An Outdoor Ceremony in Spring

Sarah and Erich are two very special people who found each other and fell in love. They are both very expressive and they often are talking at the same time! But that is what makes them so adorable together. They both love their families deeply and love spending time with them whenever possible. And the most important person in their life is their little Chloe who is the center of their world.

Beck and I met Sarah and Erich several months before their wedding. We immediately clicked and we were so honored that chose us to assist them with planning their wedding. There were emails, phone calls, texts and meetings over the next several months making sure that all the details...big and small...of their wedding day were coming together. Sarah, Erich, Chloe and Maureen (the bride's mother) now hold a very special place in our hearts.



We want to share their very special wedding and the beautiful pictures that Trinity Photography captured from the day. Enjoy the pictures and how it all came together for Sarah and Erich.

Sarah says, "We wanted to have a destination beach wedding but more than anything, we wanted my 95 year old grandma to be able to watch her granddaughter get married. Both of us really enjoy golfing. So the look of The Links at Stoney Point was a perfect substitute for the beach theme we were going for with a classy golf green twist!

The weather was a very important element because our wedding ceremony was being held outside. Many days were spent worrying about the 50% chance of rain and storms in the South Carolina afternoons in spring. The overall atmosphere was also a big element because we wanted it to be perfect and enjoyable not only for us but for our families and friends as well.

Erich and I were able to personalize our wedding with several different touches. We had some lovely paper fans for all the guests to stay cool with during the ceremony. They were personalized with our names and wedding date. The fans also acted as our wedding favors. We made our guestbook together with a collage of pictures from our engagement shoot. Everyone was able to see and enjoy the pictures while signing the book.

The flowers (The Floral Case) were well worth the money that we splurged and they made the wedding absolutely perfect. They were all shades of purple and white...from calla lillies to hibiscus to some gorgeous greens.

We are also glad we splurged and got It's Your Party to help in coordinating everything and making the day perfect and go so smoothly. (Ah...so sweet!)  It helped me to keep a clear mind and know that someone else was in charge.

For the ceremony, we chose the traditional Episcopalian vows which are gorgeous in their own way. We had the wedding party walk down the aisle to "Marry Me"  by Jason Durelo. I was escorted down down the aisle by my mother to the classic " Cannon D". Even today, Erich tears up when he hears Cannon D start playing.

The entire wedding day was perfect but my favorite part was seeing my amazing groom tearing up as I walked down the aisle to him. Being able to finally see him was a big relief to me and warmed my spirits. Watching my little girl walk down the aisle as my amazing little beautiful flower girl also made Erich and me so happy. It meant that we have finally become one.

Erich's favorite part of the day was watching his bride and her mother walking arm in arm down the aisle to say I do. It meant he would be able to hold on to me the rest of the night and celebrate with our wonderful family and friends. Having his brothers, father and closest friend by his side through it all meant so much to him as well.

My amazing bridesmaids and maid of honor surprised me with a gorgeous picture of my father in a turtle locket to walk down the aisle attached to my bouquet. This made me so happy and really brought a very emotional aspect. It meant the world to me that my mother gave me away. It also meant so much to me to have my grandmother there as well as all my family that traveled from all parts of the world including England. It was so heart warming to see all the support from all of my family members.

When it was time to go, we had sparklers for everyone to light up the stairway as we left to go home to finish packing and head to Jamaica for our honeymoon and begin our life as husband and wife.

You can't have a real wedding without a real love story!  Sarah and Erich's love story adds a very personal touch to their beautiful wedding.

