Katie & Steve | The Westin Governor Morris Hotel | Morristown, NJ

 A Wedding Weekend 

Steve and I met during our first week of college at Cornell. We were in the same group of friends; he was on the wrestling team and I was on the softball team. By junior year, we went for our first date to an Italian restaurant in Ithaca called Joe’s. Over the next six years of dating, we traveled a lot together, trying to see two new countries each year.  After a redeye flight to Barcelona, Steve asked me to marry him while we enjoyed breakfast on a bench along the water.

We knew we wanted our wedding weekend celebration to be in one place. We had a lot of guests coming from out of town, so we wanted it to be easy to get from one event to another. When we saw Westin Governor Morris and met with Julie Olsen, senior catering manager, we fell in love.

The venue had so many rooms, a pool out back, and a restaurant. Everything from rehearsal dinner to the wedding to Sunday brunch after could be in a different space inside the same venue. Julie helped us plan our entire event, and was always so friendly, creative, and responsive. Julie and the Westin staff made sure we did not have to worry about a thing.

We were married in the church I attended while growing up. Many family members participated in the readings and my uncle sang parts of the mass. Julie recommended a wonderful limo company, which took Steve and I to our photo locations and our guests back to the Westin. 

A few hours later, we reunited with our guests at cocktail hour. My family is from Louisiana, so we worked with Julie to include some New Orleans cuisine. My family went crazy over the Cajun crawfish. We also had several food stations and hors d’oeuvres, including eggplant rollatini, a carving station with leg of lamb and prime rib, a mashed potato bar, and more. We also had signature cocktails: The Manhattan Mule (vodka, lime juice, cucumber, ginger beer) and the Big Red Bubbly (hibiscus infused vodka, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and Prosecco).

Our ballroom was decorated like a garden. To complement our bridal party colors, navy napkins adorned the white tables and silver bows were tied to the backs of the chairs. Our centerpieces were filled with lots of greenery and white and champagne colored roses, surrounded by votive candles.

We wanted a fun party vibe for our reception, with cross-generational music that would get everybody dancing. Damien, the band manager, and the 11-piece band, played off the crowd wonderfully, and even had friends and family whom I have never seen on a dance floor, front and center!

There was so much delicious food! Our first course was an arugula salad with pear and parmesan cheese. Entrée selections included stuffed chicken breast with sun-dried tomato and arugula, chateaubriand in garlic hollandaise sauce, or seared salmon in lemon thyme sauce.

Our wedding cake was a white cake with chocolate and raspberry filling. We also offered a plated dessert with a chocolate mousse dome. When the reception ended, many guests headed to the after-party down the hall for more food and partying. It was set up like a lounge with couches, so people could sit and relax or dance.

Thank you to our parents for their support and encouragement. To our guests who made the trip from near and far to celebrate with us, we are so grateful. Thank you to all our vendors, with a special shout out to our wedding planner Liz. Because of her, we were able to completely enjoy the day stress-free. Thank you to Julie and the Westin staff for being on top of every detail and helping us create our dream wedding.