This month we are featuring one of our wonderful brides, Danielle.  Every time Danielle visited The White Dress, she was filled with lots of positive energy – and her dress search was extra fun as her dress was a sample gown in our store!  As we say, we are always happy when our sample gown has a good home to go to.  Before we go into Danielle’s feature, I must say – you are in for a treat!  This wedding is filled with beautiful details and gorgeous photography by Tim Kamppinen Photography.  Without further ado, we introduce you to the love story of Danielle and Andy…

{Meet Danielle.}

{The bridal party.  Love the personalized robes!}

{Beautiful bride.}

So first things first, how did you meet your husband?

My husband and I met through a church event at the University of Michigan’s campus. I didn’t go to UofM but a new friend invited me when I returned home from the Philippines so I could mingle and meet some new people. It was actually a week before my birthday so that same friend got all these people that didn’t know me to sing happy birthday and get me a cake! My now husband, then a complete stranger, sang Happy Birthday to me without even knowing my name  -he just mumbled during that part of the song!

{Go Blue!}

{Bride and groom.}

 

 

We are always curious to find out – what was your favorite part of wedding planning?

I think I had the most fun planning the flowers. I was so laid back about everything for most of the planning that I kept joking “we could just go to the courthouse and skip all of this!”  But once I had my appointment with our florist I was so inspired that I wished I could have made all of the bouquets myself! I also really liked doing the seating chart, which everyone seems to think is weird. I really can’t explain why I enjoyed it so much either.

{Lovely rings.}

{Ceremony setting.}

{We love a good chalkboard sign!}

{More details from the day.}

{Love desserts, and the sign is adorable!}

So now let’s hear it – what do you think was was the most difficult part of wedding planning?

The most difficult part was not having an opinion on a lot of things because of my indifference. I was just so happy to be marrying the most amazing man that everything else seemed irrelevant! So when people would ask me “this or that?”, I really just wanted to say, “It doesn’t matter to me!”. Eventually, I realized there were some things that matter to me, so I happily made those decisions.

{Love this creative shot of the bridal party!}

Now, let’s chat about your dress!  How did you know that your “white dress” was the one?

I went to a few stores and didn’t really feel inspired by anything I tried on and really didn’t like any of the suggestions the stores gave me. I just didn’t think I would have “that moment”. After a quick Google search led me to The White Dress, my maid of honor and I made a last minute appointment to try on a few more things. Not wanting to limit myself, I grabbed a variety of dresses and it didn’t really hit me me when I tried on THE dress, but once I started trying on other dresses, my mind kept going back to that one as a comparison. My maid of honor said, “You should try it back on! You know it’s exactly what you’ve been wanting!”, and when Kristy came over with a different belt to add the finishing touch, I realized they were right! It was perfect!

{Danielle’s white dress.}

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?

The thing I remember most about my wedding day, easily, was walking up to my soon-to-be husband on my dad’s arm. We didn’t do one of those “big reveal” moments where our photographer captured just me and Andy seeing each other for the first time. Instead, we built up the anticipation from midnight after our rehearsal dinner until our ceremony the following day. My husband’s employer had a cottage on a lake near our wedding location that she graciously offered to let us stay in and get ready with our wedding party. Of course we accepted such a generous offer, but had to coordinate our entire day of activities so we wouldn’t bump into each other! There were a lot of opportunities for potential run-ins, but we managed to make it through without seeing each other. We did have a blindfolded prayer session with the wedding party to thank God for bringing us together and ask for guidance and provision throughout our marriage before everything kicked off (which was beautifully captured by our photographer- not a dry eye in the house! Gorgeous photos!). Hearing his voice but not being able to see him gave me so many butterflies  and created such a whirlwind of anticipation. So, all of this to say, when I finally got to see my groom standing at the end of the aisle, it was like our eyes locked and with each step I took I could see the emotion flooding over him and I was bouncing with joy and excitement! His eyes were the most beautiful shades of green and blue swirling around and, bless his heart, he just let the tears of joy flow and my heart swelled so big for the man that I was about to become one with! That is easily my most memorable moment – meeting him at the end of the aisle and taking his hand in mine as I saw the most vulnerable, honest, joyous expressions on his face. I’ve never known anything more real in my life than that very moment, and I will hold that mental photograph in my mind for the rest of my days.

{The “blindfold prayer session” held before the ceremony – to ensure the bride and groom wouldn’t peek!}

{Teary eyes were everywhere!}

{Here comes the bride.}

{The emotional groom.}

{Love how this captures the emotion of such a big day!}

{Finally Mr. and Mrs.!}

If you could relive your day again, what would you do differently?

