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Photographer: Nickel City Studios | Ceremony: Blessed Sacrament Church | Venue: The Foundry Suites | Wedding Gown: Silk Bridal | Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal | Tuxedos: Men’s Warehouse | Florist: Williams Florist | Videographer: Black Horse Videography | Invitations: Zoom Copy | Event Decor & Signage: Rust Belt Love | Dessert: Fairy Cakes | Ceremony music: Kristen Puglisi violinist and Mark Mazur pianist | DJ: James Dovey | Hair: Patrick Higgins | Make up: Jaime Ruggiero | Limousine: Advantage Limo | Cigars: Virgil Avenue Tobacconist
Bobby and I met about eight or nine years ago through a mutual friend. I remember when I first saw him, I thought he was so cute and so nice, but he was unavailable. Throughout the years, I would ask our mutual friend about him, but our timing was always off. He’d be in a relationship or I would be in one. Just over two years ago, I asked our friend about Bobby and he finally said, “he’s single!” I told this friend to tell him that I was always interested and that I thought we should hang out soon. Before he even got the chance to relay the message, out of the blue, Bobby asked him about me! A couple weeks later, the three of us met out. Two days after that, we went out on our first date. We have been together ever since.
We got engaged in our home last May. Bobby is a little shy. He thought about proposing in front of friends and family or at some landmark, but got nervous at the thought. Instead, he put on my favorite song (which was the song played for our first dance at the wedding), dressed up our dog in a tuxedo, and sent him into the room I was in. Following him, was Bobby, who immediately dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him.
When we started planning our wedding, we both knew that we wanted everything in the city of Buffalo. We also knew that we didn’t want a banquet hall or a venue where we have both gone to for a lot of other events. We both come from big families and Bobby owns Mister Goodbar in the Elmwood village. The friends, family, and employees we wanted to invite made for a bigger than average guest list. We looked at and fell in love with the Connecticut Street Armory. I loved everything about the space. It was so beautiful, could fit our guests, and was a venue that none of our friends and family have used before. We could also pick and choose every detail we wanted. When you book the Armory, you just book the space. It was up to us to choose a caterer, get tables and chairs, extra decor, etc. It’s a lot of work and can get pricey, but fun to build your own wedding. With 12 weeks to go till our wedding, and planning at the Armory for eight months, our reception was cancelled. The Armory is a state building and an active armory where the military holds drill. We got a call from a colonel in the National Guard saying the building had toxic levels of lead dust in it and it needed to be tested and cleaned. All public events needed to be cancelled immediately for safety reasons. I was heart broken, and stressed, to say the least. We had to cancel vendors and plan a whole new reception. With a guest list exceeding 350 and a short amount of time till the big day, our options were limited. I must have called 30 venues. They were either booked or couldn’t accommodate the amount of people we were having. One thing that occurred that was positive through all of this was that every time I called a place, the people I spoke with were so kind and sympathetic to our situation. Even when a facility couldn’t hold us, their banquet or event manager offered to help. We received phone calls from friends, family, and facilities in the area offering to help us out and call around to get someone to accommodate us. It showed how good the people of Buffalo really are. It was sweet and uplifting. Eventually, I called the Foundry Suites. I had been to the facility once before and remembered how beautiful it was. I spoke to Don Warfe, the general manager, and he said the date was available. He also said it might be tight, but he would do anything to help us and promised to not let us down. He couldn’t have been more right. He was wonderful! We rented out the entire facility, which consisted of two banquet rooms, a courtyard, a bar, and 11 hotel rooms. Don also offered the bridal suite to us for free because of all we had been through. He and his staff were amazing! They were so attentive and kind. All our guests commented on how great the food and service were. After dealing with such a stressful and disappointing ordeal, Don and his staff made the transition smooth and successful. The entire facility looked gorgeous too! In the end, the day was still perfect and everything we’d hope it would be…and more!
Our wedding was a pretty traditional wedding, however there were a few aspects that weren’t. We had a bridal party of 32 people and half of which were family members. Having a maid of honor, a matron of honor, 2 best men, 12 bridesmaids, 11 groomsmen, 3 ring bearers, and 2 flowers girls was a lot, but it gave us a chance to spend more time with our closest friends and family on the best day of our lives. We couldn’t imagine leaving any of those people out. Another non-traditional detail was that we didn’t do a lot of the traditional reception things. We didn’t cut a cake, we didn’t throw the bouquet and garter, and we didn’t have a head table or sweetheart table. We sat with our maid of honor, matron of honor, best men, and their significant others. We also didn’t really have any slow songs played other than our first dance and our dances with our mom and dad. We wanted to keep the dancing and upbeat songs and mood going all night. As far as uniqueness goes for our wedding, the locations we took our photos in between the ceremony and reception were unlike most I’ve seen or experienced. I knew I wanted to take pictures at a special, Buffalo landmark, but I didn’t want to go to the same places I always see couples go to. Sure, I love Canalside and City Hall, but I just wanted something different. So, we found a way to get into the Buffalo Central Terminal. It was so beautiful in there! The architecture and details throughout are extraordinary. The photographers, Rich and Alyssa Mattingly, were really excited to shoot in there as well. The photos turned out amazing. Another location we went to was Mister Goodbar. As I mentioned before, my husband is the owner. He closed the bar for the day so he could invite all his employees to attend the wedding. With the bar being empty, we took advantage and spent some time there. It’s obviously a very near and dear place to Bobby. And without a lot of people in it, you can see all the beautiful woodwork throughout, the copper covered bar, and stained glass fixtures. We took pictures behind the bar and on the roof.
Another detail I found unique was our table names/numbers. I’ll admit, I picked the majority of the vendors, colors, decor, etc. How the tables were named and numbered was Bobby’s idea. Both being big sports fans, we named and numbered them after our favorite athletes.
It’s hard to pinpoint my favorite part of our wedding day. The whole day was really fun! Every aspect of the day exceeded our expectations. I was able to get ready right at the Foundry with all my bridesmaids and mother, which I loved. I thought my favorite part of the day would be the reception, with all the drinks, dining, and dancing, but I really loved the ceremony! A friend of mine is a violinist. Her name is Kristen Puglisi and she plays with a pianist named Mark Mazur. They played so beautifully. It really made the ceremony. I also loved our photographers and videographers. They were so fun and so easy-going. There were no egos, impatience, or rudeness. It was a long day, the ceremony being at 1:00 p.m. and the reception going from 6:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. We also had a big wedding party to deal with. I was waiting for someone to eventually get a little short or annoyed with all of the hecticness, but no one ever did. They were excellent throughout and their work is amazing! Our photographers edited and had all our photos done and digitally sent to us by the Thursday following the wedding. The highlight video from the videographer was done by the Wednesday following the wedding.
Another favorite moment of the day was when my best friend and matron of honor gave her speech at the reception. He name is also Kara and we have been best friends for nearly 20 years. Last year, she battled breast cancer and came out a survivor and is almost a year in remission. She had a really difficult time adjusting to all the physical changes that happened to her. To see her stand up with confidence, looking so stunning, and delivering such a heartfelt and great speech was amazing. She took my breath away and brought many tears to my eyes.
Overall, my favorite part of the whole day was just being surrounded by friends and family who genuinely and sincerely loved, supported and cared for us. When they told us they were happy for us, you really felt it. It was the best feeling in the world! We are blessed with big, amazing, loving families. We are lucky to have a lot of great, true friends. We had guests come from Boston, Raleigh, Sacramento, and even Okinawa, Japan. It was all so pleasantly overwhelming.
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