On exactly May 12, 2015 – the sun was shining and I was doing the paperwork to get my passport renewed. I was planning a big trip to Paris and Barcelona and in between, swiping left endlessly on Tinder – one of the many hopeless dating apps. I liked Tinder because it was easy. Upload a few pictures and a small, crafty bio and the possibilities were endless, right? Or so I thought. Like most Tinder experiences, I had one miserable date after another. I stayed positive by making my dating life a funny story I’d share with friends and family.

I was swiping away when a profile caught my eye. Oh, he’s a boxer. That’s cool. I do CrossFit, so, I wanted to meet someone that was athletic. He was cute, but what really drew me in was that his profile was beautifully written (he seemed like a hopeless romantic) and at the very end said: “actually looking to get to know someone.”

My first thought? Too good to be true. But I swiped right anyway. What did I have to lose?
…and it wasn’t too good to be true!

Fast forward 2 years later: May 12, 2017 and I’m arm in arm with my parents walking down the aisle – sun shining bright as it was the day I swiped on Tinder – and I married the love of my life!

The details: We got married at the oceanview of nahant right outside of Boston. Gorgeous venue, really captured that rustic New England beach vibe.

Getting ready:

Getting ready was so much fun. It couldn’t have been a better day – my bridesmaids all slept over after the rehearsal dinner and we stayed up and did face masks and played mario kart. The next morning, I honestly can’t remember if we even got breakfast but I do remember one of my besties Haylee making mimosas in a coffee pot.

It was so much fun just hanging out with my girlfriends and talking and getting ready. The day went by SO fast and before I knew it was time to put on my wedding dress!

My mom is #momgoals though. Isn’t she gorgeous?

The boys were getting ready at our house. when our amazing photographer arrived at the house, us girls were already in the limo hair and makeup done and John wasn’t even dressed yet!

Our little dog daughter, Daisy.

Johns parents big boy, Blue.

We worked with local florist fleur & stitch to design my dream big beautiful wildflower bouquets. She was down-to-earth, worked with us within our budget, and over-delivered the most gorgeous and memorable flowers. My favorite thing had to be the driftwood arch! It set the tone for our ceremony – which felt perfect and so “us”.

We had a string quartet, which John arranged all the music for (fun fact: he did his bachelors at Berklee School of Music where he majored in composition and audio engineering).

We worked with an incredible photographer, andrew franciosa studio. He’s local to upstate New York where I went to high school and I’ve been creepily stalking his photography ever since. I’ve always admired the depth that he captures in his photos. he’s not your typical wedding photographer that just over exposes their photos in Lightroom. So when it came time for me to hire a photographer, he was my first choice! His photos are passionate, well thought out, and tell a story. He’s a Beyonce in a world of Britneys, people. Not only is his art amazing but he was extremely professional to work with. I would recommend him 100x over!

I love these photos of my bridesmaids and I will treasure them forever.

I especially love this one because it makes us look like we’re in a really hip girl band.

My sister Gabi sang with the string quartet. That was really special and memorable – she’s so talented and I love her!

The guys:

Walking down the aisle was like an out-of-body experience. If there’s a heaven, I hope that’s what it feels like. All I could see was John’s smiling face, and I couldn’t get to him fast enough.

My parents love John. Not only is he an amazing guy, but I think they were thrilled to have me finally move out of their house. Fact: I was living at home because 1) My parents are awesome 2) We have a great relationship 3) I was saving up to buy a place of my own!

The ceremony:

The details:

We made the escort cards ourselves. The sand dollars and starfish we got at Christmas tree shop and the little rose bud we got at Walmart. They came out so cute! I’m proud of them!

My dress:

I was (and still am) obsessed with my dress. It was the first and only wedding dress I ever tried on. My mom’s friend, miltes, has a nephew who makes wedding dresses in Brazil. Miltes, who owns her own tailor shop in Framingham, took my measurements with my moms help and she sent it back to her nephew who handmade my wedding dress. I put it on and it fit me like a glove. Every time I put on my wedding dress, I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world. My fittings went flawlessly, between January to May I lost 10lbs through a combination of CrossFit, counting my macros, and spinning (and stress, come on people, planning a wedding is stressful. Thank you stress for helping me lose the last few pounds). Anyway, if any of my married girlfriends want to have a tea party where we can all wear our wedding dresses again and reminisce about how we didn’t get to eat the cake, count me in.

Just the two of us ♡

My dad and I danced to landslide by Fleetwood Mac. This song is special to me because he would always play it growing up, so every time I listen to it, I think of him. My dad was and always will be my rock. I couldn’t have been happier laughing and dancing with him.

John and his mom dancing to Simple Man, by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Grandma ♡

I love this picture of John’s parents, Doug and Laura

In all transparency, there were a few things that I wish went a little differently. We had guests travel from all over – Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Washington D.D. – and I just wish that I had gotten the chance to spend quality time with each person that made that journey for us. The night went by so fast.

And this is so cliché but just like everyone said, we didn’t get a chance to eat our wedding cake! We were so busy running around that we only had a bite during the cake cutting ceremony – and that one bite was scrumptious! In hindsight, we should have tasked someone with saving us a piece of cake. But those are just little things in the big picture of the night that went off without a hitch.

Our wedding favors were from kanes donuts and they were a huge hit! everyone loved them and at the end of the night people were grabbing handfuls to take home. Who doesn’t love donuts?! I have three favorite foods in this world: pizza, tacos, and donuts (what can I say, I’m a sporadic health nut. I think I love food as much as I love working out).

And finally, the most magical moment was the full moon rising out of the ocean for us. we roasted marshmallows and danced under the moonlight.