summer2008 wedding day magazine archive

Wedding DayNEPA

CREATIVE CONFECTIONS

REALWEDDINGS!The lowdown on local brides

BUDGETKILLERS

BE DAZZLED!WHICH WEDDING

RING IS RIGHTFOR YOU?

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Real Weddings

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Janet DeNunzio & Michael JoslynSeptember 30, 2006 / Canandaigua, NYPhotographed by Stacey Ilyse Photography

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6 • NEPA Wedding Day • May ~ June 08

Virginia Speicher & Matthew BarrettSeptember 2, 2006 / Carbondale, PAPhotographed by Michael Straub

Mariclare Lawless & Kevin HayesOctober 14, 2006 / Dunmore, PAPhotographed by Powell Studios

Lori Bentler & Matthew AlgarAugust 11, 2007 / Scranton, PAPhotographed by Michael Mileski

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Lori Bentler & Matthew AlgarAugust 11, 2007Scranton, PA

NEPA Wedding Day • May ~ June 08 • 17

main campus. On March 10, 2006, Lori was at work when Matt went her apartment early and put together a scrapbook page on the computer. When Lori got home, they went for a walk in Nay Aug Park, and then Matt made dinner. The two had been to the “Bodies” exhibit in New York the previous week, and Matt mentioned that they should add the exhibit to a scrapbook the couple was keeping online. When Lori got to the last page of the scrapbook, howev-er, she saw pictures of a ring and the date of their engage-ment. Suddenly, Matt got down on his knee and proposed. Right away, the couple knew they wanted a summer wedding, so they set the date for August 11, 2007, hoping

s fate would have it, Lori Bentler and Matt Algar ended up sitting next to each other at a National Honor Society meeting when they were sophomores at North Pocono High School. They didn’t actually date until their junior year, however. “Matt likes to say that he needed that whole summer to work up the nerve to ask me out,” Lori laughs. After he finally did ask, in October, 1999, the couple ended up dating all the way through high school and col-lege as Lori earned bachelor and master degrees in occu-pational therapy from the University of Scranton, and Matt received his bachelor’s degree in supply chain and infor-mation systems from The Pennsylvania State University’s

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for a day with lots of sunshine. They also wanted to do some of the wedding planning here in Pennsylvania before their projected move to Connecticut that May, where Lori took a job as an occupational therapist at Hand and Reha-bilitation Services in Waterbury, and Matt works in the sup-ply chain management program at Unilever in Trumball. “Before we moved, I found my gown and we arranged for the church and the reception hall,” Lori recalls. “We took care of all the big things while we were still here.” After looking around at various places, the couple chose to have their reception at Elmhurst Country Club, where they were attracted to the big windows, which let in a lot of sunshine, and to the “smaller, more intimate” venue for the

170 guests who would eventually attend the wedding. The couple was married in a Russian Orthodox cer-emony at St. Nicholas Church in Scranton, with The Rev. George Dursa officiating. As is traditional, the liturgical music was sung by the priest. The wedding party rode to and from the church in antique cars owned and driven by members of the Villa Capri Cruisers, a local car club. Lori had tried on quite a few wedding dresses before selecting a strapless A-line wedding gown with a beaded bodice at Tunis Bridal Shop in Scranton. “I’m the kind of person who needs to be sure about things, and even though I liked the dress I eventually chose, I did look around at dif-ferent places. After all, this is something you only get to do


once in your life,” Lori explains. The rest of the process was easy. “Cindy, at the bridal shop, was great,” Lori remembers. “She really had a knack for putting things together. She picked out my jewelry, tiara and veil, and it was all perfect.” On her wedding day, Lori carried a bouquet of cream and white roses with hydrangea. Lori decided to let her bridesmaids choose their dresses, and fortunately, they picked a floor length design in blue, which is her favorite color. The attendants carried bouquets of blue hydrangea with yellow roses. At the reception, the tables were decorated with large yellow lilies and cream roses with blue accents. Lori’s aunt made chocolate lollipops to serve as favors for the guests.

