Our Wedding & One Year Anniversary

Hi loves!  Today I’m finally going to share details from our wedding, which yes was over a year ago, on October 8th, 2016!  Why did I wait so long to share?  Well, shortly thereafter we moved, and then it was the holidays, and then it just sort of seemed like a random time and to be honest this year flew by.  So here we are, one year later and one year wed, and now seems like the perfect time to share 🙂  Tomorrow I am going to share our anniversary weekend recap in a different post so come back for that one too!

The below excerpt is one I wrote for a little online wedding article feature that our photographer submitted us to (which at this point I can’t even find!) but luckily I had this saved so I can now share it here. We also had a feature in Borrowed & Blue.  At the end of the day, yeah there was a hurricane outside but all we wanted was to get married and have a freaking amazing party, which I think we most definitely did 🙂

Our Wedding

My husband and I met through a blind date set up at the urging of two of our mutual friends (who were both later a groomsman and a bridesmaid) that we should meet, and the rest has been nothing short of the most romantic adventure of my life.  After dating for a little over a year, Craig asked me to marry him while we were on a sunset picnic together in September of 2015. We decided on a fall wedding for the next year and set the date for Saturday, October 8th, 2016.  October is the month with the least rain for North Carolina and with the most wonderful crisp fall evenings. With that in mind and knowing how much we love the outdoors, incorporating that into our most special day was a no brainer.  An outdoor ceremony was something we envisioned as we began our search for venues.

After searching for just the right place, we decided that The Alexander Homestead in Charlotte, NC, was the perfect location for our big day.  It is where we live, which made planning easier, but also Charlotte is a middle point for our families who would be traveling from different places throughout the state. The venue is the perfect balance between rustic and elegant. The picturesque Victorian style home, the beautifully kept garden, the cozy gazebo under the canopy of 200-year-old oak trees, and the charming barn reception space with the twinkling lights strung up to perfection made our decision easy. The rustic-elegant vibe paired with those white lights inspired our vision for the day, which included all white flowers, flowing greenery, a collection of lanterns of varying sizes, and champagne and gold sequin touches to reflect those lights and shine all night!

Hurricane Matthew arrived in Charlotte just in time to rain all day Friday and Saturday of our wedding weekend. Much to our dismay, the plan for our outdoor ceremony had to change, but luckily the Homestead has a built-in rain option; the atrium is built off of the back of the barn and the amazing staff at the venue made the switch so that our décor for the aisle was still what we wanted.  It was a little tight in the atrium with our guest list of 125, and it wasn’t necessarily everything I envisioned for my ceremony, but in the end I married the absolute love of my life and that is all that matters.  And I realize now how special it was and it will be unforgettable to everyone that attended!!  These pictures I’m going to share totally give me all the feels.  It was the best day.  The staff at AH truly were able to make the best out of the hurricane and worked hard for me!  As the rain poured, the ladies spent the morning at our condo getting hair and makeup done while enjoying a brunch spread of quiche, muffins, bagels, Chic-Fil-A mini biscuits, fruit, and mimosas. We wore soft, beautiful matching robes I found on Etsy. The gents were at a hotel uptown, hanging out in the groom’s suite while sipping bourbon out of the monogrammed glasses that they had been gifted. Both locations were full of laughter and love.

Craig and I had planned all year to do a first look and get pictures taken prior to the ceremony so we could participate in cocktail hour with our guests. We did our first look outside the guest house of the Alexander Homestead beneath the bridal suite, both nervous and excited to see each other all dressed up for the first time. My mother and a few of my bridesmaids adorably sneaked a peek at us from around the corner!! Seeing Craig calmed my nerves instantly and made me realize that no matter how hard it rained, I was about to marry the man of my dreams and that was so incredible.

We ended up getting some really amazing photos of the wedding party in the rain, thanks to my panic mode impulse order of 20 matching black umbrellas on Amazon two days before the ceremony.  Since it didn’t appear the hurricane was going to change its path, we made contingency plans so we could still have the day as we wanted. Then, five minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, the sun broke through the clouds and double rainbows framed the sky.  At that point it was too late, and too wet, to change the ceremony arrangements, but it was a very cool sight. Craig and I were able to get some individual pictures outside following the ceremony since the rain had stopped!  I also LOVE the picture of the groomsmen with the umbrellas.  It’s definitely one of my favorites that we wouldn’t have gotten without the rain!

Like I mentioned, the ceremony was moved into the atrium that is built off the back of the barn…and it is tight so it was certainly an intimate ceremony!! At one point I remember the wind really whipping against the siding thinking we all would have blown away if we had been outside, lol.

The bridal party was introduced to “Bust a Move” and Craig and I did our first dance to Tim McGraw’s “Top of the World”; a nod to our love of hiking and each other.

My dad and I shagged to “Brown Eyed Girl” after dinner and set the stage for the night’s dancing! True to the champagne and gold sequined theme, my bridesmaids wore mismatched sequined dresses in the same color scheme that they all picked out themselves. My wedding dress was one that I partially designed myself; it is a Wtoo by Watters gown and I fell in love with the horse hem skirt, however, I always envisioned wearing lace. So I picked out the perfect lace from a fabric store and had my bridal salon, New York Bride & Groom, create a new top for me. The original top was ruched satin, and my design was brought to life by their amazing seamstress as an all lace bodice with a deep v-back and embellished belt. It felt extra special to be wearing something that I felt had a super personal touch on it.

After dinner I changed into a white and gold sequined fitted dress so that I could dance the night away with all of our friends and family!

White cups with gold writing commemorating the day served as favors to the guests. Each table had gold sequin table runners and the dessert table had a matching gold sequin table cloth. Lanterns surrounded by white hydrangeas and roses a top wood slices were the table centerpieces. Gold mercury glass votives were displayed all over the barn added a vintage touch that paired up perfectly with the Victorian home that you could see from the reception once the barn’s huge sliding doors were opened. The fresh air poured in those doors as the party got going! Everyone was on the dance floor thanks to some amazing music from DJ Rich Lange of Remarkable Receptions. If guests weren’t on the dance floor, they were stopping to grab one of the delicious cupcakes provided by Nona’s Sweets. We had various flavors on that wood slice tiered cupcake stand, including carrot cake, red velvet, chocolate mousse, and vanilla almond buttercream.

Again, all we really wanted at the end of the day was to get married (check) and have a super fun party to celebrate (check) and everything else was just gold sprinkles on top of the cupcake, if you will 🙂  Just look at some of these reception pictures!!  I wanna go back and it all again.

A huge kudos to our photographer, Kate from Paper Heart Photography and her husband Joe (who serves as her extremely talented second shooter) for documenting our day so perfectly, despite the challenges the weather presented. Not only did they come to both of our getting ready locations for photos, but they stayed all night and got every picture we could have dreamed of having. They truly captured the romantic and fun essence of the wedding. Not only that, but we had our photos back only 8 days later! That is unheard of and amazing. Kate absolutely spoiled us and gave us these photos to treasure for a lifetime.

It meant everything to us that despite Hurricane Matthew, our loved ones were able to be there and celebrate our weekend with us. From the rehearsal dinner at Sugar Creek Brewery all the way to the rooftop after party at Fahrenheit in Uptown Charlotte, it was a nonstop party. When it was all said and done, even a hurricane couldn’t stop the celebration, and in fact made it even more memorable!

Thank you for letting me share this special day with you!! I’d love to hear about your wedding day…any surprises or weather issues? What was your favorite part of your day?!

xo,

Bess