Wedding Date on Jan 22, 2022

Amanda and Jorge met on an online dating app. They hit it off pretty well and immediately started chatting regularly. They had their first date at a Starbucks in Target, which was a bit quirky. Back then there weren't many good cafes in my area. They spent a while in that Starbucks though, talking about their interests and life. They had their first kiss in the car and they both knew they would be in each others lives for a long time. For the proposal, they had a picnic under a big tree with their puppy. As the sun was setting, Jorge read a poem/song from Lord of the Rings, "A Walking Song". They have matching quotes on their rings from this, "World behind, home ahead". He then popped the question! It was beautiful and intimate. They hadn't really thought about the wedding in detail. They are both more introverted, so there was some anxiety about all of the attention. Amanda thought about the first dance, something Jorge didn't look forward to, and that moment when she would walk down the aisle. Jorge wanted a wedding that was fun for their guests and something that represented both of them. Amanda and Jorge's wedding was, in their word, dreamy! It all went better than they had hoped! There ended up being a Covid surge leading right up to it, so they were nervous. They required guests provide proof of a negative test and were worried that no one would come. However, they were surrounded by loved ones and felt like they were on cloud 9. There was no Covid outbreak, which Amanda counted as a great success! "Everything felt like a fairy tale", she said. Their favorite thing about the wedding, aside from the actual getting married part, was being surrounded by the love from their friends and family. They also really enjoyed dancing with their grandmothers. Their wedding colors were dark juniper, white, gold, and black. They wanted the wedding to be more tropical - despite it being in winter - to give a nod toward our backgrounds (Amanda is Puerto Rican and Jorge is Cuban). According to Amanda, "We wanted a lot of greenery, specifically monstera leaves. There were a lot of lilies, one of my favorite flowers, and orchids. The gown was way more grand than I originally anticipated, but it made me feel like a princess. It was a ballgown by Martina Liana, with off the shoulder sleeves added on. In lieu of favors, we had a photo booth for our guests. We love photo booths and thought it would be fun. We also had bubbles for the final send off. During cocktail hour, the husband of one of my maids of honor played acoustic guitar. Our cake was a simple marble cake with buttercream and raspberry filling. For our guests, we had cupcakes: butter pecan, caramel machiatto, and marble. For the first dance we had a fog machine to make it look like we were dancing on clouds. It was a great way to distract from any dancing mistakes! Instead of doing a garter or bouquet toss, we had a couple's dance. We didn't want to single out people; instead we wanted a moment where everyone could shine." Some DIY elements they included were a board game table for those who might not want to dance. Amanda made dinosaur cake toppers that ended up being a bit too large for the cake, but looked cute next to it! She also made a decorative globe with their ring quote on it, and the wedding arch with the help of some friends (one of the ushers, Uli and another friend who was a guest at the wedding). During cocktail hour there was collaborative art (a canvas they invited guests to draw or write on) and a 360 video booth that everyone had fun with. Amanda's advice for couples and brides-to-be is, "Don't sweat the small stuff! Weddings can be stressful, and not everything will turn out the way you expect it to. Life can be pretty spontaneous. Try to be flexible, and know that no matter what - everything will be fine. At the end of the day, you will be surrounded by love and getting ready to spend the rest of your life with your love. That is the most important thing."