The couple chose a simple white cake with strawberry fill-ing designed with stacked square layers. To save money, they had the baker make a small wedding cake and provide sheet cakes to be cut up in the kitchen and served to their guests. Their deejay played “Lost In This Moment” by Big and Rich for the couple’s first dance. Lori danced with her fa-ther to the country song, “I Loved Her First,” by Heartland while Matt and his mother shared a dance to “In My Life” by the Beatles. In Connecticut, the couple had enrolled in an inex-pensive community education class in ballroom dancing. “Based on what we learned, we put together something for


Ideas You Can Use•Lori and Matt’s parents put together a slide show for the re-ception, starting with their baby photos and continuing after the couple began dating, including their high school prom.•For their honeymoon, the couple flew to California and rented a Mustang convertible and drove from San Francisco to San Diego, a trip Lori calls “amazing.”•Lori’s father had a friend who put them in touch with Villa Capri Cruisers, a car club, whose members drove antique cars for the wedding party.•Like many couples who are seeking to save money, Matt and Laurel ordered a smaller size wedding cake and had the baker make sheet cakes to be cut in the kitchen for their guests.•The couple signed up for a community education class in ballroom dancing. The instructor agreed to meet with them privately to help them put together a number for their first dance.

After meeting with many photographers, Lori and Matt ended up choosing Michael Mileski, who had done the photography for her parents’ wedding. “He told us that my parents were only the third wedding he ever did,” Lori notes. “They didn’t even know that at the time. Luckily, we were all more than happy with his work.” The couple’s parents, Ernest and Dottie Bentler, and Thomas and Janet Algar, all of Moscow, teamed together to create a slide show for the reception. The program started out with Matt and Lori’s baby pictures, and contin-ued through their childhoods and to their years of dating, including their high school prom. Outdoor enthusiasts, the couple enjoy hiking, biking and running. For their honeymoon, they flew to California, where they rented a Mustang convertible and drove from San Francisco to San Diego. En route they visited Yosemite National Park and did a tour of Hollywood. They also did some hiking and kept up their training for a half marathon, which they eventually ran for the first time last October.


Lori admits that she is not like a lot of brides. “Some girls have their wedding planned early in life, down to every de-tail,” she says. “But I was never like that, and so Matt and I planned everything together. That was part of the fun. Our deejay even mentioned that he was surprised that it was the groom who called him, not the bride.” Neither did she follow the tradition of something old, new, borrowed or blue, although she did the bridal dance, wearing a babushka, which was a gift from her mother. Her best memory of the entire day occurred at the recep-tion. “Matt got up to thank our guests and our parents,” Lori remembers. “And then he made a little speech in which he called me his best friend and said some really lovely things, and that moment is what sticks out the most in my mind.” Her advice to other brides? “The most important thing is that you are together and happy,” she notes. “It’s easy to get caught up in the stress, but you have to remember to enjoy the experience.”

Lori & Matt’s DetailsChurch: St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, ScrantonReception: Elmhurst Country ClubPhotography: Michael Mileski, who was also the photogra-pher for the wedding of Lori’s parents.Flowers: Creedon’s Floral created a bridal bouquet of white and cream roses with hydrangea, while the bridesmaids car-ried blue hydrangea accented with yellow roses.Cake: White cake with strawberry filling from Minooka Bakery.Music: Joe from EJ the DJGowns: The bride wore a white A-line Mon Cherie gown with a strapless bodice and her bridesmaids wore full-length blue gowns by Jordan Fashions. All of the dresses were ordered at Tunis Bridal, Scranton.Bridal Shower: A brunch at Cooper’s Seafood Restaurant, Scranton, hosted during Memorial Day weekend.Honeymoon: California

Janet DeNunzio& Michael JoslynSeptember 30, 2006Canandaigua, NY


anet DeNunzio, formerly of Dunmore, and her bridegroom, Michael Joslyn of Baldwinsville, N.Y., a suburb of Syracuse, are busy Manhattanites with high-powered jobs that left them little time to plan their September wedding in 2006. A New York City wedding seemed too daunting, so the pair decided on a destination wedding at the Thendara Inn on Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. “Canandaigua actually means Chosen Spot in Iroquois, so we took that as a good sign,” notes the bride. “We knew we wanted something simple and relaxed, for us as well as our guests, so we decided on a lakeside ceremony, cocktails on the lawn of the inn, and a tented reception with dinner and dancing,” Janet explains. “We had also heard that their food was the best in the area, although because of all the long-distance preparation, we didn’t actually taste it until the rehearsal dinner!” Janet, a graduate of Marywood University, serves as

