We are so excited to share this Century House bride’s experience with you! Andrea (Andi) and Kyle had a very special wedding with us this year. No detail was overlooked during their planning process and it showed on their big day! Read on to hear about Andrea and Kyle’s dream wedding!
What was the overall style or theme of your wedding?
Our wedding theme was teal! Well, pool blue to be exact. The color was the bride’s favorite and it dominated the entire scope of the wedding. As a result of the tropical color, the wedding morphed into a “fish-y” theme. We had beta fish as centerpieces, fully equipped with care bags that guests literally fought over so that they could take home a new pet fish! The fish were named after famous Red Sox and Yankees players to give homage to our joint family cultures of avid baseball fans (Andi’s – Red Sox, Kyle’s – Yankees) The guests received baseball game day tickets with their table numbers on them as place cards. My dad’s welcome speech was also baseball themed and finished by having all of the guests get up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!” I don’t think any of us stopped singing the rest of the night!
Even our party favors tied into the fish theme. Our party favors were goldfish and Swedish fish with tags that said “It’s O-FISH-AL! We’re Married! Andi and Kyle, August 25th, 2012.” We had teal sashes on grey dresses, teal ties and a teal flower in my hair. Everything was teal!
What was most important to you when planning your wedding (food, music, flowers, etc)?
The most important thing for us was that everyone had a great time and danced all night long! We wanted an atmosphere of family, closeness and unity.
We cared a lot about the crafty and unique details of our wedding. Almost everything was homemade from the painting of fish bowl centerpieces, to the antique door window collages, invitations and place cards. We had a great deal of help from the Maid of Honor in Chicago, to our mothers in Maine and Syracuse. We had many different people doing individual projects to help out! We had help from our siblings, parents, friends, aunts and cousins. However, many of the completed projects, we didn’t actually see until the weekend of our wedding which meant we really needed help bringing it all together.
This is where the Century House staff, Colleen and Amanda primarily, came in! They really brought all of our projects and ideas to life! From the fish food table, to the antique doors collages, the costume table and homemade photo booth to the slideshow my mom made. We were so happy with how everything came together- the whole day really demonstrated to all of our guests who we are as a couple. They made the room shine in teal! It looked like every single item we had envisioned belonged there, like they all belonged together.
What other wedding vendors did you use?
Kyle and I got married at the Alumni House at RPI, where we met, and both graduated from. Being the first to get to married at the Alumni House was such an honor and Michael O’Neill coordinated our entire wedding ceremony perfectly. He made sure everything went off without a hitch.
We had Ira Morris from Rochester, NY as a photographer! He was absolutely amazing! I can’t say enough great things about him as a photographer. On top of being an amazing photographer he was very reasonably priced, so easy to have around with us all day long, and was SO FAST getting our pictures back to us!
We had Cool Cats DJ our wedding. They were great! And so fun! Our lead DJ, Todd, got all of the guests involved in the night and really led the event down the right path of dancing and partying all night long! Every one of our guests commented on A.) how great the music was or B.) how much their knees and feet were hurting from all of the dancing they did the night before!
What’s your advice for brides to be?
Take this day, or weekend if you get it, to enjoy every moment! The best advice I got, from my big brother JT, I am going to repeat to all of you: No matter what happens, if they play the wrong song for your first dance… if someone knocks over your cake or spills red wine on your white dress… It DOESN’T MATTER! Just laugh it off, and smile, because it’s your wedding day! It is a day and party completely dedicated to celebrate you and your husband! Go out there, soak up the spotlight and savor every single minute! Don’t let a single little thing make you worry or stressed. Just have a blast and everything and everyone else will fall into the right place.
I just hope that every bride gets to have the positive, magical, happy experience that I got to have! It was the best day of my life, and I am so grateful for everyone that was a part of it.
How did Century House assist you during the planning process?
Colleen was very involved in the coordination of the wedding. We met several times throughout the planning process. Our relationship started when she encouraged me to attend the Century House Bridal Expo…she knew what she was doing by getting me to come! Seeing the ballrooms in person, I knew at once this was the place to get married! Whenever we talked on the phone, she was always so soft spoken and relaxing to talk to. She made me feel like she would do anything to help me make this day perfect. I never felt worried or stressed when I planned with her. Most of the time we chatted through email and were able to coordinate all of the wedding details from afar (I live in Connecticut) which was incredibly helpful. She set up the food tasting and even stopped in to check with us to see what we liked and didn’t like. Everything seemed so luxurious and special, even though we worked through a package, I still had the ability to customize things.
My father got sick this year, and we had to move up the wedding from April 2013, to August 2012. By chance of a summer cancellation there was an opening in August. The meticulous and dedicated planning by Colleen and the Century House staff meant that my entire wedding plan got moved into the August 25th opening: from cocktail hour in the tavern, dinner and dancing in the Main ballroom and after hours snacks in the East room. EVERYTHING worked out the way we had planned for April. I don’t know if it was just luck, or dedication by the Century House team, but I was shocked and so grateful that everything was transitioned so seamlessly!
There was one slight hiccup in our wedding planning, which was some confusion with our wedding room block resulting in the hotel being overbooked. This could have been a really stressful difficult situation, but Colleen and her manager, Sandy worked together to make this right for my family. They ended up getting us an apartment, and we were treated with such kindness and commitment during the tenuous process and then throughout the weekend. Their efforts and hard work to make the room arrangements for my family was a testament to how committed they are to guest services and hospitality. I was so impressed by the management at the hotel. I would recommend their services to anyone and everyone who is looking for a place to stay in the greater Albany area.
Did you feel all your wedding expectations were met?
Yes, above and beyond! I knew the moment I walked into the reception site that it had the potential to be a spectacular venue. When I saw the space transformed into my teal wonderland… it was magic!
