Veterans have a chance of winning their dream wedding.
Peconic Landing is seeking applicants for its 8th annual “Veterans Day Wedding Giveback” at Brecknock Hall. READ
Tag: Weddings
Sarah Conlin and Jeffery Wong were married April 22 at St. Charles Borromeo R.C. Church of Meredith, N.H., officiated by the Rev. Msg. Gerald Belanger. A reception followed in the Winnipesaukee Ballroom at Church Landing in Meredith for family and friends. READ
In a scene at the beginning of “Wedding Crashers,” the Vince Vaughn character, Jeremy Grey, calls his co-worker and close friend into his office on a seemingly urgent matter.
“What’s going on?” asks John Beckwith, played by Owen Wilson. READ
Ashley Kristine Schneider, daughter of Ernest and Barbara Schneider of Cutchogue, and Michael Gabriel Rice, son of Michael Rice of Cambridge N.Y., and Suzanne Rice of Rockville Centre, were married Nov. 13. READ
RACHEL YOUNG PHOTO | The bedroom at The Farmer’s House Bed and Breakfast where couples can purchase elopement packages for a more intimate, smaller wedding.
Shortly after Joyce and Robert Barry launched the The Farmer’s House Bed and Breakfast at their Cutchogue home three years ago, the couple began receiving inquiries from guests about a service they hadn’t explored before: elopement packages.
“I can’t tell you how many couples are frazzled because their parents insist on these huge weddings their kids never wanted,” Ms. Barry said. “People have said to me, ‘Oh, I wish I could have had my wedding here, at the bed and breakfast.’ ”
Stirred by her guests’ wistful laments, Ms. Barry obtained a certificate allowing her to perform wedding ceremonies. She also set to work creating an elopement package that begins at $1,800 and includes a ceremony, a bridal bouquet and a two-night stay in one of the house’s luxury suites. Additional items, like a gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant, are available at an extra cost.
“They’re very intimate and quiet,” said Ms. Barry, who hosts three or four weddings a year and generally limits them to a maximum of 20 guests. “It’s really about the bride and the groom. There’s so much stress involved when there shouldn’t be. It should be about the commitment a bride and groom have to each other and to have your most intimate friends and family witness that, without all the hoopla.”
The Farmhouse isn’t the first North Fork bed and breakfast to offer elopement packages. Sylvia Daley, who has run Quintessentials Bed and Breakfast and Spa in East Marion for the past two decades, began offering small wedding services to guests eight years ago.
“People started phoning me about it,” Ms. Daley said of her decision to begin hosting elopements. “Or, when guests came here and got engaged, they would say, ‘Do you do weddings?’ That’s when I started learning more about it.”
Budget-friendly elopement packages are not just a local trend but a service offered at small inns across the country. At Historic Heights B&B in Minneapolis, couples can get married for $1,000 or less with a package that includes 20 guests, an officiant, champagne, appetizers, cake and a room and gourmet breakfast for bride and groom. Travel to the Bluff Mountain Inn in Sevierville, Tenn., for the Elope to the Mountains package and the owners there will provide all the requisite wedding accoutrements, plus a wedding planner, for just under a grand.
At East Marion’s Quintessentials, elopement packages range from $1,200 to $1,800 and include a ceremony that takes place in a fully dressed gazebo at the property’s “secret garden,” a wedding cake, champagne and a bridal bouquet. Spa services, videography and photography can be added on for an additional fee.
Ms. Daley, who is an ordained minister, thinks it’s “wonderful” that couples are opting for small, intimate weddings. She said she performs six to 10 ceremonies a year.
“With the economy, a lot of people realize that it might not be a bad idea to have a simple wedding ceremony with two or four of their best friends and then go out to dinner afterward,” she said. “They can save the money they would have spent on a big wedding for a house or go on a honeymoon at a later date.”
COURTESY PHOTO | Joseph Tandy and Tara Buczak, both Air Force veterans from Mattituck, will have a free wedding at Brecknock Hall in Greenport this Veteran’s Day.
A country-chic wedding is in the works for a Mattituck couple, both active members of the armed services, this year’s winners of Peconic Landing’s third annual Veteran’s Day Wedding Giveback.