J Senior Manager for U.S. Communications for Deloitte. Michael, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is Development Manager/Treasury and Capital Markets for Misys Banking Systems. Both of them found that living in the Big Apple is fun, but as Janet points out, “It’s easy to get just about anything…except a soul mate.” They took a very 21st century route by looking at eHarmony. “Neither one of us signed on to the site expecting it to turn out the way it did, but the rest, as they say, is history,” Janet says. “Mike was my first date on eHarmony in July, 2004. And we pretty much knew right from the start that we were going to be together.” Although, in time, they took a few romantic trips to places like Italy and the San Juan Islands off the coast of Seattle, when it came time to propose, Mike remembered something Janet had mentioned quite randomly. She had said that if she were to get engaged, she would like it to be a total surprise, but at a place that was already part of their



Ideas You Can Use•Because of their busy lifestyle, Janet and Mike did much of the planning for their destination wedding in the Finger Lakes region on the Internet. They also received assistance from the local Chamber of Commerce.•Mike took advantage of being near the Diamond District in New York City when he chose Janet’s engagement ring.•The couple wanted to include Mike’s grandmother, who was nearing 90, so they asked her to carry up the rings. Janet be-lieves there is no rule that a ringbearer has to be five years old and male. Instead of the customary ring pillow (“which ends up in storage somewhere”), Janet and Mike used a small wooden box they bought on a trip to Rome. “We have the box in our home as part of our everyday life,” Janet says.•The natural beauty of the Finger Lakes in the fall meant the couple did not have to invest a lot on flowers or other decora-tions. They let the setting speak for itself.•Janet advises picking a great groom! Mike didn’t care too much about flowers and cakes, but he arranged transportation for guests, coordinated with the minister, Rev. Kelsey, and con-tacted the string quartet, among other wedding tasks.•Be flexible. Despite their plans for a lakeside wedding, the couple decided to move the ceremony inside because the weath-er got cold and windy. Heaters were necessary for the reception tent, but there was not a lot they could do about the mud.•For centerpieces, Janet carried through the theme of red roses, to which she added a small vine around the top of a cylindrical vase which was filled with lake stones to keep everything as natural and real as possible.


lives, and which could be visited regularly. So, one unseasonably warm Tuesday afternoon in November, 2005, as the couple strolled through Central Park on their lunch break, Mike got down on one knee, pulled out an engagement ring, and proposed in front of Bethesda Fountain, one of Janet’s favorite places in the city. Because of their schedules, Janet and Mike did a lot of their wedding planning the same way they had found each other in the first place—online. Janet remembers, “There was a lot of Googling going on. Once we picked Canandaigua, everything just fell into place. The innkeeper recommended a baker, who knew and worked with a florist, etc. Our DJ was also a real estate agent for vacation rental homes. You’ve got to love those small towns…” Janet and Mike also corralled friends and family to help. The only New York vendor the couple used was the

photographer, a friend of a friend. Then Janet turned to a relative for help. “I was extraordinarily lucky that my niece Jessica is one of the best graphic designers I know. She handled the design of the save-the-dates, invitations, and a CD that doubled as a place card and favor, Plus she was a bridesmaid and assisted with a great shower the attendants held at The Radisson at Lackawanna Station!” Jessica designed a sepia-toned invite that incorporated imagery from Bethseda Terrace, where the couple got engaged. The grapes from the stonework at the terrace tied into the vineyard feel of the destination wedding. A work colleague of Janet’s let her know that there was a bridal store in her family that was closing because of the owner’s retirement. At a private showing, Janet found “my perfect dress for a ridiculously low price.” She found that the final alterations cost as much as the dress, but