It all started when I walked into Skin's Hotdogs and applied for a job.  I finally got the job by calling and checking on my application over and over. By about the third call, Erich said to me "I lost your application. I will call you when I find it."  I never got a call so I called yet again and finally he said for me to come in for the job.  That's when it all began.  Three months later we hung out together for the first time. It was magical and for the next week we spent time together every night getting to know each other better. I soon discovered that I had met "the one".  We quickly found out how much each of us enjoyed traveling together.  We traveled to Georgia for me to meet his mother and also made several trips to the coast. Seven months later we took our first plane trip together to San Juan, Puerto Rico to visit Erich's family for the first time. Instantly I fell in love with the amazing town, the beaches and the history of Puerto Rico. A few short months later we traveled to Puerto Rico again. This time we took our sweet Chloe with us. We then made it a regular thing to travel down. On March 17, 2014, we took a trip as a family down including my mom. Little did I know Erich had asked my mom for my hand in marriage and she had carried my ring on the plane to Puerto Rico, the Island of Love.  On March 19th, Erich and I went for a lovely walk on the beach at sunset. Erich was behind me and he asked "What would make this even better?". I turned around and he was on one knee and said, "if you marry me". On May 17, 2015 at sunset, I said "I do". Who would have thought all this would have come from me begging for a job with a 6 month old adorable little girl. I could not be a happier mom and wife. We have come a long way in our relationship from the first meeting to overcoming many arguments. We have grown from the mistakes and arguments into having a lovely marriage and this is just the beginning! ~ by Sarah


Vendors:
Venue and Caterer - The Links at Stoney Point
Photographer         - Trinity Photography
Florist                    - The Floral Case
Coordinators         - It's Your Party! Events & Weddings
Rentals                  - The Rental Center

Lakeside Wedding in South Carolina

Katie first contacted It's Your Party in October about our wedding services. After a few emails back and forth, she and Chris decided to go with us to assist with planning and coordinating their wedding. After several months of planning, mostly through emails and texts, their beautiful ceremony and reception took place in May on Lake Greenwood in South Carolina. It is one of the states most popular lakes spanning three counties in the midlands of South Carolina.

Katie and Chris live two and a half hours away in North Carolina. Our wedding planning business is located in the same area as Lake Greenwood. So we were able to answer many of their questions about the area and locate competent vendors when needed.

We met with Katie and Chris three times prior to their wedding. On our initial meeting, we visited the lake house that they were renting for the weekend of their wedding. We walked around the property discussing the best layout for their wedding. The next time, Martin Tiller from Event Rentals met us at the lake to answer questions about rental items that would be needed as well as locating the best areas for the tents that Katie and Chris would be using. Katie's mother came with them on their third visit so she could see the wedding site and to give her approval!  





Katie and Chris had shared the story of how they met while we were planning the wedding. I thought it was such a sweet story that I wanted Katie to share it again here...

We were introduced through Facebook!  My friend's mother is a close friend of his Aunt. Chris' grandfather had passed away and Chris was in Florida for the services. At a luncheon after the funeral, he was talking to his Aunt, and met my friend's mom.  After chatting for a few minutes, she mentioned me, and that she thought we would make a good couple! So she gave Chris my name, email address, and suggested he look me up on Facebook. We started communicating online, and realized we have many mutual friends!  We are both from Maryland, Chris was living in Baltimore, but I had moved to Connecticut.  It was a few months before I was back in Maryland visiting my family, and we finally went on our first "date".  We like to think his Grandfather had something to do with it.

~ Katie 

 Enjoy the gorgeous pictures by Studio 1250 and the details that Katie shared from the day.

 

Chris and I both love being on or near water , whether it's the ocean, lakes or rivers.  We started out looking at venues on the coast, but most were booked for the next 18 months, and we didn't want to wait that long! We started looking on VRBO.com, and after many, many emails, the house on Lake Greenwood worked out.

There are two moments that stand out as my favorite part of the day. The first was just before guests started arriving, while I was getting ready, I took a sneak peek at everything set up and ready to go, and it was perfect. The weather had cleared up, and you had done a beautiful job of putting everything together. It was honestly better than I had pictured it in my head. Seeing all the details and things we had been making decisions about for months finally come together, it was hard to not get emotional.  

