Real Stella York bride Emma wanted a timeless and elegant style for her wedding to groom Joshua. After a very romantic proposal in Cinque Terre, Italy, these two lovebirds planned a wedding that was personal and sentimental. Having a Chesapeake Bay wedding was the perfect way for the couple to start a timeless love story of there own.
The Proposal
My husband proposed to me during at 20-day vacation in Europe. About a year before the trip he asked me where my favorite place in the world was and I responded with Cinque Terre, Italy. I had completely forgotten about this comment and was so surprised when he dropped to one in my favorite little town in my favorite country. It was the easiest yes of my life!
Finding the Perfect Stella York Wedding Dress
More than anything I wanted my wedding dress to stand the test of time. There is something so beautiful about elegant simplicity and I knew that I didn’t want anything too trendy or flashy. I went into the day thinking that I would buy an A-line chiffon gown and said that I knew that there was no way I was going to try on a fit-and-flare. But, as it always goes, once my bridal party convinced me to try on one fit-and-flare dress, there was no going back. As soon as I put on my Stella gown, I knew that it was the one. I loved the intricacy of the lace on the front, but I was left speechless by the elegant lace detailing on the back. It was everything I wanted from a dress and more!
The Wedding Details
The only theme to our wedding is that we wanted every element to feel timeless and classic. We got married on the Chesapeake Bay so we chose navy blue and pale gray as the main colors and decided to let the pinks and greens from the flowers be accent colors. In addition to the colors, we decorated with lots of glass, water, and candles to bring a natural softness to the day and to connect the decor to the bay.
One way that we made our wedding personal is that we included family in every way we possibly could. My husband’s mom did all of the flowers and decor, my cousins were ushers, the flower girl was the daughter of the flower girl in my parents’ wedding, and we honored both of our parents’ marriage’s by displaying pictures from their weddings on the mantle behind where we were married. My husband and I are everything we are today because of our families, and we wanted to pay tribute to them as we started our own family story.
But the Best Part…
One memory that I will never forget happened during the reception. We asked our band play through dinner just thinking that people would enjoy having music playing while they were eating. But when my husband and I sat down to eat our dinner, we looked out at the dance floor and almost all of our guests were slow dancing to Frank Sinatra. It was wonderful to see our bridal party, family, and friends all sharing the dance floor with one another. The entire day was filled with love and happiness for my husband and me, but it was in this moment that we were able to see and feel the love and happiness shared by all of our guests.