Janet & Mike’s DetailsCeremony and reception: Thendara Inn on Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York.Graphic design: Janet’s niece, Jessica DeNunzio, who did the save-the-dates, invitations, CD cover, etc.Music: Genesee String Quartet for ceremony and cocktail hour. Reception music by Finger Lakes Entertainment, Canandaigua, N.Y. Wedding party entrance to “September.” Couple entered to “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate. First dance: “Captain of a Shipwreck” by Neil Diamond.Florist: Rock Castle Florist, Canandaigua, NYBakery: Rose Corner, Canandaigua, NYPhotographer: Stacey Ilyse Photography, Manhattan.Bridal Gown: Bianchi design accented with Alencon lace jacket made by Janet’s sister-in-law pinned with an antique brooch from a NYC boutique.Bridesmaid dresses: David’s Bridal.Tuxes: Metallo’s Formal Wear, Dunmore. Alterations and lace: Sew Smart, Scranton.Wedding gown preservation: Spotless Cleaners, Dunmore.Honeymoon: Hawaiian Islands.

only because she had the train lopped off. Her sister-in-law sewed a beautiful jacket of Alencon lace to accent the Bianchi gown, and Janet finished off the ensemble with a gorgeous antique-style brooch she found in a boutique jewelry store in New York. To match the fall foliage, she dressed her bridesmaids in deep red, accented with bouquets of white long-stemmed roses, while she switched the theme and carried red roses with her white gown. She carried the red rose accents throughout the cake, boutonnieres, and centerpieces as well. “What could be more simple, elegant, and romantic?” she asks. The couple booked a string quartet for the ceremony and cocktail hour, and opted for the traditional “Canon in D” by Pachebel for the bride’s entrance. Less traditionally, they wanted to include Mike’s grandmother, who is turning 90 this June, as part of the wedding ceremony, so they made her their ringbearer. She was escorted by Janet’s brother, Bill, and, instead of a pillow, the couple used a small wooden box they had bought in Rome to hold the rings. To salute her parents, who have been married for 60 years, Janet wrapped her mother’s lace wedding handkerchief around her bridal bouquet. Janet and Mike were also very untraditional in their choice of entrance music. The wedding party arrived to the song “September,” while Janet and Mike entered to “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate. “After all, anyone who knows us knows we could never take ourselves too seriously,” she laughs. They raised a few eyebrows with their choice of a first dance, “Captain of a Shipwreck” by Neil Diamond. “But the whole point of the song is that through good and bad, we would be together. It’s actually a beautiful song if you listen to the lyrics. Besides, we figured it would always make for a funny story,” Janet notes. Mike says their wedding was probably more about the traditions they did not include. “No bouquet or garter toss, no dollar dance with the bride, and certainly no polkas,” he recalls. If she could advise other brides, Janet says, “I would tell them not to get so caught up in the planning that you forget to have fun. Put things into perspective, and take a breather now and then and do something together that is not wedding-related.” No matter how well-planned, any wedding can take unexpected turns. “When we picked the date, we probably relied a bit too much on global warming,” Janet jokes. “We ended up moving our lakeside ceremony indoors because it was too cold and windy outside. We used the heated tent for the reception, but everybody remembers the mud because we had downpours for days preceding the wedding. I probably owe all the women a new pair of shoes. Not to mention that the bottom of my dress became a muddy mess. No one will forget that.”

Virginia Speicher & Matthew BarrettSeptember 2, 2006Carbondale, PA

he former Virginia Speicher recalls her wedding as being of “Biblical proportions.” “The only thing missing was the locusts,” kids the young attorney from Crystal Lake, who married elementary teacher Matthew Barrett of West Scranton on September 2, 2006, in the midst of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The couple, who reside in Factoryville with their new daughter, Anna Elizabeth (born January 22, 2008), can laugh now, but they faced many obstacles trying to get to St. Rose of Lima Church in Carbondale for the wedding ceremony. As Virginia was getting ready at her parents’ home at Crystal Lake, someone looked out and remarked there were whitecaps on the lake, a most unusual occurrence. Her brothers quickly ran down to the dock to tether the family boat, which was blowing away. As the bride was getting into the limo to go to the church, she heard a gigantic crash. Lightning had struck a large tree in the backyard, splitting it in half. “My father just joked that he would have to have a chainsaw party the next day,” she recalls. The limos had to back into the garage because it was too windy for the bride and her attendants to go outside. On the way to St. Rose, the driver found himself dodging fallen trees and small lakes of water on the road created by the

