I can’t think of a better way to cap off this week than with this glamour-filled military wedding from Kate Botwinski Photography.  This wedding has the sweetest details (literally), a touch of bling, a man in uniform and bold punches of purple everywhere (hello, beautiful orchids). Michelle’s smile in each of these photos warms my heart.  That’s truly a sign of a good time, if you ask me.

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

I have dreamed of planning my wedding my whole life so it was stressful when I first started out because I wanted everything to be perfect. We only had 6 months to plan our wedding and on top of that, my fiancé was in the military and was based in another state so I did a lot of the planning by myself. The first thing I did was buy a wedding planner book and as many wedding magazines as I could find. I also joined the knot.com which was amazing at giving me a timeline of when I should have things done. We had our wedding and reception at the Embassy Suites. Our wedding coordinators, Allie and Renee were so great. I would tell them what I wanted to do and they would get it done for me. It was nice because they outlined a wedding package for us and we could add or take away anything we wanted. They were so nice to work with because I changed my mind a lot and they would always come through for me with whatever I wanted. This made planning my wedding a lot less stressful! My bridesmaids were amazing and I couldn’t have done it without them!

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

I am definitely a perfectionist and can be very indecisive because I want things perfect so it was hard deciding on what vendors to work with. I wanted to make sure that they gave me the wedding of my dreams. I did a lot of research on each thing I picked. The thing for me that was so important was knowing that whoever I was working with was really listening to what I wanted and who I could talk to comfortably. One of the reasons planning a wedding is so stressful is that there are so many different options you can pick from. You can do anything for your wedding and that can be so overwhelming. It was nice working with a vendor who we could tell our ideas to and who we could trust to do a great job. Our photographers were a great example of this. My husband and I visited with a few photographers when he was in town. We only had 2 days while he was in town to find someone and we just didn’t feel a connection with anyone we met. Our last visit was with photographers Kate and Sam Botwinski and instantly we felt at ease. We were so relaxed around them and felt so confident that they were going to capture beautiful pictures for us. I think you just know when it feels right!

Did any of your vendors do anything special for you before, on, or after your wedding day that you would like to share?

The best thing about my vendors on my wedding day was that they all catered to me with whatever I needed. All I did was sip on mimosas with my girls while my hair and makeup got done. Everything else was that had to be done went through the coordinators or my personal assistant (who was amazing!). Everyone made me feel so relaxed and it was truly an amazing feeling knowing that everyone wanted to give me the best for my day. Another great vendor we had was R.J. Deutsch from MyGuy MEDIA and his brother John Deutsch who were our videographers. I loved having footage from our wedding because everything went so fast that day and it was so nice to look back and see everything we might have missed. Plus, it is so much fun reliving that day!

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

I loved everything about my wedding! One of my favorite things about my wedding was all the little details that I added. I wanted our guests to walk in to the social hour and reception and be blown away with the details! I wanted the social hour room to be filled with the smells of chocolate and I wanted the guests to eat and drink as much as they could! I wanted them to walk into the reception and see glitz and glamour and bling! The whole day was amazing and I think my absolute favorite thing was spending the whole day with family and friends. My bridal party was so much fun and after the wedding, everything felt so relaxed. It was so nice that all these people came to support us on our day. I also loved when I first saw Tristen. It was amazing to have this moment to ourselves and know that we were finally going to be together. Our relationship consisted of a one year long deployment along with him being stationed in another state as me when he got back. This wedding was our happy ending to our love story!

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

I think my best piece advice for other brides would be to really do what makes you happy. Weddings should be about the couple. I loved the little touches we put into our wedding because it was us and our wedding completely represented us. It might not be what another bride or groom wanted but it was ours and it was perfect. So, don’t worry about finding expensive or perfect things for a wedding, find the right thing for your wedding! I would also say to really just enjoy your wedding day because it goes so fast.

It’s so wonderful to hear a bride rave about her vendors, and brag that she truly got to enjoy her day.  Not to mention share one of the biggest pieces of advice I share with every one of my couples: do what makes you happy.

Oh! And, did you see that Cracker Jack groom’s cake?! It has me pining for baseball season!

Vendors who made it all happen…