One of the most fun parts of the whole planning experience was figuring out all of the little ways to make the day special. For me, a lot of that had to do with finding little ways to incorporate my mama.
These are two of my favorite stories that came out of the process...
My dress shopping experience was a bit different than most. I never actually tried on any dresses since my family and bridal party were on the other side of the country. Aaaand as Ally (my best friend and Maid of Honor) can attest, I really didn’t know what I wanted, only that I wanted something simple and timeless (whatever the heck that meant). Then, one day I find this dress while scrolling somewhere and I’m not sure why but I just knew that it was the one. Only one small issue... it was sold out. I signed up for the restock alert email and about a month later, when we were on vacation with Tyler’s family, I get the email that it restocked… ONLY in my size! I ordered it and not 3 minutes later was it sold out again (they wouldn’t restock for another 4-5 months after that). The only reason I got that email in time was because we had just so happened to get up at like 4am to start traveling home. The dress came in the mail a few weeks later and lo and behold, it fit like a glove. My avó did some hem work for me and voila! It felt like a fairy tail. I know it was a gift from my mama!
At our rehearsal dinner, my brother and sister pulled me aside and gave me a little box to open. It was a pendant of our mama dancing at our uncle’s wedding that I could tie to my bouquet so she could walk down the aisle with me. It was quite possibly the best surprise I’ve ever gotten. So blessed for those two.
Some of the other little details include
-sourcing long stem white roses from one of my bridesmaid's family members and having my girls and I make our bouquets the night before the wedding
-getting dried baby's breath boutonnieres for the men to match the white roses and dried flower aesthetic
-wearing the earrings my mom wore for her wedding
-wearing my mom's perfume
-incorporating the rosary my Nana got me into my bouquet
-designing our invitations from scratch and Tyler's mom printing them for us through work (and then hand addressing them all which was really special)
-my Avó surprising me with a custom hanger for my dress
-Tyler and I writing each other letters to open the morning of our wedding before getting ready (we didn't talk or see each other until I walked down the isle)
-doing a first look with my dad and having him drive me to the church
-getting to take photos with my mom's biker jacket from high school
-staying the night and getting ready with my girls at my aunt and uncle's house
Photography Credit to the incredibly talented Elena Vels