violent storm. Virginia’s cousin, Frank Kane, who owns Scranton Rent-All, was scheduled to read the Prayer of the Faithful during the nuptial mass, but she was told that he was called away because someone was having trouble with their tents. “In fact, it was our tents at Elkview Country Club that were blowing away toward the beach and into in the lake,” Virginia explains. “Frank actually had to hire someone to keep re-staking the tents all night because they kept blow-ing loose.” Mr. Kane had averted a real disaster by listening to the weather reports earlier that week and deciding to set up the tents four days in advance, a measure which assured the ground underneath remained dry. No one could figure out how to get the bride into the church in the pouring rain, until a plucky Virginia lifted up her skirt and made a run for it underneath an umbrella. The ride back to Crystal Lake was even worse. ‘It was just insane,” Virginia remembers. “As we were circling the lake to the club, boats were blowing all over and docks had broken loose and were floating away.” At Elkview, the dining room was adorned with elaborate centerpieces--half of them tall and the other half low--filled with exotic flowers accented with green apples, which some of the guests took with them to eat. The patio was tented

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and closed in to hold the band and the dance floor, and there were four other tents erected which housed a regular bar as well as a cigar bar. “Despite the weather, we still have guests who tell us it was the best wedding they ever attended,” Virginia notes. “Once they got out of the wind and rain, everyone just had a great time.” The guests danced to music by Picture Perfect, while the couple’s first dance was to “The Best is Yet To Come.” Virginia had found her dream gown at The Wedding Shoppe in Wayne, Pennsylvania. A Christos design of ivory silk taffeta, the sleeveless gown featured seed pearl embroi-

dery and Alencon lace on the bodice. “I wanted it to look like a wedding dress--big and traditional,” Virginia says. In fact, her “big skirt” ended up requiring 14 bustle points. Her cathedral length veil dotted with matching seed pearls was held by a pearl headpiece. Unlike many brides, Virginia elected to wear the veil throughout the recep-tion. “After all, you only get one chance to wear it,” she reasoned. She veered away from the traditional with her bouquet, however, which featured chartreuse-toned cym-bidium orchids. Virginia wore her grandmother’s earrings, which fea-tured a center sapphire surrounded by diamonds and set


“The only thing missing was the locusts.”

in platinum, as well as a sapphire bracelet which was a gift from the bridegroom. For her “old” and her “borrowed” she also wore a diamond and platinum bracelet which her mother, Erin Speicher, had worn at her own wedding. Her six bridesmaids wore black silk cocktail dresses from Ann Taylor, and carried exotic bouquets of calla lilies, black magic roses, green hydrangea and chili peppers. “Ev-ery one of the bridesmaids has been able to wear her dress again,” says Virginia proudly. “After all, who can’t use a black cocktail dress in their wardrobe?” The flower girl wore white silk taffeta and carried a pomander of green pom pons centered with pearls. Matt had nine groomsmen, many of whom were his foot-ball teammates at Bishop O’Hara High School in Dunmore

and at Dickinson College in Carlisle. The couple met while Virginia was still a student at Montrose Area High School, and Matt was attending Dick-inson, where he played football with Brendan Lavin, whose family also lives at Crystal Lake. One summer, Brendan had a small gathering at his parents’ house, where Matt met Virginia and offered to walk her home. “I told him I lived nearby, but he insisted on walking me the whole 30 feet,” Virginia recalls. They began dating, but she remembers thinking it would never work because Matt was going back to college. Instead, the couple remained together while she attended The Pennsylvania State Univer-sity in State College for her undergraduate degree before heading to Widener University in Delaware for her law


“I told him I lived nearby, but he

insisted on walking me the whole 30 feet.”

