Not only is this wedding unbelievably adorable, but a large chunk of the items in the wedding were handmade by the bride!! As if planning a wedding wasn't hard enough, this amazing bride tackled so much of the decor herself with help from loving friends and family.
Check out some of the photos below and click "read more" to see the interview to read all about their big day!
Click "read more" to see the interview to read all about their big day!
Interview with the Bride
Courtney and Jarrel Brooks
Wedding Date: 06.07.14
1. Describe the vibe and personality
of your wedding. What kind of wedding was it? Vintage? Chic? Glam? Silly?
I would
classify our wedding as “sweet and rustic,” if I had to put words to it.
2. What was your favorite part about
the big day?
I had two
favorite moments. When thinking “the big day” as Our Marriage: Of course my favorite part was walking down
the aisle to my husband! The smile on
his face was priceless and amongst all the chaos we had put up with in the last
several weeks to make this day perfect, walking down the aisle was the
simplest, purest moment of my life. We
had been together just over 6 years the day we got married. That’s a long time.
You get really used to each other and comfortable with each other. I’m not
going to say that I was “so excited to finally be spending the rest of my life
with him!” Yeah, that’s true… but I had that feeling like 2 years before we got
married. Walking down the aisle, to me,
meant making the ultimate promise to my best friend. I think that’s why it felt
so easy and right, and I was not nervous really at all.
Extra - At
one point I put my head down, because I did tear up a bit. My dad patted my
hand and said, “No, stay locked in to him. You want to remember this forever.”
Tear! I know, right!! It was perfect.
When
considering the whole wedding reception/party: Our photographers took us up to
the second floor of the office building in which we had our reception. The
building is 6 floors and hexagonal shaped, with the center open to all 6 floors.
So we did some shots in the elevator with the party behind us and up on the 6th
floor with the skylights as the background. When we were up there, I got a
chance to see the whole party, everyone dancing, talking, and enjoying
themselves. It didn’t last long up
there, and of course we were eager to get back downstairs… but it was cool to
see “my vision” from above in real life!
3. Share a little bit about the
planning process. Did you get a planner or do it on your own? Any planning tips
you want to share?
Back to #1
with the “sweet and rustic” classification… If you were to ask me that when I
began planning, I would probably say something different, if I could choose
anything at all. When I began planning
the wedding, I had a really hard time making choices on things. I didn’t want anything to be too
matchy-matchy, and I didn’t want to assign colors to the wedding. I wanted people to think, “Wow! That’s
unique.” but also “that represents Courtney and Jarrel so well.” I wanted a
little bit of traditional style, elegance, and class… but with a little bit of
a rustic twist – because that’s us! I wanted to honor our families as much as
possible and still throw an awesome party for our friends! So, I felt like I
had a lot of bases to cover during the planning process.
I am too
much of a control freak to have handed my whole wedding over to someone else. A
lot of people do, and that’s awesome! But for me, I wanted my mom and I to do
the majority of the planning. After all, I had probably 100 pins on Pinterest
before we even got engaged! So we had a planner for “the weekend of.” She
helped out with some vendors and was in contact with them the week before the
wedding and she was at the rehearsal of course.
So, about 2 weeks before I basically just handed her everything I had
been working on – literally handed it to her in a notebook. Her job was to make
sure every vendor showed up with what they were supposed to have, when they
were supposed to. She was in charge of making sure nothing went wrong and, if
it did, making sure neither my mom nor I knew about it. She also put me in
contact with another lady that did the exact same for my ceremony, since they
were at separate venues.
4. Talk a little bit about the
dress. Who is it by? Is it vintage? Where did you get it?
