You have to love a wedding where the bride says her most memorable moment was standing in front of her family and friends and promising to love her husband forever.
Held in her husband’s hometown on a picture perfect day, here’s Heather’s story about her Day.
Heather & Michael, Tippecanoe Place Mansion, South Bend, Indiana
What you did on your first date
We went ice skating at the Millennium Park ice rink in Chicago followed by coffee at the Palmer House
How you knew he was the one
Michael and I met at the gym we still go to now. He climbed onto the elliptical trainer next to me and struck up a conversation. It worked! He asked if he could give me a call and I agreed. Ironically, at first I didn’t take him very seriously and thought it would be a brief relationship but within a month or so I knew that this was something more. He proposed a year later overlooking Oak Street beach in Chicago where we had spent many wonderful afternoons over the summer.
The ceremony
We had an outdoor ceremony on the grounds of the old Studebaker mansion in South Bend, Indiana where Michael grew up. It was absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect and we said our vows under an ancient, sprawling tree.
My cousin was the flower girl and our nephew was the ring bearer. The ring bearer was only 2 years old and didn’t make it down the aisle so the flower girl had to go it alone but did a phenomenal job! A harpist played during parts of the ceremony and my youngest sister did a reading.
The moment Heather will never forget
Standing before family and friends promising to love my husband forever. The minister who married us is a tall almost sage-like man with a booming voice. At one point during our vows he held my wedding ring up to the sky and, apparently, the sunlight reflected off it in such a manner that was noticed by many of our guests. We kept receiving comments about how otherworldly that moment seemed that evening as well as weeks later.
The Reception
The reception began with cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres under a tent on the grounds of the mansion with live music. Dinner was served inside the mansion and then followed by more cocktails and dancing outdoors under the tent.
Her favorite detail
I absolutely loved the cupcakes we served. They were absolutely delicious and looked gorgeous arranged on glass platters with hydrangea accents.
Advice for other brides
Relax as you near the actual date. It is easy to drive yourself crazy. I received an awards trip through work and was very close to not going due to the fact it was a week before our wedding. We ended up deciding to go ahead with it and flew to Italy the week before our wedding, flew back for our weekend wedding and flew back out to Spain for our Honeymoon. We now affectionately refer to it as our “Pre-Moon.” We are so glad that we decided to forgo all of the worrying and just enjoy ourselves. Almost everything is taken care of once you are a few weeks out anyway and anything that is not has a way of working itself out. It is such a wonderful day that celebrates the love you have for one another and little perceived imperfections just don’t matter and in many cases end up being events that allow you to look back and laugh.
