Our Wedding Day | September 14, 2018 | Kristy & Vic Photography

The post that I’ve been more excited about sharing than ANY other post!!! Goodness, I really don’t even know where to begin!

Many of you all have followed along our journey- from when we started dating, to getting engaged, and now married! So many of you left sweet comments and messages along the way that meant SO much. And thank you!!!

I’ve always dreamed about this day. And you dream a whole lot extra when you meet someone as kind, caring, and patient as Edward. There was never one moment it magically hit me I wanted to marry him. But we became best friends and the love grew. We fell more and more in love, but also decided to choose to love each other more and more the closer we got! And loving Edward is such a gift. He does whatever it takes to make sure I know I’m fully loved, supported, and feel special. And he’s done that since the beginning!

But being with Edward has also given me a deeper perspective into how Christ loves. I literally had never felt so loved than when Edward and I started dating, got engaged, and then married. And I kept and keep thinking, “Wow. I can tell he really loves me such a deep way. How much more does God love me?” It’s so hard to grasp!! Jesus chose to love someone ugly, and sinful like me for zero logical explanation. I had absolutely nothing to give him, but He gave me everything. Literally He gave His Son to die so I could become His. When I think about undeserved love like that, it’s a whole new perspective. And that’s the kind of love we pray to have in our marriage!

I had a bunch typed out here about our season dating, but you can read more about our story here instead of reading the two long paragraphs I had originally written here (you’re welcome ;))! BUT to summarize- Edward and I are opposite in SO many ways! On paper, you’d wonder why we started dating! But I was so attracted to his patience, kindness, humbleness, the way he genuinely cared for others, and so many more things that I wanted to keep getting closer to him. We found that our differences could actually balance us and make us both better, while learning to be patient with each other. I’d be lying if I didn’t say we’ve had many discussions on doing things differently! But we grew together through dating and learned a lot about each other, and loved spending any time we could together!

About 1.5 years into dating, he asked me to marry him! You can view our engagement story here! It was the most perfect day in Asheville where he said, “Christa, you mean more to me than anyone or anything, and I want to spend my life trying to show you how special you are. Will you marry me?” I couldn’t say yes fast enough!

And then, the wedding planning began!! The next 9 moths were filled with doing all the things!! I did have a slight edge on planning after being able to be apart of so many weddings over the past years, but there were still SO many things I learned along the way! This time was so helpful in understanding everything my brides go through, what’s helpful and not helpful, and I’ve loved getting to implement this knowledge to help them more! But Edward was a saint during this time no matter how slightly overwhelmed (or completely crazy) I got during the planning!

Our day arrived, and we couldn’t have asked for things to go smoother. Everything fell right into place, the visions we had came to life, and it was such a special day. And no, hurricane Irma didn’t hit on our wedding day! It was a beautiful, sunny day, and it wouldn’t be a true southern wedding if it didn’t hit 90 degrees in the afternoon right? 😉

Our vendor team blew us away, and even the last minute things we had thrown together ended up being perfect. (All of our amazing vendors are tagged at the end!)

I was a teary mess that day soaking up all the emotions! No literally- you’ll be seeing a lot of tears scrolling through! The day literally flew by, then right before the ceremony I was standing with my dad in the lobby and things felt like they just stopped. Sort of like watching a movie in fast-forward, then hitting pause for a second. My dad has always been such a big encourager, so the entire way down the aisle he kept saying “You’re almost there! You’ve got this! Halfway sweetie!” Turns out this also kept him from sobbing when his attention was helping me keep it together! But I remember having my eyes set right on Edward the entire way down the aisle. It was like tunnel vision. And his tears made mine keep coming. We got through our teary vows, and finally became husband and wife!!!

We are so thankful to our amazing families who poured so much time and effort into this day, helped me with the planning, listened to my indecisiveness planning, and who just have loved and loved us the entire way through. We also loved our bridal party who made the day extra fun, and who made it special being by our side through the day! We are thankful for the friends who came out to show their support and love, and those who sent sweet messages of encouragement. And we are so, so thankful to Jesus. Because of Him, we both get to glorify His name together as one. Marriage is the greatest gift we’ve EVER received- after our salvation.

