“The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” – Rumi
It’s out of the ordinary that we don’t meet with our bride and grooms before their big day, but when it came to Christina and Doug 700 miles kept us separated. However between our emails and phone calls, we could tell what an absolute sweetheart Chrissy was, and because of that we were thrilled when their wedding day was here and it was finally time to meet them!
Christina began her big day at Sassy Expressions in Oneida. The salon was filled with beautiful girls, all matched in pink button ups preparing for all of the exciting events of the day. Snacking on fruit and bagels while finishing hair and makeup, they all were so sweet and welcoming and everyone offered me food (the perfect way to my heart!) When it was time for the veil to go on, all the girls gathered around to watch the transformation to bride! From there we went back to Christina’s childhood home, where I got to meet her pet kitty that she rescued. The bridesmaids gathered upstairs to put on their flowing seafoam dresses and matching necklaces. Christina was helped into her dress by her mom and sister and she tucked away a special handkerchief that was passed down in her family. What an absolutely stunning bride Christina was in her trumpet gown with sparkling belt and buttons all down the back. Meanwhile, Doug and his groomsmen were getting ready at his parent’s home. They were all relaxing, taking in the day, and playing a few games of cornhole. Doug and Chrissy took time out of getting ready in the morning for gift exchanges and it was easy to see that they knew each other perfectly by how much they each loved their new gifts! Chrissy bought Doug his first watch ever, and Chrissy’s gift from Doug was a beautiful bracelet that she had her eyes on!
The ceremony took place at St. Helena’s Church. It was a special moment to watch Christina walk down the aisle wrapped around her father’s arm. The church was completely filled from wall to wall with family and friends that love Chrissy and Doug and were there to support them. The way Doug smiled as Christina met him at the altar melted our hearts, and we finally got to see the love they shared as they held hands and looked into each other’s eyes. When hymns were beautifully sung, and communion was taken, Christina and Doug shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Before everyone filed out of the church to head over to the reception, Chrissy and Doug had a request for a big group photo, and we loved that idea! Wedding days are so busy and it was so special that they got everyone in a photo for forever memories!
The bridal party all hopped on the bus and we headed over to the Oneida Community Mansion for Chrissy and Doug’s photo session. We have to give it up to their bridal party for being so awesome, they nailed all the poses and were so fun to work with! Another stop we made was to see Grandpa Bob who couldn’t make it to the wedding but they made sure to include him in their day! Grandpa got hugs and kisses from everyone and it was so special that Chrissy and Doug got to share part of their day with him!
The reception took place at the Shenandoah Clubhouse at the Turning Stone. The reception hall was filled with tall overflowing floral centerpieces on each table, a glistening gold head table for the wedding party, a huge variety of cupcakes, and baskets full of drink koozies, sunglasses, and flip flops, and get ready… an ice sculpture, (how awesome is that?!) The night was filled with delicious food, cake and awesome music by Black Tie Entertainment. It was truly a perfect wedding day!
Congratulations Christina and Doug, and thank you for inviting us to be a part of your wedding day! We wish you all of the love and happiness!