Ideas You Can Use:•In spite of the “Biblical proportions” of a tropical storm that hit on their wedding day. Virginia Speicher Barrett advises other couples not to worry about the weather. “It’s one thing you cannot control,” she points out. •The bride chose to wear her long cathedral length veil throughout the reception, noting, “You only get to wear a wedding veil once!”•Virginia selected a simple black cocktail dress for her bridesmaids and points out that each girl has worn the outfit again.•She chose a photographer used by other members of her family, so she was familiar with how he worked and the quality of his photos.•A cigar bar gave additional sophistication to the wedding reception.•Virginia allowed her florist use her imagination to create unusual bouquets, including a pomander for the flower girl. •Instead of favors, the couple set up water bottles and a huge silver punch bowl filled with assorted candies for guests to enjoy on the ride home.


degree. Attorney Barrett is now a law clerk for Judge Vito Geroulo in Scranton, which she calls “The best job in the world!” Matt eventually transferred from Dickinson to Penn State’s Main Campus, and then earned a master’s degree at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He began teaching in Norristown while Virginia was studying at Widener. On August 26, 2005, he took Virginia out to dinner and then brought her home where he had roses, champagne, and best of all, a beautiful engagement ring. Without her knowledge, he had bought the ring at Ciccotti’s Jewel Case in Scranton and made a stop at her parents’ home to ask for their permission to marry Virginia before he proposed. The couple set the date for the following Labor Day weekend, to give Virginia a month between her bar exam in July and the wedding.

“You cannot control the weather, and your wedding

day will be amazing

and special anyway.”

Virginia & Matthew’s DetailsCeremony: St. Rose of Lima, CarbondaleClergy: Rev. William Campbell, who baptized Virginia, performed the ceremony, just as he had at the wedding of her parents. Reception: Elkview Country Club, Crystal LakeMusic: Roy Brehm provided the music for the ceremony. (The Processional was from “The Sound of Music.”) Picture Perfect played for the reception, where the couple’s first dance was “The Best is Yet To Come.”Photography: Michael Straub of Stroudsburg. (“He had done weddings for other members of our family, so he has become like family to us,” Virginia Barrett explains.)Florist: Rita Hubschman of West Scranton. The bride carried green cymbidium orchids. Her bridesmaids carried exotic bou-quets of calla lilies, black magic roses, green hydrangea, and chili peppers. The flower girl carried a pomander of green pom pons centered with pearls.Gown: Bridal dress designed by Christos, from The Wedding Shoppe, Wayne, PA. Bridesmaid dresses from Ann Taylor. Pearl bridal headpiece by Waters and Waters.Rings: Ciccotti’s Jewel Case, Scranton.Hairstyles: Maggie Triano, Sapphire Salon and Spa, MontageBaker: Cakes by Patty Lindsay, Clarks Summit. The five-tier confection featured lemon mousse and fresh strawberries, and was decorated with cymbidium orchids and calla lilies. Extra sheet cakes were set aside in the kitchen. Tents: Frank Kane at Scranton Rent-All.Honeymoon: Bermuda.


Although they couldn’t know how eventful that weekend would turn out to be, the couple weathered the big storm with good humor. They made a few concessions to Ernesto, by moving the cocktail hour inside, as well as the dance floor. Remarkably, Virginia says she was not overly upset. “I didn’t lose my mind over the storm, because there was nothing I could do about it,” she explains. “My biggest advice to other couples is not to let the weather ruin your day,” says Virginia. “You cannot control the weather, and your wedding day will be amazing and special anyway.” In a final twist, the couple took off for a honeymoon in Bermuda, which they found “amazing and unbelievable.” And you guessed it--on their last day on the island, Hurri-cane Florence stormed in!

Mariclare Lawless& Kevin Corbett HayesOctober 14, 2006Dunmore, PA


n Irish boy from Minooka entered the same class at Scranton Prep as an Irish girl from Dunmore, and by graduation day they had become best friends. Still, Mariclare Lawless and Kevin Corbett Hayes didn’t begin dating until after their junior year of college. By June, 2000, Mariclare was studying for her bachelor’s degree at Villanova University, and Kevin was at Fairfield University in Connecticut when they went together to Farley’s Restaurant in downtown Scranton for a drink after taking their LSAT’s at the University of Scranton. Kevin ended up asking Mariclare if she was interesting in dating, which they began doing steadily during the rest of the sum-mer before returning to their respective campuses. They graduated from college on the same day, and that fall Mariclare began attending Dickinson School of Law while Kevin took a year off from school in order to work for Congressman Don Sherwood in Washington, D.C. In the fall of 2002, he also began law school at Villanova. The couple saw each other on weekends, driving back and forth between Carlisle and Philadelphia, and Mariclare graduated on May, 2004. The following December 22, Kevin popped the question during a romantic dinner at the Settler’s Inn in Hawley. Kevin graduated from Villanova the following May, then came back to Scranton to help with Chris Doherty’s mayor-al campaign before beginning a job with the Gaming Board in Harrisburg. In the meantime, Mariclare was clerking for Judge Richard Conaboy at the Federal Courthouse. “There we were once again, in a long distance relation-

