Wedding Date on May 21, 2016

I grew up near Bald Head Island in Southport, North Carolina.  When picking the place where we wanted to get married, Mike and I both wanted to pick a place that would embody everything truly wonderful about North Carolina and to us, Bald Head was that place. There is something magical about the island, with the charming harbor, the large live oak trees, and the quaint chapel on the water, it’s like something out of a fairy tale. As soon as you cross over the Cape Fear River to the island you feel like you are a million miles away. Mike and I met and lived in Charlotte, NC and we recently moved outside of Toronto, Ontario Canada to be close to his family.  It was so special to be able to bring all of our friends and family, especially our family from Canada, to such a special place in North Carolina to celebrate our wedding. We had the most wonderful weekend and there was no shortage of southern hospitality!   The vision for our wedding was organic elegance. I started off the day with my favorite ladies sipping mimosa’s, laughing and getting our hair and makeup done. I got robes for my bridesmaids to get ready in and we relaxed and played music all morning. When I came down the stairs in my dress and saw my Mom and Dad’s face it was such a special moment. Our ceremony took place at the Bald Head Island Chapel and my Dad drove me in a Rolls-Royce golf cart to the chapel. We had gorgeous greenery draped across the outside porch railing and large peony’s on the end of the pew’s.  Following the ceremony, we had cocktails, dinner and dancing at the Bald Head Island Club. My favorite details from the reception were the lush greenery that cascaded across the large wooden farm tables which were illuminated by rose gold votives and tall wooden candlesticks. We also had a greenery and mirror installation that had calligraphy with the dinner and bar menu hanging over the outdoor terrace bar. To add a personal touch, I also collected wine corks for almost 5 years from bottles of wine Mike and I had shared with our wedding guest. Over the years, I would write the date and the place we shared the wine on the corks and I saved them for our wedding one day. I used these corks as part of the place card holders for our guests, which was exciting when our guests saw what was written them! Even though the chapel and the reception venue at the Bald Head Club were absolutely stunning, nothing compared to the fact that the weather broke and we had the most beautiful Carolina blue sky for our wedding day. With a forecast all week of a 100% chance of rain on our wedding day, it was something special to have such a perfect sunny spring day!   Mike and I had many favorite moments from our wedding but one our favorites was leaving the chapel after our ceremony and taking off in the golf cart. We had just a couple of moments to ourselves to take it all in and watch all of our closest friends and family gather together outside of the chapel. It was amazing to have so many people travel from so far to come and celebrate our marriage in one our favorite places. Planning our wedding while making a move to Canada was no easy task! Luckily, my vendors were absolutely incredible! Growing up and going to college in the Wilmington, North Carolina area allowed me to connect with some of my old college friends who  are now businesses owners in the wedding industry. Vendors such as Kickstand Events and Philip James Films have owners who are former UNC-Wilmington alumni and I loved being able to have people help with our wedding who were local and part of my alma mater! All of our vendors did such a great job making our vision come to life. I was taken aback walking into our reception and seeing all of the details that we had been discussing for over a year! They executed our vision to absolute perfection. I remember trying to pause and take everything in a few times throughout the day and night and when I did it was special seeing all of our guest truly enjoying themselves and we owe this all to our amazing vendors who pulled off a spectacular event. I honestly could not stop smiling from the moment I walked down the aisle to when Mike and I drove off in the golf cart at the end of the night. The entire day was more than I could have ever expected and it was the most amazing day of our lives.