And now… the PICTURES!!! Our amazing photographers Kristy & Vic came all the way from Florida to photograph our wedding!! We had gotten to spend lots of quality time with them when Edward and I went to Florida and stayed with them for our engagement session, and we LOVED getting to be with them our wedding day! It’s true that you spend more time with your photographers than anyone else on your day!! And we loved spending ours with Kristy & Vic! And we love love love our photos!!!!!

Finding the dress was one of the first things I did after getting engaged! And I knew immediately this was the one!! Huge thanks to Johna at The White Magnolia Bridal Collection Greenville for picking out this one!! Read more about things I learned wedding dress shopping here!

And here’s a secret about these Kate Spade shoes- I found them brand new at a consignment store in Charleston for $30!!! WHAT???!!!

Our invitations and programs were from Minted (they are amazing!!), then a past bride designed the RSVP card! Just loved these sparkly J.Crew earrings!!

Simple Stems made my flower vision a reality!! Loved our flowers (and there’s way more to come!)! Love this friendor, Katie (Cotton Rouge & Co)!! Seriously. She is basically a mind-reader and made me feel so beautiful! After seeing her do so many past bride’s makeup, I had always looked forward to the day she’s do mine! All the selfies with the girls! And I had the sweetest bride tribe!! My sweet mom- My feet had gotten dirty walking around barefoot, so she was wiping them off for me before I put my shoes on! Edward wrote me a note. He always writes the best letters, and this was the best of them all. My sweet sister, best friend, and Maid-of-Honor was there for me the entire day <3  And of course, my mom zipping up the dress. It was an emotional day!! Thanks, Mom, for trying to dry the tears!! OOOOO BABY!!!! He always has been so good at making me feel so beautiful!! I loved our first look so much! I gifted him a custom sign from Local Stature that had marked on it where we started dating, said “I love you,” where we got married, and where our house is! We have it in our home now and just love it.  He gave me a journal where he had written a poem about us every month we were engaged. I was so surprised!  When my dad saw me for the first time. More tears. Is this not the best looking bridal party ever?? 😉 Loved how amazing my girls were! And how gorgeous are they in their Azazie dresses??

My sweet sisters!!And our amazing parents who made this day possible. Literally one of the most magical moments of the entire day. We got married at the church my dad pastors in Greer!  Edward’s grandfather did the opening of the ceremony and charge, and my dad did the ceremony! It was so special! FINALLY!!!! After our ceremony, we slipped outback right at sunset for some just-married portraits! These are definitely my favorites!! My brother-in-law built this arbor! And our amazing florists (Simple Stems!) made my vision come to life!  We love y’all!!!

And into the reception!!!

My sweet friend Laura from Quick Candles provided the centerpieces, and Simple Stems added the greenery and florals!

My amazing friend Christine from Baking Sweet Scents blew us away with the cake!!! Love these girls!
I photographed Anna & Nic’s wedding last March! It was SO special they came!!!
So many sweet friends!! And off to our life together!! I tell brides no matter what happens- no matter the weather, or if things don’t go how you planned them, etc., you get MARRIED. And your day is special because of that! And I also now tell them, marriage is literally the best. It’s the most amazing gift. It blows dating, being engaged, and planning a wedding out of the water! And we’re loving our life together!

The AMAZING Vendors who made this day so special:

Photographers: Kristy & Vic Photography

Wedding Planners: Amy Bustos & Veronica Miller

Bride’s Dress: Mikaella Bridal

Dress Designer: White Magnolia Bridal

Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade

Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Azazie

Caterer: Jodi Hayes

Centerpieces: Quick Candles

Cake: Baking Sweet Scents

Ceremony Venue: Trinity Bible Church Greer, SC

Florals: Simple Stems

Hair and Makeup: Katie Cotton of Cotton Rouge and Co.

Invitations: Minted

Portrait Location: The Poinsett Club

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Our Wedding Day | September 14, 2018 | Kristy & Vic Photography

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