Married: December 29, 2018
Bridal Prep: Hampton Inn Convention Center
Ceremony: St. Rita Catholic Church, New Orleans
Reception: Metairie Country Club
Videographer: Cinematic Saviors
Band / DJ: Louisiana Spice
Coordinator: Taylor Quintini
Bakery: Swiss Bakery
Hair: Flawless Bride
Makeup: Flawless Bride
Brides Gown Designer: Sottero & Midgley
Bridesmaid Gown designer: Adrianna Papell
Bridal Boutique: Kleinfeld Bridal
Tuxedo Store: Black Tux
2nd Line Band: Louisiana Spice
Stationary: MintedWeddings
Live Painter: Alex Harvie

How did you meet?
We first met at St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village at their Young Adult Group.

Include a little bit about yourselves. What do you do?
Ali is a preschool special education therapist, and Ricky works in software engineering in a financial firm.

What is your favorite thing about each other? Share a personal story.
Ali loves that Ricky is such a kind and selfless man who always puts other people’s needs before his own. Ricky loves Ali’s smile and her strong faith. He also loves that she is so caring to everyone around her.

How did the proposal go? 
Ricky proposed to Ali at one of the monthly Archdiocesean Young Adult masses in NYC. The proposal was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in front of the St. Joseph’s altar.

Where was your ceremony held and why did you pick this site?
We got married at St. Rita’s Church in New Orleans. We both loved the simplistic beauty of the church. Ali also went to Dominican and had a variety of events there when she was at Dominican.

Where was your Reception held and why did you pick this site?
The reception was at Metairie Country Club. Ali has many fond memories of growing up there with her family.

What unique or special things did you do at the reception?
We had a live painter there, a cookbook for the welcome table, and 2nd lined out of the reception.

Pick one moment in the day that was your favorite thing?
Both of us loved the ceremony, especially seeing all of our priests, who have become close friends to us, on the altar praying for us.

Did it really go by as quickly as everyone says?
It flew by! People always told us that it would fly, but it really did!

What was the inspiration behind picking the color palette and decor that you picked?
We chose to get married during the Christmas season, so we chose burgundy as the main color and used the beautiful Christmas colors as our other colors.

From the Bride – When you first saw the groom, what were you thinking/feeling?
I was in awe that we were actually getting married. I had been planning it for so long, so to see him at the end of the altar was amazing!

From the groom – When you first saw the bride, what were you thinking/feeling?
I was feeling amazing and great. I was awestruck with how beautiful she looked walking down the aisle.

Who was your baker, what was the flavor of your cake? Was it delicious?!
Swiss Bakery and it was AH-MAZING!

Did you do a first look? If so how did you feel about it? If not, do you wish you had?
Yes we did. Initially Ali didn’t want to, but she is so glad she did. It gave us an opportunity to soak in what was about to happen just it being the two of us. It also gave us an opportunity to take a bunch of family and bridal party pictures beforehand

Did you have a coordinator or did you plan everything yourself? If you didn’t have a coordinator any advice for brides planning their own wedding?
I planned everything with my mom, but we had a day of coordinator.

What was your first dance song? Why this song?
Our first dance was “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra. We loved the classiness of the song.

Band or DJ? Did they rock it?
We had Louisiana Spice Band. They rocked!

We want to hear YOUR advice for future brides.
Enjoy the process and every special moment!