Joseph Tandy and Tara Buczak, both serving in the Air Force, are busy planning their November nuptials after being named the winners of a contest rewarding deserving couples that have served or continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces by providing a free wedding at historic Brecknock Hall building in Greenport around Veterans Day.
“Before I was deployed my mom and I looked at Brecknock Hall and I fell in love with it,” Ms. Buczak said. “I thought we couldn’t afford it. We are so happy.”
The bride-to-be said she’s already picked out the theme.
“We are very country,” she said, explaining that the couple got engaged while listening to country music and watching the sunset over a field in Mattituck.
“I just knew he was the one,” she said. “I can’t imagine life without him.”
Seven years earlier the couple barely knew each other, despite graduating from Mattituck High School just a year a part.
Sparks began to fly in 2007 when Ms. Buczak, a senior airman, attended St. John’s University and worked at Legends Restaurant in New Suffolk.
“We would talk when he came into the restaurant, but then he left for basic training and I thought that was that,” she said.
In August 2008 Ms. Buczak got the surprise of her life when Mr. Tandy, now a staff sergeant, walked into Legends in his uniform and ask her out on their first date.
“I’ll never forget it,” she said. “He just got home from basic training in Texas wearing his military blues. He was trying to impress me. It worked!”
The couple has been inseparable since. Last year. They were deployed to Afghanistan together, along with Mr. Tandy’s younger brother, Michael. Their service bought them all closer as a family, she said.
“Even on days when I was nervous I knew he was there,” Ms. Buczak said.
In Afghanistan, their mission was to support helicopters flying casualty evacuations. Their efforts saved 85 lives.
They returned to Mattituck in February 2013 and are currently full-time technicians at the 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton Beach. Ms. Buczak is an aviation resources manager and Mr. Tandy is a jet engine mechanic.
A panel of Peconic Landing resident veterans unanimously chose the couple as this year’s recipients.
“Peconic Landing is proud to be a part of the Veterans Day wedding for a third year,” said facility president and CEO Bob Syron. “The contest is especially meaningful to Peconic Landing because so many of our residents are veterans and the wedding is a great opportunity to give back to those brave individuals who serve our country.”
The wedding will take place Sunday, Nov. 10, the day before Veterans Day. The supporting sponsors encompass a wide array of wedding services, all donated to the bride and groom in appreciation for their service to their country.
Robert Stewart and Courtney Colombo
Courtney Colombo and Robert Stewart were married Dec. 10, 2011, at Our Lady of Ostrabrama R.C. Church in Cutchogue. A reception followed at Raphael Vineyards in Peconic.
The bride is from Dix Hills, the groom from Cutchogue.
Tara Gately was matron of honor. Attendants included Tracy Gramesty, Michelle Hawes, Amanda Gabrielsen and Tracey Acquarulo. Ava Gabrielsen was the flower girl.
Michael Blados was best man. Groomsmen included Brian McCleery, Britt Colombo, Robert Gabrielsen and Kelly Bennett. Robert Gabrielsen Jr. was the ring bearer.
Following a honeymoon in Anguilla and St. Maarten, the couple resides in Manhattan.
Trudy Skillman and Arthur W. Hahn III
Trudy Skillman and Arthur W. Hahn III were married Nov. 14 at Southold Town Hall.
They celebrated their nuptials with family and friends Nov. 20 at the Soundview Restaurant in Greenport.
The couple resides in Greenport.
Joseph Brown and Tammie Jackson
Tammie Jackson and Joseph Brown were married July 9 at their home in Eastport, attended by their daughter, Brooklyn Rose, and the bride’s children, Ethan, Arizona and Conner.
Joseph, the son of Rosemary Brown of Greenport, is an electrician and co-owner of Dark Fader Sound Productions.
Tammie is employed by the Internal Revenue Service.
You can help pick elements of the Schmanski wedding at Brecknock Hall.
In a partnership with Brecknock Hall, Times/Review readers will have the opportunity to vote on certain elements of the Schmanski wedding on Nov. 11. The wedding reception is being donated to the husband and wife, both of whom serve in the U.S. Army.
The results from last week’s poll are in.
The centerpiece will be the yellow and white arrangement by Ivy League Flowers.
In this week’s poll, you can select the place setting for the wedding celebration.