Lis Simon Bride Nicole
Today we’re featuring one of our gorgeous Lis Simon Brides, Nicole, who chose to wear our Jodene gown. Congratulations Nicole and Raymond, thank you for letting us be part of your special day!
T h e L o v e S t o r y
About five years ago, Nicole was simply browsing through Facebook one day, and Raymond popped up as a suggested friend. So, she did what any single girl would do and crept on his entire profile. She thought he was the most handsome guy. She was courageous enough to not only add this random guy on Facebook, but also message him a few weeks later. He didn’t reply right away, as he didn’t know the random girl who had messaged him, but when he did they made some short conversation about the sushi restaurant Nicole worked at. Raymond then offered to come to her house and cook her dinner. She was nervous to have this guy rummage through her kitchen, as she was a college student with an insufficient kitchen at the time. Raymond was able to look past that and they immediately clicked with each other! The conversation flowed like they had known each other forever, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.
T H E P R O P O S A L
12.17.2018
Nicole and Ray really love hosting get-togethers and spending time having fun with friends. So naturally, he proposed to her when she was laying on the couch, hungover. It really showed Nicole how much he genuinely loved her, regardless of what she looks or feels like.
T h e D r e s s
Nicole is an over-planner by nature, so she researched every designer at boutiques near where she lives. During her research, she came across the Jodene gown and she knew right then and there that this was her dress! She called Maggi Bridal in Raleigh to ask if they had the dress available to try on in-store and unfortunately, they didn’t. So, she took the risk and paid for the gown to be shipped to the boutique knowing she may not get her money back if it wasn’t her dress.
When the day came, she first went to a boutique in Fayetteville and tried on around 20 gowns, but didn’t find the one. So then she drove an hour and a half to Raleigh and she tried on about 7 dresses before trying on the last gown, Jodene. The second she put it on she knew it was her dress! “It was a dream come true and I believe that it was all meant to be!”
T H E W E D D I N G
12.27.2019
Raymond is in the Army, and so are a lot of their friends and family. His best man and brother started a deployment right as Nicole and Raymond announced their engagement, which put them in a tough spot with wedding planning. Not many people get married in the winter in Wisconsin due to unpredictable and cold weather, but they couldn’t imagine their wedding without the men who deployed. On top of that, Raymond’s training schedule is very demanding, and he is only guaranteed certain days off during the year. With one of those days being around Christmas, they decided to take the risk and have a winter wedding only weeks after they got back from overseas, which turned out perfectly!
They had an elegant reception held at Gather on Broadway in Green Bay, Wisconsin. A welcoming ambiance filled the entire room. With the wedding being in a Wisconsin winter, they wanted their venue to be extra beautiful and have a wintery wedding without in being Christmasy with snow or pine cones. The men had wool tweed suits, and the bridesmaids wore dark green dresses, which tied in perfectly with their photographer’s style. Raymond’s father was their officiant, and Nicole use part of her moms wedding dress wrapped around her bouquet.
The walls were all brick and there were chandeliers and lights hanging from the ceiling. They had a mixture of greenery and candles all over the tables, and all decor was either made by family or written by Nicole’s talented sister in law who does beautiful calligraphy! Nicole’s dad hand made their card box and photo collage, her mom and aunt hand made the floral hoops that were behind them for both the ceremony and reception, and her grandma put together their guestbook quilt. Everything had a personal touch to it! Even their bouquets were made by all the bridesmaids!
They did a line dance, choreographed by Nicole, to the song “Brand New Man” by Luke Combs and had the bridal party and family dance to it! They also dedicated “Home” by Michael Bublé to all their friends and family who had just got back from a deployment.
H o n e y m o o n
Raymond wants to go to Europe, but Nicole is dying to go to Alaska, so they will have to see where life takes them!
W o r d s f r o m t h e b r i d e .
What was one of your favourite moments from your wedding day?
I think our favorite moment was when we read our handwritten vows to each other. It was definitely the most nerve-racking and raw emotional experience we’ve ever had. We both cried a lot, and you could feel the love and tears from everyone attending the ceremony. It was so special!
Where did you find inspiration while planning?
Lots of Pinteresting and Instagramming! Which honestly didn’t help a lot since there’s not a lot of winter weddings, not a lot of darker bridesmaid dresses, and not a lot of tweed suit options, so a lot of it was just stuff that Ray and I had in our heads!
How did you find your vendors?
Most of the vendors I found from either word of mouth, or by Facebook and Instagram creeping!
Do you have any tips for future brides?
Plan as much as you can in advance so you can relax when the day comes. Make time for the little things that are important to you, and don’t forget that this is YOUR day! Pleasing others won’t matter in the end!
Wedding Dream Team
Boutique // Maggi Bridal Raleigh
Photographer // Devon Rose Photography
Videographer // Something Unique Film
Venue // Gather on Broadway
Florist // Sunshine Flowers
Food // Gather on Broadway
Decor // DIY & Thrifted
Donuts // Festival Foods
Makeup // Raesha Nordwig
Hair // Naomi Sladky & Ashley Wasson
Groomsmen Suits // Studio Suits
Bridesmaid Dresses // KF Bridal
