“When he proposed, all I could do was stand there in shock, while the whole restaurant looked on at our special moment,” Natalie recalls. “Still in shock, I couldn’t even finish my meal, so the resort generously sent champagne and to-go boxes to our room!”
Natalie wore the Divina gown by Maggie Sottero on her big day. “I had fallen in love with the dress while looking at some options online,” shaw shares. “Although I loved the dress, I was not sure that it would work well for me and my figure, but I reluctantly tried it on anyway. I’m so glad that I did. It felt great on and made me feel like a bride.”
“I accepted Dante’s proposal because I could never imagine myself with anyone else,” says Natalie. “I am usually an indecisive person, analyzing all my options with a sometimes unnecessary level of thoroughness. But when faced with the decision on spending my life with my best friend, I didn’t need to give it a second thought. I had never been more sure of anything.”
Natalie’s bridal hair stylist, Kiera Ashley, was a high school friend. “It was nice to have someone familiar who knew our story to be a part of our day,” she shares. Agreed!
“It occurred to me that Natalie was The One while vacationing with friends,” says Dante’. “It was great to catch up with some long-time friends, but while away, I found myself missing my daily interactions with Natalie. At that moment a light bulb clicked and I knew what needed to be done and never looked back.”
“I really wanted to keep the tones and colors soft and subtle with our flowers and I love soft pink roses,” says the bride. “My bouquet was simple and consisted of ivory roses wrapped in beaded ivory ribbon.”
Natalie’s wedding dress train was one to remember. Fierce to the fifth the power!
“It may sound cliché, but I suppose I always knew he was the one,” says Natalie. “Which is why I stayed committed to making our relationship work even through the hard times when we were so far away from each-other.”
“The bridesmaids’ dresses were designed by Allure Bridals,” says Natalie. “It was important to me that the all of the bridesmaids, who were all different shapes and sizes, felt comfortable and beautiful in what they wore. So rather than choosing one dress for everyone, I decided to choose the color and fabric and leave the style decision up to the individual girls. I originally wanted to go with a softer shade of pink, like blush, but ultimately the shade dusty rose wound up being a better fit for all of the girls.”
“I would describe my husband as a smart, sweet, charismatic, determined and generous man,” says Natalie. “He is always willing to do for other people with no motives or expectations. Although I think he is perfect already, he is constantly seeking to be better and do more.”
Dante’ and his groomsman were dressed to impress on the big day and they looked picture perfect. “I gently recommended that my groom go for a classic look of black and white tuxes for the groomsmen,” Natalie explains. “I have just always thought it looks so elegant and chic. He ended up choosing the specific look with his best men and I provided some direction on a consultative basis.”
“My wife as beautiful, elegant, powerful, driven and influential,” says the happy groom.
Natalie took in the breathtaking views from their venue as she posed for her stunning bridal portraits.
The Atlantic City boardwalk provided the perfect backdrop for the couple’s romantic wedding day photos.
“What I love most about Dante is his sense of humor,” says Natalie. “He has a real knack for making me laugh even when I’m pissed at him.”
“My love for Natalie goes deeper than just a physical attraction,” says Dante’. “I am equally attracted to her mind with her strong intellect, ambition and independence that drives me to be a better husband each and every day. She is not only my soul mate, but is a primary force that motivates me to strive for and pursue my personal goals.”
Dante’s god sister had the honor of being the couple’s flower girl and she looked divine in her gown for the day.
“When we began to look at venues, we knew we wanted to have our wedding in a city that had its own identity,” explains the bride. “Although we were living in the D.C. metropolitan area, we also wanted the venue to be fairly easily accessible for our family and friends who were mostly in the New Jersey and Philadelphia areas were we had grown up. The last criterion was that the venue would not be a traditional ballroom. We looked at options in Philadelphia, but when we came across One Atlantic in Atlantic City, we both fell in love.”
Natalie was escorted down the aisle by her father to the sounds of “Angels” by Robin Thicke.
“Looking into his eyes, I felt excitement to be at this point in our lives and truly ready to be his wife after such a long journey together,” admits, Natalie. “It felt like the beginning of a new chapter and I was overjoyed.”
“We did not write our own vows, but instead worked with our officiate to construct the whole ceremony to our liking,” Natalie shares. “We were able to start with the key components of a traditional ceremony and customize the words and readings to incorporate things that spoke to us as a couple.”
Of course Natalie and Dante’ couldn’t resist jumping the broom after sealing the deal. (They really got up there.)
“I did not think I’d find true love how I did,” admits Natalie. “It is so rare that high school sweethearts can say that they ended up to together in the long run. Add on top of that, that we were in a long distance relationship for almost half of the time we’ve been together. Our story has kind of been straight out of one of those cheesy made for TV movies. I’m so glad that our love endured the test of time and distance, and we were able to be an exception to the rule.”
“We did have a budget, and we stuck to it as closely as possible, although we did decide to splurge on a few aspects,” says Natalie. “My husband’s motto was, ‘You only get married once!’ So, we went slightly over budget for things that were of priority to us on our special day.”
“We began our relationship as teenagers attending high school,” says Dante’. “At the time, I had no idea that we were merely laying the foundation to a relationship that has created an unbreakable bond.”
“When we set out to plan our day, I was determined to have a more modern wedding,” says Natalie. “I really didn’t want to do a traditional hotel ballroom. Although there are some lovely ballrooms, I just never saw myself having what I think of as a Cinderella wedding. I wanted something that was simple and elegant, yet modern. I did not want to have to compete with the already established décor of a venue, so when we found One Atlantic, this beautiful blank slate, perched over the Atlantic Ocean, everything else just fell into place. We were able to stick to our plan and vision, and our wedding turned out just how imagined.”
Natalie and Dante’s wedding portraits just oozed romance. So sweet!
“Our first dance song was ‘Greatest Love’ by Musiq Soulchild,” Natalie shares. “My husband gets credit for the song selection.”
Dante’s sports-inspired groom’s cake was an instant hit.
Who needs over-the-top decor when you have breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean as your backdrop?
Purple uplighting and gorgeous centerpieces added a more romantic vibe to the couple’s elegant, oceanfront reception space.
“We wanted to bring in some fun elements like the caricature artists, caricature sign in board and a candy buffet,” says Natalie.
Natalie and Dante’ smiled nonstop as their dream wedding weekend came to life.
“What I love most about Natalie is her generosity, independence and sense of humor,” says Dante’.
We just loved Natalie and Dante’s “I dos,” and if you did too, don’t forget to leave the happy couple a little comment love below.
