A Look Back at Our Wedding

Since the Girlboss Events Bridal Pop-Up is happening THIS WEEKEND, I thought it would be fun to look back at my own wedding. Our love story is here.

(All wedding images are from White Lotus Studios.)

The Looks

I had my mind set on a Grecian-inspired plunge-neck dress covered in tulle with minimal embellishment. Although I found just that and loved it on the hanger, once I put it on I knew it wasn’t flattering on me. My mom kept insisting that I needed something with a little more oomph. I, however, was bound and determined to avoid embellished and strapless, which was definitely the style of the moment.

And then my mom found this Enzoani dress at Fabulous Bridal in Covington. It was there for a trunk sale and she asked that I just try it on, just for her to see. It was embellished and strapless and I fell hard. As usual, my mom was right.

I decided to skip the heels on the big day. My odds of tripping in a long dress were already pretty high, so why add to the possibility with a pair of stilettos? I went with silver sequined flats from Coach and made it through the night without incident.

I also decided to skip the veil. There was no particular reason. My bridal consultant was aghast that I didn’t want to wear yards of froof in my hair. Instead, I had a local designer (I wish I knew her name but I found her at an accessories show and can’t recall) create a floral and feather pin.

My bridesmaids wore bright blue strapless dresses and carried pink and white bouquets. We got married the first day of spring and I like that the colors kind of reflect the buoyant feelings that come with the change of seasons.

The dudes wore tuxes. T managed that part 100%. I believe I said “make sure everyone wears a black tux” and then told him to do whatever else he wanted. Bridezilla, I was not.

The Locations

Our wedding was at St. Teresa of Avila in Cincinnati. Although neither of us grew up in that parish, the priest from my elementary school was working there at the time and I wanted him to perform our ceremony. The only word I can use to describe this guy is jolly. He was happy and joyful about almost everything, and that’s the kind of energy I wanted at my wedding ceremony.

I love this church still. It’s beautiful inside and out. 

Then we headed to our reception at The Madison Event Center in Covington. We had a long invite list and were therefore limited in our selections to places that could accommodate at least 300 people. This space was beautiful and big enough.

The Details

It’s hard to believe, but I can’t remember what we ate at our wedding. So much of it passed in a blur. The only thing I definitively remember are the h’ors d’oeuvres, probably because I devoured two plates of them as soon as we arrived! We had these awesome red potatoes stuffed with cheese, bacon and chives. I filled up on those and forget the rest.

Things went south with our cake. The woman who owned the company we used literally emailed me the morning of the wedding to ask what flavors we wanted. The cake she delivered did not look like the design we agreed on, was NOT those flavors, and—get ready for this—was leaning at a 30º angle to one side. When we entered the ballroom, a few attendants told us that although we’d planned to cut the cake after dinner, we needed to do it right away because they couldn’t guarantee the cake would still be standing by then. (We later learned that this company went under about 6 weeks after our wedding!)

This is about the only photo we have of our cake. We asked the photographer to shoot it from an angle where you couldn’t tell how much it was leaning and this was the only option. In case you’re curious, we asked for sharp right angles, no scrollwork, no pearls, no flowers, no bows and no white ribbon.

One thing I wish we’d paid more attention to was photography. I loved our photographer and she did a great job. I didn’t make it enough of a priority though. We got all the usual shots during the ceremony and reception, and some with our bridal party between the two, but I wish we’d visited a few other sites for photos.

The Dancing

Nemar of Maize Music was a BOSS. Seriously, this reception was a straight up party. We went with classic standards during the cocktail hour and dinner before moving into dancing. 

My husband and I picked “Stay With You” by John Legend for our first dance. It’s a favorite to this day. My husband and his mom danced to “Blessed” by Elton John.

Not to brag, but my dad and I tore up the dance floor. We didn’t choreograph anything. He wouldn’t have gone for that. However, our tradition at every Father-Daughter Dance we’d ever attended was to start out dancing in a proper position and then, while holding our form, take off running around the dance floor. I don’t know why it started, but I remember him running around the floor in my grade school cafeteria when I was seven years told. I could barely keep up. We continued this through every Cinderella Ball, every Father-Daughter Four Square dance, you name it. At my wedding we lasted about 30 seconds into “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra, looked at each other, and took off.

My dad was a total ham too. He was waving to people behind my back, kicking up his heels, and just having a great time. It’s one of my all-time favorite memories with him. My wedding was a day of joy, but it came in the midst of a really tough life transition for all of us as my mom had just been diagnosed with cancer. For those three minutes though, we were just Kate and Dad, being silly and worrying about nothing.

Also fun: I coached a college dance team at the time and had invited the girls; Nemar managed to find one of their songs and they performed for everyone!

The Honeymoon

Oh, the honeymoon. All-inclusive at a Sandals Resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was heaven. My husband planned this trip and it was better than I could’ve ever imagined. It snowed in Cincinnati while we were gone, which made it that much sweeter to be laying on a beach in March.

Now I’m trying to scrounge photos for this section and realizing that 1. Photo quality in 2010 was not great and 2. I’ve come a long way in my photography skills.

Jamaica is also where we started one of our anniversary traditions. (Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, it’s the only anniversary tradition we have!) On or around our anniversary each year, we watch Step Brothers. One morning on our honeymoon, we were just moving slow and ended up watching the entire movie before getting up for the day. It was hilarious, made more hilarious by the fact that we chose to watch this silly movie while there was a beautiful pool mere steps from where we were and a beach not far beyond that.

We still quote this movie probably more than any other. It’s getting harder to work those often inappropriate quotes into everyday life now that we have kids although we’ve taught our daughter to say, “But Dad, it’s Shark Week!” and it gets a laugh every time.

The Happily Ever After

I mean, this is what it’s all about, right? 

Here’s a tip: marry someone with a sense of humor.

When it came time to remove my garter—which was actually an Air Jordan sweatband because I know what he likes—T had his brother stash a garden gnome under the chair where I was sitting. He went under my skirt (and yes, it feels weird and kind of inappropriate to type that) and instead of a garter, he came back out with the gnome. And yes, he wore a fedora with an enormous pink feather in it too.