A gorgeous barn, a beautiful autumn day, and the most lovely couple! We’re so thrilled to share Haley and Mike’s October 2019 wedding, their favorite details from the day, and some excellent advice if you’re planning a wedding yourself. Read on for more, along with beautiful images by Juliana Renee Photography!

THE COUPLE - Haley & Mike Gerarde

Tell us about yourselves!

I am the Director of the Lake George Teen Center, and part time stay at home mom to our smart and spunky little girl, JoJo. I love getting outdoors (preferably when I don't have to put on 3+ layers before heading out), and now more than ever (because of having JoJo) love exploring what our community has to offer for family activities in addition to the outdoor aspects. Mike is humble - when I asked him what he wanted to showcase, his response was “works at KEENA, plays golf but sucks at it (lol), loves spending time with his girls, and lives and dies with Syracuse sports - especially basketball”. And I can attest to that! Mike will literally run outside chanting the fight song when they win, and he will wake up the next morning like he lost his job when they lose. I disagree that he sucks at golf, I personally think he is pretty athletic - I remember right before we started dating playing basketball at the YMCA with husband buddies and thinking he could jump so high. But things look different when you’ve got heart eyes!

Where did you meet?

The first time we met, we were both meeting some mutual friends to go mini golfing at Pirate’s Cove. After that day specifically, our paths seemed to cross a lot more.

What do the two of you like to do together?

Mike and I love hiking, which we haven’t done as much as we used to after the birth of our daughter, Josephine (“JoJo”), so now we enjoy long walks on the trails behind our house, and getting out to ‘Cuse (I was never a fan of sports before stepping into the Dome with Mike, but it was love at first sight. Although I still mainly go out there for the Tully’s Tenders).

Fun fact about you as a couple?

The first few times that we got together without our friends, we were almost guaranteed to be on opposite pages about whether or not it was a date.

THE PROPOSAL

So we were actually expecting JoJo before Mike proposed. We had talked about spending our life together, but thought we should wait until after she was born to think about marriage so that each big life event could have its own time. I was so confident in his word that I absolutely was not expecting a proposal anytime soon, and honestly wondered how long it would take him to pull together a proposal after she was born.

We were staying at The Sagamore for the Ice Bar in 2018 and I was truly already having the time of my life (and I was sober which made it that much more exciting to be dancing and laughing so hard!). I had been asking to get up to bed for almost an hour, maybe longer. Mike kept stalling but I just just thought it was because he was having such a good time. Apparently he had been planning to propose for over 3 hours at that point! Finally, we got up to our room at The Sagamore, and he asked if we could enjoy the deck just one last time before we went to bed. While we were out there I saw his friend in our room, and he told us he needed to use the bathroom - silly old me didn’t even think twice about his excuse for being in our room. Shortly after seeing him, Mike got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. All of his friends were down below and starting hooting and hollering. I was in such shock, that when his friend asked what I said, Mike responded “she didn’t even answer!”. And then, of course, I said “YES you goofball! Of course!”. Then I realized his friend was actually in the room to take photos of the proposal. Apparently at one point in the night, I sat on his lap and asked him to move his phone from his pocket - it was the ring!! So many things looking back could have given away the proposal and I just never had any idea.

Mike’s father passed away when he was younger, and I am lucky enough to wear the stone that he had gotten for his mom (from Syracuse - a family favorite!!), with a band from Florida, where he spent his Christmases before having a family of his own.

THE WEDDING - October 5, 2019

The Planning

We loved our engagement shoot. Mike has never been a fan of taking photos in general, but especially photo shoots. On the drive there (Shelving Rock Falls), he was asking how long it would take and how we could make it shorter. At the end of the shoot, Mike literally thanked Juliana for the best “date night” that we had had in a while - and a date night it was. She worked so hard (and successfully) to give us memories with our photos instead of just a nice shot. Juliana was easily the best part of the planning process. The most challenging part was trying to figure out which tables would be best, and how we wanted to seat people in the tent.

The Venue

Mike and I got married on my family’s property on Old West Mountain Road in Queensbury. They have a beautiful barn, that my dad and grandfather totally revamped for our wedding (my mom and I each did a coat of stain on the doors!). My mom has an incredible eye for decor and interior design, and her father and mine have an incredible ear and hand for putting it into action. We used the entire property for our special day - my girls and I got ready at the house, my dad drove me down to the aisle (in front of the barn) from the house (an unexpected entrance, as our party entered from the back of the barn), and we enjoyed the night in the barn for snacks and cocktails, in the pasture for dinner, and beside the pond for a bonfire post meal. We even did a casual tribute to those who could not attend our wedding by sending lanterns out onto the pond.

The Details

Navy and mauve were our colors for the wedding, and to be completely honest, I totally lack in vision for things. I either completely over analyze and try to perfect, or I get too overwhelmed and just go willy-nilly. And I mean it! I bought my shoes and bridal party shawls no more than two weeks before the wedding, and we were so behind on suits for the guys that we just told them to wear any blue or grey.

Originally, my bridesmaids were to pick out whatever dress they felt most confident in. Turns out, one dress in particular was very universal for all of them, so they all ended up wearing it.

I got my gown at a trunk sale at Lily in Saratoga. It was the only dress that I did not feel "bridal" in, but also the only one that I came out of the room dancing in, which is how it won my vote. It was so comfortable and also so unique with its beading.

My bridal bouquet was won by one of my bridesmaids, and the rest were purchased from the same vendor and they totally blew me away - they were gorgeous and I barely gave them any criteria to work off of.

We did not have a cake because neither of us like cake, but we had plenty of dessert. Instead of a cake cutting, we actually did a little lantern send off onto the pond in honor of those who were watching our special day from up above.

The Moments

I loved my sister’s speech during dinner. She has always been quite a bit more shy than me, and has recently become such a good public speaker - she blew me away. Then she had the DJ pull our chairs to the middle of the dance floor and projected a video she made onto the side of the tent that incorporated a ton of our times together. I’m very verbal with affirmations, but to hear so many positive things out of her mouth in front of a crowd was so heart warming. It’s also incredible how much she loves Mike, and that makes me happy.

I also really loved my first look with my dad. He got a brief tear in his eye and just made me feel so beautiful. It was incredible to be surrounded by so much love from both sides. I’m thankful we stayed conscious of the time and kept soaking it all in.

The Honeymoon

The following week, Mike and I spent a couple of nights alone in Lake Placid. We had planned to bag a couple of High Peaks, but being able to relax in each other’s company with undivided attention was a honeymoon in itself. We played Battleship, went for long walks, and ate different foods from a few restaurants one night. After a couple of days, JoJo joined us, and we had fun chasing ducks and eating fancy breakfasts. We went home for a day, then Mike and I headed out to Syracuse, our favorite place (with and without JoJo) to go catch a ‘Cuse game and spend the night.

Some Advice…

Take it easy! Don’t worry about the small things! Make it fun for yourself, and live in the moment. I’m not very good at being flexible (shoutout to Mike for living with that the rest of his life), but that day I was and I am so thankful for that. It couldn’t have fallen together better.