It’s been a year since Chris & Carrie said I DO in front of family and friend and I want to first wish them a very Happy 1 year Anniversary!! Carrie was kind enough to answer a few questions to help inspire and provide some advice for all of you 2013 brides out there! Thanks Carrie for sharing and congratulations – I absolutely ADORE your coral, teal and gold wedding color combination, so unique and gorgeous!
1. What are your top 5 moments from your wedding day?
1) Relaxing at my house before going to the church to get ready. I got to just drink coffee and think about the day while my sister-in-law did my nails. I was really determined to not allow the day to go by in a stressful blur; and I think having that morning time set the tone for the rest of the day.
2) My Nana crying when she came out to take pictures with me.
3) The few minutes when I was waiting with my dad to walk down the isle were pretty special. We are very close, but he isn’t one to say out loud what he is feeling. So to see him so happy, and to know that he was happy for me because he loves me so much, is a really precious memory.
4) Before our wedding, I used to kind of feel like vows were the boring, but necessary part of a wedding. But it was so powerful to make those promises to my husband and to God! And the longer I am married, the more I realize how important (and hard!) it is to live out those vows in our day-to-day life. So I definitely look back on the ceremony, and especially the vows, as the most important part of the day.
5) My absolute favorite memory of our wedding day is right after the ceremony. We were walking out to take pictures, and just spontaneously stopped to hold each other and let the reality of it all set in. We were both so happy, we were just crying and laughing and hugging. I can safely say that that was the happiest moment of my life!
2. How did you choose your colors?
Well, my fiance and I collaborated on most of the wedding, most of all the colors. I had picked some out, and he had picked some out, and we arrived at the final decision by standing in front of the scrapbook paper section in Michael’s and holding up various paper colors together until we had a pallet that we were both happy with.
3. Did you have a theme? How did you come up with it?
Originally, we had compiled a list of interests that we share, and tried to make that the theme. Some things stuck; for example, we both love to read, and our centerpieces were made of books. However, we had a really short engagement (just over two months) and didn’t have time to put a lot of ideas into action. So we ended up falling back on the fact that it was Christmas time, so of course Christmas stuff was already everywhere. It ended up being a good mix of our style and the season.
4. What advice do you have for brides planning their 2013 wedding?
I would say, do your best to take a step back to evaluate what is really important. Yes, it is your special day, and things should be the way you want them. But when you look back, you’re probably not going to care about what kind of food you served, or how perfect your venue was, or any of those other things. You’re really going to remember the special moments with loved ones, and the way it felt to marry your best friend! So try to enjoy the process of planning, and remember that the relationships with the people around you are way more important than anything else.
5. Where did you honeymoon?
We spent a week in Lanai, Hawaii. A friend let us use her family’s vacation home basically for free. It was pretty amazing!
6. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?
I wish I had been more laid-back about some of the details. For example, even though we were serving snacks instead of a full meal, it was still really important to me to have real plates and glasses; I felt like plastic or paper wouldn’t be fancy enough. But it ended up being a really big hassle for us and our family, both before and after the wedding day. Now I realize that, considering the overall vibe of the wedding, nobody would have thought twice about any kind of plates that we chose to use! So even though I wasn’t a crazy bridezilla (I think!), I still wish I had chilled out a bit more and saved myself and loved ones the extra stress.
Old book centerpieces, add some moss and flowers and you’ve got a unique centerpiece!
DIY cupcake platters! Beautiful antique plates glued to antique glasses – gorgeous idea!
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