David's Bridal

Good Morning DB Readers! Happy Wednesday!! Today we are featuring one of our “real brides” who decided to get married on the most iconic date in 2012…. 12-12-12! Here is her story as to why she got married on this interesting date, and what it meant to her and her husband, Tommy! We also included some photos from her wedding… ENJOY!

Our 12-12-12 wedding was a million times more amazing that I dreamed. We planned a wedding of 26 in Costa Rica, including ourselves, at a private property we rented for 7 days.

Wedding Stress Extreme
Tommy and I got there to check-in before the rest of our group, as we traveled separately, to find out that all our guests from Denver (our hometown) has their flight cancelled. That group of people included almost all of our bridal party, my parents and most of our friends. Tommy’s family, my brother, and some of our friends from around the country met us as scheduled on Saturday, which helped ease the stress. I was finally able to email with my sister and we found out they were put on a flight that night. 6 hours later we found out they cancelled that flight. It was chaos! My dad bought 7 tickets for him, my mom, my sister and our bridal party on a different airline to leave within 8 hours. The rest of our group was scheduled to leave on that same airline the next day. We had to reschedule scuba diving, the airport shuttle (4 hour drive from the airport to the villa) and our activities… but luckily, nothing really was impacting the wedding.

No Photographer for a Photographer’s Wedding?
Well due to all that flight cancelling, something happened to our photographer’s flight. He and his wife are family friends and were planning to be our photographer. They emailed us saying due to all the issues, they would have to re-book at 5x the cost, so they weren’t coming. WHAT?! Tommy, being a wedding photographer himself, was extremely stressed. We thought to try to hire a local, but were at our max budget. Tommy’s dad was planning to be the second camera (he’s a former wedding photographer), but we wanted him to be the groom’s dad during the wedding. He arrived Sunday afternoon and accepted the challenge and helped calm us both down. Our pastor was also a photographer, so he volunteered to be the second camera. Still stressful and not plan A, but PHEW!

Finally, We Can Breathe!
The other half of our guests arrived in 2 waves and we could finally breathe! We rescheduled all our activities, but nothing would impact the wedding. Monday – the ladies did a spa day and Monday Night, the guys drove into town and watched Monday Night Football and we were able to finally relax! Tuesday- was the rehearsal. We could really narrow down all the details because we hadn’t seen the venue prior to arriving in Costa Rica. We went through the rehearsal of the ceremony, and then I went through the re-organization of everything at the villa with my family/friends/guests who were the designated delegates. We re-arranged and moved furniture and got everything ready. We had a great dinner, played “The Shoe Game” (great one from Pinterest), and then drove to the beach where each person had a Floating Lantern to send into the sky. It was amazing! A great way to remember our last night as an engaged couple, and to be surrounded by our friends and family and see their lights shining in honor of us. Just after I thought I could breathe, this beautiful moment took our breath away!

We went back to the villa for an amazingly hilarious and ridiculously organized game of Family Feud. Hargroves vs. Cowans. Our friends Marissa and Steve coordinated and hosted this game. It was so funny seeing my dad against Tommy’s aunt. For the record, Tommy’s family won, but my family wanted to protest. HA!

Wedding Day

I kicked Tommy out of our room at 8:30am and a few of my girls came in. My friend, Alyssa, who is a hairstylist and make-up artist started on one of my bridesmaids, while my sister, who is a Massage Therapist, gave me a relaxing massage. The “boys” were finishing moving furniture, etc and Tommy’s sister Sara (our caterer) and his mom, Kathryn (our pastry chef) were busy working in the kitchen! My mom and Laura were creating our bouquets and boutonnieres, as the flowers were picked up that morning. Things were coming together! Tommy’s dad, Tom, came in to take some shots of us getting ready. We had people bringing us food, drinks, etc. I didn’t leave the air-conditioned room until I put on my dress! We also found out it was the hottest day since we’d been in Costa Rica. Later, we realized it was the only day it didn’t rain the whole time we were there. Thank you, Lord!

The whole day went by so quickly. The next thing I know I was taking photos with my side and we were minutes from the wedding! My brother walked my mom down the aisle, my bridesmaid Anna left, my sister and maid of honor, Robyn, left and then it was just me and my dad. They closed the doors and I walked in front, ready for my grand entrance. The music started up again and the doors opened and I could see Tommy. I was beaming! My dad grabbed my arm and we walked safely down the aisle. It was amazing! The ceremony was beautiful and has some amazing impromptus and references to our trip. Eric, our pastor, is so gifted. It was amazing. Finally I was putting on his ring and reading our vows! We each had 12 things we loved about each other that Eric had us prepare earlier that week to keep with the 12-12-12 theme. That, I hadn’t planned before the wedding! We promised our lives to each other in front of God and this beautiful scenery with our family and friends as our witnesses. It was truly amazing!

The Reception
All the planning came together. We had a photo scavenger hunt going on while we Tommy and I took photos with Tom & Eric. We planned that “last minute” and it was a highlight for everyone! Dinner was amazing. As soon as it went dark we moved upstairs to eat. Sara, our caterer, exceeded our expectations. The food and decoration and everything she worked on was amazing! She and her husband Jeff, were married in Spain in 2007 and really the inspiration for our destination wedding. I wish I could have saved all the food because I was just floating the whole time!  The band showed up right at dinner and started setting up. Our friend Jared sang our first dance with the band – the same one Tommy used to propose to me on 11-11-11. (I’m a former TV Producer, so I am working on editing all of our video. Here’s the first dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccf6RFP8-UQ&feature=share&list=UUOGfGMMVeEXZCkvL8zhg6qQ

The band was so much fun. We then had dessert… Oh MY! Kathryn, Tommy’s mom, recently graduated from Pastry School. The cake was amazing. Super small, yet so beautiful! Two tier, chocolate! She also made 4 different desserts, so you could have whatever you wanted. The toasts and speeches made me cry, only second to seeing Tommy during the ceremony. Eventually the band had to leave, the guests started going to bed and it became an “after-party.” But it was the best night of our lives!

It was a million times better than we could have ever imagined. Truly a dream come true!

Related Posts:

• Our last 12-12-12 “Real Bride” Shares her AMAZING Story! (and pics for you to gush over, too!)
• Read about one of our “Real Brides” Who Married on the last iconic date of the century!
• Another “Real Bride” shares her story about her ICONIC 12-12-12 wedding!!
• Wedding Wednesday! The Origins of 5 Interesting Wedding Traditions
• Wedding Wednesday! Here’s The Real Cost Of Being A Wedding Guest!

Tags: 12-12-12, David's Bridal, Iconic date, In the News, Real Brides, wedding planning