Vanessa and Michael didn’t let a little rain stop them from having the rustic wedding of their dreams. The bride wore a lace gown by Essense of Australia to complement the rustic glam ceremony and reception. Cheers to many years of dancing in the rain to the happy couple!
From the bride: Michael proposed to me on a night I decided to stay late at work. He called me a few times saying he was with our dog Charli teaching her some new tricks. Although it was late and cold, I couldn’t resist seeing what Charli had learned, so I met up with them when I got home.When I arrived, Michael and Charli were standing about a 100 yards away from me. She then came running to me with a card in her mouth, running circles around me a few times before I could get the card from her. Â As I read the card asking to make Michael the happiest guy in the world, I realized my future husband was down on one knee.
We knew about the Big Barn because at the time it was the place of my work, a private school for children with developmental disabilities. The barn had everything we were going for. We both love rustic decor, and I love the juxtaposition of rustic and glam mixed together. We hung Edison bulbs throughout the dance floor and covered the bars in gold sequined tablecloth. My dress was absolutely perfect and went with my whole vision, I even complimented it with my mother’s veil. The dress was so comfortable and lightweight, which allowed me to dance all night.
Thanks to my summer off from work, I had the time (and patience) to make our invitations. The look I wanted would be very expensive so I created it myself. To add our own personal style and touch, we used recycled Jack Daniel’s bottles as our centerpieces. I bought all of the flowers in bulk and even made my bridesmaids’ bouquets. My father even did us the honor of baking us our wedding cake.
We received the best advice for our wedding day. A friend told us at some point in the night to take a step back with one another and gaze around the room. She told us to watch everyone as they laugh, eat, drink, smile, dance, and best of all, have fun. We followed her advice, and in that moment we realized everyone was there, under one roof, because of the love between my husband and I. Nothing can beat that feeling of genuine love and support we felt on that September night.
Although it did end up raining on our special day, I hardly noticed. It was the best day of my life and I would not change a thing. A good friend of ours summed it all up with a special gift. She and her husband collected rainwater from that day and wrote on the jar “…and if storms should come..then we will dance in the rain.”
