Casey and Michael’s
Fairytale Wedding
Venue-Beacon Hill Manor, Paeonian Springs, Virginia, Food– Zesty Gourmet, Coordinator-Janelle Washington, Legacy Weddings Dress– Maggie Sottero, Florist– A Floral Event, Makeup/Hair– Kreative Beauty Services and Artistry by Lexi Higgs,
Photography-Still Blessings Photography, Videography– Nathan Taylor, DJ– John James, Cake-Tiffany’s Sweets & Treats
1. Embrace the Nerves
My girls and I got ready in the venue and had tons of snacks to eat the morning of, while the others were getting hair/makeup done. It was a very emotional morning, I was sooo nervous and kept crying and shaking… but as soon as we were pronounced husband and wife all my nerves instantly went away!
When I got into my dress, I had only my mom and sisters in the room with me which I loved, and then we did a surprise reveal to my bridesmaids it was a really cute moment!
2. First look
I know a lot of people are doing them now but my husband and I did a “last prayer before we were married” where we didn’t see each other but we stood on opposite sides of the wall and held hands and he prayed for us. It was such an exciting moment, not being able to see each other but holding hands and knowing the other one was right there, it was so sweet!
3. Big bridal parties
I was worried how to set 16 people at “one table”, but we did our sweetheart table in the middle and 7 on each side and it worked perfectly!! We did a lot of greenery in our decorations and had greenery garland on the head table!
4. Music…
Listen to millions and millions of songs! My entire life I imagined myself walking down the aisle to “here comes the bride” but my husband didn’t care for it as “everyone in movies does” but we listened to hundreds of versions and we finally found one we both absolutely LOVED that was totally unique! It was the perfect song and he even cried when it was playing while I walked down the aisle (and the cutest cry in the world!)
5. Shoes:
Don’t stress about your shoes too much. I wore mine for the ceremony and then they were too annoying. I bought pink heels from Aldo and rhinestones (that were meant for a bridal belt) and I glued them with E6000 glue onto the back of my shoes and I got the exact shoes I had been wanting for like $200 less than I had been seeing them! I switched into sandals for the reception and my feet were thanking me all night and the next 8 days on our honeymoon! Haha
6. Planning…
We took 11 months from when we got engaged until our wedding. I honestly don’t know how people can do it faster! I was pretty much stressed the whole time… but it was worth it to see all our work pay off! And then I realized I was stressed for no reason!
7. Picking Your Bridal Party
We picked the people closest to us, and had 14 people in our bridal party. I wouldn’t have changed one person. They all did a great job and our pictures are all evened out. We had one flower girl and no ring bearer.
8. Day of Coordinator:
We did have a day of coordinator that helped with a lot, the day of time line and everything was such a help! And her getting everything in order, definitely took a lot of stress off of me, they are a little expensive but I think the day of coordinator really helped relieve a lot of my stress!!
9. Use Teamwork in Your Planning
My husband helped with a good bit of the planning which was sooo sweet. I gave him one thing at a time to do, he found our videographer, our caterer and did our seating chart! I was so stressed about the seating chart but he did an AMAZING job at it as he had much more patience than I do and it came out perfect! Just don’t give your man too much at once but they can do a lot more to help with weddings than i think we give them credit for!
10. Kleenex!!!
Bring them!!! I totally didn’t bring any and completely cried my makeup off by the end of the day!! There were sooooo many tears!!! From getting ready and reading my hubbys note, to me before the ceremony, seeing my Marine brother that just came in for the weekend, our first dance, the father daughter dance… my husband cried when i walked down the aisle, and I had to keep using my hand because I totally forgot Kleenex! I’d recommend using them around your bouquet or putting them down the top of your dress to pull out when needed!!
11. Find Your Veil on Amazon!
I was worried so hard about finding a veil to match my light ivory dress, I knew I wanted a single tier cathedral veil with no lace. I tried several on at the shop where I got my dress but I didn’t love any of them. I decided to take a risk and order one off of Amazon.com for literally $9.99! And it was the perfect style!! I had to order in white but I was able to “tea stain” it. For any brides looking to save money to get their perfect veil, if you find it in white and don’t have a white dress, I “tea stained” mine for like 40 seconds and it matched my dress PERFECTLY!! I was so happy!
13. Stop Your Worrying
I put way too much stress into the actual day and worrying about what would go wrong. There were only a few things actually went “wrong”. Our venue forgot to put up the chandeliers in our reception tent, we had a crazy speech, my vow book was lost, a few of the bridesmaid dresses were hemmed too short… but that’s really all. At the end of the day all that worrying I did was for NOTHING!
And we are married!! And living an amazing life together!! Our day was truly the fairy tale wedding I have always dreamt of!
14. Enjoy your day!!
When people say that your wedding day flies by, it really does! It seemed like we blinked and it was over! During our first dance we were talking about “wow look at this moment, we’re really married… remember this moment” and I look back and remember that moment. We tried to go around to all the tables to see our guests, didn’t make it to all of them, and we had a great time dancing and ended the night with a sparkler exit to our chauffeur car.
I wouldn’t change anything about our wedding day. I am married to my Prince Charming and this is our #ObliteyEverAfter ❤️
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Sara, a seasoned expert in wedding planning and date ideas, brings a wealth of experience to our couples blog. With a background in the television industry and hands-on involvement in a dozen weddings, including working as a wedding assistant on "My Fair Wedding with David Tutera," Sara has an innate understanding of the magic that makes weddings truly special. Growing up with four sisters has given her unique insights into the dating world, making her a go-to source for practical and heartfelt dating advice. Her knowledge and enthusiasm make her the perfect guide for couples seeking to infuse their relationships with creativity and love.