Sophisticated White Wedding at Tudor Arms for a Kirkbrides Planner!

The best part about your own wedding is being surrounded by the people you love.  My husband and I both come from very close-knit families so our day was all about family and friends who are like family.  I would encourage every couple to take time at your wedding to step to the side with your new spouse and take it all in.  Everyone in the room is there celebrating the two of you.  It is true what everyone tells you - the day feels like a dream and goes by WAY too fast.  I figured since I have seen first-hand the various moments it hits people that they are getting married I wouldn’t be as overwhelmed with emotion as I was on my own wedding day, I was 100% wrong.  Seeing everything come together for your own wedding day, hearing the music you chose to walk down the aisle played on strings, and coming out of the doors to a room filled with your favorite people and your husband at the end of the aisle is so surreal.  I cried like a baby when I walked down the aisle, my dad was actually laughing at me! 

Getting ready above where we would have dinner later that night with my mom, sister/amazing Maid of Honor, and bridesmaids was such a fun part of the day and Suzanne Davis and Ashleigh Albertson made me feel so beautiful!! 

I really wanted a lot of big, fluffy white flowers and Erin of The Budding Tree did not disappoint. Hyrdrangeas have always been my favorite flower, we always had them at my family’s house growing up and I love how fluffy they are so I wanted lots and lots of those and that is definitely what I got!  The ceremony setup with white flower boxes filled with white hydrangeas in the Tudor Room was absolutely perfect and I still dream about my bouquet.  We also loved after our ceremony when our parents linked up and exited to uproarious cheers! After we were married we took some photos while guests enjoyed cocktail hour.  I thought we were going to see our reception room when we turned the corner and I saw that my amazing husband Jim had listened to what I really wanted and surprised me with a live wedding painting by the amazing Jacqueline DelBrocco! I highly recommend this to couples looking for something unique at your wedding.  It is so fun for your guests to watch and our finished wedding painting that is now hanging in our home is a beautiful reminder of our favorite day.

For the décor in the Crystal Ballroom I wanted to keep it simple and classic to keep the focus on the beautiful room.  All of my stationery was through Kirkbrides and my invitations were exactly what I wanted – classic and elegant! Jim and I love going out to dinner so we named our tables after restaurants we loved and filled them with the people we love!  I chose some elegant linens from L’Nique and had a large white wedding cake that was as delicious as it was beautiful from Michael Angelo’s displayed on the stage.  We shared our first dance on the stage and then I danced with my dad.  My brother is a super talented musician so we did something a little different and had him play the piano and sing “Goodnight My Angel” by Bill Joel and he stole the show!  After dinner we invited guests back to the same room where we had been married for the best part of the night – the dance party!  Burning River Entertainment helped us transform the room with party lighting and Tony Quarles and the Discovery Band killed it and kept all 300 of our guests dancing the entire night.  Jim only requested two things for our wedding – a big band with brass and a hot pretzel bar.  Once Jim started seeing a few of the bills he reluctantly said we could cut his pretzel bar.  But I couldn’t let Jim down so I surprised Jim with his pretzel bar and it was a huge hit! Shout out to Roxanne for keeping our giant bridal party, huge wedding, and multiple surprises organized.  I obviously recommend that all couples getting married work with Kirkbrides, best decision you will make!

Here are a few more favorites from Christopher + Julie and our amazing trailer video that I still watch over and over from Z Media: