I still remember my very first day at One Fine Day Bridal. I remember being anxious and excited and being overwhelmed with the beauty of all of the gowns surrounding me. I spent part of that day just walking through the aisles of dresses, feeling the tulle, and seeing all of the sparkle. I remember putting on a wedding dress for the first time, just for fun. I got butterflies in my stomach and felt just so beautiful. I have spent two and a half years working at One Fine Day Bridal helping brides feel those exact feelings. Being anxious and excited and being overwhelmed with the beauty of all of the gowns. Watching them get butterflies in their stomach and feeling just so beautiful.
On May 31st, it was my turn! I woke up to a beautiful sunny and warm day. A day that had said rain on the forecast for weeks. A day that I had been praying for my whole life! I spent the morning with my mom and then got ready with all of the people that I love dearly!
I can honestly say, it was the happiest day of my life. It was filled with so much joy! It is so amazing to be in a room filled with all of the people that you love the most and who love and support you equally as much. While I stood up at the alter and said my vows to the love of my life, all of the stress and hard work that led up to the wedding all became worth it. People will tell you time and time again to try and stop during your wedding and just take it all in. While that is almost impossible, I really did try to do that during the ceremony. I will never forget looking into his eyes as I committed my life to him! Brides, please remember what you are doing all of the planning for! Although the engagement season of life is crazy, stressful, and a ton of work, it is 100% worth it in the end.
Blake and I chose to have Mexican food, Mexican sodas, margarita machines, and allll different types of cakes. Literally our favorite things! We wanted the day to represent us and the things that we love most- Jesus, Mexican food, and each other 🙂 I wanted white peonies for my bouquet and an array of white flowers and candles on the tables. White chairs, white tablecloths, and napkins with striped ribbon tied around them was what I dreamed of! It was so incredible to see my vision come to life!
I ended up wearing two different wedding gowns that day. I wanted to be classic and elegant for the ceremony and fun and sparkly for the reception! So many people thought that I just took the sleeves off of the first dress!! I kept it a secret from everyone except for about six people! My groom was so surprised! I am forever thankful to One Fine Day for all of their hard work on helping me find my dresses, making me feel so incredibly special, and altering them to absolute perfection!
People have already been asking me what advice that I would give to brides during the planning process and it is pretty simple, actually. My advice to brides would be to appreciate the people who have helped, supported, and blessed you in the season of being engaged. It is so easy to get stressed out and get frustrated and take that out on the people that love you, but try to remember all that these people are doing and sacrificing to make your day perfect. I will never forget all of the ways that Blake and I have been blessed throughout wedding planning. We are so humbled. Looking back, I just still can not believe how generous and selfless the people that we surround ourselves with are!
The advice that I would give for the wedding day is to just breathe. I got a little bit anxious while we were getting ready for the day, and I totally regret that now! I wish that I would have let go and just had total fun with my favorite girls! Another piece of advice that I would give is to get as much done in the beginning as possible. I had our date, venue, church, dress, colors, etc done within the first month and it made all of the difference! I am so thankful that I bought my dress with so much time in advance because it truly allowed me to picture my wedding day! So, plan like crazy in the beginning so you can enjoy it in the end 🙂
Our vendors were so incredible and I am forever thankful for all they did to make our day exactly what we dreamed of. My photographer, Abigail Edmons, went the extra mile to give me my dream photos. She was prepared, professional, personable, hilarious, so creative, and down right amazing. I will recommend her for all of time! Our videographer, Midwest Visual, blew us away. Not only is he an absolute joy to have around, he is so incredibly talented. I have watched our video probably 200 times already. Brides- if you are considering doing a video, he is your guy! Our caterer, Grant’s Catering and Wedding Dreams by Linda did the most amazing job. They took care of absolutely everything for me! From the tablecloths and flowers, to the food and silverware. They took care of everything at the ceremony and the reception! They made wedding planning so incredibly easy and I HIGHLY recommend them! Our DJ, On Point Dj, was perfect and allowed our vision to come to life! Blake and I really love music and he allowed us to be apart of it all. He is so organized, professional, and just so much fun!
So, all in all, my advice would be to enjoy this season of life. I remember the days where I just dreamed of being engaged and once I got engaged, I just dreamed of the day when I would be married. It is so hard to just stop and enjoy what is going on in your life when there are so many good things ahead, but trust me, it goes by so fast. I got an email the other day from a store that sells bridal shirts and accessories and it hit me- this season of life is over for me, but I have never been happier where my life is going. Being Blake’s wife trumps any expectations that I had before of what my life would be like. This season of life is amazing, magical, emotional, hard, stressful, and challenging, but if you choose joy in the midst of it all, your wedding day will be everything you ever dreamed of and more. Remember and remind yourself what this planning is all about!!
