After tens years of love, these college sweethearts decided that they wanted to be together forever. With no event professional, this bride took the planning into her own hands with the help of her husband, and sister-in law. Three hundred guests later, 50,000 dollar budget, and a vision, made for one of the most beautiful weddings we’ve seen, so we had to get all the deets!

How did you all meet?

was very anxious over the holiday season wondering when he would propose to me. We had been dating for almost on ten years, college sweethearts. Over the Christmas holiday, he told me he had entered a contest for us to take pictures. on Tuesday, January 2, 2017, he told we had won the contest and to pick out outfits for the photo shoot on Saturday. Despite the rain, we still made it to the photo-shoot at Forever Studios. During our second wardrobe change, the photographer asked me to stand in front and while posing asked for me to turn around. There he was on one knee asking for my hand in marriage. I was filled with joy as tears fell from my eyes. He knew I wanted this moment captured forever and with us recently moving to Florida we had very few friends. We were engaged for 364 days. The proposal was a year and one day of our move to Florida.

Anything super unique about the big day?

January 6, 2018, marked our two years of officially living together.

Where did you all go on your honeymoon?

Negril, Jamaica

Any tips you would share with other couples getting married?

During your engagement continue to get to know your partner. Remember the reason why you love one another when you may become frustrated during the wedding planning. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, the wedding party is there to make your day and days towards it go smoothly.

What was your planning experience like?

We did not hire an event professional. My now husband and sisters attended two Bridal Extravaganzas in San Antonio TX which helped find vendors for the wedding. John even face-timed me while at the event so I was able to talk to the vendors from home. The venue coordinator assisted with the wedding planning due to using their in-house catering and floral arrangements services.

Where did you wed and why did you pick the venue/site?

The wedding was in our hometown, San Antonio TX. I chose the wedding venue from Theknot.com website. The reason we picked this particular venue was because the church and reception hall was in the same location with a beautiful courtyard. St. George Maronite Church and Center also provided there preferred vendors.

Tell us about the wedding dress!

My initial bridal style was long, fitted lace gown but when I saw this dress at Davids Bridal I knew I had to try it on even though it was completely opposite of the look I always dreamed of. The overall dress style was modern, chic princess gown. I did not pick the dressed based on the a theme but it fit perfectly with style of the wedding. The White by Vera Wang Organza Rosette Wedding Dress was Ivory. There were over 100 yards of tulle, combined with cascading horsehair trim, give the skirt of this White by Vera Wang ball gown its frothy volume. The crystal-encrusted bodice of this ballet-inspired wedding dress is structured for support, and two rosettes are designed into the skirt, adding a unique touch. The final finish was a two tier cathedral length veil with two layer of soft tulle overlap to create a stunning and elegant effect. My wedding hairstyle was inspired by Gabrielle Union hairstyle for her and Dwayne Wade wedding, a simple yet elegant half pulled back with curls cascading down my shoulders. The make-up look was gold/ bronze eye with classic red lip.

Describe the Groom’s and Groomsmen look

The groom wore a custom tailored suite by Joseph Men’s Store in San Antonio TX. The jacket was purple with black shawl lapel with black pants The patent dress shoes were by Johnson and Murphy. He wore both a black hex-tie during the ceremony and a gold hex-tie during the reception. The groomsmen wore Calvin Klein black shawl lapel suit with purple Tuscany regency vest and matching tie. The groomsmen wore Joseph Abound black patent dress shoes.

What inspired your theme/style? What was your color palette? Why was it important to you?

What inspired the style of the wedding was our idea of having a classic, elegant look with a southern charm. We incorporated our favorite colors(purple and gold) and flower( purple dendrobium orchids) the rest all came together from there. The color palette of the wedding was purple(plum & eggplant), champagne, and ivory. The style of the wedding was important to us because we wanted the wedding to represent us and our union. Ceremony & Reception

Tell us about your ceremony decor.

