters, and lobster tails. What really sticks out in my mind was the lobster ravioli from the captain’s pasta station.  

Our ballroom décor was an English garden theme. The room had amber lighting, our names were lit up in lights on the wall,  and our tables were adorned with ivory floral linens. Our tall centerpieces were filled with light pink and white roses, greenery, and vines surrounded by tea light candles and pink rose petals.

Our table numbers were based on places we had traveled to throughout our relationship and our sweetheart table was very romantic, up on a stage and decorated with a floral wreath and candles. As a special touch, the pink rose used in my bouquet and centerpieces is the Ester rose, paying tribute to my grandmother’s name.

Dinner was delicious. Courses started with salad in balsamic vinaigrette, followed by lemon sorbet. We offered three entrée options: surf and turf, French breast chicken in champagne sauce, and grilled salmon in orange ginger glaze. For dessert, we had a Viennese table with cakes, chocolate-dipped fruits, mousses, and an old-fashioned ice cream cart.

Dancing was so much fun. Our playlist included a variety of songs that kept everyone on the dance floor, thanks to our fantastic band, who we loved since we watched them perform in NYC.

Thank you to Mike Marino and the Birchwood staff and all our vendors. Everything was perfect and we could not have asked for a better group of people to work with. Thank you to our friends and family for all their love and support, and for coming to celebrate the best day of our lives.

Birchwood Manor
111 North Jefferson Road, Whippany, NJ 07981
973.887.1414, www.birchwoodmanor.com