I do believe that fate brings people together no matter what the circumstances are – if it’s their time to cross paths it’ll happen. If anything’s meant to be, it will be. Now, Michael and Lauren’s story is just the proof of that. If it weren’t for that elevator ride, I wouldn’t have written this feature for today. We wouldn’t have been able to witness this beautiful wedding. I love stories like this. Even better than novels because you know it happened in real life. Here goes the hopeless romantic in me. I should stop myself while I still can. Go on and read the rest of the story from the beautiful bride, Lauren.
Our Story:
To start off, I grew up in the small town of Red Hook in upstate NY about 2 1/2 hours North of Manhattan. Mike grew up in Bethesda, MD, which is about a 25 min drive from Washington DC. Mike and I crossed paths one sunny day moving into Enterprise Hall while back at our alma mater, Hofstra University in Long Island, NY a long, long time ago back in 2006. According to Mike, when I walked by him he thought “I need to get that girl’s digits”. A few weeks passed, and we ran into each other in the elevator in our building. It was the perfect time to meet! It was pouring out, so I decided to hitch a ride with Mike to the student center. It was a brief meeting, but he did get my name and number, and we both knew that we would see each other again. If we didn’t end up in that same elevator at the same time, I don’t know where we would be today!
Mike conveniently ended up living only a few floors above me, and we would chat back and forth on AOL instant messenger daily exchanging jokes and funny youtube links. He went by the screen name “nyknickslova”. Who knew at the time that I would end up being his actual LOVA and spending our lives together?! We ended up going on a double date with mutual friends and knew right off the bat that our personalities clicked, and we had the same sense of humor. We spent more and more time together and realized this was something we both wanted to invest in. Now eight years later Mike and I both reside in NYC and are in love with our tabby cat, Troy. We are both huge foodies – love trying new restaurants, love ethnic food especially Ethiopian and most of all love a good NY bagel with lox (Barney Greengrass is our favorite!). We love to bike – on a nice day you can find us biking from our apartment on the Upper East Side all the way around the border of Manhattan. We love live music, especially live jazz and love going to comedy shows, museums and are pretty much always up for anything!
The Theme:
Shabby Chic
The Wedding Details:
Before we started planning our wedding, we were clueless about venues, but 100% knew we wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of NYC living and plan a relaxing destination wedding that was also a little vacation for all of our friends and family. A big piece of both of our hearts is in Florida. Mike grew up vacationing in Florida with his mother, father, brother and grandparents. His family has always owned a condo on South Ocean Blvd in Palm Beach, and once Mike and I started becoming serious he would take me to Florida on vacations and I instantly fell in love! It’s honestly our home away from home!
It’s a funny story how we ended up at The Hillsboro Club. Our initial goal was to have the wedding in Palm Beach because of all of the sentimental value it has in out hearts. But after looking at so many venues that weren’t really our taste, we stumbled upon Hillsboro. We hired Joni Scalzo (Your Special Day by Joni) as our planner, and after she showed us the venues in Palm Beach, she quickly picked up on my style. We were presented the idea of the Hillsboro Club. With it being only about 40 min from Palm Beach we thought “What do we have to lose?!” It sounded very appealing and not knowing much about it, we took a drive there.
As soon as we drove into the Hillsboro Club, I almost jumped out of the car with excitement because I knew I had found the place! The thing I loved most about Hillsboro was that guests did not have to leave the premises. Everything you could want was there! We had our rehearsal dinner by the pool; guests could lounge at the beach/pool during the day and then hang at the tiki bar at night! Overall, it was a very accommodating venue. I just loved the simplicity of the club with its pop of Tiffany blue awnings and having the ocean as the backdrop for our wedding was breathtaking! We also loved how secluded the place was – away from the main road and traffic. It was our hidden wedding oasis!
VENDORS
Photographer: Jeff Kolodny Photography, Inc
Cinema and Video: Artistry Wedding Films
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bill Levkoff
Floral Designer: Dalsimer Atlas
Bridesmaid Dresses: Here Comes The Bridesmaid
Reception Venue: Hillsboro Club
Musicians: Master Musicians Incorporated
Shoes: Michael Kors
Tuxedo and Mens Attire: Suit Supply
Cake Designer: Susie’s Scrumptious Sweets
Groomsmen Attire: Tommy Hilfiger
Musicians: Tropics entertainment
Event Planner: Your Special Day by Joni