Wedding Date on May 19, 2018

A little about Nick and me: Nick grew up in Cincinnati and I'm from Philadelphia. We met by chance in Washington DC, at a college party my freshman year on the night before Valentine's Day. Nick was visiting his little brother for the weekend, who went to college with me, and we just happened to lock eyes. We've been together ever since - 8 and a 1/2 years of crazy love and long distance travels. Nick is a captain in the Marine Corps, currently stationed in South Carolina, while I am a pediatric resident at a children's hospital in Virginia. We've made it through 2 of his deployments, my medical school, and a whole lot of cross country miles. So, we've become very good at skype dates, countdowns until the next time we get to see each other, and navigating airports! And we are unbelievably excited to finally be together in the same city, waking up under the same roof, this December. We got engaged in February of 2016, but decided to get married in May 2018, right before I graduated from medical school. We knew we wouldn't be able to live together for another 6 months, due to Nick's Marine Corps duties, but we couldn't imagine waiting even longer to be married, and it was the perfect month logistically to steal some time away together. Also, we had both pictured a spring/summer wedding filled with lots of flowers, twinkle lights, grassy fields, and all of our favorite people dancing under the stars. I found The Farm at Eagles Ridge in Lancaster, PA while Nick was deployed and knew immediately that he'd love it as much as I did. It had the elegant but laidback farm appeal that was exactly what we'd dreamed of, the nicest owners and event staff, and it even came with its own twinkle lights!! We booked it immediately, even though the wedding still seemed forever away. Throughout the next two years, I savored wedding planning, as it gave me a creative outlet when I was sick of studying for school. Because we weren't rushed, I was able to select my favorite vendors and had little difficulty with their availability. One tip I'd give to future brides - please, oh please, get a videographer!! I knew I loved other couples' wedding videos, and that even more than photos, ours would be the thing Nick and I would both cherish forever. With a lot of searching, I found Visual Rose, who made the most beautiful wedding highlight videos that captured the feel and the joy without any dialogue needed. The week of our wedding, it poured every single day. Our idea of an outdoor ceremony was very quickly scrapped, but it didn't really seem to matter at all. All Nick and I could do was giggle about the fact that we were actually, finally, going to be husband & wife. Our incredible families and friends all traveled to Lancaster, PA and we were able to throw the party of our dreams! The wedding team we'd hired blew us away with their love, support, and efforts to make our day exactly like we'd pictured. The food, the flowers, the barn, the dance party, our most favorite people celebrating with us ... Nick and I both had SO MUCH FUN. But the best part, hands down, was that every single time I looked over and saw my guy smiling back at me, I re-realized he was mine forever.