1. Real Weddings

Jessica & Robert: A Black and White Wedding in Belle Vernon, PA

Jessica and Robert married on a crisp autumn day at the bride's childhood parish. The Bride Jessica Salvatore The Groom Robert Misenko The Date Octob

Jessica and Robert married on a crisp autumn day at the bride's childhood parish. The Bride Jessica Salvatore The Groom Robert Misenko The Date October 8 Jessica didn’t want to pick up an extra shift at the Daytona Beach restaurant where she worked, but a pleading coworker finally convinced her. “That was the best ‘OK, I’ll do it,’ that ever graced my lips,” says the 29-year-old administrative professional. Meanwhile, Robert wasn’t sure about a trip to Daytona, but at the last minute he decided to join a friend anyway. Robert, who’s 32 and a teacher and coach, handed over his credit card to start a bar tab that night, when his waitress, Jessica, noticed that the card was from a college near her Pennsylvania hometown. The two started talking and spent as much time as they could together in the remaining two days of Robert’s vacation. Over the next few months, they traveled back and forth from Florida to Virginia (where Robert lived) to visit each other, and during a September trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Robert proposed over dinner and jazz.

Jessica and Robert escaped through a cloud of rose petals and bubbles.
Jessica’s hand-tied bouquet of deep red roses incorporated her grandmother’s rhinestone broach.
After the ceremony, guests headed to The Willow Room, which was decorated with ivory linens and long, black satin table runners. Several large crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and guests were able to step outside to view the autumn leaves and Pennsylvania countryside.
Jessica wore a white, matte satin, A-line halter gown with an empire waist by St. Tropez. “It was so comfortable I could have slept in it,” she says.
The couple chose a three-tier marble cake covered in buttercream icing with black satin ribbon around each layer. The cake was topped with a large silver “M” monogram and pink and red roses.
The bride chose simple, black-and-cream invitations, then designed her own programs in cream and black and tied them with a black satin ribbon.