Honestly, if I could go back and do everything over again without the opinion of anyone else but myself, I probably would have had a small, family-only ceremony, followed by the honeymoon, then, after giving ourselves a month or two to settle into our marriage, we would have thrown a giant reception to celebrate with everyone we know. But here’s the thing… I wouldn’t have been taking into consideration what my husband or anyone dear to me wanted, and that’s not fair. See, for me, it’s a shared day, not just MY day. While it may have been easier to do it differently, it would have been all about me and not about us. So, I really don’t think I would change anything.  It was a perfectly amazing day despite all of the unplanned, not-so-perfect things that happened. I wouldn’t change those memories for anything in the world!

{Who doesn’t love a good jump photo of a bridal party?!  We sure love them!}

After going through all the wedding planning and a wonderful wedding, what advice would you give to future brides?

I have three pieces of advice to share:

First, I had the great misfortune of losing a very special object that held great sentimental value. My fiance, now husband, proposed to me with a single flower. It was a yellow primrose that I had turned into a book mark and I had planned to add it to the keepsake box that we were creating in place of a unity candle. During the ceremony, things were shuffled about due to the rain and when it came time to put our keepsakes and mementos into the box, they were gone! These were some of the most important tokens that we had, including that little yellow primrose bookmark. Luckily, my husband was a quick thinker and suggested that we pull a flower from my bouquet and put it, along with our vows, into the box to symbolize the new memories that we were making that very moment. Andy, who has impeccable comedic timing, also decided that this was the best time to fill me in on the groomsman who forgot his pants back home and had to drive an hour away to the nearest town to buy a new pair just hours before the ceremony!  (I’m looking at you, Matt…)  We ended up laughing through the whole ordeal and no one seemed to catch on to the fact that none of this was planned. So this brings me to my advice for future brides, pay attention to, and appreciate exactly who you are marrying on your day. Only focus on what you are gaining in those moments.

Second, my aunt bought me a beautiful pin with a picture of me and my grandmother, who I was very close to before she passed, to clip onto my bouquet so she would be with us that day. This was something I could not recommend enough to brides who have lost someone close to them.

Last, but not least, I was one of those brides that opted to go without a veil because I wanted little fuss, my hair down and I just thought it looked better without one. Well, due to a forecast of rain, I decided last minute to buy a cheap veil as a back up plan if we got caught in the drizzle. Anyway, I genuinely suggest to those of you who may not want a veil to reconsider because when my dad lifted the veil before our walk down the aisle, I had the most amazing “final reveal” feeling that I couldn’t imagine my wedding day without. It made everything feel so much more real, as if that was the final “to-do” on my checklist before everything could begin. It may seem simple or outdated, but it was so satisfying after all of that planning and I’m so glad I was able to experience it!

 

{Ceremony moments.}

 

Thanks so much for sharing your special day with us!  Our final question – why do you want to be a TWD Bride of the Month?

Well, apart from just wanting to give back to The White Dress for sharing in my day, I want to give my perspective to future brides who are like minded. I never dreamed about my wedding day when I was growing up, I didn’t have a Pinterest board of wedding ides before I got engaged (or really even after the engagement to be honest…), and once all of the wedding panning chaos began, I wondered if the whole event was even worth it when if could be done the next day at the courthouse for just $15.  I guess I’m saying, don’t let it get to you if you’re not excited about every single bit of planning or things don’t seem to be going as smoothly as you had hoped. I had no idea what I wanted or how to accomplish some things and sometimes I felt as though I was planning this really elaborate party that I was paying for, but not attending. However, it was so worth it! I want those carefree brides to know that not everyone gets excited about flowers, or centerpieces, or whether or not to go for the chiavari chair upgrades… and that can be a good thing. Let yourself react the way that is normal for you and embrace it! You’re getting married, and the person you are marrying should love you for exactly who you are! Don’t try to change that.

{Reception fun!}

{Congratulations to Danielle and Andy!}

Closing Credits:

• Photography: Tim Kamppinen Photography – Grand Rapids, MI
• Ceremony Venue: Ol’ Golden Nugget Lodge and Event Center – Onsted, MI
• Reception Venue: Stagecoach Stop – Onsted, MI
• Wedding Gown: The White Dress – Brighton, MI
• Floral Design: Norton’s -Ann Arbor, MI
• Hair and Makeup: The bride herself (she’s a cosmotologist!) and Melanie Muns
• Musical Entertainment: Family friend
• Cake: Katie O’Neal