laura cover.jpg — It’s a Match!

The elopement of the year.
For the month of September, we have chosen our Lis Simon Bride Laura who chose to wear her customized dress: Hayden bodice with Izzy skirt.

T H E L O V E S T O R Y

A tale as old as time: “It’s a Match!” We swiped right and matched on Tinder, a dating app.

Laura and Nathan still joked that there is no way they should have matched. Nathan only had one profile picture and no written bio. He only got a minimal profile and an old photo. But somehow, Laura still swiped right!

Their first conversations were nothing but an exchange of typical questions – questions that followed a decision to meet in person. On the 3rd of May 2016, they met at Yee-Haw Brewing Company in Johnson City, Tennessee. A few rounds turned into staying for dinner. In complete oblivion that the brewery was closing, the two stayed and talked for hours, soon parting ways and ending the date in a side hug. That same night, Laura texted her best friend and said she just met her “future husband”. Because of other obligations, Laura and Nathan didn’t see each other for some time. As days go by, their second date finally happened and was filled with fun and sushi, margaritas, queso, and a beer & BBQ festival! Since that weekend, they’ve become inseparable! “We spent the next year in Johnson City then moved to Knoxville, where we’ve been since 2017”.

T H E P R O P O S A L

July 2020

“Our proposal story stretches a few months due to covid”

In January 2020, the couple went to a local jeweler to start looking at rings. By complete chance, Nathan picked up the ring the day before the city shut down operations for quarantine. Laura secretly (and not so secretly) wore the ring on occasion around the house. In June, they had a quiet proposal at their favourite taproom, where they made it official together, followed by take-out fajitas from their favourite restaurant. “The first few dates and proposal came full circle”

T H E D R E S S

I was so nervous to go dress shopping! As a mid-size bride, I was nervous about my potential dress selections.

Laura found Lis Simon through Instagram while looking at local dress shops in her area. She browsed their website and saw Kingsley and “just KNEW that was her dress”. She called a few shops within a few hours radius to see who carried Lis Simon bridal gowns.

Maggi Bridal in Raleigh was the first boutique she visited where she was paired with an incredible consultant who let her pull dresses off the rack to try them on. The third dress she tried on was Hayden and immediately fell in love with the top. However, she felt like her shape got lost in the skirt. She tried on a few more dresses (including Kingsley) and kept gravitating back to Hayden. Laura and her consultant talked about customization options. She left the appointment with a general idea of skirt style and colour but couldn’t picture how it would look once completed.

Laura went to her second appointment, which is a consignment shop but didn’t quite find what she was looking for (Hayden was still running in her mind). Her next appointment wasn’t for another 2 weeks, she went home and spent hours researching the company, sorting through photos, and couldn’t picture herself wearing anything else. She went into her next couple appointments hopeful to find something she liked just as much, but never found it. “I called the consultant at Maggi Bridal back and we designed my dress!! The dress I envisioned is the Hayden top and Izzy skirt, with the almond underlay”. When Laura picked it up, it was a few sized too big and didn’t quite fit as she imagined, but with the help of alterations, she felt like the most beautiful bride! “My dress is completely unique, and I was so proud to have it designed especially for me”.

T H E E L O P E M E N T

 Tuesday, June 8, 2021, at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine

“We chose to elope in a National Park because of the natural beauty of the landscape”.

The couple wanted a location where their immediate family and close friends could access. Their love for landscapes and mountains meeting the sea made them chose Acadia as their backdrop. They found a photographer they loved and immediately booked her within 24 hours of their initial conversation and helped them plan a perfect timeline for the day.

A total of 16 people were present at their wedding – parents, siblings, sister-in-law, cousins, and their closest friends. They also rented 2 Airbnbs for their getting ready agenda. The girls started the day with in-studio hair and makeup appointments. While the boys watched reruns of Friends at their Airbnb, a much more casual way to get ready! The photographer drove them to an overlooking area to have their first look while their families hiked down to Otter Cliff to set up for the ceremony. They hiked down the path to their families and exchanged vows on the side of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. After they said, “I do!”, they sealed their vows with a kiss and made their way towards a private, chartered boat tour of the harbour. First dance was shared, cutting of the cake, shared a toast, and watched the seals pop up along the rocky coast! “A storm was brewing over the harbor, so the water was choppy, and the wind was blowing hard, but it was still a magical day!”.

The next day, the couple wore their wedding attire back on, hair and makeup were done for portraits. Adventure elopement photographers usually offer adventure sessions as part of their packages. They chose to hit a few popular spots in the park for photos and Laura couldn’t pass up an opportunity to wear her dress a second time, and of course, to get a golden hour glow photos in the park.

WHY DID YOU CHOSE TO ELOPE

“We learned that having a micro ceremony and having an elopement are kind of interchangeable words in the wedding industry today”.

The couple got engaged during Covid when everything was shut down and had time to plan out a dream wedding and think thoroughly on what they truly wanted. At the time, the pandemic was not letting up and we didn’t want to wait to make a lifelong commitment to each other! Their families are spread through a few cities, so they decided to safely tour around to few venues to explore their options. A gorgeous estate was found and immediately asked for a contract.

They brought it home, but both got cold feet right before signing. They started to questions what they really wanted and realized they were leaning into a more intimate ceremony – a ceremony with the chance to focus on what mattered. They canceled the contract and were on a search of elopement locations and how to plan an elopement. “We do not regret our decision, hands down, and would do an elopement all over again!”

HIGHLIGHTS FROM YOUR ELOPEMENT

Anecdotes from Laura:

We did a ring warming ceremony with our officiant. She passed our wedding bands around the group, and they were instructed to wish good, happy thoughts, and send us love and prayers.
We wrote letters to each other the morning of our wedding but forgot to exchange them so we shared them with each other during our portrait session, which was a really emotional moment.
We brought our dog, Molly, along for the ceremony! She wore a Rifle & Co. flower bandana that matched Nathan’s tie.
We rented a private charter boat for a reception, where we catered lobster rolls and other New England favorites for our guests.

The couple also hosted 4 smaller parties for their extended family and friends in a few different cities: Portland – Maine, Roxboro – North Carolina, Knoxville – Tennessee, and Roanoke – Virginia. They invited their guests to come celebrate at these casual events as their way of including them in their life event!

One of the most special moments to me was taking portraits immediately after the wedding ceremony, just the two of us. (It was a special moment of newly wedded bliss and excitement.)
We had a few hikers exchange photos with us they had taken on the other side of the cliff. All of preparation for the big day was culminating into that moment.
Nathan’s favorite moment was recognizing that everyone that was there is so close and so special to us, and we got to get married ~20 feet away from them.

From Laura

My biggest piece of advice is to truly plan what your heart desires. Find what is important to you and focus on those details. For us, that meant finding vendors who really spoke to the style of wedding we wanted and the type of experience we wanted our wedding day to be.
Once you have an idea of what’s important to you: flowers, music, photography, the attire… pour your whole heart into picking those things and the rest will fall into place after. Pick vendors who you feel really capture your vision and let that be your guide.

HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR VENDORS?

Instagram hashtags! I searched #acadiawedding and #acadiaelopment. I would look through other brides’ tagged vendors and started reaching out to see what I could find that I might like. Etsy was a huge black hole for guest gifts and other wedding related items!! Planning a destination wedding (especially during a pandemic) was crazy! I truly had to rely on the Internet to help. Our photographer gave us some suggestions of vendors her past couples used, but for the most part we found them through combing through hashtags.