Real Wedding: Alison + Robert at the Bradford

What a gorgeous wedding!  This couple was one of my favorites, from the moment I met Alison and her mom (aka best friend/wedding planner partner in crime!) at our first meeting at Cracker Barrel.  Alison and Robert have the most gorgeous baby boy who was only months old at their wedding, and was such a champ!  One of the highlights of the day was when they invited little Dawson onto the dance floor for their first dance - what an emotional moment! What a fairy tale day - not to mention her dress was to DIE for! Best wishes to you, Alison and Robert, for a wonderful, happily ever after! 

Venue: The Bradford
Photography: Jennifer Haygood Photography
Videography: 21 Films
Planner/designer: Becca/C&D Events
Florals: Bushel and Peck
Rentals: CE Rentals
Caterer: Green Planet Catering
DJ: Ross Merle
Ceremony Music: Amaree & Ben Davis
HMU: Makeup by Ashley Mooney
Cake: Details Cake Design

Who We Are: Wives

I'm excited to chime in on our "Who We Are" series about one of my favorite topics - marriage!  Obviously our team wouldn't be in this profession if we weren't passionate about our relationships and marriages.  Almost all of us are married - with one more team wedding next year!

I know personally I always dreamed of and talked about my future husband, even before I met him.  We were thrilled to have a sweet (and hot!) summer wedding, at a gorgeous venue and we were surrounded by so many of our friends and family. I absolutely love being a wife - and am crazy about my husband of 8 years.  Words can't express how much my marriage has changed me and encourages me - my husband is my biggest fan and strongest encourager.  He makes me a better me.  All of us on our team are supported by some really incredible men - guys who are hard working, motivated, handsome, and giving.

Obviously our working hours take up many weekends, and we often miss important family/friend events to spend time making magic happen for our clients' most special day.  We can't shout out enough to our husbands who sacrifice weekend time with us, take the kids for 12+ hours in a day and treat them to all sorts of goodies while we are away, and support our dream of making marriages happen one wedding day at a time!

We all believe that our marriages really are what we put into them, and that marriage isn't an everyday fairy tale, but takes so much hard work and compromise.  We've seen over time that the hardest times in our marriages have strengthened us, and that all the hard work we've put in has been worth it and has had rich rewards.  While it may be the hardest relationship we're in, it's also the best relationship we all enjoy.

We love that we get to support and encourage other new marriages for our job right from day one!  Here's to forever!

~Becca

Love & Marriage: Becca & Jake - What Inspires Us

This picture is of my grandparents on their wedding day - Jake and I have been blessed to see many of the family marriages in our lives played out.  We're inspired by those who have gone before us - those who've made promises on their wedding day that they've kept, regardless of how hard their marriage has become, or what life has thrown at them.  We've learned through these marriages that love is:

a daily decision - one where we choose to act in love regardless of our feelings

a decision not to be rushed into but to be thought through with care

becomes a relationship that has a mushroom affect - touches all those around you

We've decided and hope to hold fast to the idea that we want our marriage to live beyond us - we want our marriage to leave a legacy for others to follow - we want to be that couple that others say "gosh they are so in love" - even when we are old and gray and great grandparents.

We've learned so far that building a marriage takes so much work + prayer + community, but is so worth it!  Here are some books we've learned so much through that we want to share with you:

For Men Only/For Women Only - Shaunti  & Jeff Feldhahn

Love and Respect - Emerson Eggerichs

The 5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman

Sheet Music - Kevin Lehman

Sacred Marriage - Gary Thomas

Top 16: The Season of Love

Happy Monday friends!

I hope that you Carolina folks aren't too depressed today - what a sad loss for the Panthers at the Superbowl last night!  The Panthers playing in the Superbowl again brought back memories for me - as 12 years ago, I attended a Superbowl party to cheer on the Panthers and met a very sweet, southern band boy with long red hair, who eventually would become my husband!  We were babies then, freshmen in college, and ended up becoming the best of friends.  After a few years, and other relationships, we finally confessed that we had always wanted to be together.

Just in case you want a visual of our dating years!

Now we are 8 years into marriage with a sweet little baby.  I'll be sharing more during our relationship series coming soon on the blog about how our marriage and life has changed bringing a wild little toddler into the mix.

We are very busy in the C&D Events/Bradford office this month - we've been booking brides continuously and have been very involved in planning meetings while we have the time before our crazy spring season begins.  I'm VERY excited about my clients this year - I have some really sweet couples who have such awesome visions for their weddings.  I really do love that I get to be a part of building their marriage!

We also have some pretty awesome Style Shoots planned for 2016, as well as our C&D Summer Soiree - you'll hear more about all of those in the upcoming weeks!  So much to look forward to!

As it is Valentine's week - I'm hoping that all of you readers feel loved and special this week!  I'm sure my Valentine's Day may look a little bit different this year - instead of a fancy meal, we may have a date night in with our favorite take-out and splurge on some fun dessert treat and fancy wine.  Whatever you do, make sure those you love know it, this Valentine's week!