Married People: Stacey and Joe

I was so excited to see Stacey and Joe finally tie the knot! Their big day arrived and it was gorgeous outside. Perfect for some beautiful portraits at Riverside Gardens.

Here's their after-the-wedding questionnaire:

Stacey: 

1. How does it feel to finally be married? It’s the most at ease and wonderful feeling I’ve ever had!
2. What did you do the night before your wedding? We had our rehearsal at St. Charles Church and our Rehearsal Dinner at Michael Alberini’s.
3. What are you planning on doing with your gown? (Selling it, storing it, doing a trash-the-dress, etc) Definitely having it cleaned! Boy, do they get dirty! I’d love to one day turn my dress into christening gowns for our children.
4. What was the most stressful thing on your wedding day and how did you handle it? Just coordinating all of the details. Things went wrong, as with anything. But you have to just roll with it!
5. Sometimes your wedding day can be a blur. Name one thing that you remember most about your day. The two things that stick out to me are walking down the aisle and our first dance.
6. Is there anything that you would do differently? Eat! I didn’t get to taste anything until the day
7. Now that your big day is over what one piece of advice would you give to other brides/grooms-to-be? Small personal details are so important! We wanted people to walk away saying “wow”, “wow are they in love!”, “wow was that fun!”, and “wow was that food good!”. Don’t let yourself get so overwhelmed though that it becomes no fun. You know your limits don’t be afraid to delegate! People want to help you that love you!
8. What thing about the wedding would you like to do again? ALL OF IT! It was so magical and perfect!
9. If I may...talk a little about your Jaci Clark Photography team and how that experience was for you. I could write 10 pages about this. Jaci is an amazing person and photographer. From the moment we booked her till the moment she left, she wowed me. She was my angel on my wedding day! She came to the rescue on so many things! Brian was so awesome too! They made Joe and I’s amazing day even more amazing! I’ll never be able to thank them enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Joe:

1. How does it feel to finally be married? It feels so good to be married! It’s such an amazing way to start and end my day…beside my wife.
2. What did you do the night before your wedding? The night before our wedding we had our rehearsal dinner at Alberini’s and then I actually headed home and went to bed. I wanted to be well rested for the big day!
3. What are you planning on doing with your gown? (Selling it, storing it, doing a trash-the-dress, etc) N/A
4. What was the most stressful thing on your wedding day and how did you handle it? Since I own the banquet center where our reception was held, I was very critical of the food that was prepared. I created the menu and had to rely on my staff to execute it all. They really impressed me though, the food was better than I could have imagined. The fact that I was getting married to Stacey  was a stress relief and the easiest part of my day!
5. Sometimes your wedding day can be a blur. Name one thing that you remember most about your day.   I remember when I first caught a glimpse of my bride walking down the aisle, it’s a moment I’ll never forget.
6. Is there anything that you would do differently? I have no regrets about our wedding day. Even the things that went wrong we can laugh about now.
7. Now that your big day is over what one piece of advice would you give to other brides/grooms-to-be? ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!!!! It flies by!
8. What thing about the wedding would you like to do again? I’d like to live the whole day again and again!
9. If I may...talk a little about your Jaci Clark Photography team and how that experience was for you. Jaci impressed me every step of the way. I really appreciated how much she helped Stacey throughout the planning process and her work is simply unprecedented. I’d recommend her to anyone.

I love this!

Rachelle opened the champagne and shot the cork across the salon.

Gorgeous.

Stacey couldn't help herself and peeks out into the church.

Looking at his bride.

Married!

Just Stacey and some available light.

Some fun at the Rose Garden.

Love.

Stacey wanted a little something different. I'd say this is it!

The overlook at Riverside Gardens.

Gorgeous

Love this shot of the bridal party!

This is Joe's Place, The Blue Wolf Banquet Center. Doesn't it look amazing?!

First dance

Just look how happy they are!

Stacey and Joe had 17 flavors of cupcakes! How could I *not* do this?!

I LURVE this image so much!!!

Stacey and Joe, Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day! I'm so happy for you both and wish you all the best life can give.

Cheers,

Married People: Liz and Patrick

Catching up on some blogging and wanted to share this awesome wedding with you. You first met Patrick and Elizabeth at their gorgeous engagement session. They are two of the nicest people and I was super excited to be working with them! Their wedding was fabulous. There was so much love in the air that day and I was honored to be a part of it all.

Here's their after the wedding questionnaire.

