Weddingbee Blog

Christine and Brandon were married in New York surrounded by family and friends, many meeting for the first time at their wedding. They strove for a laid-back daytime wedding where they could have good food, good friends, and be able to catch up with everyone they loved. Family and friendors executed their budget-friendly affair seamlessly, giving Christine and Brandon the wedding of their dreams.

The Details

The Story

Our wedding was something that was very special to us. I am the only daughter in my family, and my husband is the baby of his family, so this wedding was very special for both of our parents. It would also be a destination wedding for his family because most of them reside in Tennessee or West Virginia and we got married in New York. We were in a long distance relationship and we wanted this wedding to not only represent our love for each other but we wanted to also share it this special day with the people that were most important for us.

Our wedding day/weekend was important to us because it would be the first time that our families would meet for the first time, and also some of the guests that were coming to our wedding were friends and family that we had not seen in a long time. It was going to be a day where we could all have great music, great food, and just catch up. We also wanted this to be a laid-back affair and nothing too fancy.

What made our wedding ceremony special for both of us was that our officiant was Brandon’s uncle. He is a Dr./Pastor at the Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN. It was such an honor to have him there to marry us and to join us in holy matrimony. I was so happy that it was someone that we both knew. He also was able to make it a beautiful ceremony and everyone complimented us all on the ceremony and how sweet it was.

I have to say that Brandon’s uncle was not the only friendor that we had. I had a lot of friends and family pitch in to help with the wedding, due to the fact that we were paying for the wedding. I have such wonderful friendors and friends. My friend & bridesmaid was my makeup artist and she did my face, my mom’s and my mother in law’s makeup. She did a wonderful job and I would have not been able to have had that done without her.

The florals were done by family friends and they only asked that we pay for all the flowers and nothing else.; they provided all the labor for free. It was so wonderful to have them gift that to us. The florals were so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. I gave them a picture and they made my dreams come true. My bouquet was beautiful and to go along with the theme, my flower girls got hot pink bouquets with pink anemones! I was so happy with all of our friendors.

Our theme was our Team Goose and Team Koi details, which were featured on our invitations, programs, and cake topper.

Goose is my husband’s nickname he has had for a long time. He calls me his little Koi because of my love for aquariums! We designed a logo for our invites, and anything else that we wanted to use them for. It was a wonderful, unifying element. We had the cake topper made by an Etsy artist. Finding Etsy is something I must thank Weddingbee for. All the bees talked about it and I finally went on and found someone who made us our beautiful cake topper that can now be a constant reminder of our wedding day.

The colors were Navy, all shades of pink, white and hints of lime green. It was a beautiful seasonal neutral color palette, and since the wedding was in NY in early March, the weather wasn’t quite winter or spring. We had the bridesmaids in navy dresses and navy ties for the groomsmen, and we just asked them to wear black suits that they owned to save them on rentals.

The tablecloths were navy and I asked the florist to make the florals white and pink so that it would fit into our color scheme, and it was beautiful! The flowers were very dreamy and I lost my breath when I walked into the ceremony and the reception. I was completely blown away.

Our sweetheart table and everything was beautiful, and I really liked having a wedding at noon because no one was falling asleep and the kids were not sleepy. They were actually the life of the party on the dance floor!

We didn’t really have any cultural or religious ceremonies but I wanted to incorporate my Korean background into the wedding. I thought it would be wonderful to be able to show my culture with my Korean Hanbok, so I changed for my cake cutting and I was so happy to have my mom, my grandma [who flew all the way from Korea to come to our wedding, I had not seen her in 24 years!] and my aunt wear their Hanboks.  And my brother’s host mom from when he went to Japan wore her Kimono! I thought it was great that some of my family and friends had their cultural dress on. We re-entered into the reception into my Korean dress that my grandmother had made for me in Korea and I loved it. I hadn’t worn one in a long time and I am so happy that I even had shoes and the underskirts to go along with my own, custom designed hanbok! It was probably my favorite dress of the whole night.

What were your favorite or most memorable aspects of your wedding day?

The most memorable aspect of the wedding day was when I walked down the aisle and got to stand up there with my husband and see all of our friends watching over us saying our vows. It was a magical moment. I felt all the light shining in through the windows, and being there and hearing us say our vows. It was the most wonderful feeling. I loved being up there and having my husband commit his love to me and I to him made it so special. Also, having my Grandmother there was wonderful. I loved it.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I wish I had taken more pictures with people and had a group picture taken with my friends and family friends. I wish I had more pictures with all of them because that is one thing that I saw my friends do at their weddings, and I wish I had done it.

Do you have any advice for future brides?

My advice for future brides would be that although it may be a stressful time, do not forget that it will be over as soon as you know it. The week before the wedding my husband and I were so stressed out that we wanted it to be over. Then when it was over we couldn’t believe it. Just enjoy the love that you get from everyone and relish every moment. It will be gone before you know it.

all images by Binaryflips Photography

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