Last December I got married! It was the best day of my life and really gave me a new perspective as I help couples plan their big day. I can’t wait to jump into all the details of our day with you here, as the details were very important to me in the planning process.

The morning of we got ready at our parents’ houses, which is perfect because our parents live less than 2 miles away from each other! It was perfect because we could eat breakfast at the house and keep everyone’s bags upstairs and out of the way.

The girls wore embroidered initial pajamas I designed with my company, AGM Designs. Each initial was in a Christmas font, so it was perfect and something they can wear again!

The first look with my dad was definitely emotional and such a special moment to capture before the day started to get crazy. I will never forget this moment! After the first look with my dad, all of the girls got on the party bus and we left for the church!

I chose all-white rose bouquets for my girls and I and they were the fluffiest, most beautiful roses ever! We wrapped my bouquet with a blue lace bow. The fabric was from my grandma’s wedding suit she wore the day she eloped!

We got married at Christ United Methodist Church in Kettering, Ohio. It is my grandparent’s church and the church my parents got married in! It was so sentimental and decorated beautifully for Christmas. Kat, my childhood best friend (and she was also in Jeff and I’s first grade class) sang Amazing Grace during the ceremony and it still gives me chills to think about. Her voice is absolutely beautiful and it was such a special moment.

As guests were seated and during the processional, we had live strings playing. Elegant Entertainment did such an amazing job!

I designed our wedding program with a little hand lettering help with Hannah of Hannah Elaine Lettering! All of the lettering was cohesive throughout all of our design choices.

The back of our programs included photos of our parents and grandparents on their wedding day with a little information on how they met!

The cutest ring bearer ever featuring AGM Designs Jeffrey Suspenders!

The girls were able to choose their dress style as long as it was the same emerald green color. I provided Pashminas for everyone to keep warm since it was a little chilly on the wedding day!

We took photos at the Dayton Art Institute during our 2-hour break between the ceremony and reception! We were able to pay a small fee to take photos inside which ended up being one of the best decisions ever considering it was pretty cold outside!

After finishing up with photos at DAI, we boarded the party bus and headed to Yankee Trace for the real party!

Our memorial table, gift, and guest book table were all together. I love how our Generations of Love photo turned out! We also used our engagement photos to create a photo album for our guest book. Now it serves as a coffee table book in our home.

We had a live jazz player during cocktail hour and it was so much fun! He played Mamma Mia songs, Christmas music, and classics.

This present wall was our seating chart! Each present represented a table and the mirror read “Your presence is our present” Perfect for a Christmas wedding! We ordered the wrapping paper from Paper Source and chose various fun patterns but tried to keep cohesive colors. We had wine bottle wrapping paper, Christmas cookies, even puppy wrapping paper!

Hannah did such an amazing job putting this seating chart together! All of the rental items (mirror, easel, coffee cart for gifts, and metal stands were rented from Lost and Found!)

The bar was stocked with lots of wine! One of our signature drinks was mulled wine, so warm red wine with spices served in a mug. It was so good! Our other signature drink was a cranberry Moscow Mule!

We chose to keep guest tables very simple with candles and bud vases. Our head table was a mix of pine and greenery, roses, and tapered candles! Every guest received an ornament with their name on it, which also served as their place card.

We had a small cake for cutting and had a cookie table for desserts! I found this cute little topper for our cake on Amazon of all places!

The cookie table was so much fun! All of our family and friends baked cookies for the cookie table and I will never forget the two days leading up to the wedding, seeing everyone drop off their cookies at my parent’s house. It smelled so good and felt so surreal!