Abigail & Alex’s Fun-Loving August Wedding

September 1, 2020

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This fun-loving August wedding was laid-back and elegant celebrating Abigail & Alex’s love in a unique and intentional way. They incorporated a little flair and personality in every decision they made.

Meet the Couple – Bride & Groom

The Bride – Abigail is a writer and online tutor.

The Groom – Alex is enlisted in the US Air Force.

Honeymoon Location – We didn’t have long, so we spent the weekend at his aunt’s cabin out in the woods. It’s a small, one-room cabin that sits right on a dock on a private lake. It’s the first place we went together on a trip with his family, and it was wonderful going back and feeling like the only two people in the world. We watched movies, swam in the lake, and ate wedding leftovers for days. Easily some of our happiest memories.

First Dance Song – “Grow as we Go”, by Ben Platt. We’ve both been huge Platt fans since seeing him in “Dear Evan Hansen”, and the moment we heard that song we knew it was the one for us.

Favorite Date Night – We both love going out and exploring. Every city we’ve visited has had wonderful hidden gems, and we’ve seen some truly beautiful places just by getting in the car and saying “let’s go north”. We always run into something to see eventually!

Abigail, tell us your story…

TELL US YOUR LOVE STORY!

We met during our senior year of high school. We’re both dumbfounded we didn’t meet sooner, because his little sister was one of my good friends, and his best friends were in several of my classes. Somehow our paths just never crossed. I was nosy, and when I saw him walking into school with a book under his arm, I wanted to know what he was reading (Batman and Philosophy). We talked about it for a few minutes, and I let him go, sure he had somewhere to be. About fifteen minutes later he found me at my locker and asked for my number. I didn’t know it at the time, but apparently, everyone that knew the two of us– his friends who I had classes with, his sister– had been telling him for weeks he should ask me out, but neither of us had any idea who the other was until I asked about that book (extremely glad I did).

TELL US YOUR ENGAGEMENT STORY!

During our spring break freshman year, we went up to visit my grandparents in Ohio. While we were there, we visited Loveland (I used to go there often with my grandmother). He’d never been, so we walked around town. I showed him the fireworks store where one of my earliest friends worked, we grabbed ice cream while we walked, and I took him down to the rocky bank of the Little Miami River. While we were there, I jokingly kept handing him acorns instead of rocks to skip. It was one of the best dates we ever went on.

About a year later, we had tickets to a show in Cincinnati, and he insisted we visit Loveland for a bit. We went down to the river, I crouched down to pick up a rock, and when I stood up he was on his knee. The best part? The ring he was having made hadn’t come in yet, so he proposed with an acorn that he’d kept from our first time in Loveland (I still have it).

This may not make it onto the blog post, but it’s an odd little add-on: while we were in Cincinnati, a city festival was going on. We had about an hour to kill before the show, and while we were walking, a man walked up to us to congratulate us. We were confused at first, but he explained he had been kayaking on the Little Miami and saw my husband propose. How strange that our paths would cross again, hours later and miles away.

Abigail, tell us about planning your wedding…

What words would you use to describe the style of your wedding day? How would you describe the feeling?

Carefree and comfortable.

Elegant yet fun and a little funky.

Why did you choose to have your wedding at Warrenwood Manor?

I’ve always wanted to have an outdoor wedding! The grounds were beautiful and extremely well kept. The staff was extremely kind and helpful. We toured a handful of other places, but none of them seemed to stack up against Warrenwood, for some reason or another.

It was the venue’s assurance of having a “Plan B” that finally sold us. Booking an outdoor wedding so many months in advance had us all on edge. What if it just down poured all weekend? The staff at Warrenwood assured us that in the event of unexpected rain, the barn or the house could be turned over for a ceremony in no time. No other venue offered us that kind of reassurance. Luckily, it was sunny and dry until the day after.

What were you most excited about on your wedding day?

Abigail – Walking down the aisle and seeing my husband standing there! I thought for sure I was going to pass out.

Alex – To pour the dirt on our tree for our unity ceremony. I’m excited to watch the tree grow as we do.

In what ways did you personalize your wedding day?

We didn’t bother with strangers. I’d heard stories from friends who were married before me, and they always seemed to have trouble remembering who their photographer was, or bemoaning how dry the officiant’s ceremony was.

Our ceremony was officiated by my favorite preacher from home, and he knows both of us well enough to put together a ceremony that was fun, but traditional. We both like to goof around, and Pastor Reed was great. Our photographer, Kat Wagers, was actually someone my sister had been friends with. It later turned out that Kat’s second-shooter was one of my friends from work. Not once did I feel like I was being ambushed by strangers. The whole day, we were surrounded by friends and loved ones. My advice to future brides? Check with the people around you– you never know who knows who.

In some ways, we wanted to stick to tradition, but we both had a few small touches that really made the day feel like it was ours– like wearing hot pink heels, taking wedding photos in the bathtub, and shaking it to our favorite 80’s playlist in the barn.

Of all of the beautiful moments of your wedding day, which do you cherish the most?

The whole day was filled with so many wonderful, heart-touching memories. I think the moment I’ll always remember the most, however, was when Pastor Tommy brought some of the closest women in my life up to the bridal suite just before walking down the aisle. My sister, my mom, my grandmother, my sister-in-law, my aunts, my beloved and belated grandmother’s best friend… he had us all take each other’s hands, and he said, “These are women, just like you, who have walked down the aisle themselves. This is your community, your guidance. You look to these women for answers”, and he prayed with us. I remember being so touched, and feeling so surrounded by love and support.

What was the funniest thing that happened on your wedding day?

Oh lord. Later in the night, at the reception, one of our nephews came up to me and hugged me. I didn’t realize he had chocolate from the fountain all over his hands! Luckily the photos were done, and we just laughed about it. Kids will be kids, right?

What advice would you give to a newly engaged couple starting the wedding planning process?

Do NOT wait until a month before the wedding, because things will creep up on you in those last few days.

Also, TAKE. A. DEEP. BREATH. I know it seems like one little thing could send the whole day spiraling into a cataclysmic disaster, but I promise it won’t. No wedding in the history of weddings has ever gone off without a hitch.

What is something about your wedding that you thought you would care about, but ended up not?

The table settings. By the time the whole event was over, I couldn’t tell you if the linens were ivory or cream, or whether we used china or plastic-ware. It really doesn’t matter. The guests will be happy to be eating, and the bridal party will be too wrapped up in everything else to care.

What have you been up to since your wedding day?

Oh, wow. Where to begin? I graduated from college with my bachelors, he completed basic training. About a week after graduation, we moved all the way from Eastern Kentucky to Southern Mississippi (we’re dated to move again in June). Since then, we’ve just been exploring the world around us. Mississippi is a wonderful state, with so much rich history, and with us being close enough to Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana, the nature reserves are abundant and the hikes are gorgeous. We’re just waiting to see where our next adventure will take us.