The food was to die for. Colleen and Amanda had put a plate of appetizers at the head table which was great since they were amazing and we didn’t get a chance to eat at the cocktail hour. The Century House Salad was phenomenal and I can’t tell you how many people raved about how exceptional those scallops were or how perfect the steak was cooked! This was the most amazing food we have ever eaten at a wedding! It was so great that it happened to be at our own! People always say you never eat as the bride and groom, but let me tell you, we ATE! And man, did we have great food to eat.
Everything I had envisioned came to life! Sometimes my parents, and even Kyle, thought my ideas were a little bit crazy; it took some convincing to let me carry out my plans. But somehow the girls at the Century House knew exactly what I wanted and they made it all work! There wasn’t too much done, it wasn’t tacky and over the top. Everything was elegant and tasteful! It had so much personal touch and attention to detail, that when it all came together, I could barely believed we pulled it off in only two short months.
I didn’t have a lot of time to meet and discuss plans of where to put things, or how to set things up with the girls, I just trusted them to do a great job and to make it all work. Man, they really did it! They made everything work and found clever ways (like the tall vases to put the fish food in) to display the room to its maximum potential.
How did your wedding day go? Was it what you envisioned?
The wedding day was perfect. We got ready in the two bedroom apartment of the Century House which was exactly the space we needed for our hairstylist/makeup artist to do their work. We had grandmothers and aunts and cousins popping in on us all morning long. We were well stocked with mimosas and breakfast food and lots of good cheer! My sister-in-law had her baby Lucy, our flower girl, in the room all morning which was a really fun highlight.
I rode over to the Alumni House (a fifteen minute drive) with my Maid of Honor and her husband driving, with my mom and my Godmother on either side of me. I spilled champagne all over my dress! And we just laughed and laughed about it, good thing it was white! We made Pete give us a dirty t-shirt to use as a bib from there on out!
When we got to the Alumni House my cousins and high school friends immediately went to work decorating the get-away car while we congregated in the Alumni House library. The boys all clustered in the front room with Kyle’s family. We took pictures, made some jokes, and our individual families, and closest friends shared a last minute moment with each other, we were all were just so happy to be there!
My dad walked me down the aisle at precisely 2:00, he is very particular about timing, but right as we were about to go we were about to lose it with emotion. So I reminded him of the time when I used to work with him as an environmental engineer and he joked about how awful it was when he farts in his Tyvex suit (white bunny suit) because it goes right up and escapes out around the neck hole and it stinks! We laughed and laughed and then walked down the aisle together, only slightly less emotional then before our silly joke
When I got to the altar, it was the first time I actually looked up at Kyle. I knew if I did it sooner I would start crying. But when I saw him and our eyes connected, it just felt so right!
The formal pictures went together smoothly, we got all of the pictures we needed and made it back to the Century House so Annie (my Maid of Honor) and I had time to jump on bed! We were always silly growing up together in a small town, having our own secret adventures at Walmart and spending hours sewing and playing pool together in my parents basement, so the picture of us in our childish glory, jumping on the bed at the Century House it says it all about Annie and me!
Cocktail hour went by in a blur and I was really mad I didn’t get to try the chocolate fountain but I just didn’t trust myself in the white dress! Introductions and the first dance came next, Kyle and I had a blast! We just couldn’t stop smiling!
We danced all night long, we sang to our favorite songs, we cut our cake and then decided to dance some more! We should have spent more time eating the cake, because it was SOOO delicious and it was the one meal I did miss! But at least we got a couple of yummy bites!
We went outside with the bridal party to do pictures in the yard. We got some great sparkler pictures and it gave Kyle and I another chance to do some shots of just the two of us. We got to wrap things up with Ira (the photographer) and say good bye to him before the close of the wedding.
When the wedding finally finished, no one wanted to leave, and NO one wanted to stop dancing! I thought they were gonna have to kick us out of the place like they used to have to do at high school dances!
The after party in the pub was just what we needed though. For those of us night owls, we went right into the pub to let the celebrations continue. It was great having all of the late night snacks to keep people from getting out of hand. People ate and drank and just enjoyed the night! I think we might have even closed down that bar too! None of us wanted the night to end, and if we could have, I think we would have all been back on Sunday night to do it all over again!
No regrets! No disappointments! This was the kind of wedding that you read about in fairy tales. I don’t know how I got so lucky, or was so smart to pick the Century House!
Actually, I do. My dad picked it! When my parents used to visit me at RPI, they would stay there because they were dog friendly, close to campus, and most importantly the food and drinks were to die for. My dad and I always loved the feel of the English style tavern and it was so neat having that be a focal point of the wedding day! Bravo to the Century House and THANK YOU for all that you did for Kyle and I!
What was your favorite part of your wedding?
My favorite part of the wedding… how can you possible pick just one? I think I would have to say, my two dances with my boys.
Kyle and I had our friends, Aparna and Travis, choreograph a dance to “Stuck Like Glue” by Sugarland. We spent the month leading up to the wedding practicing our new dance moves, which was so fun. I think when we finally got out there on the floor and shared that special moment, it made us realize how lucky we are to have one another. We are best friends and we have a life ahead of us full of dancing and fun adventures, I think we realized how lucky we are right then and there!
My dance with my dad was also really special. He is getting a lung transplant sometime in the next year, which is why we moved our wedding up. My dad and I are both really goofy, and we both love to dance. So when it came time to pick a song he really wanted to do the “Dance-montage” he’d seen on YouTube. We knew it would be tough for him since he is dependent on oxygen, but we both knew we just HAD to do it! When we got out there and whipped on our Ray-Bans and danced to all of our favorite songs..man, you can’t beat that moment! I know it was a really fun, goofy memory that my dad and I will never forget!