ship,” Mariclare laughs. “Because I had a two-year com-mitment with Judge Conaboy, we ended up being engaged almost two years before our wedding in 2006.” The couple decided on an October wedding, because they knew what a beautiful time of year autumn is in Northeastern Pennsylvania. “We thought it would be a nice time to showcase the area to our out-of-town guests, plus we both dislike hot weather,” the bride explains. For the same reason, the couple booked their wedding at The Radisson at Lackawanna Station. “Again, we wanted to show off a sample of Scranton’s beautiful old architec-ture,” Mariclare points out. “When you walk in, the lobby is just a wow! It was perfect for the cocktail hour. Plus, the people at the Radisson were just fantastic to work with, re-ally top notch and professional.” The couple exchanged vows at in a very traditional Catholic ceremony at St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church in Dunmore. Mariclare’s favorite moment of the day came when her bridesmaids were walking down the aisle as she waited outside with her father. She peeked inside and saw that the church was packed with family and friends, and she got a glimpse of Kevin waiting at the end of the aisle. “It really hit me at that moment that I was about to marry my best friend,” she remembers. The bride was attired in an ivory Reem Acra gown fea-turing a box-pleated skirt, a bodice embellished with em-broidery and light beading, and a low cut back. She wore a cathedral length veil that she removed for the reception, where she wore two rhinestone combs in her dark hair.

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“My dress was completely different than I planned,” Mariclare recalls. “I wanted a strapless, very plain dress, not an intricate ballgown, but my mother insisted I try this one on and we all fell in love with it.” For the old and borrowed tradition, her grandmother lent her a pair of antique earrings which had belonged to Mari-clare’s great-grandmother. After the ceremony, her grand-mother told Mariclare the earrings were hers to keep. The night before the wedding, Kevin filled in the new and blue tradition by gifting Mariclare with a diamond and sapphire bracelet, “This was after we both swore we would not give each other wedding gifts!” she says. “But I thought it was a very romantic gesture.” She chose a Bill Levkoff design for her attendants, in a strapless, A-line style she felt would flatter everybody. “I

knew I liked the idea of brown for fall, and it had a sash at the waist in pink, which is my favorite color.” She accented the dresses with bright orange, pink and green flowers. The couple, who both come from large Irish families, tried to incorporate that tradition by using a Celtic design on their invitations and programs, in the choice of music (Michele Conaboy sang the “Irish Blessing” during the ceremony), and because they ended up with 32 tables at the reception, they used the 32 counties of Ireland to designate where people would be seated. Finally, the Black Diamond Bagpipers led the newlywed couple into their wedding reception, playing traditional Irish music. For their first dance, the couple turned it up a notch by selecting “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” by Stevie Wonder to set a fast, upbeat tone to the party. “Choosing something


unexpected let people know it was going to be a lively, fun evening,” the bride says. Later, Mariclare danced with her father to the song, “I Loved Her First,” then Kevin danced with his mother to Simon and Garfunkel’s “She Loves Me Like a Rock.” At another point, the band, The Exact Change, brought a microphone down to the bridegroom so he could sing “My Girl.” This was in reference to the speech delivered by the bride’s father, John Lawless, who told the guests how he liked Kevin from the beginning, because when he would call Mariclare, he would always say, “Hi, Mr. Lawless. How’s our girl?” “My dad gave a dynamite speech, and he ended it with a poem which is called “A Parent’s Thought.’ It was very moving, and left everybody in tears,” she recalls.

