We are simply in love with Chad and Vicki’s elegant beach wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Drawing us in are the turquoise waters, white sand and this beautiful couple–so clearly in love. Natural romance abounds in this tropical destination and Chad and Vicki’s beach wedding is full of love, family and significance … the icing on their wedding cake. Enjoy as our lovely bride guides us through their day…

Wedding Style: Beach Formal
Colors: Aqua and shades of Purple
Ceremony & Reception: Melia Caribe Tropical in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Photographer: Brian Khang Photographer
Save the Date & Thank You: MagnetStreet Weddings

Highlights of the day:

A surprise love letter from my husband, seeing how beautiful the bouquets turned out, being surrounded by 60 of our closest friends and family, marrying my best friend.

Some of my favorite details:

Our fan programs … the groomsmens’ striped socks … my “something blue” anklet … wearing the same earrings my mom and sister wore on their wedding day … my camouflage garter (my husband is a big hunter) … our “In lieu of a party favor” cards (we used one of our engagement photos and explained that we were donating to the cancer organization that helped my husband when he was sick) … our engraveable guest book … and our wedding cake that had real shells on it.

Advice you’re glad you took:

Using lots of hairspray – it was REALLY windy but my hair stayed in place all day … Not wearing extremely tall heels (mine were 2.75 inches and I kept them on all night) … Strolling hors d’oeuvres versus self serve (so much more elegant).

Advice you’d like to give:

For destination weddings, try to go to the resort at least 6 months prior to the wedding to see the venues, meet the wedding planner and get a vision. We did this and it helped tremendously.

Best part of the whole wedding day: Dancing all night with my husband, friends and family.

{Chad & Vicki personalized “Love Airways” Save the Date Card and “Black Fade” Thank You Card}

Thank you Chad and Vicki–for sharing your day and the topical prettiness of your lovely, lovely wedding! You can see more from this beach destination wedding via photographer, Brian Khang.

Surrounded by their family and friends in their native Ohio, Nick and Jessica rang in 2012 as husband and wife! Their New Year’s Eve wedding was all about the wedding–until about 11:00p.m. when they broke out the top hats, tiaras, and mardi gras beads. From their horse-drawn carriage to the spectacular views inside their historic church, to the fun, creative and dramatic outdoor shots … enjoy as our beautiful and beaming bride, shares gorgeous photos from their winter wedding–while highlighting a few of their magical moments.

Wedding Date December 31, 2011
Colors Cranberry Red, Black, Ivory with Silver and Gold Accents

Ceremony Holy Family Church
Reception Sheraton Columbus at Capitol Square
Photographer Banks Photography
Save the Dates, Thank You Cards: MagnetStreet Weddings

About the Day  We had 325 guests! A big winter wedding! We stayed very “wedding focused” until about 11pm.  Then we brought out Top Hats and Tiaras for the New Year.  We also had big screens to watch the Ball drop in New York at midnight and did a big countdown with a toast!  It was the perfect way to ring in the New Year!“ 

Highlights of the day
Nick: “Seeing Jessica walk down the isle.”
Jessica: “Riding away from the church in a horse and carriage.”
Nick & Jessica: “Ringing in the New Year with all of our friends and family!”

Advice you’re glad you took – To just enjoy the moment … really take it all in. Just relax and eat the food and cake that we took forever to decide upon!

Advice you’d like to give – Don’t stress about the little things, something might go wrong, but you will look back and laugh later. (Our “disaster” was our programs were accidentally loaded into a car that wasn’t going to the ceremony. By the time we realized they weren’t at the church, guests had already begun to arrive. Luckily, the day was saved and they were delivered and passed out in the middle of the ceremony. Better late than never!)

Also, splurge on a photographer!!!!!!!  That will be your best investment, because the pictures will last a lifetime!

Best part of the whole wedding day – Everything!  We could not have imagined a more perfect day!

Vendor Shout Outs

Karla and her team at Banks Photography did an amazing job! We are very happy with how she took charge and made the photo process painless and quick, yet got so many amazing shots!

MagnetStreet made it easy to create a Thank You card that we sent to guests that featured some of our favorite photographs from the day. We received so many positive comments on our thank yous!

Photo Booth Save the Date “Slide Show” design

Thank You Card “Black Fade”

Congratulations Jessica & Nick–we wish all the best and a lifetime of joy and happiness! Thanks for sharing your day and inspiring us with your New Year’s Eve wedding.

xo

We’re very excited to introduce yet another gorgeous real wedding on Truly Engaging. This one especially tugs at our heart strings because once upon a time–Jamie used to work with us here at MagnetStreet. So it is our pleasure to feature he and Brittany’s Minnesota vintage winter wedding. Their big day begins in the warm and innovative style of Bigelow Chapel. Be inspired by the capturing of a couple in love on their wedding day and by the wise words of our beautiful bride, Brittany.

