HOW DID YOU MEET?
We met in high school through a friend of his. We talked for a few years, and then life took us apart with other partners. In our early 20’s we found our way back to each other and the rest is history!

WHEN DID YOU BECOME ENGAGED, AND HOW?
We got engaged after 9 years of being together, on 12/28/2023. He had gotten the ring and had a whole elaborate plan made but ended up not being able to wait and popped the question in our home surrounded by our fur babies.

#WEDDINGGOALS
We wanted good music, good food, and our closest family and friends there. We didn’t have a ton of expectations, but knew we wanted to feel as comfortable as we could while celebrating with those who mean the most to us. Our vision was elegant, moody dinner party vibes, and I think we achieved that!

HOW DID PLANNING GO?
Planning went smooth…once we finally started making decisions. Being an indecisive person made planning a little challenging, but once we had our vision, we were able to execute. Favorite time actually the setting up at the venue the day before. Our friends and family all came to help and made all the difference. Worst moment when planning would definitely be being humbled by the cost of things once we started looking into everything.

WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
Meeting expectation and reality. We did a lot of DIY things, which was much more time consuming than initially thought.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF STAYING WITHIN YOUR BUDGET AND HOW DID YOU MANAGE IT?
Some challenges of staying in the budget was prioritizing what was most important to us, versus all the ideas of things we wanted. We also DIY’d a lot of things, which kept things more budget friendly, but also took time and patience. I really wanted to hire a wedding coordinator, which we didn’t. The budget did change as things moved forward, but we still kept it realistic for ourselves, and at the end of the day we were able to do the things that mattered the most to us while staying in a budget.

HOW WAS THE CEREMONY?
The ceremony was, as cliché as this sounds, perfect! It was not perfectly curated, as my nephews (who were the ring bearers) almost forgot to turn down the aisle, but between the ceremony script that my husband and I put together, and our closest family and friends watching us, along with the rocking music we played as everyone walked out—“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica—it was perfect.

MEMORABLE MOMENT
The DJ playing the intro to “Fuel” by Metallica before the Father/Daughter dance. My dad was flabbergasted in the best way, as that was my favorite first song as a kid and one of his favorites as well.

FUNNY MOMENT
When putting my dress on, one of the clasps broke and the entire room went, “Oohhh.” Then we all laughed and got the dress zipped and buttoned. The entire day went pretty smooth, so it was nice to have one little blip in the day, early in the day.

SPECIAL DANCE SONGS
First Dance: “Latch (Acoustic)” by Sam Smith
Father/Daughter Dance: “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed
Mother/Son Dance: “Simple Man” by Shinedown
Mother/Daughter Dance: “Dear Daughter” by Halestorm
Last Dance: “Follow You” by Bring Me The Horizon

BEST PART OF THE DAY
Brittany: my husband and I doing our vows privately after the ceremony! (Our officiant didn’t realize we were doing this, and came into the room mid way and went “oops”—and backed out of the room quietly.)

Vinny: Seeing the love of my life coming down the aisle, and then holding her hands so I could finally breathe.

BRITTANY’S FAVORITE DETAIL
The candles on the tables—when the lights dimmed down, the glow was so romantic and exactly what we envisioned.

#VENDORRAVES
All of my vendors were amazing! The bartenders—Junpier and Trevor—went above and beyond. They went out and got the older folks coffee, and were raved about by all our guests. Maria, our photographer, brought our vision of what we wanted our pictures to look to life! And to top it off, she is the sweetest and helped make us feel comfortable—even though we are not “picture” people.

LOOKING BACK, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR GUESTS WILL REMEMBER THE MOST?
The music! And of course the smiles on our faces throughout the entire day.

 

ADVICE FROM THE COUPLE
Start planning sooner than later, be realistic with your wants and remember that the day is about you two, so do what brings you happiness. Don’t stress the little things, because once you have the ring on your finger and a drink in your hand, they won’t matter anyways.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
Chosen a venue that we could have done clean up at the day after. Cleaning up the night of the wedding was a lot!