Aubrey and Cody’s Vintage Modern themed wedding was perfectly set in a historic castle. Here’s more about their charming wedding held “once upon a time, in a castle far, far away.”
Aubrey & Cody September 6, 2009, Oklahoma City
What we did on our first date:
Cody is such a charmer. He lived in a small town about 2 hours from where I lived. He attended the same church as I did on occasion because he had some good friends that went there. He ended up going on the same church singles retreat as I did, and we met for the first time. I was invited to a bible study by his best friend, who I had no idea was Cody’s best friend at the time. When I showed up to the bible study, I saw Cody there. I was so thrilled to see him. Our Tuesday night bible studies became more of our date nights. He asked me one Tuesday night to not make plans that following weekend. He made plans to come and pick me up and travel to Tulsa on Saturday. He had arranged to eat at a great Italian restaurant, my favorite, and to see a play. I think he was trying to impress me, and it worked! We had one great road trip together, talking and laughing for hours. He had my full attention from that day forward!
How I knew he was the one:
Cody wasn’t like any other man I had met. He had every quality that I was looking for. I was almost amazed at how wonderful and sweet he was, it seemed to good to be true. I knew he was the one because everyone that knew him loved him, he had a great family and he treated them all so well, he treated me the same no matter where we were, and he always was able to put a smile on my face. I never had any doubts about him, there was no question on whether or not he loved me. I had moved to Austin, TX a few months after meeting him. We were both scared about being away from one another. But there wasn’t a day that went by that we didn’t talk, and there wasn’t a weekend that went by that we didn’t travel to see each other. Our love grew quickly and just 3 months after my move, we were engaged! We knew right away that we were meant to be together. When you know…you know!
The Ceremony
Our ceremony was a beautiful outdoor garden wedding. The wedding took place at Castle Falls. The venue is an authentic historic castle nestled on five lush and spacious acres near the heart of Oklahoma City. The garden was amidst a cascading waterfall, towering cedars and oaks. It was an elegant and nostalgic castle setting. The Castle is modeled after a Normandy castle which gives it an old world charm and created an unparalleled environment.
As guests entered the ceremony, they were welcomed with scrolls and were given fresh cold water bottles, fans to make up for the warm weather, and postcards that boasted a picture of the castle on the front that guests would write their addresses on for us to send them our thank you.
While the guests waited, we had instrumental music playing, as well as the sound of the waterfall in the background. The wedding party entered from the back through two tall wooden doors that opened to the garden.
Cody is a huge OU fan, and as a surprise for him, I played the OU song as we kissed. The preacher was given a flag that he kept in the back of his jacket, he pulled it out and waved it. Cody was so thrilled, along with all of the other OU fans there. We had a beautiful ceremony that ended with the perfect kiss.
The Moment from wedding Aubrey never forget
I absolutely loved the look on my husband’s face as I walked down the aisle. He’s not the crying type, but he had tears in his eyes. I was nervous all the way up until I saw him. And as we held each others hands, I felt calm and at ease.
The Reception
Our reception was held at the same venue (which was great for all of the out of town guests). Just steps away from the royal garden, guests entered the reception hall. It boasted high dark ceilings, a large fire place both inside and out, tall windows to see out to the garden and surrounding areas and a sleek and modern set up. The colors of the room are naturally warm, and went perfectly with my décor.
My florist made tall centerpieces made out of large dark red sticks and tied single flowers to each one. This allowed guests to sit at the table and see everyone around it, as well as added the perfect touch to the room. A family tradition is to make wedding mints. So I had purchased jars, handmade the labels, and filled them with mints that were set up on our favor table.
Our cake was placed at the front of the room by the large fire place. It had all hand rolled pearls on each layer with an anemone sugar flower on the side. The grooms cake fit in perfectly with his profession as a physician’s assistant, it was a pill bottle with pills spilling out of it.
We cut costs by putting together our own playlist on an iPod and hired a technician to run our music and slideshow. Guests were free to flow inside and out. We had appetizers set up in the back of the room with fruits, nuts, meats, cheeses, and a wonderful punch made by the castle.
The Wedding Theme
Our wedding theme was Vintage Modern. The castle was the perfect setting for this elegant styled wedding. My bridesmaids wore long charcoal dresses that matched the groomsmen’s tie and vest. The matron of honor wore a deep gold dress that matched the best man’s tie and vest. And I wore a champagne ivory dress embellished with crystals around my waist.
The groom wore a deep gold striped tie and vest to match. My jewelry was all vintage and handmade. My earrings and bracelet matched each other and the design on the dress and were both handmade pieces. I wore a 40 year old family pearl ring and wore a classy cascading flower arrangement by Toni Federici in my hair. My veil flowed past the train on my dress and was made extra thick around the crown to really put the perfect touch on the whole look.
Guests received handmade scrolls that I dripped wax on and stamped with a ‘P’. At the very top, it read “Once upon a time, in a castle far far away….” We kept the ceremony looking very natural and modern by not overdoing it with flowers. The garden had tall Cedar and Oak tree’s that towered over the seating area. Inside the building for the reception, I kept a clean look by using black table clothes and used a soft lace fabric to lay over some of the tables as accents. The centerpieces gave height to the room along with the tall ceilings in the building. The pearls on the cake matched the pearl ring that I was wearing and gave a soft vintage look as well. The soft glow of gold around the room accented the black and charcoal colors used to create a warm modern vintage style.
Advice for other brides
Keep a notebook with numbers, names, information, and schedules of what you need to do. Keeping organized will really help when it comes to making final payments and needing to know what needs to still be done. When you first get engaged, sit down with your fiancé and figure out a budget. Knowing what you are expecting to pay will help you narrow down venues, florists, photographers, etc. And have fun, don’t get upset with your family or friends. This is something you only get to do once! The most important thing is that, regardless of how you do it, you will be happily married soon enough!