Chris and I knew we wanted something outdoors, an intimate ceremony with delicious food, drinks and music to keep everyone dancing afterwards. We also wanted our personalities to come through in all the little details. 

We knew exactly what type of music we wanted for the wedding ceremony. Chris proposed on a family vacation to Maui, and we had dinner with my parents to celebrate on our last night there.  There was a man playing current music on the guitar at the restaurant, and I knew I wanted something like that at our wedding! Chris plays guitar, and we both love music, so it was an important part of our day. I've always wanted to walk down the aisle to "Kissing You" by Des'ree, finding a guitarist to play it was difficult, but Steve Sloan made it happen!

When I asked Chris what his favorite part of the day was, he laughed , and said "When you were coming down the stairs into the ceremony with your Dad, because I knew no one was looking at me for a few minutes".  After thinking about it, he said being introduced as "Mr & Mrs" entering our reception, because we were married, the serious part was over, and it was time to let loose and celebrate with everyone.

 My second favorite moment of the day was during the prayer at our ceremony.  I squeezed Chris' hand, opened my eyes and he looked at me and smiled. We looked around at everyone at our ceremony with their heads down praying.  It was an awesome private moment- we had no idea that Philip Casey, our photographer (Studio 1250), had caught it! It's one of my favorite wedding photos.  

We needed to make some special accommodations since all of our wedding guests were going to be from out of town. The lake house had enough room to accommodate our immediate families, and we made arrangements with a hotel in Greenwood, about a 15 minute drive away.  We hired a coach bus to bring our guests to the wedding, and it made a few trips back to the hotel throughout the evening.  My sister Julie put together an amazing video of photos of Chris and I growing up, along with wedding photos of all of our married guests that we had collected to entertain them during the ride! 

The dress wasn't at all what I expected I would wear, but once I tried it on, nothing else felt right. My mother Cathye, and maid of honor, Mary were with me, and I could tell from their reactions too that it was "the one". I chose to have my girls wear neutral, champagne dresses and carry white flowers as a nod to the earliest wedding tradition of having the bridesmaids dress like the bride to throw off any evil spirits.  While I wasn't concerned with evil spirits ruining our wedding, I found the origins of the wedding traditions so interesting. Also, I didn't have to pick a trendy color I may not love in 20 years looking at the pictures! 

At the last minute, Chris and I decided to add the "Wed-Libs" to entertain our guests and ourselves!  Chris loved Mad-Libs as a kid, and we always end up doing them to pass the time when traveling together.

I am a planner by nature... So letting go of having control over every last thing since we were hours away from the wedding venue was tough. Luckily, we had Jane and Beck, who, after meeting at the lake that day, made me completely comfortable leaving so much in their hands!

Our DJ, DJ Skid from Epic Entertainment, was so much fun to work with!  He called the week before the wedding to go over the details and all three of us were singing at some point during the call- it was hilarious! 

After the last bus left to return to the hotel, we kept the bonfire going, I ate leftover s'mores in my wedding dress, put my feet in the lake -and Chris jumped in!

 

 The best part of having a "destination" wedding was being somewhere that Chris and I could enjoy in what little free time we had that weekend!  Visiting with family and friends we don't get to see often in such a pretty, relaxing place was nice.









We relied heavily on the internet and reviews. This was where Jane and Beck were a huge help being so much closer than we were!

Vendors:

• Photography - Studio 1250 
• Caterer - Holmes Catering
• Rentals - Event Rentals
• Guitarist - Steve Sloan
• DJ - Epic Entertainment
• Cake - Hot Cakes
• Officiant - John Sullivan
• Wedding Planners - It's Your Party! 

At our initial meeting with Katie and Chris, we felt and instant connection. When we were saying our goodbyes that day, I was about to give Katie a hug but I paused and at the same moment, Katie said "may I give you a hug".  I knew then that we were going to have a great time planning their wedding. An extra bonus has been that we have stayed in touch and hope to see each other again soon. 

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Thank you,

Jane