brenda & john | avila golf and country club wedding ceremony and reception photography

… insight from brenda …

what was your favorite moment, or favorite part, of your wedding day?
My favorite part of our wedding day was getting to see my groom during our first look! After an entire morning of hair and make-up I was so ready to see him! An extremely close second would have to be my sisters Maid of Honor “speech”. She had everyone in simultaneous laughter and tears with her one of a kind rendition of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” into “Do you Want a Little Sister”. Thank goodness we have that on video!

is there anything you wish you had done differently when planning your wedding?
Honestly, no! The entire day I felt incredibly calm and organized. If something did go wrong I had no idea so in my eyes the day was absolutely perfect! 🙂

which three vendors were most important to you when planning your wedding?
Our photographer was definitely the most important part of our wedding hands down. It was so important to us that our photos captured the day just as we remembered it because in the end they are what you’ll look back at for years to come! I think our other top two vendors would have to have been our florist and DJ. I really wanted the flowers to incorporate a lot of greenery and to compliment the décor of our venue. We chose to go with a local florist from my hometown and could not have been happier with how they turned out! As far as our DJ, he was essential in setting the mood and timeline for our reception. He played exactly what our guests wanted to here and even coordinated with my sister prior to our wedding for her Maid of Honor “speech”.

what was your biggest wedding day savings? (and was it worth it?)
Our biggest wedding day savings was DIY-ing our wedding decorations and cake! My Aunt baked and decorated our cakes(which tasted amazing!)and my other Aunt did all of our beautiful invitation calligraphy. Having our family’s help was definitely worth it and it meant so much to us that they were willing to go above and beyond for our special day!
what was the best advice you received when planning your wedding? (and did you listen?)
The best advice I received was actually from one of my bridesmaids on the day of our wedding. As important as all the planning is, she reminded me that in the end it’s really about John and I. She said to make sure we stay by each others side as much as we can during the night because its important to make sure we both have the same memories of our wedding day. She could not have been more right because some of my favorite memories of our wedding day are the moments where it felt like John and I were the only people in the room.

was there anything encountered during wedding planning that was unexpected?
During the early stages of wedding planning our first venue actually decided that they could not guarantee they could host our wedding on the day we had booked. It was really unexpected and put us in a frenzy for about 24 hours. Thank goodness we found Avila and they had our original date open! It was totally meant to be!

was there a moment(s) during your wedding day that surprised you?
Everyone tells you that the day goes by so fast and that you won’t even have time to eat during your reception. As it turns out we were ahead of schedule the entire day, we had time to finish our entrees and sit back and really take in the moment. We were even finished with pictures 20 minutes ahead of time and got to enjoy some of our cocktail hour, I couldn’t believe it!

when you look back on your wedding day in 50 years, what do you think you’ll remember most?
In 50 years I think I’ll remember just how amazing it was to get to be with everyone that we love on our wedding day. It was such a surreal feeling having everyone together celebrating the night away!

… how it all came together …