Carrie and Ken | Vie | Philadelphia, PA

A: The inspiration behind my big day was Disney. I grew up watching Disney movies and reading fairytales where the characters lived “Happily Ever After,” so basically my favorite Disney princess is Tiana. I had a bridal shower based on her colors, purple and green. For my bridesmaid’s dresses, I chose Emerald Green to incorporate one of her colors into my special day. The baby’s breath flowers on the flower crowns that my seven flower girls wore were inspired by the Duchess of Sussex and her wedding in 2018. Baby’s breath is also my favorite flower. I even used them as centerpieces for my reception. My wedding colors were Emerald, Ivory and Rose Gold for the ceremony. For the reception, I switched to an evening theme, and went with black satin table cloths, silver accent centerpieces, and baby’s breath flowers, to give the reception venue a chic look. My husband and I are Christians, so for our ceremony we had my Grandmother say the Lord’s blessing over our marriage, we also did the lighting of the Unity Candle with our Mothers to represent each family before the start of the ceremony. We lite the larger candle together to represent our new union as husband and wife.

A: Our ceremony was held at Haddonfield United Methodist Church. This church was very special to my husband; his parents got married at this very same church 31 years ago. Due to the beautiful architecture of the church, I used two alter centerpieces that were placed on pillars. These centerpieces had baby’s breath and hydrangea in them. For the pew ends, my grandmother acquired faux flowers to add greenery to the church. The church had a pipe organ, cathedral ceilings, and an amazing aisle. It felt just like a royal wedding!         For my reception décor, I collaborated with my floral designer Chelsea, who works at Beautiful Blooms and my mother to bring my fairytale vision to life. I wanted my guest to feel like they entered Cinderella’s reception when they came into the dining hall. My reception was arranged for 200 guests. I took advantage of round tables and rectangle tables to fill the space. I used two long tables that were filled with a runner of ten silver candle stands of varying heights and sizes, each topped with an ivory pillar candle encased in glass. These tables were finished with white rose petals, crystal, and sparkles. For my round tables, I used a variation of tall fluffy baby’s breath centerpieces, crystal beaded hurricanes of varying heights in sizes, and low rose and baby’s breath arrangements. My unplugged wedding sign was a DIY project that my cousins did the evening before my wedding. The announcement was written in beautiful calligraphy against a black chalkboard. The wooden sign that was displayed at my reception, I actually did myself at my local Board and Brush it read “Love laughter & happily ever after” with our names and wedding date June 2, 2019. This sign meant everything to me, it was displayed during cocktail hour, and the only rustic piece I had in my wedding.

A: The theme of my wedding was a fairytale, so I used baby’s breath and white roses as a centerpiece for my reception. I had six flower girls in my wedding, each girl wore a baby’s breath flower crown that was made by Beautiful Blooms. The two youngest girls carried a baby’s breath adorned basket down the aisle while the four older girls carried baby’s breath bouquets that were made by my Aunt, Gwenda Mooring. I had 7 Bridesmaids and 2 Maids of Honor. Each woman was given a bouquet of fresh white and ivory roses made by Beautiful Blooms. At last, my bridal fairytale bouquet was once again created by Beautiful Blooms and consisted of fluffy white and ivory roses, finished with flowing stems of white Phalaenopsis orchids; it was a dream come true! I cried when I saw my bouquets, they were absolutely beautiful.

A: We personalized our special day by incorporating Caricatures by Courtney, who drew our guest faces during cocktail hour and the reception. We also used “Gifadelphia,” who allowed our guest to have an interactive photo booth experience and receive their Gifs instantly by text message, email, or social media. Finally, my husband and I love to dance together, so we had The Amazin Grace Little & GLB band perform all of our favorite songs, live for our reception, accompanied by Takeem Champion our DJ who had our guest dance the night away!   It is hard for me to pick a favorite part of my wedding, but for the sake of this, I will pick a part from my ceremony and my reception. My favorite part of the wedding from my ceremony would have to be when Camryn Champion sang a live rendition of the song “Marvelous” by Cece Winans, as Kenny and I lit our unity candle. This moment made me realize that I was blessed to be marrying the man of my dreams. My prince charming, I cried tears of joy!  My favorite part of our wedding reception was when my husband and I danced to a live rendition of my favorite song, “Best Part” by H.E.R and Daniel Caeser, the band did an amazing job!

