“The vision was: OUR best day ever. With traditions and expectations out the window, we wanted to create a day that celebrates our love in the most authentic way. Every decision was made with that sentiment top of mind. In the spirit of doing things our own way, I started the day by teaching a spin class and he started the day with a round of golf because … why not!? Everyone expressed concern about the time but we knew that our perfect day started with something that makes us move. Once that was through, the girls popped the bubbly, the boys broke out the good scotch, and the wedding festivities officially commenced. After getting glammed up, my bridesmaids swept me away to the location that I would see my future groom for our first look. The first look was unconventional – we wanted to share this moment with our parents and siblings. They stood by as we privately read love letters that we had written for each other beforehand. We started keeping journals through the year leading up to the wedding. We are still reading though each other’s journal now. The ceremony was held in the place that means the most to us – our home. Our living room acted as an airy dreamscape which held only our 16 closest family members and friends. My step-father officiated the ceremony to maintain the connectedness of all our people, and only our people, in one room together. This was the intimacy that we both envisioned as we made our promises to one another. After the ceremony, our siblings and parents shared some words and raised a toast to our new marriage. Without the pressure of a large crowd, we were able to speak our most raw and honest words with one another. We laughed, we cried, then… we ate some delicious pizza. I remember thinking, in that moment, that if the day had come to a close just then, our wedding would have been everything that we wanted it to be. But little did we know, the party had only just begun. The rest of our family and friends waited for us at a local brewery, ready to celebrate the fact that we just tied the knot (and that they didn’t even have to sit though the boring stuff.) We drank and ate and danced … oh, did we ever dance. Our guests caught on rather quickly that if you wanted to talk to the bride, you’d have to hit dance floor. One of our favorite parts of the reception was sidestepping the first dance by choosing a secret song that we provided our DJ ahead of time. Once it came on, we shared our first dance but only we knew that it was happening. Cheeky, I know. The palomas continued to flow, our DJ continued to turn the party, and grandpa even busted out the best moves to Nicki Minaj. Before we knew it, we had quite literally danced the night away. By choosing to do our wedding our own way, we were graced with the comfort needed to be fully present in every moment. By not placing any expectations on the experience, we were able to enjoy the day however it unfolded. And by keeping the two of us at the heart of it all, we truly did have our best day ever.”
– Katarina, the bride
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