Francesca & Idalberto | Stone House | Stirling Ridge, NJ

“Beautiful & Romantic”

Our story starts with “A girl walks into a bar.” I went out for dinner and drinks with a girlfriend and at the time my future husband was bartending at that restaurant. He and I talked the whole night. He is a firefighter and a former Marine and I am a nurse. A few days later we had our first date, dinner at a French restaurant in Montclair. Two years later we went for drinks in Brooklyn and then for dinner at an Italian restaurant on the water. We went for a walk after dinner, and between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, I turned back to see him, and he was down on one knee!

I had been to a wedding at Stone House years ago and I remember thinking, “If I ever have a big wedding, this is where I would love to have it.” It was wonderful and the food is so good. Stone House was the second venue we visited and my husband and my parents said, “We don’t have to look anywhere else. We love it and you love it.” We worked with Michelle Ross, director of events. You can tell she loves her job and lives for weddings. She was our event coordinator and we got a wedding planner, Kristina, with Harlow Events. Between them, the brunt of the stress was taken off us so we could really enjoy the weekend.

The venue has a bit of a rustic look and enough space for us, because we were going to have about 200 people. Their food is restaurant quality, really yummy. I love the cocktail hour area, with its two big bars and high ceilings. Then, as you turn the corner by the ceremony area, there’s a beautiful indoor-outdoor space. They also have a beautiful private dining space upstairs, where we had our rehearsal dinner.

I wanted passed champagne so everybody could have a drink while they were waiting to be seated for the ceremony. We also had a box of flip flops by the dance floor, so people could change into more comfortable shoes. I always cry at weddings and never have a tissue, so as people walked in, we had little baskets of tissues which said, “For your happy tears.” We were having s’mores later in the evening at Stone House’s outdoor fire pits, so we also had baskets of warm throw blankets for everyone, with a sign that said, “To have and to hold in case you get cold.”

We wrote our own vows and a dear friend of my husband’s married us. I loved what Privet did with the flower aisle and the flower arch. Stone House has hanging string lights and all the candles behind the wall where we had the ceremony were beautiful and romantic. We had a string quartet for the ceremony and the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle to different music. Stone House was able to accommodate us for a cocktail hour and a half. We had a violin and keys playing for the cocktail hour and did our own his and hers drinks.

We had a raw bar and passed hors d’oeuvres, including vegetable spring rolls, chicken potsticker, and coconut shrimp with spicy orange sauce. We also had baby lamb chop with a dijon herb crust, scallops wrapped in bacon, and a barbecue station, a taco station, and a pasta station. It was so good!

For the reception, we had high centerpieces so people could see each other and talk across their tables. For the bridal party, we had one long table of around 25 people, with a beautiful runner of flowers draping off the side. Wreaths behind our chairs said “Mr. and Mrs.”

Our entrée options were filet mignon, Faroe Island salmon, and vegetarian lasagna. For dessert, we had s’mores outside along with the wedding cake and Stone House brought platters of mixed desserts to every table, including fried Oreos and milkshakes. We also did an after-party by the bar area. At the end of the night we did a sparkler send-off and drove away in my mom’s classic 1968 Mustang, which my dad had fully restored and surprised her with it for her 60th birthday.That too was really special.

We want to thank Michelle at Stone House, our maître d’, and my bridal attendants. Thanks also to my wedding planner, her assistant, and all our vendors. Elegant Music Group did our lighting, the string quartet, the band, the DJ, the after-party, and the photo booth. They were wonderful. Thanks to Privet Florist for the rehearsal dinner and wedding day flowers. And thanks to Paul Gobel, one of our groomsmen, who married us. We also want to thank our maids of honor, bridesmaids, and groomsmen, and both our parents and of course my father, who was generous enough to make all this happen.

Stone House, Stirling Ridge, Warren, NJ
call/text: 908.418.4186, www.landmarkvenues.com