Andrew and Christina Pacuk were married Sept. 21, 2019, at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown. Christina answered some questions about the planning of their wedding.
What was the best part of your wedding?
Getting married to each other! and celebrating with all of our family and friends.
What was the most fun part of your planning?
DIYing my decorations. I loved building decorations and mapping out how the pavilion would be decorated.
What was the most difficult part of planning?
Figuring out how we would get around roadblocks. For example, Bear Brook is an outdoor venue. It doesn’t have refrigerators to keep ice and drinks cold. So we brainstormed and brought in a canoe and several blocks of ice. Turned out this was a great idea and everyone loved our idea!
Did you plan your own wedding or hire a wedding planner?
I planned my own wedding, with the help of my mom, mother in law, maid of honor and bridesmaids.
What was a unique feature of your wedding?
We got married in Bear Brook State Park so our entire wedding was outside. We had breathtaking scenery and were surrounded by trees. It was the perfect place for two nature-loving people to get married at. We had lawn games, a trail mix bar, a tent for our guests to sit under and a stone pavilion with a fireplace to act as our dance floor and kitchen space. I wanted to make a family tree but since no trees were nearby I placed all of our married family members’ wedding photos on a pallet for everyone to view. Most of our wedding party rented cabins at the park so after the wedding had finished we continued the party at the cabins with a huge fire and ate leftovers from our wedding!
Did you partake in any special wedding traditions?
Just your typical ones: garter toss, bouquet toss and the anniversary dance.
Did anything not go according to plan?
My bouquet from Nicole’s Greenhouse fell apart as soon as I picked it up. So I had no flowers by the time it came for pictures to be taken. Also, the caterer forgot plates and cups.
Did you have to go to any “plan B” from your original vision?
I had a rain plan. Which was to use the pavilion and tent to keep everyone dry. Thankfully we had perfect weather so they acted as shade to get out of the sun.
If you had to do it again, would you change anything?
I would get a different flower vendor. but other than that we had the perfect day and had a great time!
How long did it take you to plan your wedding?
It took us a year to plan it
Do you have any vendor recommendations? Riverside Barbecue has the best food, but make sure you remind them to bring plates, cups and silverware. Polished Beauty for Hair and makeup. (Faven is the best). Choice Hair studio for hair; Tammy and Melanie did an amazing job.
Anything else?
We also switched it up and instead of having a guest book for people to sign. My father, who is a logger and has his own sawmill, sawed out a piece of rough cut and my mother wood burned our names into it. Our guests could then sign our guest “log.”