I am so thank for this lady! Her and I had this connection the first time we met and a year later ended up finding each other again and have become great friends since! Kassie was 20 weeks pregnant with her second in these photos! Talk about beautiful mama!
When did you get Engaged?
November 11, 2015. Remembrance day, and that way I will never forget it! Haha! We were engaged for just over 5 months. It was just the right amount of time for us. I had plenty of time to plan our wedding, but also didn’t have to sit and wait around for the day to finally arrive. I personally don’t think there is a need to have a year to plan a fabulous, glittery kind of wedding. I’m a simple girl with simple tastes, and to me the most important thing about a wedding is the marriage itself. So 5 months gave me lots of time to get everything done, and it was less stressful for me and my hubby-to-be.
When did you get married?
April 23, 2016. It was the best date for us, as it wasn’t too far down the road and it was at a time when spring break was happening, so all our friends and family could make it.
How did you go about planning your wedding?
Planning, planning, planning! It can be fun or stressful, whatever you make it to be. My Mom really wanted to be involved in planning, and since I am her only daughter, I let her! She was in charge of all the decorations for my ceremony. My Mother-in-law and her one friend took care of all the decorations for my reception. My hubby and I planned how we wanted the order of the ceremony. And my Grandpa was our MC, along with my brother, and Grandpa planned out the order of the reception. Delegate! That is my advice to you, if you want to take the stress off your shoulders. It is so nice to have people to help, and family always loves to feel involved. At the end of the day, even if your wedding day doesn’t look exactly as you had dreamed, it is a good feeling to know that your family played a key role and helped to relieve some burden for you as well.
What is the most important thing that had to be right?
For us, the most important thing that we really wanted to get right on our wedding day was our photos. We really wanted to be able to look back and fondly remember everything that took place on that day, including all the special people that were there. We had a professional photographer for our ceremony and of course photos with our family and bridal party, and then we had special aunties take photos at the reception – candid shots of all the beautiful guests.
Why did you choose your dress and how much was it? I got some really good advice on how to choose my wedding dress. My Mom and I flew down to Vancouver to go to the Bridal Gallery, and I asked for a senior consultant (you have to pay a tiny bit more for that, but it was worth it). My consultant told me that picking out a wedding dress is the same as picking out your husband – you don’t just want “a guy” you want “the guy”, and you’ll know when he’s the one; and it’s the same with the dress, you want “the dress”, and you will know it when you try it on. I found that to be true. When I tried on the dress I bought, I loved it right away. But because it was only the second dress I had tried on, I kept trying on other dresses, and even went to a second store to try on more. But I couldn’t get that one dress out of my mind – everything else just turned into a sea of white, even if they were pretty. So I went back to that first store, and bought my dress and veil. The total was around $1,400, because I bought the one from off the rack for a discount (I didn’t have time to special order one, as I was only engaged for five months). I never had any problems with it being off the rack, it was clean and they fixed the few snags that were on there.
How much on photography, why did you that photographer?
I can’t remember how much we spent on photography, because honestly to us the dollar amount for photography didn’t matter – we wanted good quality photos. I think we ended up spending somewhere in the $2,000 dollar range. We chose our photographer because we loved her style of photos. Very natural, and really seemed to capture the essence of who the couple was. She did a wonderful job. I think if I could go back, I would hire her to take the photos at our reception as well.
What was the best part of your day and why?
I would hands down say the best part of our day was the dance. We love country dancing, and we’re pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. So we had an old fashioned barn dance in a real barn with a wonderful friend of ours who led a bunch of group dances, as well as we had two stepping and the jive and line dances. It was so fun! We were basically the last people left dancing at our wedding! It was so worth it to stay late, as you only get one wedding! Don’t leave early!
If you could do it all again what is one thing you would change?
If I could re-do my wedding day and change just one thing, I would have my Grandpa walk me down the aisle. I regret having my at-the-time step-dad walking me down the aisle. Think carefully about who walks you down the aisle, especially if your Dad hasn’t always been around. Who is the person that has been in your life the most, and has made an impact on your life and invested in you the most? That is the person who should walk you down the aisle. I wanted it to be a father figure, so if I could do it over, Grandpa would be the one to walk me down the aisle, and maybe I would get my Mom to as well. Both of them together, that would be special.
If you could tell a future bride one thing she needs to do to make her day perfect what would that be?
Relax! That will make your day perfect. Sit back and enjoy the day with your husband. Pay attention to him, and find time to get alone quietly together, just for a moment, to savour the day. Don’t stress about the details, because at the end of the day, the details will work themselves out. The only thing that matters is that you and your man relax, have fun, and enjoy being married. A good marriage is the most important part of a wedding.
