AJ & Steph THE BRIDE'S PERSPECTIVE
Describe Your Wedding Vision I’m a color person through and through - bold and brilliant. I’m also an old soul who grew up in the country and love all things vintage, authentic, and rustic. Think of Anthropologie meets “Country Chic” as my style. I knew I was not going to pick pastels, or what one might think of as “traditional” wedding colors or themes. I wanted a neutral, country setting, as we were having a inter-faith marriage, and a barn seemed like the perfect fit. I booked the Blue Dress Barn without seeing it in person - my vision exploded, especially with that colorful, unique bridal suite and the understated elegance of the vintage white barn with greenery abundantly spread throughout the grounds, which would be bursting in July. In an effort to incorporate a texture element, I wanted to provide variety in pattern and color, so I chose different, bold color options and materials for my bridesmaids to choose from and a list of dresses that complemented each other, yet would vary from mine. My main colors I started out with were red, blue, and yellow, but I knew I’d have to avoid making things look like a circus, so I brought in colors that accented and complemented, while adding pattern through items such as the intricate, stunning lace on my dress, our groomsman attire, my gold sequin reception dress, and unique pieces such as colorful vintage tablecloths and hankies to bring it all together. My florist also knocked it out of the park incorporating all those elements into our flowers that I believe tied together the whole day. I also wanted it to have several detailed, personal touches so we incorporated a huppah that one of our best friends made, AJ’s dad’s tallit (prayer shawl) as the canopy, my grandmother’s wedding ring on my right hand, and my hometown bakery to do pies, cookies, and whoopie pies that I absolutely love. 40
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Describe Your Wedding Day The beginning of our wedding week, the weather called for record high temperatures and heat indexes near 110 degrees, so I made a decision to change our attire from semi-formal to Hawaiian shirts. Needless to say, it was hot. We rolled with it! My favorite part of the day was the first look. My groom melted into tears when he saw me and it was such a special moment for us. Rain moved in right before the outside ceremony - a blessing in disguise. It stopped and had cooled down a little outside. My wonderful bridesmaids encouraged me to risk having it outside and I did! Everyone shuffled back out and we made it happen! Almost through the ceremony, wind picked up and I remember saying my vows as the thunder rolled (quite magical actually). Then it poured and my groom hollered mid-ceremony for everyone to run to the barn and finish inside. Soaked, but reveling in almost being husband/ wife, we finished inside with 4 impromptu human huppah holders, guests wet all around us, yet cheering and finally being pronounced husband and wife. My favorite pictures are from both outside and in - completely worth it! The open bar certainly was appreciated and completely worth it. Family style dinner was a unique touch and corn on the cob was my personal favorite. My dad’s speech had me in tears at the end, but was quite perfect and memorable. Our loved ones came together and danced with us into the night including two different backgrounds celebrating the Horrah (where we are thrown up on chairs) and circling and singing with arms draped over one another during our last song “American Pie” was a wonderful ending. And, above all, AJ was my husband at the end of the day!