If she could give other couples advice, Mariclare says, “I would tell them to remember that the most important part of that day is that you are getting married, and all the rest is just details. As long as the food is served and the music is played, everyone will have a good time, and the couple sets the tone for the whole night. We wanted it to be a great cel-ebration of family, of something that was bigger than us.” She also advises brides to hire a coordinator for the day of the wedding, to take care of all of the little details. “I didn’t want my mother or future mother-in-law to be worrying about anything. I wanted them to enjoy the day,” Mariclare explains. “It’s worth hiring an expert to take care of everything.” Sometimes things go wrong, but in the long term, but this bride knows it doesn’t matter. “It took me two months


Ideas You Can Use•Mariclare opted for a display shower. “That way, I didn’t have to open everything, which would have made me ner-vous, even though I’m not particularly shy,” she explains, “Plus, I think it gave the guests a full appreciation of the gifts because they could walk around and really see everything.” Live With It in Peckville set up the display, including place settings of china and crystal.•Her attendants set up a candy buffet featuring glass jars hand-painted with brown and pink dots and filled with can-dies which guests scooped into decorated Chinese take-out boxes and took home as favors.•The couple did not use favors at their reception, opting to make a donation to the Susan Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research in memory of Mariclare’s aunt, Nancy Lawless Grace, who passed away from the disease in 2000.•In one of many salutes to their Irish heritage, the couple used the names of the 32 counties of Ireland to mark the guest tables at the reception.•They chose a fast, upbeat song, “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered” by Stevie Wonder for their first dance, hoping the unexpected selection would set the tone for the evening and get their guests up and dancing.•They selected Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for their honeymoon destination in order to avoid any Atlantic hurricanes. •They chose both the season (autumn) and venue (The Radis-son at Lackawanna Station, an opulent restored train station) specifically to showcase the beauty of Scranton and North-eastern Pennsylvania, especially for their out-of-town guests. •In keeping with their family theme, they asked Mariclare’s godfather and Kevin’s godmother to do the readings at the Catholic Mass. •In another salute to family, they set up a table outside the reception featuring the wedding portraits of both sets of par-ents and grandparents. “We are fortunate that all of them are long-married couples who set us a good example,” the bride points out.

to realize that my wedding cake was round instead of square,” Mariclare laughs. “So many of the decisions you make are really not that important. I didn’t notice the cake at the reception, or even when I first looked at the photos.” She was a little bit worked up the day before the wed-ding when a vendor informed her that there were not enough embroidered chair covers for the reception. “I went to pieces just because I had to change my chair covers,” she recalls. “And, of course, nobody else ever noticed and the


Mariclare & Kevin’s DetailsCeremony: St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church, DunmoreReception: The Radisson at Lackawanna Station, ScrantonPhotography: Powell Studio, ScrantonVideographer: Darlene Markowski of Crystal Creations.Transportation: Antique Packard for the bridal couple. Colts Trolley for the wedding party.Rentals: Tron Enterprises for candelabra linens, chair covers and sashes.Florist: White’s Country Floral for bouquets, centerpieces, and arrangement for the place card table. Banners on the choir loft and church doors were fashioned of hydrangea by Donna Nasser.Music: Michele Conaboy and Bill Madison were soloists. Bridesmaids entered to Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” and the bride walked down the aisle to “Trumpet Voluntary.” The couple made their entrance at the reception to traditional Irish music by the Black Diamond Bagpipers. Reception music by The Exact Change. Wedding cake: Creative Cakes, Clarks Summit.Rings: Boccardo’s Jewelers, Scranton.Bridal attire: Bride’s gown by Reem Acra. Bridesmaid dresses by Bill Levkoff. Ordered at A Touch of Elegance, Eynon, which has since closed. Bridesmaid’s jewelry: Necklace and earrings by Silver on Spruce, Scranton.Wedding coordinator: Karen NealonShower details: Shower held at The Parish Center, Dun-more, catered by Stirna’s, Scranton. Invitations, place cards and table cards by The Curiosity Shop, Scranton. Display shower handled by Live With It, Peckville. Candy for buffet (used as favors) by Nibbles & Bits, Dunmore.

room looked just gorgeous.” Another blip came when the antique Packard in which the bride and her father had arrived at the church broke down after Kevin and Mariclare had their photos taken at Marywood University. Undeterred, the couple just hopped aboard a trolley with the rest of the wedding party on the way to the Radisson. “Actually, if I could do anything different, it would be not worry so much because everything seems to work out,” Mariclare admits.

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