Francesca + Dominic by Phoebe Jane - Together Journal

We first met back in 2015 at Fairfield University’s dining hall…

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Francesca manages stores for a high-end denim company in NYC, Still Here, New York and Dominic owns his own real estate business. We have a Bernedoodle named Rocco, and he is our first child <3

Beautiful film by Baluga Weddings / @balugaweddings

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We first met back in 2015 at Fairfield University’s dining hall. Francesca, a sophomore and Dominic, a junior.

From Francesca’s POV – the first thing I ever said to him was “ you have a hole in your shirt” and proceeded to point to the neckline of his white t-shirt.

From Dominic’s POV – this girl is cute, but why is she pointing out the hole in my shirt?

We laugh about this now…

Film by Baluga Weddings

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

Fran: I am big on “eyes on the prize.” Once I knew I had feelings for Dom, that was it for me.

Dom: When I knew my life without her would not be the same, and she’s a worldie.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding.

Dom, so kindly let Fran take the lead on this …

My vision stemmed from a lot of photos on instagram and pinterest. I focused solely on simplicity.

I really wanted it to all be super easy on the eye and very modern in that I didn’t want a lot of large arrangements on the tables, just smaller florals. With that, I decided to go with neutrals and a lot of greenery.

My favourite part about all of this – I didn’t realise, but after my wedding, my mom reminded me that she walked down the aisle with calla lilies,
and so did her mom. My grandma is one of my favourite people, and unfortunately, she was not able to be at my wedding, but that made me feel like she was.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Dom enjoyed the planning when it was all finished (haha), mostly because we were finally able to look forward to the day.

His advice – allow your wife to take the lead, be present in the decision making process, offer input and guidance, give reassurance that everything will be perfect, and remember to stay excited even during the chaos.

Fran: I mostly enjoyed being able to create a day solely based on us and what we want while also being able to
share that with the people we love most.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

OF COURSE, there is a story!

Long story short – Fran had a bit of a dress fiasco, and then Own Studio did a pop-up in NYC at the Chelsea Hotel and saved her life. She picked up her dress 2 days before the wedding.

What was one, or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on?

Photography – this was 100% non-negotiable. We knew we wanted the best and we feel like we got exactly that with Phoebe.

The venue was also a major splurge – most of our family travelled from America to come to the wedding – so a destination wedding is always a bit harder to pull off

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Fran: No air conditioning in the car riding over to the ceremony with my dad – still not necessarily laughing about it, but definitely funny to think about the fact that I was riding in the backseat of a vintage black cab in my wedding dress, with the windows down so I wouldn’t sweat.

Fran & Dom: We spent so much time picking out the food for our cocktail hour, but we didn’t get to try any of it. It’s funny how this works for most brides and grooms! We were happy our guests were able to enjoy all the bites