I have shared over 60 weddings on this blog with you all in the past 5 years and today I am overjoyed to share my own!! Craig and I started dating a little over two years ago and got engaged last May, you can read all about that HERE.  We took 13 months to enjoy being engaged and plan our wedding.  We are both a little relieved the planning is done but we honestly had the very best day.  I will post about the days leading up to our wedding (they were crazy) and our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner soon!  The number one question I got during engagement was “So, who is taking your wedding photos?!?” The answer to that question is Corrin Jasinski! Her and I met a few years back at a workshop and have followed each other’s work ever since.  We got 1600 pictures back from her and truly can say we are obsessed with them all!! It was so hard to narrow them down for this post which is why you’ll notice this post is LONG! I’ll be posting some more photos on fb in albums in the next few days if you’re interested in seeing those.  This day would not have been possible without help from SO many people.  First and foremost: our parents.  Craig’s mom and dad threw us the best rehearsal dinner you could imagine, I can’t wait to do a blog post all about that.  My parents were by my side through the entire wedding planning process.  Everyone always says it’s hard to balance the opinions of everyone in their family when planning their wedding- Craig and I were extremely lucky.  Both of our parents were supportive but let this day be our vision.  This was everything that Craig and I dreamed and our parents helped facilitate our dreams.  My mom knew every single detail down to the minute and where every decoration or flower would go.  My dad helped communicate with vendors and in my opinion planned the best meal I’ve ever had at a wedding.  The following vendors were honestly the dream team.  If any of my brides wants to hire any part of this vendor team, I would love you forever!

Venue and Florist- Pharsalia (Candice)

Planning- A Little Party Events (Schuyler, Kira, and their team)

Photography- Corrin Jasinski Photography

Videography- Abby Bostian Visuals

DJ- Justin with Black Tie Entertainment

Officiant- Mike Abbamonte

Band- Blair’s West

Hair & Makeup- Mikayla with FBJ Weddings

Invitations- Crissie Vitale Creative

Cake- Cakes by Rachel

Food Truck- Mama Crockett’s Apple Cider Donuts

Catering- Avenue Foods

Decor Rentals- Happily Ever After Event Rentals

Seating and Table rentals- Overstreet Hardware

Lighting- Castle Event Lighting

Bride Dress- Annalise Bridal Boutique

Bridesmaids Attire- Azazie

Groom/Groomsmen Attire- The Black Tux

Rings- Diamond’s Direct

What a group!! You’ll hear more about our vendors below in the post. 

Enjoy our favorite day yet!!!

 

The Friday before my wedding, all the bridesmaids and moms got to make their bouquets and we had a luncheon.  It was such a special time.  I had my bouquet made by Pharsalia’s florist, Candice and she surprised me with it while I was getting ready.  It was PERFECT and better than anything I had dreamed of.  I gave her a piece of lace from my mom’s wedding dress to incorporate and it came out to be so beautiful and special.

These were supposed to be my comfy reception shoes but I ended up kicking them off 10 seconds before we were announced into the tent and was barefoot all night, ha!

One unique thing about my bridesmaids was that they are each from a different point in my life.  Emily and I met in high school, Morgan was my undergrad roomie at JMU, Amy and I lived together in grad school, Whitney and I met through YoungLife at a summer camp, Jordan and I met through Hill City church, and Ashley and Addie are my new sister and niece!

I surprised my mom with plane tickets to Cape Cod in August for the two of us!

After Craig and I discussed we weren’t getting each other gifts he surprised me with a bracelet that has our saying engraved

I did a first look with my bridesmaids, brother, dad, and Craig! 

This next photo is so special to me because just weeks before my wedding I found out one of my best friends was pregnant with TWINS!!! No one knew when this photo was taken but I knew the photos wouldn’t come out until she had announced everything.  Now we know her and Rob are having two identical baby girls! 

That’s my groom looking so sharp!! 

Craig and I’s first look was so special.  We got to spend time together before things got crazy and we got SOO many portraits of the two of us since we did a first look. 

I have worked with a lot of bridal parties and ours was honestly the best!! They were so much fun and helpful and are truly our people! 

When Craig’s niece Addie heard we were getting married at a flower farm one of the first things she asked me was if she could wear a flower crown.  I was so excited to give it to her!! 

Duke!!! The youngest of our 3 littles was the only one to make it down the aisle, so proud of him!!! 

So Lotte was too shy to walk down the aisle but had no problem putting her head in the flower girl basket during the ceremony.  It was ADORABLE!!! 

One of my favorite pictures!! Our parents came and prayed over us while the band played In Christ Alone during our ceremony. 

Craig and I wrote personal vows to each other and didn’t share anything about them until the ceremony.  I’ll never forget this moment! 

Always always put a shot of your parents just them on the shot list for your photographer.  I’m so glad we have these photos of Craig’s parents and mine! 

Blair’s West was so much fun during cocktail hour! 

I was SO surprised when my dad chocked up giving his toast.  This meant so much to me! 

Emily and Kevin did amazing speeches as well!! Emily’s was so sweet and meaningful since her and I have gone through so much stages of life together.  Kevin’s speech was HILARIOUS.  Fun fact- Kevin and I matched on a dating app before I met Craig.  Kevin used this as the theme to his speech and even had his girlfriend Brooke stand up and say she was a fill-in.  Everyone was dying laughing!! We absolutely LOVE Kevin and Brooke, things really worked out how they were supposed to in the end, ha!

So the cake cutting.  We had been hyping this up for a YEAR so I had to be the first to make a move. I didn’t even wait for him to put anything on a fork. 

This picture is so special because it represents my Atlee coworkers AND my Atlee peers from high school. 

Our DJ, Justin, from Black Tie Entertainment was AMAZING.  He was so professional and fun!! The dance floor was packed all night long. 

My sweet sweet small group.  We missed Kara and Courtney who had prior commitments! 

We had Corrin, our photographer for 8 hours so around this time in the night I handed my camera off to my brother.  He did a great job! 

Probably my favorite moment from our whole entire wedding day was the dancing to Wagon Wheel as our last song.  All of our guests circled around us and when I looked around the circle I saw my coworkers swaying with Craig’s family, swaying with my high school friends, etc.  It was incredible!! We even brought our flower girl out for a last dance. 

Sooo…we had a sparkler exit planned.  We had a sign and sparklers ready to go.  Our wedding day was 92 degrees and all day I dreamed of jumping in the pool.  At the last minute, I asked Candice if we could change up our plans and she said she would make an exception for us.  It was incredible until I felt like I was going to drown because my dress was so heavy.  Craig’s friend pulled me up the ladder, thanks Matt! 

Another funny story about the pool.  Craig’s niece, Lotte, hasn’t really been to a pool before because they were all closed last summer due to Covid.  Weeks after our wedding, her mom told her they were going to the pool and she needed to go get ready and she came out with her flower girl dress.  She thought this was normal swim attire, too funny! 

Our wedding day was something we will never forget and we are so thankful for each and every guest that came up to Tyro to celebrate us. We are also so thankful for all of you that follow the blog and have seen me go from newbie wedding photographer to planning my own. I am forever grateful for you all.