I found my
dress at a store in Midland. I’m not going to even call it a boutique or dress
shop, because it wasn’t, haha! It was great, don’t get me wrong. Super easy to
deal with and the people were really nice. It was a Maggie Sottero by Sottero
and Midgley. It was a very simple dress in my opinion, but I loved it. I had it
altered to add a little bit of the fit-n-flare thing that is popular, but it
was practically an A-line dress. Lots of
lace, and no bling – the exact opposite of what most of my family friends
thought I would do! I initially tried it
on with a belt, but the belt put a break in the solid flow of lace from chest
to floor. I also really loved the big veils with lace around the outside – but
it was just a bit too much and took away from the dress, so I went with a
simpler veil.
5. Tell us a little bit about the
groom. What’s he like? How did you meet? How did he propose?
Jarrel and
I met right before I graduated high school. He was out with his friends, I was
out with mine, and we ran into each other. We kind of hit it off that night,
but I really didn’t think it would extend past that. I was about to go off to
Tech and wasn’t looking to be in a relationship when I did so. But, he ended up
calling a few days later and we went on a date!
That date sucked! Haha! It was so awkward, I already had plans with
friends so we went to like a 6:00 movie and that was it. He dropped me off at
my friend’s house when it was still light outside. So, safe to say I really
didn’t think it was going to go anywhere after that. But… again, he called a
few days later and ended up taking me out again. That date was MUCH better, and
here we are!
Jarrel is
the most genuine person I’ve ever known. He is not going to pretend to be
something he’s not for any reason. He loves me with all his heart and he shows
it daily whether it be through little chores, to hugs, to text messages in the
middle of the day. He is stinking hilarious and quite random – and I love it. I
love him with all my heart and could not imagine my life without him. As cliché
as that may sound, it is so true. Being together for so long already, I think
we truly, really do know each other. We didn’t jump into marriage because it
was the cool thing to do. We want to spend our lives with each other, for each
other. And to be on the same page about that, so that we can talk about
literally anything, is the best feeling in the world!
6. Did you do any DIYs for the
wedding? If so, what?
Ohhh
practically everything except the center pieces! I made pretty much all the
signs and decorations. We had family and family friends contribute to a sweets
table (which was awesome!) I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves on this
one, there was so much DIY in this wedding!
7. What advice can you share with
brides who are getting ready for the big day?
It really
is just a party. Don’t get too wrapped up in the little things. Although those
are the easiest things to want to spend time on (thanks Pinterest!), the only
way most people remember them is through pictures they see after the fact. That
is probably the most common advice people give on weddings, but it’s good
advice to heed! Don’t be so concerned with the details of that day that you
can’t focus on what really matters – marrying your husband. Focus on his smile,
the touch of his hands and tremble in his voice during your vows, the tears
down your mom’s cheek, the way your family and your *new* family squeeze you
just a little more on that day… that’s the important stuff!
Also, get a
good photographer and videographer! Because there are a ton of things that will
happen that you miss. And, let’s be honest, no amount of advice anyone gives
you is going to help you to reallllly take it ALL in that day. So get some
helped
Also, also…
give yourself plenty of time for everything that day! Like, way more time than
you think you need for every little bit from breakfast to the get away at the
end of the night!
8. Describe your wedding in 3 words.
Best. Day.
Ever!
Vendor Information:
Photographer: Aric + Casey Photography // Videographer: Contract Cre8tive
Ceremony Venue: Greenwood Baptist Church // Reception Venue: ClayDesta Atrium
Reception Coordinator: Designs by Imagine If
Dress: Maggie Sottero // Florist: Stanton Weddings and Floral
Ceremony Venue: Greenwood Baptist Church // Reception Venue: ClayDesta Atrium
Reception Coordinator: Designs by Imagine If
Dress: Maggie Sottero // Florist: Stanton Weddings and Floral
For more ideas, check out my Pinterest Board for chic weddings, classic weddings, and vintage weddings.
Thanks for reading, dolls! Come back for more!
These are some gorgeous shots. I love a DIY wedding. It's cool that she did most of the decorating herself. :] // itsCarmen.com ☼ ☯
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am crazy about a DIY wedding as well! It's saves so much money and makes it way more personal!
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