Our *Surprise* Wedding

Yes, you read that right! The Jessica in Serendipitous Events by Jessica finally tied the knot! and it was a complete surprise to almost every single person who was invited!

Nathan and I have been together for almost six years! six years and two beautiful, rowdy and sassy children later we decided it was time, time to do something that we knew from very early on would happen.

How in the world do you plan a wedding for yourself when you have planned so many for other lovely couples? We considered Arizona, where we had spent a week last March and where we got engaged, we considered the Black Hills and that felt the closest to home for us. Closest to home until, when I really thought about it our home was the closest we could get. It was sitting in the very spot I sit now, at our kitchen table that I stumbled in my own thoughts on the idea of a wedding at our home. Our home is full of history and love, its a place Nathan knew well before we moved in, a place where children were loved and grandchildren were spoiled. The previous owners are great friends of ours but even farther back they are great friends of Nathans parents. There are memories of cops and robbers on the front bridge, memories of hide and seek and memories of that sweet newborn smell, memories of children leaving for college. Now we have our own memories here, our Nellie Lynn was brought to this home as a newborn, we have shared laughter and sadness in this home in the short year we have been here. Our home was the perfect place for us to gather our friends and family to share in our wedding.

Why the surprise? Honestly, I don't know if we really knew right away. It sounded fun. As an event planner people are always giving me their ideas and telling me about so and so's events and honestly I love hearing those things but I wanted out wedding to be us, us with no other influence. A secret was the perfect way. So we planned an "engagement party" knowing the entire time that we would celebrate our life together and our vows that day. Our family believed the idea that we would get married in January in the Hills. The engagement party was basically a pre- reception to their knowledge.

Let the lies begin. Seriously you guys I lied all of the time. I might go back to Catholicism just so I can go to confession. I even made 4 pages of fake notes complete with a seating chart and left them on my kitchen counter when I thought that my Mother in law might have a slight idea as to our secret. I made sure to keep my Mom, sister and Nates Mom in on some of the "engagement party" planning so found that they would not feel left out. We chose my dress together and also attire for them that I asked them to wear to the party and the wedding.

Everything was going pretty smooth until my Moms dress came in the mail from the tailor and was never going to work, people she told me this the day before the "party". Are you kidding me... panic set in, and if you know my mom you would know that she needed the perfect dress. We shopped and ended up finding her a dress better than her original! Whew!

Only a select group of people knew, My step Dad who would marry us, my Dad who I told because it was important to me that he was emotionally prepared in that I wanted him to be emotional and not just shocked, our fabulous team of event professionals and a lot of random strangers who would check me out while shopping... because lets be real, I was excited and I can't even shop for Christmas presents too early because I am a disastrous secret keeper.

We chose to get married in front of our front door because I believe that the front door is the symbol of your home. It was a perfect spot. We watered a tree to signify the unity of our family. and my Step Dad did a phenomenal job talking about the significance of the front door to out marriage, you might slam it, you might see through it, you might close it gently, it was perfect. The entire day was perfect, even as a planner there are things I could do a bit differently but that is just what it is. It was a magical day that I wish would have lasted an entire week.

ligtenberg7

We told our Moms and my Sister at noon the day of the Wedding! There were a lot of happy tears, and my Mom only panicked about her dress once! :)

[gallery ids="1705,1707,1708,1709" type="rectangular"]

I spent time prior to making sure that we had plenty of fun details. It was important to us that everyone felt loved. My bouquet done by Bella Rosa Floral was absolutely stunning. Many pieces throughout the day held memories, like the ring holder above that I received from my late Grandma.

[gallery ids="1710,1731,1732,1743,1744,1745" type="square"]

Molly of Molly Meester Designs executed my vision for our paper goods perfectly! I can't take them out of the frames, I think they may have to hang in my home office I just love them so much!

[gallery ids="1706,1713,1712,1719" type="square"]

We felt perfectly styled! My dress came from Sandra Rose, Nathan was outfitted by David Jones, I found Nellie's dress at Little Trendsetter and believe it or not Nash had that adorable outfit in his closet.

[gallery ids="1720,1741,1742,1747" type="columns"]

Chef Dominique's catering handed each guest a glass of champagne as the walked up and read the signs about this being our wedding day! Their food received rave reviews as always. My longtime friend Kelly of Kelly's Cakes created the perfect naked cakes which were devoured in no time. Nate's mother is pretty famous for her pies so we knew we had to have them on the menu! The chairs we used around our tables came from the Ortman Hotel, here in Canistota. The chairs are original to the hotel which was built in 1929...That is a whole other blog post, they are significant to us because Nathan is a chiropractor at the Ortman clinic which was founded 101 years ago.

[gallery ids="1724,1722,1721,1723" type="rectangular"]

Watching the surprise our our friends and families faces was priceless. We invited about 65 of our very closest friends and family.

[gallery ids="1728,1729,1730,1726,1725" type="rectangular"]

A blessing of our marriage before we walked down the aisle was an important piece to our day. Our mothers gave a toast to kick of the celebration, this was on the invitation as a way to ensure people arrived on time. A fist bump, because we pulled it all off!

[gallery ids="1727,1735,1737,1738" type="rectangular" orderby="rand"]

Family!

[gallery ids="1739,1740,1746,1750" type="square"]

Music is very important to us so we knew we wanted something other than the traditional. We opted for a Big Band! Kickin' Brass Big Band did not disappoint... trust me the whole town loved them! Nathan and I danced to Adele's, Sweetest Devotion and My Dad and I danced to a cover of Sweet Child of Mine!

[gallery ids="1748,1808,1711" type="rectangular"]

I want to thank Loghin, my event planner who made sure to help with all of the details before our day, she kept me organized and on track. She and our intern Megan took care of setting up all of the details throughout the day. Loghin thank you for going above and beyond, she didn't just do this because I am her boss, she really does take care of every single client! I also owe a huge thank you to Shelon of Shelon Artistry for making me, my Mom, Mother in law and Sister feel beautiful.

ligtenberg380