Katie & Dominick | Birchwood Manor | Whippany, NJ

"Fairy-Tale Ambiance"

Dominick and I met when his best friend married my cousin. We were both in the bridal party and started to bond when he was entertaining their flower girl at the rehearsal dinner. After the last dance of their wedding we exchanged phone numbers and began talking nonstop. We went on our first date about two weeks later, and about two weeks after that, I was offered a job in Virginia. Dom encouraged me to take the job and said if we were meant to be, we would be. For the next two years our relationship was long distance, but we saw each other every month. Then I was offered a job in NJ and we were both thrilled to not only live in the same state, but the same apartment!

I’ve always loved Disney, and when Dominick and I discussed getting engaged, he wanted to incorporate that into my ring and our engagement. On our third trip to Disney World both our families joined us. Dom timed it perfectly, proposing just as the fireworks were going off at Cinderella’s castle.

We needed a venue that could accommodate between 250 and 275 people and when we called Birchwood Manor, Michael Marino, the banquet manager of his family-owned business, invited us to come in and made us feel welcome. I had been to events at Birchwood Manor before, and I had wonderful memories. When Dom and I went for our tour we were in awe of how beautiful the grounds were. From the moment we entered the building we were blown away by how friendly and hospitable Michael and his staff were. Their menu offerings were impressive, and their grand ballroom and gorgeous chandeliers gave us the fairy-tale atmosphere we wanted. Leading up to our big day we can’t say enough about how easy it was to work with Birchwood Manor. Michael was so excited and onboard with all our ideas and showed us great spots for photographs that fit our theme.

Our ceremony was held at The Church of the Assumption, the same church where my cousin was married and where Dom and I met. The ceremony was a full Roman Catholic mass. Our cocktail hour wowed our guests, just as we hoped! Everyone still raves about the variety and amount of food. We had a plethora of passed hors d’oeuvres, a variety of cold and hot chafing dishes, fresh seasonal fruits, cheese and crackers, a garde manger display, a farmer’s market crudité, an antipasto display, a captain’s pasta station, a chef’s carving station, a seafood boat with an ice carving, and champagne with fresh berries! Waiting for guests was our signature drink, the Main Street Electrical Lemonade.

The décor of Birchwood Manor helped bring the romance of the night together. We incorporated characters and symbols from Beauty & the Beast and our centerpieces replicated the enchanted rose. We numbered our tables by different Disney couples and the cake, made by Birchwood Manor, had Belle and the Beast in human form as a topper. The entire wedding felt whimsical, and we felt our fairy tale come to life. For our first dance, we twirled around with smoke at our feet.

Our music was a great mix, and we played the anniversary dancing game, where all married couples begin on the dance floor and leave a couple at a time, beginning with us, the shortest relationship, to the longest. Our guests had a lot of fun with that, and the large dance floor afforded everyone plenty of room!

During dinner, our guests selected between chicken piccata, prime rib of beef, and grilled salmon. Following dinner everyone was presented with a trio dessert plate that included white cake with cannoli filling, a chocolate-covered strawberry, and ice cream in a chocolate twirl cup.

We had a magical wedding night thanks to the support of our families and the amazing team of vendors! We would like to thank Michael Marino, Jason Deer, our maître d’, and the entire staff of Birchwood Manor for making our wedding everything we dreamed of. Thank you to our guests for being there to celebrate our fairy-tale wedding.

Birchwood Manor
Whippany, NJ 973.887.1414, www.birchwoodmanor.com