I love this Bride. For so many reasons, but the main one being after reading her description I think she might be the sweetest person on the planet. And her wedding? Beyond gorgeous. Donning her grandmother’s gown and a whole lot of gratitude, her nuptials to her main man in uniform were nothing short of stunning. Add cascading florals and gorgeous images from Forever Photography Studio? And ladies and gentlemen, we end up with one lovely gallery. See so much more pretty right here.
From the Bride… Because Cam is a Marine, and constantly back and forth for training, as you can imagine planning too far ahead is almost an impossible task. The hill country is one of my favorites places to be and also represents Cam’s style. I’m a beach bum, he’s a country boy. I found Camp Lucy on a website and saw that they were having an open house two weeks later. I told my mother and grandmother that we were going. We went, we fell in love, and we booked a date that day! It was the last Saturday open for almost the rest of the year. I was ECSTATIC that we found the place and day…now I just needed to inform my husband to be! I called him and described the place to him, as well as sent pictures from my phone, and told him I had booked June 30th, 2012. Luckily, he thought that date sounded perfect. From then on out, we were in full wedding planning mode. Being that Cam was away for basically our whole engagement, I leaned on my mother and my uncle Rick. I can honestly say that without them, my wedding would not have been what it was. They are INCREDIBLE and Rick’s creativity and design sense created the most beautiful wedding I could ever have dreamt of.
I wasn’t entirely sure of the colors I wanted or the look I wanted, but as time went on I realized that the environment at Camp Lucy was so gorgeous, I didn’t want anything to take away from that. I steered away from all bright colors and focused on champagne, off whites, natural greens, and burlap. Once I gave the coloring, I pretty much did nothing. My uncle took control and gave me exactly what I wanted. He created my vision, but better than I could ever have imagined. The one thing that I was adamant about was that I was going to wear my grandmother’s wedding dress. I had dreamt of this my whole life. My grandmother married in a Catholic Church to a full blood Italian family. Her dress that she bought, just had little cap sleeves, and upon seeing that, her future mother in law insisted that she add long sleeves. The only thing I changed on her dress, was removing those long sleeves and restoring it back to the dress that she originally purchased. I felt more beautiful in that dress than anything I have ever worn in my life and I love knowing that her and I will always share that special bond. She is my hero, my role model, and one of my best friends. Another thing I wanted at our wedding was the Italian tradition of giving out 5 almonds to the guests. At traditional Italian weddings, five almonds signify five wishes for the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity.
I wish I could say that I remember every moment, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The whole evening went by so quickly that I felt like I couldn’t soak it all in. There are a few moments however that will always stand out in my mind. One of those is watching Cam as I walked down the aisle and as I stood with him throughout the ceremony. He had this adorable smirk on his face the whole time which he only gets when he is really truly happy. Another memory I have is my dance with my father. I was extremely nervous about dancing with him because we both have two left feet. The moment the song started playing, those worries escaped my mind and all I could think about was how much I loved my father. Of course the tears came instantly for both of us. That is a moment that I will treasure forever. I am such a daddy’s girl!
Wedding Photography: Forever Photography Studio / Wedding Venue: Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs, Texas / Wedding Planning + Design: Texas Hill Country Events / Floral Design: Alamo Plants and Petals + Janal Inc. / Wedding Cinematography: DPC Event Services / Catering: Crave Catering / Cake + Desserts: Classic Cakes by Lori / Invitations: Invitations, Etc / Wedding Dress: Bride’s Grandmother’s (ceremony dress) + Jim Hjelm (reception dress) / Bride’s Ceremony Earrings: Bride’s Great Grandmother’s / Reception Headband: BHLDN / Bridesmaids’ Dress: Amsale