So last week I told you guys about the incident at the bank where an elderly lady fell down, well I had been telling Kyle that he should call the friend who knew the lady who fell and also happened to be there, to make sure she was okay. I couldn’t get that little lady off my mind. On Friday he decided to go to the friend’s business to check up and she looked him right in the eye and said, “I need to talk to you!!” Fearing the worst, he waited around for her to have a free moment. Turns out the lady is saying that someone pushed her down the stairs AND went through her purse. Said purse wasn’t even in the picture as all she had in her hands were keys and her debit card! Can you believe that?! We are unsure if she is a bit unstable or if like so many others she is trying to capitalize on her unfortunate experience somehow. Either way I had to laugh because that was the last thing I expected to happen. Long story short, the lady is fine, bruised up but okay.
Moving on to today’s gorgeous wedding from Alex M Photography. I am in love with this wedding from the DIY details, to the personal and meaningful touches, to the Bride’s AMAZING Dress. I am obsessed with the bouquet and the cake, well the cake blows my mind. This wedding is gorgeous from top to bottom but the best part is, it was everything the couple hoped it would be and their love was infused in every detail. As I scrolled through the photos I couldn’t help but think that this wedding looked like a ton of fun to be at too. Without further ado, I bring you the bride, Lauren’s take of the big day.
We were engaged on July 15th, 2010 and got married on October 22nd 2011, in Longview, Texas at an amazing venue called The Belgium House with a beautiful gazebo and amphitheater style seating in levels. My husband and I met at Texas Tech University at homecoming in 2007 when his fraternity and my sorority paired up. We each got together when our fraternity brothers/sorority sisters separately did our chants, plus sang the Tech fight song. We’ve been together since!
My husband Blaine’s fraternity Kappa Alpha Order is known as “southern gentlemen” and we love Texas country, so we pictured a very simple, laid-back yet romantic country setting, very warm and comforting. Our ceremony and dance floor/reception was outside.
Our colors were chocolate brown, ivory, and gold. I gave my bridesmaids a great site called aria.com where I chose a mocha brown for their dress color and then let them choose which style dress they wanted, it turned out looking amazing with the guys tan suits and brown ties.
My flowers were all ivory garden roses, hydrangeas (dusted with brown eyeshadow – so pretty!), coffee break roses, and some curly willow branch. I had a really hard time choosing a dress (I graduated with an Apparel Design degree) and just couldn’t decide till I found the perfect one about 4 months before the wedding. It was sweetheart neckline with a low back, all ivory french alencon lace, fit and flared, and then I paired a gorgeous flower belt with it for some flair. I got so many compliments on it.
We had a candy bar, beer in keg boxes (like mini fridge), and gold champagne fountain. My cake was made to look like my dress (bottom tier mimicked the lace, 2nd tier to look like my belt, top to look like pearls and my grandparents topper). Blaine’s cake was made to look like a bucket of beer – there is a popular hangout in Lubbock where all the Tech students hang out to drink and eat nachos called Chimy’s. The cake was a bucket of Chimy’s Coronas..our friends from Tech LOVED it, and we received a call from Chimy’s to hang a picture of it in the bar. I either made/painted/crafted/re-did/or garage-saled a majority of our decorations. We did do personalized koozies for the groom’s table (all Tech themed), cocktail and dinner napkins, and beer cups. My mom is a god-send. She researched and got so many budget-friendly decorations that really made a difference. She always knew exactly the right font for the napkins or the perfect accessory for the registration table. We were on the same page through the entire process. It turned out to all flow as wonderfully as I’d imagined! Plus, the east texas weather was impeccable that night.
Ok so even with all of these gorgeous details, my absolute favorite part of their wedding is still to come and it involves the Bride’s Grandparents. As a Bride who incorporated her Grandparents into her big day, these next photos had me in tears…
The cake topper was on my grandparents at their wedding. They recently celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary on September 5th, and I loved the thought of using it. At the wedding we thought it would be perfect if they cut and served each other cake just as they had so many years ago. It was a really special moment.
How sweet is that?!
What advice would you give to other couples?
My only advice to those couple’s while planning is not to sweat the small stuff. My amazing mother-in-law told me this the day before the wedding. Remember what’s important. Forget whats not. Keep in mind what the day is really about..and not if the fountain isn’t connected correctly and still in the wrapping.
Thank you so much Lauren for sharing the details of your wedding day and a BIG Thank you to Alex for sharing all the gorgeous photos! Congrats to you!
Images submitted via Two Bright Lights.
