It is with great pleasure that we share with you this next Bride of the Month! Every time that Erin entered TWD, we could feel her energy and enthusiasm for her wedding, and just life in general! We had a blast with her (and her mom!) from the initial visits in which she found “the one” all the way through alterations and our final hug goodbye. We are super excited to showcase her lovely wedding in all its glory, as captured by the seriously amazing Ksenija Savic! Ok, we can’t hold off any longer…let’s begin!

{Meet Erin.}

{The lovely ceremony.}

Let’s start with a fun one – what was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?

Honestly, there are just too many to list out here… so I am going to share a few of them!

Mike and I did a couple of wonderful things that definitely made the day perfect! One of them – a surprise flash mob for Mike – turned out awesome! I sent an instructional video that some of my friends and I recorded on YouTube to our friends and family about six weeks before the wedding. They learned it step-by-step and we all had a blast surprising Mike – though the alcohol might have impeded everyone’s timing a bit. But Mike was both surprised and happy about it, all at the same time!

{Surprise flash mob!}

What fun! What else do you look back on as a favorite moment?

Well… I surprised Mike with a brand new F-150.

{Another surprise from the bride to the groom.}

Wow, that is quite a surprise! How did that go down?

I had the truck parked in front of our reception venue. I had intended to wait until the end of the evening, but a few of our guests saw the surprise and Mike started asking a few too many questions, so around 10 pm, surrounded by 150 wedding guests, we walked out together where he opened a small box, which held the keys to the truck! He looked up and saw the truck with a giant bow on it, and the look on his face was priceless! Even though I had wanted it to be more of an intimate surprise with just the two of us, in hindsight, the surprise was made even better being surrounded by our guests and so many people had cameras to capture it all!

{Feeling the love!}

Are there more memorable moments?

Of course! The father-daughter dance was quite touching. We had a close friend play his guitar and sing, “I Loved Her First” for our dance. I love the song lyrics, but have never been a fan of the country “sound” of the song. Matt (our friend) spiced up the song just enough to make it our own while staying true to the beautiful lyrics. Ultimately the customized version brought tears to many of our guest’s eyes.

{A special moment for both the bride and her father.}

{Special moments captured at the ceremony.}

Very sweet! So what is your most favorite of your memorable moments of your wedding day?

My most memorable moment (my favorite one) was actually during the down time. We got the reception site a few hours early to take photos (what with the many ah-mazing places to take photos at the Henry Ford Museum). Before we started taking photos, I asked the DJ if we could practice our first dance. So it was just Mike and I on the dance floor with the vendors setting up the tables. It was perfect, being able to practice in our real shoes and my poufy dress, and we had a moment together where no one else was even really paying attention to us. For me, that was one of my most favorite memories of the entire day.

{What an ah-mazing backdrop for a moment alone together!}

So many great memories! But, if you could relive your day again, what would you do differently?

This is a toughie. I literally loved every single moment of the day! I am SO happy we hired such a wonderful photographer and that I convinced Mike that we needed a videographer. We had them for 11 hours of our day – and though that was a bit extreme, I think we might have even wanted them a bit longer.

There were a few hiccups but I am fairly certain that I am the ONLY person who even knew. And I like to think that these supposed hiccups made our day a little more special.

{Lovely little details.}

{The classic cake.}

{Reception details.}

So, what advice would you give future brides?

Plan, plan, plan. And make sure everyone knows the plan. (Yes, our groomsmen teased me mercilessly because they had a three page itinerary – BUT no one got lost and everyone was on time.) And I do believe that if you properly plan for your big day then you won’t have to worry about a thing. I really felt that everything was taken care of and if there were any problems everyone knew what should be going on.

{The men looking so refined…}

{…and now the fun shot!}

{Fun cuff links!}

{Love, love, LOVE this! Bridesmaid shoes match the bouquets.}

{The entire party together.}

{Goodness, we just LOVE this place – who wouldn’t love a photo with a giant plane?!}

Another bit of advice? Have a bag that stays with you all day. Mine was bright yellow and it contained my shoes, lipstick, cash, dead cell phone and deodorant. It stayed with me all day and the bright color definitely helped us find it quickly.

{I think we can definitely say that this was one fun bridal party!}

And one more small thing. Take a few breaths and absorb the joy, love and happiness that is surrounding you. It was overwhelming to feel unconditional joy for us. People were genuinely happy to celebrate love. And it is so important to recognize what the day truly means, and the village of support that is surrounding you on that day. Those are the people that want you to succeed, and they know that it is important to fight for love.

{The bride and groom get some time alone together.}

{Another stunning photo. Swoon!}

So, why do you want to be a TWD Bride of the Month?

Well first, who wouldn’t want to be a celebrity? (Yay!) And secondly, I totally miss the daily wedding planning routine! A little walk down memory lane helped fill the void… And thirdly, because I love TWD!

{Erin had an extra long train… and therefore a fancy bustle!}