Colors- blush pink, gray, navy, and ivory

Ceremony- Bigelow Chapel I saw this chapel first when I visited it for a college art class. The swooping ceiling let in the light beautifully and made the ceremony feel very warm and intimate.
Reception- Vadnais Heights Commons
Photographer- Imagen International My co-worker Lizzy Hausladen did our pictures. It was strange to be on the other side of the camera, but it was really fun to have someone I know so well do our pictures. She also did a great job of helping us both relax and forget the camera, I know she captured some really great moments! {Brittany is also 1 of 3 head wedding photographers and co-owner of Imagen International.}

Save the Date, Wedding Invitations & Suite- MagnetStreet Weddings
Magnet street was great. We were doing DIY projects for many other aspects of our day that we didn’t have the time/energy to make every invite too. We did save the dates and invites through MagnetStreet. We got the personalization we were looking for without having to craft each invite. We got so many compliments on our stationary–really set the tone for the day.

{Save the Date Magnet- “Devoted”}

Flowers- The Flower Guys Our flowers were beautiful. Lynn our florist had to make a last-minute substitution, but it was an upgrade to peonies in my bouquet. It was so pretty and vintage, perfect for the day.
Day of Wedding Coordinator- The Bliss Life Kari did such a great job making sure the day ran smoothly. I am sure there were a million little problems that needed to be solved, but I never knew about any of it!
Catering - Creative Catering by Molly We had chef-cooked pasta stations. The meal was a lot of fun and even though the food was being cooked on the spot, they got everyone fed fairly quickly. I also heard after the fact, that the kitchen lost power before the meal was served, but I had no idea! The food was tasty, fresh, and hot even with out power!
Vintage Lace Veil- etsy designer EricaElizabethDesign

Highlights of the day- The whole day was just a blast. We were just able to celebrate our journey and this big-step we were making with all the important people in our lives. It was great to see all of our work and dreaming for the last 9 months come together in such a beautiful and memorable day. The weather was beautiful, almost 40 in the first week of January must be a Minnesota first.

{Above: Jamie & Brittany personalized “Matchless Beauty” wedding invitation design & Enclosure Card}

Best part of the whole wedding day- Our vows. We wrote them ourselves and surprised each other. There were lots of tears, but I will never forget how beautiful and special that moment was.

Advice you’re glad you took- Have someone in charge of your day. We hired a day-of-coordinator. Kari Warwick from Bliss, made sure that everything ran smoothly so we got to enjoy our wedding instead of stressing over details.
Advice you wished you took- Don’t take on too much. We had multiple DIY projects. I loved how personalized our day was, but there was definitely a lot of work and stress before the wedding.
Advice you’d like to give- Don’t stress the small stuff, just sit back and enjoy the fact that you are getting married. Make sure you have points in your day where you can both sit back and reflect on what is happening–and the  huge step you are taking together.

Congratulations Jamie and Brittany! Thanks for sharing your day and savvy advice with us. We wish you all the best! And if you dear reader would like to wish our couple well, please leave them a comment below!

xo

Rebekah & Jeremiah, saving the date 11-17-2012

Photographer: Kristy Vest Photography
Save the Date: MagnetStreet Weddings
Wedding Colors: Navy, Taupe, and Ivory.
Wedding Style: Very clean, elegant, and chic 

Girl says “yes” to boy on bended knee! I love everything about this session–from the sweetest wedding proposal ever told, to the pure, raw joy–so beautifully captured in these vibrant images!

Go ahead, we’ll wait. Grab a few tissues … you may need them as Rebekah tells us about her proposal, sitting in the middle of a field, under a setting sun. How cool is that?

Rebekah’s Proposal Story

The pictures were intended to be a “mini” session with Kristy–it was her Winter/Christmas special. I knew the pictures would be outside around sunset and near a barn, and the chair in the open field was a total surprise to me! Upon arrival for our session, I was SO excited when I saw the chair in the open field. I had seen pictures like that before but never thought I would have any of them. We began taking pictures around the barn, and right near sunset is when we made our way to the chair.

I was sitting in the chair and Jeremiah was standing behind me for the first few pictures, then Kristy suggested we try something different, I looked down to fix my hair and dress, and Jeremiah said “like this?” When I looked up he had the box in hand, and got on one knee in front of me. I immediately covered my face and cried. Finally! This man I love was asking me to be his wife! I was so excited but so overcome with love, that tears were all I had.  

I quickly realized that there were more pictures to be had, now that I was getting engaged!! So I tried to dry up my tears and then those sweet words I had been longing to hear came out of his mouth, “Will you marry me?”  Before he could get the question out I screamed YES!  I couldn’t kiss and hug him enough, I could have exploded with excitement! I just kept squealing.

Jeremiah and Kristy were SO relieved! Kristy was in on the surprise, and they had been planning for over two months. Kristy said she had lost sleep over our session, hoping it would go perfect! All day she said, she thought she had been more nervous than Jeremiah was! They did such a wonderful job and I am SO grateful Kristy was there to capture our once in a life time, special moment.

(Bold and attention-grabbing, Rebekah & Jeremiah chose “Devoted” Save the Date Magnet design. What a keepsake–not only for the big day, but the powerful emotions of the day! Bravo!!}

Gorgeous, right?! All of nature chiming in on their perfect day–so perfectly captured. Congratulations Jeremiah & Rebekah. Thanks for sharing your sweet story–we can’t wait to see your wedding pictures now!

OK Tennessee brides-to-be, love the natural light photography style of Kristy Vest … find her, like her and follow her on facebook here. She’s a gem!

xo