Patrick:

1. How does it feel to finally be married? I don't feel especially different after being married except that now I have to think of someone else other than myself.
2. What did you do the night before your wedding? Slept like a baby.
3. What are you planning on doing with your gown? (Selling it, storing it, doing a trash-the-dress, etc)  I wore a tuxedo and I've already returned it.
4. What was the most stressful thing on your wedding day and how did you handle it?
   
   I don't think I really felt stressed out about anything in particular... I was unusually warm at the alter though.
5. Sometimes your wedding day can be a blur. Name one thing that you remember most about your day.  I think I remember most of the day pretty well except the reception, I've only got bits and pieces of that.  I seem to remember the food was pretty good and that our first dance was pretty nice.  'N Sync too.
6. Is there anything that you would do differently?  Not a single thing.
7. Now that your big day is over what one piece of advice would you give to other brides/grooms-to-be?  Please don't be so naive to think that the work is over, you've still got a whole list of things to do.
8. What thing about the wedding would you like to do again?  The pre-wedding shenanigans and the pre-reception photos were all worth doing again.
9. If I may...talk a little about your Jaci Clark Photography team and how that experience was for you. We had a great time with Jaci's assistant, Brian.  He was professional and actually quite a bit of fun.  Very open to suggestions about what we wanted to have done and I felt that there wasn't a single moment throughout the whole wedding that I didn't see one, if not both, of our photographers there to capture the moment.  I was very happy with the photos we got back but I'm still trying to figure out which ones I like the best.

Elizabeth:

1. How does it feel to finally be married? Wonderful, it's different from just dating.  Prior to being married we hadn't lived together and now it's so nice waking up with someone next to me and sharing adventures with me.
2. What did you do the night before your wedding?  We had a big barbeque for all of our visiting friends and family from out of town and it was an opportunity for all of our different friends and family members to meet and mingle.  It also gave Patrick and I an opportunity to introduce the bridal party.  Afterwards, my family and I finalized our seating chart and just hung out as we finished some of the last minute details. 
3. What are you planning on doing with your gown? (Selling it, storing it, doing a trash-the-dress, etc)  I'm going to keep and preserve it.  I love my dress and was in love with my dress four years prior to getting it.  I didn't even want to take it off after the reception but I was quickly convinced otherwise.
4. What was the most stressful thing on your wedding day and how did you handle it? I wasn't very stressed because my sisters, the maid and matron of honor, took the brunt of the stress for me.  I think they were most stressed about our hair not being done on time and the fact that we were running behind most of the day. 
5. Sometimes your wedding day can be a blur. Name one thing that you remember most about your day. I remember a lot of the day but one thing I remember the most was sitting up on the alter and, even though the air conditioning was on, I remember my husband wiping his brow and throwing the sweat to the ground because it was so hot in the church.
6. Is there anything that you would do differently?  I would have had my blusher down prior to entering the church. It's not a big deal but if there was anything I would have done differently it was that.
7. Now that your big day is over what one piece of advice would you give to other brides/grooms-to-be? One of the best pieces of advice I was given was to focus on one particular thing throughout the day regardless of what it was.  Focus on the details and you'll find that the day isn't so blurry once it's all over.
8. What thing about the wedding would you like to do again? I would like for the party to be longer and for the time that we had to take pictures in the park to be longer but if I could do it again I'm not sure I'd like anything to change because everything just seemed so beautiful and I felt it was a tribute to our relationship and who we are.  I definetely would like to have had the party be a bit longer though.
9. If I may...talk a little about your Jaci Clark Photography team and how that experience was for you. I loved Jaci Clark from the time I read her biography on her website to when we Skyped and the time we spent at Cedar Point.  She went above and beyond what I expected a photographer to do.  She allowed for the entire day to revolve around what we wanted the day to be without pushing any agenda of her own.  She drove us around when we were running late and even bought us eye lashes and glue because the salon didn't have any.  She was amazing.  We felt like she was part of the family and everyone treated her that way too.

Patrick looking very suave while getting ready.

A little help from your friends

Nothing like stopping off at Burger King before the wedding.

Elizabeth and her sister, Becky.

Lots of curls

I ran to the store for those eyelashes. LOL!

Getting ready.

Love this one of her and her mom!

I love how Liz is looking at her dad.

This my be my favorite wedding image evah! Thanks to Brian, my second photographer, for capturing this!

Her sisters, Rosie and Becky, raising a glass! This cracks me up!

Love this quiet moment between them.

First dance!

Mother/son dance

Father/daughter dance

Elizabeth and Patrick, thank you so much for letting me be a part of your big day! It was pleasure meeting your families and working with you both!

Cheers,