We had the honor of meeting Matt and Lauren via Zoom back in March to learn more about their beautiful day and got to hear the story of how he proposed. They went horseback riding in Wyoming at the Grand Teton National Park and with the beautiful mountains in the background he proposed to her (She said yes obviously and also, So beautiful). We also learned about their garden box that they had made together which makes their wedding favors even more beautiful (you will understand when you see the pictures just below). We knew right away that this would be a wedding day for the books and that we would fall in love with this couple and their families. It was such a perfect day so, let’s hop into the wedding day!
It started with us making our way up stairs to say hey and grabbing the details to photograph while we had our third shooter Tom doing a little bit of the getting ready photos. It was in this moment that we met the florist “Mindy” who it turns out was out of Dublin, GA where I grew up for some of the earlier parts of my life. Once we finished with the details, Tom was down the hill with the guys as they got ready and hung out mostly then we had Lauren’s mom finish up the last bit of the dress before taking all of the girls down to the garden for their group photos. Once we had were all there and having fun taking the group photos, Kyle (the DJ) had just finished setting up so he gave us some good posing/walking music which made for a super fun moment. Once all of the girls made it back upstairs, we grabbed the guys for their group photos which, if you look at the photos, they’re a great looking and hilarious group of guys. We also learned that we shared in a love for Lord of the Rings and that he’s a huge Wrestling fan which explains the reception photos later that are in place of a typical garter toss moment where the guys all hyped him up to receive his Championship Belt. Once the guys went back inside, we found ourselves ahead of schedule so we enjoyed a glass of water really quick and made our way back up the hill to get ready for the ceremony.
Rose Hill is such a beautiful wedding venue and has a lot to offer like even the ability to use the chapel as the location for everyone to come out of going to the ceremony in the gazebo garden ceremony location. Once everyone was in place, the bride made her way out of the Chapel and up the path to where Matt could finally see his Bride and, he held it together pretty well for a minute but finally gave in as they got closer and it was a beautiful moment of seeing the looks they exchanged during the handoff and ceremony. They had such a lovely ceremony and the officiant prayed a beautiful prayer over them as well. Once they had said their I-do’s, the words every groom can’t wait to hear “You may kiss your bride” was spoken and everyone cheered. They joyfully made their way back to the chapel as husband and wife as well as the rest of the family and bridal party as the staff broke down the ceremony chairs and everyone else made their way to cocktail hour on the other side of the gardens. It was at this time that we started with the family formals, full wedding party and couples portraits which we went through pretty quickly even dealing with some difficult light from the sun peaking through which ended with us moving to the other side of the gazebo but having many more beautiful photos there including the wedding party photos and a few of the couple before whisking them away to other beautiful locations around the venue. There was a funny moment where we needed to walk across gravel but the bride didn’t have her shoes so the groom gave her his and he went to get hers as we made our way to the fountain which was our last location before the bride bustled her dress and they made their entrance to the reception.
Once in place, Kyle announced everyone into the reception and they are all so great but there were too many funny photos to not make this the largest blog post without leaving some off so, we decided to save that for the bride and groom to share when they get their full set soon. Once they had all danced their way into the reception, there was a beautiful speech given to lead into dinner. Once dinner had ended, it was dark out and everyone gathered for the toasts. Words cannot describe how amazing and unique to each individual the toasts were but when going through the photos to choose some for this blog. They all had tears and smiles at one point and ended with a big hug so, in their own way whether it be beautiful sentiment, a poem or amazing stories shared together, all hit home perfectly. After the toasts and cake cutting were all finished, we all made our way inside for their first dance, father-daughter and mother-son dances. They even did their first dance twice almost and it was just as good the second time even. Once they had all shared in loving glances and conversations during the dances, the dj got the entire wedding party out on the dance floor and had them pull more people out to start the party which started off strong and somehow carried the perfect amount of energy all the way to the exit. Kyle even hopped out with everyone on the dance floor for some of the line dances and made it even more fun. Once it was getting a bit later, it was time to toss the bouquet which ended with a little competitive catching and then went into the moment we mentioned earlier of all of the guys hyping Matt up to receive his Championship Wrestling Belt. There was then a little more dancing and party before everyone got ready for the sparkler exit starting by the gate to the property up the driveway ending the night of a great and joyful moment sending everyone off with the memories of this perfect wedding day. We are so excited for this couple and just know that great things lie ahead for the Cromer family.
