2.20.2016
A day I will never, ever forget.
I tried my hardest to take in other bride's advice and make sure to stop and look around and really soak in everything that was going on around me.
They weren't lying, it really does go by SO fast and even two months after, it feels like it was so long ago! I miss the planning and the excitement but I am very happy to be a married woman to the sweetest man in the world.
I am the luckiest girl.
Venue: Bramble Tree Estates
Photographer: Nikki Neswick
Caterer: Any Occasion Catering
Makeup & Hair: Mallery & Marissa from Simplicity Salon
Here is our drone video made by Lupinek Productions: CLICK HERE.
I got my dress from Madame Bridal in Boynton Beach, Fl.
This was the first dress I tried on. I found it on the shop's website and knew right away it was the one. I tried on a few others too, just to make sure, but there was no comparison.
It is an Allure gown and we added some custom gems to the neck line.
I found my shoes at David's Bridal when we were picking out the bridesmaid's dresses. They were a little dirty from wearing them at the rehearsal dinner the night before lol but that was okay with me. I went into the mindset that this is my wedding and I refused to stress about the little things.
My mom had to cut me out of my "getting ready shirt".
I didn't want to mess up Mallery's artwork.
My bag my bridesmaid Vanessa got me and my bride cup from my sister-in-law's mom :)
My handsome Hubby <3
My goal for the guys was simple and comfortable. The all black Chucks were a perfect touch.
I'm pretty sure this was when it hit me lol!!
My bridesmaids helped me put together our own bouquets. I ordered the flowers from Sam's Club (Premium Million Star Gypsophila for the girls and Hydrangea for me). We did these the morning of the wedding while we were getting hair and makeup done. We actually meant to cut the stems to make them shorter but totally forgot until moments before the ceremony. It was okay though, they turned out beautiful even with the long stems, so we went with it.
My Matron of Honor and sister-in-law. Isn't she gorgeous?
The beautiful cross my father-in-law hand crafted.
All I told him was that I wanted a large cross to be our backdrop for the ceremony.
This is the masterpiece he put together. The hollow area holds shelves for decorations for our home.
The back of the cross is even more special....
The back of the cross has our names, parent's names and photos from our engagement.
Our church's logo is in the middle.
I couldn't help but yell "Hey Babe!" when I came around the corner and saw him.
We used the Unity Cross for our ceremony piece. The middle section of this cross was hand-carved by a firefighter co-worker of Craig's. It is absolutely beautiful and we get to display it in our home for decoration and a constant reminder of what our marriage is based on.
One funny I'll never forget (and I'm not sure if our guests noticed or not): when we walked over to this table to do the Unity Cross, there was a candy wrapper crumpled up sitting on the table. Craig and I both noticed at the same time and looked at each other. he quickly picked it up and threw it off the table so it wouldn't be in any of the professional photos lol!!
I was able to keep my flowers minimal because of the beautiful seasonal flowers the venue plants for every wedding.
Our cake was from Publix! The bottom layer was marble with éclair filling. The middle layer was chocolate with raspberry filling and the top layer was carrot cake with cream cheese filling. I asked them for a "naked cake" which is no frosting on the outside so you can see the beauty of the layers and flavors. They called a few days before the wedding to say they needed to add a very thin layer of frosting to ensure the cake doesn't fall apart (especially because it would be sitting outside). I think it turned out even more beautiful with the thin layer of frosting! Our topper I had customized from Etsy (of course we wanted our babies on the topper too).
Craig's grooms cake was obviously his helmet with some of his favorite "stickers".
The cake designer was worried about making the helmet red velvet (Craig's favorite) because we would be "cutting into a helmet containing red cake" (she thought that might be a little gory). That's when I told her "good point, he will love it even more that way"!
Table decorations weren't on my concern list (not that there was much on that list). I wanted simple and clean.
I made the wine bottle table numbers with chalkboard spray paint and chalkboard markers.
I made this sign spraying a wood board with the chalkboard paint and the markers again. If this board looks familiar, it's because it's the same one we used for our save the date photos :)
Thanks for Jammin' with us.
I made these homemade jams for favors. We had different flavors from pear, mango, strawberry and Christmas jam (cranberry and strawberry). Then I canned them in a water bath.
We printed out every guest's name and put them on a glass for them to keep.
I accidently mislabeled one of the table numbers lol!
These signs were a Christmas gift from our sister-in-law Sam!
(no those aren't my shoes lol!)
Our DJ recognized our grandparents <3
Each of our wedding party couples picked a song to be introduced to.
Our first dance was Sunshine by Steve Azar.
Craig dedicated this song to me our first month dating (hard to believe that was 5.5 years ago).
I accidently forgot to tell our moms they would be giving a welcome toast. Like the troopers and social butterflies they are, they winged it.
Our Daddy/ Daughter dance was Daddy Dance with Me by Krystal Keith.
My dad did a voice-over during the instrumental chorus. I completely lost it.
You can always tell the character of a man by the way he treats his mother.
I love this pure joy photo.
My bustle kept popping, but that didn't stop me!
After I picked my dress I remember thinking "how am I going to be able to dance with everyone? The skirt is so big!" Guests kept accidently stepping on my dress and telling me how sorry they were. I was honestly just happy they were happy and dancing with me! The dirtier the dress, the better the party!
I don't remember a point when the dance floor was empty.
My beautiful friend Teresa sang Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith.
She is amazing.
I tried to smoosh him just a little. Then he hit me with a left.
Craig really got into the garter toss.
Now you see why I fell in love with him.
After the last dance with our guests, the DJ had Craig pick out a song just for us. We spent the real last dance just us two on the dance floor while the guests got ready for the sparkler exit. He chose the song God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton.
Those lights in the sky are a drone video by Lupinek Productions (link for that video at the top of the page).
Our DJ arranged fireworks at this time too!
So as you can see, and as I am not afraid to say: not everything went perfectly. Not everything went according to plan. Most of my vendors told me I was the most laid back bride they've ever done business with. My words of advice: Don't stress it! What is the reason you are getting married? Isn't it the eternal bond between you and your husband under God, promising God to be the center of your marriage, as your family and friends witness? Then focus on that. I ended up using a day-of planner but had to do all of the little details on my own. I would pray for guidance before I made any decision and everything fell into place. Looking back, the smaller details didn't matter. All that mattered was we had fun and our guests did too. I couldn't be happier.
Forever and ever <3
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