Juliette will be marrying Matt on 9th November 2019 at Ashford Estate in Allentown, New Jersey, USA. Click here to read all Juliette’s planning posts to date.
THREE FACTS: (1) Juliette and Matt met in Hebrew school when they were 16 – aww! (2) Juliette and Matt are both Jewish, but they are having a Jew-ish wedding – Juliette’s dad’s side of the family is Catholic, and they want to make sure everyone feels included on the day. (3) Juliette is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club – and she calls STG her “secret weapon” in wedding planning!
Major win: the florist!
My wedding is quickly approaching and this week has made it abundantly clear. Matt and I had some time off of work and we spent the week gathering wedding planning wins. Our major win this week was the florist.
I met and decided to use Adam Leffel Productions about a year ago when I was first beginning my planning. I was obsessed with the visual impact of the day. As I combed through Instagram and Pinterest I became a complete psycho flipping through pictures of floral arrangements, table settings, chairs, lighting and production.
So quick reminder, I have never been to a wedding. When you are researching and planning, food and music are not what you see on Instagram. Now before every Jewish mother jumps from their seat, I did make sure to give focus to those two important parts of the puzzle. We put our parents in charge of food and hired a trusted DJ for all the dancing festivities.
The right suggestion
Matt’s childhood nanny, and now accomplished wedding makeup artist, Jenielle suggested we meet with Adam. His Instagram blew me away. He had the number one thing I was looking for in a florist. He could turn a dungeon into a palace. I had seen some of the venues he decorated at and I think dungeon is a nice term for some of them. He transformed them, they were unrecognizable. Dripping in lavish florals and gorgeous lighting.
I will admit that my wedding planning had gotten a little out of hand at this point and I had this grand idea that I was going to plan my entire wedding in two months. So when I called to make the appointment they double checked with me if I really meant November 2019 because most people don’t make plans for their florist a year and a half out, whatever, sometimes you’re crazy.
The first appointment, a year and a half ago
I made the appointment to meet with Adam at his New York City location in late summer of last year. I asked Matt if he wanted to come, and surprisingly he was totally about it and actually joined me. Adam invited us into his glamourous studio so we could get down to business.
What was great about our first meeting, was that there had been a lot of preparation work done before. He had sent me a packet to fill out with my budget information, pictures from my vision board, and the type of vibe I had in mind. When we sat down he took us through building our dream wedding (side note: this was the most genius negotiating tactic I have seen in my entire life and I totally stole it to use with our families.)
My visions… then
Adam went through everything we would need flowers for, from flower petals strewn across the floors of the venue all the way to specific mood lighting changes as the night progressed. I had a lot of visions for our chuppah, I wanted it to be acryclic, covered in orchids, and ultra modern. All of the sudden, as I am describing this dream, Matt pipes in with his own vision. Out of nowhere, he pulls out screenshot pictures of different flowers he had been envisioning. Since when did Matt start caring about flowers?!
Adam was really great at managing both of our visions and utilizing a lot of his own ideas at past weddings to help us visualize. Now this is where Adam’s genius comes in because he quotes a price after we built this dream wedding double what my budget was, and then we had an honest conversation about things we actually needed, and it was great to see that kind of honest perspective and it made me completely trust him.
Flash forward to a year later and we have our follow up finalization appointment that Matt and I invited both of our moms too. I was really nervous for this appointment, I consulted the Brides Club about what they had asked their florists, things I needed to know, and any small details that were an issue for them. It definitely helped calm some of my nerves and let me walk in with an agenda for things I wanted to cover.
I was freaking out a little because while Matt and I loved Adam I wasn’t sure how our parents were going to react. I honestly shouldn’t have worried though because he was fantastic. When our crew rolled in they were anxiously awaiting what Matt and I had originally picked out. Adam expertly went through his portfolio showing us new weddings he had done, and being able to recall ideas at the drop of a hat.
My visions… now
As I am sure you can imagine everything that I had originally wanted is now exactly what I don’t want anymore. I changed my chuppah idea, I changed my centerpieces, and I adjusted what I had originally intended the look and feel of this wedding to be. When we had first started I was less concerned about the mood of the room and extremely obsessive about branches. Everything in my first pick was branch related. I wouldn’t say we have a complete theme for the wedding, but I did want it to feel magical and romantic and as always over the top.
We all left the meeting feeling giddy and excited (with both moms praising our choices and Adam!). It wasn’t until we were driving home that I felt totally overwhelmed. This is what I will describe in twenty years when my kids ask me what my wedding looked like (my mom always talks about how she spray painted some of her ferns gold).
Thank god for Matt, he told me everything he was excited for with the look of this wedding. Which completely made me laugh and forget about all the anxieties I was putting on myself for no reason. I am finally able to envision what my wedding will look and feel like. I can’t wait to walk in to the romantically lit branch free creation Matt it seems has spent so much time planning.
Click here to read all Juliette’s planning posts to date.
Juliette & Matt’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Venue – Ashford Estate
Photographer – Fred Marcus Studio {offers a free engagement shoot
Bride’s dress – Kleinfeld {offers $250 off a special-order wedding dress (terms apply) to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
DJ – LJDJs
Bridesmaids – Jenny Yoo
Flowers – Adam Leffel Productions