The ceremony decor was simple yet elegant. Behind the Alter were two golden stands on each side which held large tall arrangements of purple, and ivory orchids, ivory and champagne roses, purple lisianthus, with English ivy, Italian ruckus and eucalyptus greenery. Tulle in ivory and purple draping on each designated pew with ivory rose. The entrance to the ceremony had two large signs welcoming our family and friends to our wedding.

During the ceremony did you use and religious or cultural elements or traditions?

John and I had a traditional Catholic wedding.

What inspired your reception style?

After we chose the color palette and the help of pintrest we were able to envision what we wanted our reception style to be like. We wanted to signify our immediate family and wedding party tables by using the two large floral arrangements from the Ceremony as their centerpieces. We decide to on three types of floral arrangements centerpieces tying together the style of our wedding and creating a visual atmosphere that set the mood. From the tall and medium vases of orchids,hydrangeas and roses to the small vases submersed orchids and floating candles. My mother-in law helped with the idea of having a flower wall which added beauty and lavish look to our wedding with the cascading orchids, roses,lisianthus , and hydrangeas creating an ombre effect. Our head table centerpiece was long and low floral arrangements similar to our flower wall

What menu items did you serve?

Our catering services were provided by the venue which had many delightful food choices. They allowed us to do a food tasting with 6 guests to narrow down our original three choices of dinner, appetizers and salad. We actually had chosen the sirloin steak but quickly realized many guest wouldn’t like the idea of medium rare meat. Our wedding dinner consisted of chicken Provencal; smothered in mushrooms and artichoke hearts in a white wine butter sauce, which included traditional mashed potatoes squash medley. We provided our guests with two specialty drinks(grooms & Bride), beer and wine. We decided to have fruit and cheese tray as well as coconut fried shrimp served during cocktail hour.

Describe your cake

The wedding cake was yellow with raspberry and Bavarian cream filling topped with buttercream.The four tier real cake had the letter ‘B”surrounded by purple orchids and an ivory rose, the top of the cake had edible gold roses while 1st and 3rd tier had a cathedral design around it. The wedding cake also had 10 charms placed inside for the “cake-pull”a Louisiana native tradition traced back to Victorian Times. The grooms cake was designed by my husband who is a marvel fan; batman and superman logos on cake. His first love basketball and his favorite team the San Antonio Spurs was displayed on cake. He is also what we call a “sneaker junky” which is why the Jordan shoe topper. The grooms cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting.

How did you come up with your wedding day playlist?

For the ceremony we decided to have instrumental processional of our songs. I have always been in love with Tyler Perry Best Man soundtrack and movie. The song I walked down the isle to was the piano instrumental of After all is said and done by Beyonce. 48 hrs before the wedding we realized we didn’t have our first song picked,recessional, as well as the garter and bouquet toss songs. We stayed up from 11pm-3am listening to old 90’s to early 2000’s music. There were times we even became sidetracked because one song would trigger us to play a song that we wouldn’t think of playing at our wedding or the song had been overused in weddings. After a few hours we decided on Nothing Even Matters by Lauryn Hill ft.D’Angelo. A song for mama by boys to men was chosen by him for the mother and son dance. I spent weeks deciding on a song with my father for our father and daughter dance which we came to agreement, I’m so proud of you by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions. We had both a DJ and a band. We incorporated the 2nd line dance (New Orleans tradition)into our wedding entrance at the reception. Our parents, bridesmaids, groomsman, flower girls, ring bearer and his two aunts walked in with us to New Orleans jazz with our customized crystal-encrusted umbrellas and handkerchiefs.

Favors?

Our wedding favors were DIY project I found on pintrest. I wanted something quaint and nice as gifts for our guest. My mother-in law found the perfect candy(purple wrapped kisses) to fit in the miniature glass jars with cork top. The help of my sisters,brother in-law girlfriend, mother in law, bridesmaids, and his two Aunts I was able to complete all 250 jars which was laced with gold trim and the letter “B”symbol in gold glitter on top.