From the bride: I have followed the YsaMakino wedding dress designs since the day I got engaged (September 9, 2017.) I fell in love with the beading, satin, lace, and fullness of each ball gown designed with the YsaMakino name. I knew that I wanted a YsaMakino ball gown for my wedding, I just did not know how accessible it would be. I searched the YsaMakino website and found out that Bijou Bridal carried the designer. I immediately made an appointment and drove 1hr and 30 minutes to search for my dream dress to assist in my fairytale vision. I found my ball gown on the first visit to the store, one of the bridal consultants informed me of the YsaMakino designer’s name Leigh Price and his ability to create a cathedral length veil with a 3.5-foot extension to complete my gown and bring my vision to life. I was ecstatic, Leigh Price designed me a veil to match this beautiful creation of a ball gown. I wanted to feel like Cinderella on my wedding day and for my future husband to be left speechless (in a good way) when the church doors opened. I had two violinists at my wedding to bring my fairy tale vision to life, and the pipe organ to sound trumpets before the doors open, and I began my journey down the aisle.  I wore my hair half up and down for the ceremony with curls and my cathedral length veil, I kept a natural look for my make up, and only wore a diamond tennis bracelet gifted from my mom as something “new”, my engagement ring, and an antique ring gifted from my great aunt Cynthia as something “blue”.

From the groom: I used Ozzie’s Tuxedo before for a friend’s black-tie wedding, I loved the tuxedo, and I thought their service was excellent. So when it was time for my wedding, I went back to Ozzie’s and not only picked out my tux but also my groomsmen and ring bearer’s tuxes. I always envisioned myself in a Black Tuxedo for my wedding.

A: Kenny and I met for the first time in Junior High School. I have known him since the age of 13 years old. We attended the same High School as well and became inseparable my senior year of High School. I have loved Kenny since the age of 13 years old, but have found a greater love for him as our relationship transitioned from friendship to courting to marriage. God could not have sent me a better mate.  The proposal, I always envisioned a proposal full of people and cameras, but Kenny saw otherwise, and it was perfect. It was a Saturday morning; September 9, 2017, at 10:30 am to be exact, and I was getting ready for church when I heard a knock at my apartment door, it was Kenny. He was picking me up for service and insisted that I did not drive. I immediately went back to my bedroom to put the finishing touches on my outfit. I heard another knock on the door, but this time it was my bedroom door, and Kenny was telling me to open it. When I opened the door, he was on one knee, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. I was so excited I cried, and called my friend Sally on facetime to tell her he finally proposed to me, we both screamed, and I totally forgot to say “Yes,” until Kenny was like, “What’s your answer?” I immediately yelled, “YES!” This was one of the best days of my life!

A: The most anticipated moment of the wedding day for me was when the church doors opened, and I began walking down the aisle alone to meet my brother at the last pew and be handed off to my prince charming; my husband, Kenneth.  The most anticipated moment for Kenneth was being pronounced husband and wife, he was ecstatic and could not wait too officially be one in the eyes of God and our family.

A: We would advise couples to establish a firm budget. Many vendors offer monthly payment plans leading up to the big day; just ask. We would also like couples to know that they should take times for themselves during wedding planning. Make it a goal to have “couple time,” pause and go on a picnic, rent a movie, go ice skating- just do something fun that brings you both joy because wedding planning can be very stressful. Remember why you’re marrying, to celebrate your union! Don’t let the stress of planning distract you from that!