Navy, gold and blush wedding

What do you do?

I (Lynn) am an HR professional and Megan is an IT Supervisor. We both actually work for the same company.

How did you meet?

It’s all fate! We added each other as friends on a social media website (I don’t remember who requested who first). Then I saw Megan at Wal-Mart the next day. I still remember she had a bottle of wine and a fruit and cheese tray in her cart. She was wearing a t-shirt, blue jeans, and hat. Once I got home, I sent her an inbox message asking if she was going to be having a party and if that was actually her at the store. Indeed it was! She was in the army at the time and I was working at AT&T. She brought me lunch the next day from Panera Bread (turkey sandwich, apple, and chip. After work, I went over to her house to play a few rounds of Uno and from that moment on – we were inseparable.

Proposal story

Honestly, it’s not all romantic and ooey gooey like some stories, but this one is our story. I picked up everything and moved to be with her in Oklahoma once the army changed her duty station. We were there for about two years. She bought me an inexpensive engagement ring from a friend of mine at her jewelry pawn shop. It’s gold with a marquise center stone and it was perfect. We were on the way pick up the kids from daycare together and she pulled it out and asked me. The story doesn’t end there because this was seven years ago. We did not want to get married until it was federally legal because it was important to us to have equal rights. June 2015 – it happened! Marriage equality. Fast forward to February 2016 and I was woken up in the wee early morning to Megan standing over me with a new engagement ring! She said she wanted me to make sure I had the ring I deserved and not a ring that used to belong to someone else. It was definitely an unexpected upgrade.

Details (theme, color, etc)

We did all our wedding planning, decorating, and executing with the help of our amazing family and friends! We chose to get married in the city where we met, at the beach, but not on the beach. We chose the Tybee Island Wedding Chapel. It was PERFECT. We decided to have our entire wedding party stay at a three story mansion on Tybee Island with an awesome view of the lighthouse and ocean! This was perfect for our first look photos! Our theme was more of a classic romance. We wanted to be traditional, without being cliché. We are big into being “different” and let’s face it – we are a “different” kind of family. The colors were navy, gold and hints of blush. The flowers were roses and lilies and my mother-in-law is so amazing! We had a floral nightmare with our vendors! They told us we were not going to have our flowers as promised in time for the wedding. So at the last minute I was able to get a floral shop to get the bouquets and boutonnieres made for us! It turns out, the original ordered flowers did make it in time, but then we left in crunch to put them together. My superwoman mother-in-law used to be a floral designer for her church and this woman came through like Beyoncé at a failed karaoke fundraiser! SHOW STOPPING FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS! She took the boat shaped bowl off our coffee table at our beach house and put in foam, wiring, the flowers, and all her love to make the most beautiful center piece for our bridal table. She also did the chapel flowers and more. I cannot thank her enough. Our day-of person canceled on us the day before the wedding but our sister-in-law who is all over event planning took over and took charge! She was also our wedding officiant! She became ordained a few months prior just to be able to marry us. I made the wedding favors myself by hand. They included round navy cards with a thank you message on each, Tic Tacs with labels that included our date, and little jars with gold glitter strips around it filled with navy foil wrapped Hershey Kisses. We also painted light house shaped lanterns gold and placed fairy lights inside (no candles were allowed). We invited a little over 125 guests and Megan was on budget patrol. I think we tried to keep it below $20,000. Our signature drink that I came up with was “Love Potion”! It was pink, sweet, and a small cube of dry ice was used to give it the potion effect! Our cake was French butter cream icing, chocolate and vanilla cake with silk flowers. Our baker is a friend of ours, and made our cake as a gift. She hand painted the leaves gold and it was the most amazing cake I have ever tasted!

DIY details

We did all our wedding planning, decorating, and executing with the help of our amazing family and friends! We chose to get married in the city where we met, at the beach, but not on the beach (my won’t allow for that:). We chose the Tybee Island Wedding Chapel. It was PERFECT. We decided to have our entire wedding party stay a three story mansion on Tybee Island with an awesome view of the lighthouse and ocean! This was perfect for our first look photos! Our theme was more of a classic romance. We wanted to be traditional without being cliché. We are big into being “different” and let’s face it – we are a “different” kind of family. The colors were navy, gold, and hints of blush. The flowers were roses and lilies and my mother in law is so amazing! We had a floral nightmare with our vendors! They told us we were not going to have our flowers as promised in time for the wedding. So at the last minute I was able to get a floral shop to get the bouquets and boutonnieres made for us! It turns out, the original ordered flowers did make it in time but then we left in crunch to put them together. My superwoman mother in law used to be a floral designer for her church and this woman came through like Beyoncé at a failed karaoke fundraiser! SHOW STOPPING FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS! She took the boat-shaped bowl off our coffee table at our beach house and put in foam, wiring, the flowers, and all her love to make the most beautiful center piece for our bridal table. She also did the chapel flowers and more. I cannot thank her enough. Our day of person canceled on us the day before the wedding but our sister in law who is all over event planning took over and took charge! She was also our wedding officiate! She became ordained a few months prior just to be able to marry us. I made the wedding favors myself by hand. They included round navy cards with a thank you message on each, Tic Tacs with labels that included our date, and little jars with gold glitter strips around it filled with navy foil wrapped Hershey Kisses. We also painted light house shaped lanterns gold and placed ferry lights inside (no candles were allowed). We invited a little over 125 guests and Megan was on budget patrol. I think we tried to keep it below $20,000. Our signature drink that I came up with was “Love Potion”! It was pink, sweet, and a small cube of dry ice was used to give it the potion effect! Our cake was French butter cream icing, chocolate and vanilla cake with silk flowers. Our baker is a friend of ours and made our cake as a gift. She hand painted the leaves gold and it was the most amazing cake I have ever tasted!!

Best advice received

Breathe, and know that it will all come together.

Advice to give

Plan out as far in advance as you possibly can so that you do not have to rush and so that you do not forget any details. Be sure that you trust the people that you give the big responsibilities! You do not want people quitting on you at the last minute!

Story of the day

There was so much stress on the big day and so many tears. My father said he was sick that morning and was not going to be able to attend. Any Daddy’s girl knows how heart wrenching that can be! Nonetheless, he came through and was able to make it! After that – it was smooth sailing! Everyone looked beautiful and handsome in our wedding party. I was overwhelmed at how it all came together and it was more than I expected. Our bartender, who is also a friend, sang for our entry, John Legend, “You and I.” I was so nervous I nearly ran down the aisle to meet Megan and my sister in law (the officiant) motioned for me to slow down! After the ceremony, we had an open bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, and photos for the wedding party. Our photographers and videographer were great in finding gorgeous locations around the chapel. The entry was so much fun because we were able to come down a staircase and into the ballroom to Bruno Mars, “24 Karat Magic”. It’s fitting with the whole gold color theme. After that we danced our first dance to Chrisette Michelle’s “A Couple of Forevers”. After that it was time to eat! The rest of the evening included dancing, drinking, laughing, and loving! The cake cutting was great because I surprised Megan with a bottle of Dom Perignon and invited our wedding party for a toast.

Favorite moment

My favorite moment was the moment when we said “I do”. That was the long awaited moment we had been wanting, wishing, and praying for the last eight years! We knew then that it was official and it was forever.

Newlywed excitement

I look forward to our new found adventures! Now that the wedding is out the way we have more time to vacation together and we can raise our kids as an official family unit!

Honeymoon plans

After the wedding we had a “mini moon” and spent the weekend in Atlanta at the Ritz Carlton. Most of our time was spent shopping, relaxing, and in the Club Suite! We have a couple cruises planned this year and really look forward to taking them!