17 Feb Real Wedding: Olivia & Brandon
Rustic Outdoor Wedding in Delaware
Real weddings are so inspiring! To get you in the mood to plan, we asked real brides to spill the details on everything from getting engaged and finding their wedding dresses to the special touches and surprising moments that made their celebrations completely one-of-a-kind. Olivia and her now husband Brandon officially tied the knot with a rustic outdoor wedding in Delaware. Keep reading to see all the details from their special day!
Briefly tell us how you and your fiancé met! How did you know that he was the one?
I met my husband in high school! We met our freshman year, started dating in the beginning of our sophomore year, and have been together ever since (10 years!). I knew that he was the one when I realized that we are complete opposites! He’s the opposite of me in nearly every aspect, but I think that’s why we’ve made it nearly a decade together through some of the hardest times of our lives. We balance each other out. On top of that, he truly is my best friend. I couldn’t imagine life without him.
Tell us your proposal story!
We got engaged in September of 2019 at a local lavender farm, Lavender Fields. It was our 7 year anniversary and the entire thing was a surprise! We stood under a beautiful gazebo surrounded by tons of flowers and butterflies and he propped his phone up on a bench to take a picture… little did I know that the camera was actually recording and he got down on one knee and proposed right there!
How did you both decide on your wedding day look?
When deciding on what we envisioned for our wedding day, we both agreed that we wanted something comfortable and nothing super fancy. During the original planning, we knew immediately that we wanted food trucks! We’re two very laid back people and we truly wanted our wedding day to be a true reflection of us and our relationship.
Do you have any shopping advice for future brides?
The best piece of advice I can offer to any new brides when dress shopping is this: try it all on! Even if you love it or hate it on the rack, it almost always looks completely different on! For example, my wedding dress was a gorgeous sheer Galina Signature dress with a super pretty over skirt. I specifically remember pulling that dress off the rack and thinking that a dress that had a nude bodysuit underneath was crazy! I laughed and put it back on the rack and tried on 5 to 7 dresses that I thought I might like. I left that day with no dress and felt a bit discouraged. Later that day, when I got home, I was back to looking on David’s website and stumbled across a picture of that very same Galina Signature dress. This time, it was actually on a person and not just hanging on a rack, and I absolutely LOVED it. Right away, I made an appointment to try on that dress. As soon as I put it on, I knew. It wasn’t at all traditional, but it was me.
Tell us about your wedding day!
Our wedding was beautiful. We got married at a historic barn just five minutes from where we live. Decorations consisted of some twinkle fairy lights to light up the barn, candles, burlap, & white flowers with some eucalyptus. From start to finish, our wedding day was the most relaxed I’ve ever been at a wedding. It just felt intimate and comfortable for everyone. We even had Mister Softee show up as a surprise for our guests!
I think the highlight of that entire day was the ceremony itself. Our ceremony was outside, just beside the barn. The weather was sunny & gorgeous and we were lucky enough to have perfect clear skies all day, giving us a dreamy golden hour ceremony followed by cotton candy skies that made for some AMAZING photos. It was better than any of us could have imagined! Even four months later, I still catch myself flipping through pictures in awe of what a beautiful day it was.
Is there something you wish you had known before the big day, while you were planning the wedding?
Something I wish I knew before the wedding: how fast it goes! I know that’s the number one thing everyone tells you and to try your best to really be present. They weren’t kidding! It’s definitely easy to get overwhelmed especially as the big day gets closer and closer but try not to sweat the little things.
Did you have to make any changes to your wedding plans because of Covid?
Covid unfortunately affected nearly all aspects of our wedding, but it all ended up better because of it! For example, to keep things “Covid friendly” we had individually wrapped freshly baked cookies to hand out instead of cake. We had a beautiful outdoor ceremony & the reception was in a huge barn with big open doors to have fresh air. We didn’t want Covid to take over, but we did make a few other small changes along the way to keep our friends and family safe.
Did you have a first dance song?
My husband and I had our first dance to “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen. Brandon and I are HUGE Queen fans! We struggled finding a song up until the week of the ceremony! When someone suggested “You’re My Best Friend” it became obvious that that really summed us up. It’s not a traditional song at all, but it’s us. And it’s cool that it’s a pretty popular song all these years later and it’s fun to catch it playing when we go out sometimes. Not only is it a great song but it also reminds us of such a special day and of course, each other.
What flavor was your wedding cake?
We had a small cake for us to cut at the reception which was a small “naked cake”. It was a Lemon Blueberry pound cake & it was amazing!
What was your theme?
Our theme was very rustic and casual! The Historic Penn Farm is a real, functional piece of history in the town where I grew up and it’s not typically a wedding venue. It didn’t take a lot to give it that real rustic feel since it’s an actual real barn!
What was your favorite DIY or personal touch?
My favorite part of the decor was the huge, wooden hexagonal arch that my dad built by hand for us to stand in front of for the ceremony! It was decorated with macrame, flowers & gorgeous white fabric that blew in the wind. All of the decor was DIY and on a budget. My parents dedicated so much time and effort into all of the little details to give us a wedding that was more than we ever could have dreamed of. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
What’s your best wedding planning advice? And what advice do you have for brides that are planning their weddings right now?
The best advice I can offer to anyone who’s planning a wedding right now is that you don’t have to spend tons of money to have an amazing wedding! Think of all the weddings that you’ve been to in your lifetime and think about all the most memorable aspects of each. It most likely wasn’t the fancy decorations or the super expensive venue that you remember most. It’s the atmosphere and the love story that you get to be a part of. Your guests are not going to remember that you chose the super fancy centerpieces, but they are going to remember how happy you and your partner looked that day and how much fun they had celebrating the two of you. Try not to focus too much on things that won’t matter when you look back. Months later, our wedding guests still compliment us on how comfortable and relaxing our wedding was! It was cozy and intimate and even with a guest list of over 150 people, nearly everyone commented on how great the overall vibe was & how it just represented us. That’s the best you can ask for! We are so blessed to have been able to share that part of ourselves with our closest friends and family!
Anything else you’d like to share?
One more thing I want to add that was one of my favorite parts of the whole day was that my dog, Winnie got to be a part of everything. From walking down the aisle in a little suit on a pearl leash, to being in the officiants arms as he announced us as husband and wife, to being in Me and Brandon’s arms at the end of the night dancing with us- he was there every step of the way! Anyone who knows us knows that we love our dog as if he were a real human child so it was such an amazing thing to be able to have him there.
More Details:
Wedding Date: 10/01/2021
Wedding Location : Historic Penn Farm New Castle, DE
Wedding Dress Style: Embroidered Floral Illusion Bodysuit Wedding Dress
Photographer: Jen & Katie Photography
Love this rustic outdoor wedding in Delaware? Read more real wedding stories here!
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