Random assortment of tender gestures, contributions, gifts and miracles:

Random assortment of tender gestures, contributions, gifts and miracles:

• We ordered our groomsmen and Father ties from J.Crew Factory for a fraction of the price we would’ve paid whole retail. All the guys just looked SO GOOD I can’t even. Plus they actually liked their new pants and ties they got to keep so that’s a bonus.
• I hand painted little booklets to go on tables for people to write their advice in, what we should name our babies, their favorite memory of us or where we should travel to.
• Since I'm from Virginia Beach and Mike & I love the ocean, I had my mom bring seashells that we could scatter across the tables. At first I thought it would look tacky but seeing little shells everywhere brought a little bit of my home to our wedding which I loved.

• My Grandpa, who sealed us in the temple, played the guitar and sang during our First Dance. He sang “I can’t help falling in love with you” by Elvis which is my favorite song to hear my Grandpa sing--I might have cried it was so tender.

• Our videographer filmed our First Look video and finished it in 2 days—just in time to display it on a TV at our party! That was such a huge hit. Our photographer also shot and edited our First Look photos just in time for us to print some out and put on the tables. Huge blessing!! People just loved looking at our faces hahaha I loved it too.
• My dad hand carved our cake cutter from a branch that overlooked our backyard in Virginia Beach where I grew up

• My dear friend Amber from my Young Women’s days is a master baker and created our dream wedding cake that fed all 200+ guests! The very top was cheesecake—Me and Mike’s absolute FAVORITE!

• My sister, aunts and cousins--under my direction, created all 10 bridesmaids bouquets and 11 groomsmen boutonnieres from the bulk flowers we bought. All it took was a few white roses, baby’s breath and micro-eucalyptus leaves to make everything look PROFESSIONAL! 
• We bulk bought our table flowers and had my aunts, cousins, bridesmaids and friends arrange them in vases and on the tables.

 

• We used all of the candles from my sister’s wedding for table decorations. Free!
• We rented from Diamond Rental and they were excellent. For a little extra $$ they came right after our party to clean everything up so we didn’t have to make any family go back the next day to clean up.
• I created a travel book full of all the places Mike and I have been to in the last 13 months since we met each other and displayed it at our guest book table.

• *Miracle moment* I was at the bulk flower store with my mom and my aunt and I wasn't finding anything I liked (**because i didn't realize you have to prepare months ahead when trying to get roses, dahlias and other fancy bulbs....) when we saw a lady arranging flowers in the most beautiful pile. I asked her if she worked there and if she could arrange my bouquet with the exact flowers right in front of us!! She laughed at how random this was but totally agreed to do my bouquet and two corsages for the Mothers. Svetlana was so kind and had my bouquet ready the next night for the wedding reception photos. It was neat because my bouquet looked like a combination of the Mother of the Bride corsages and the Bridesmaids bouquets all mashed in one big bunch! That was a true miracle—we kept talking about it the rest of the day how it was destiny!