If you look up the word “Jubilant” in the dictionary you will find this: “jubilant – full of high-spirited delight; “a joyful heart.” Another definition describes Jubilant as a “Joyful cry.” I honestly cannot think of a better way to describe Nadia & Mike’s gorgeous wedding day! The atmosphere was alive with jubilance!

Their ceremony took place at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox church where Nadia and Mike were wed to a traditional sung ceremony! One of the best parts of my job is seeing how other cultures celebrate marriage. We then spent a good portion of time jaunting from one S.U. location (Skytop) to another (ESF) taking fun pictures and reminiscing over all of their first memories together. We spent the evening at the Sheraton Hotel on S.U. campus dancing the night away! Everyone carried this spirit of jubilance through the whole day, it was so sad when it was over, it felt like it could have gone on for days! Thank you so much Nadia and Mike for choosing me to capture your joyful day! It was amazing!

xoxoxo,
Mabyn

How did your fiance propose? Mike picked me up from class one night and told me we had to go help our friend Ben carry some things out of his office. Mike told me Ben was in Marshal Hall so we planned to park in the lot behind that building. However, ESF was in the process of reconstructing their roads and we ended up going the wrong way down a one way road. Sure enough, we got pulled over by campus police. Mike thought it would be a good idea to get out of the car and explain to the officer where we were going…I told him that was a very bad idea, but he proceeded to get out of the car. The officer freaked out and Mike came running back to the car! Luckily, we didn’t get a ticket and were able to continue on our way. Once we got to Marshal Hall, we realized we couldn’t get in the back entrance because it was after 5pm and neither of us had our ID’s on us. So, Mike suggested we go around front. However, I was wearing heels and thought it was unnecessary and became pouty (so typical). I suggested we call Ben to come open the back door for us, but Mike refused to call Ben and grabbed the phone from me when I tried to call him (this is when I started to get suspicious). Mike told me we would just go home and get a hold of Ben later, so we did just that. When we got home, I noticed Mike was pacing back and forth in the living room and I thought it was because he was so flustered about being pulled over. He asked me to come out to the living room and I came out and hugged him and told him to relax. That’s when he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring! The best part is that he was so nervous he opened the box upside down!! Mike’s plan that night was to propose to me on the spiral staircase in Marshal Hall (the building we had our first classes in together). The proposal didn’t happen as planned, but to me it was absolutely perfect and makes for a great story!
Tell me a bit about the planning process for your wedding (how did you pick the venue, colors, funny stories, etc..): When we were searching for places to have our reception, we knew the Sheraton was the perfect location! It just seemed so fitting to celebrate our marriage on the campus where it all began! As for color scheme, I have always been in love with jewel tones and peacock feathers so I thought…let’s do teal, dark purple with accents of gold! Once we knew the colors, everything just fell into place. We really wanted to make sure our wedding represented our love and our style. We also wanted our guests to leave with full stomachs from too much good food and sore feet from too much dancing…so a good party was definitely a priority!! A lot of things were DIY such as the programs, centerpieces, candy buffet, etc. because we wanted to add our own creative touches. There were also pictures of us as kids at each table, pictures from our engagement shoot in the lobby and pictures of our grandparents and parents on their wedding day to share our love with our guests and to show our role models of love. That day would have also been Mike’s grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, but unfortunately his grandfather was no longer with us. So, we wanted to do something special for his grandma…Mike had a special dance with her and I gave her my bouquet instead of doing a toss. It made the day that much more meaningful.
What was the most memorable moment(s) of your day? Nadia’s: That day would have also been Mike’s grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. In honor of his grandfather, Mike did a special dance with his grandmother. Watching them dance together to “What a wonderful world” by Louis Armstrong was the most memorable moment of the day for me. Mike’s: When the church doors opened and Nadia walked down the aisle. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
Funniest memory from your wedding day? Going back to ESF to take pictures was a really fun time. It brought back a lot of memories of when Mike and I first met and started dating and we were able to take some funny shots and just laugh with our bridal party and have a good time! It was also pretty funny when the priest tried to get my sister to sing some of the chants during the ceremony. She didn’t know what to do and we just couldn’t stop laughing!
If you had to do it all over again would you change anything? Of course there are a few minor details here and there that we might change if we had to do it all over again, but in our opinion the day was perfect because we were finally getting married and nothing else mattered besides our love for one another.
Any advice for future bride & grooms? When other brides and grooms told us it would go by so quickly we didn’t really think anything of it, but we couldn’t believe just how fast the day and night went by. To brides: enjoy every moment, look around at your support team (your girls) and your groom and realize how loved you are and what a perfect day it is regardless of any mishaps. Grooms: it’s your day too, enjoy the ride!
What was your favorite part about working with Mabyn Ludke Photography? Not only is Mabyn amazing at what she does, she has a great way of making you feel relaxed in front of a camera. A big part of our choosing of vendors was how personable they were and how easy they would be to work with. Mabyn is so easy going, so sweet and so passionate about her work and we really feel like we gained a friend through this whole experience! She also broke it down with us on the dance floor…the girl knows how to have a good time and how to capture a good time!!

Hair: Mirvat Sande from Salon 515 and Leigh Ann Peterson//Makeup Artist: Holly Piselli from A-List Artistry//Dress Designer & Store Location: Sottero and Midgley from NY Bride//Jewelry: Grandmother’s vintage gold bracelet and earrings//Veil or Hair accessories: Flower and feather hair accessory from the sweetgrassmill Etsy shop//Shoes: Kate Spade//Bridesmaids Dresses: Belsoie by Jasmine Bridal from NY Bride//Grooms Attire: Tuxedo Junction//Ceremony Venue: St. Sophia’s Orthodox Church//Reception Venue: The Sheraton Hotel at Syracuse University//Additional photo venue: Skytop and SUNY ESF campus//Florist: Westcott Florist//Transportation: Absolute Prestige Limo//DJ: George Wazan and band//Cake: Kathy at Syracuse Cake Art//Lighting: Candlelight uplighting around the room provided by Black Tie Entertainment//Invitations & Stationary: Bride Design//Other: Photobooth provided by Black Tie Entertainment