My Whimsical Boho Wedding

I married my best friend on Sunday, August 15, 2021 and it was an amazing day! I mean even though I don’t remember everything that happened, it was still a wonderful day. 

Hello, beautiful people! How’re you? How is life? How’re you feeling? Happy New Year! Long time no talk– I do that a lot but I’m trying to get better this year. The last few months have been a lot from experiencing deaths, getting married, moving, and starting a new career but, I want to focus back on blogging!

If you’ve been following me for a while then, you would know that I got engaged in the summer of 2020 and spent the majority of 2021 planning my wedding. Over the course of the year, I’ve shared a few insights into the planning process but, I wanted to wait until the wedding was over before diving into everything else! And what I mean by everything is sharing my experience, tips, and giving you all the advice I can! 

So, today’s post is the start of this little wedding series that I will be doing on the blog, and what a better way than to start off slow but with a bang? This post is simply going to be a recap of the day –let’s be real, I need to remember everything– and the “inside scoop” on my look!

Wedding Day Recap – Getting Ready

First things first, when they say to enjoy your day, do it! The day goes by so quickly that you don’t even remember it. Honestly, it feels like a blur, and every day, I look at Christian and say, “can we re do that?”

I woke up Sunday morning in a –sketchy– hotel with my bridesmaids, feeling the calmest I’ve ever felt in my life. I get random anxiety over weird things or the what-ifs but, I woke up super chill– everyone was confused. I guess I was just ready to marry my best friend. After waking up, showering, and getting prepared, my bridesmaids and I headed off to our venue, where we got ready!

Our venue (Lake Pearl Wrentham) has a beach house that is absolutely gorgeous! It is a two-story, fully equipped, and partially furnished home right on the lake where the bride and her girls can get ready. (Christian was so jealous when he saw it because the men were given a shack. Sad huh? Oh well. Just kidding.) Also, the coordinator (who was amazing!) brought us a lovely breakfast platter with champagne and juice –which we obviously used to make mimosas– and sandwiches with chips for lunch! One piece of advice I was told was to eat so I was very thankful for this.

In between eating, we had the Feelin’ Myself playlist going on Spotify and we were vibing. The makeup artist set up shop upstairs and I don’t know how she did all 10 of our makeup but she did. And on time!

Around 2 pm, the photographers and videographers arrived and everything started to kick into motion. Honestly, I was starting to get tired and wanted things to speed up so I was happy when they arrived. Everything soon sped up. 

By 4:30ish, we were all done and ready, and please, give us a round of applause because you always hear about the bride being late but nope, we were on time. Unfortunately, we had to wait for my mom which caused us to be an hour late but…we don’t hold onto the past over here. 

Ceremony

When the ceremony started, I was so ready. Not going to lie, I was a little annoyed that we were late but I was also ready to marry Christian. 

I started walking down the aisle and started to bawl. I literally don’t like watching the video of myself because I was trying to stop myself from crying and ended up looking like a gasping fish. Christian was also crying so that makes me feel better. Once I made it to Christian, I just felt a wave of peace go over me. 

The ceremony felt very quick but Pastor Femi did an amazing job! His words made a lasting effect and I still feel it to this day. His words, prayer, and presence were perfect. When it came to our vows, we opted to do traditional vows because if we had to speak from the heart, it would’ve taken hours for us to compose ourselves and get everything out. We’re both emotional beings. 

During the ceremony, we also did the unity sand. My family typically does the unity candles but we were on the beach so we opted to do the sand. Plus, we get to keep it. The sand signifies that we are coming together as one and our bond will be strong. The two different colored sand mix together is to show that once it is mixed, it will never be unmixed. Once that was done, we were pronounced as husband and wife! 

Reception

The reception was a blur! But! It was SO much fun. Everyone still raves about it. After taking our photos and grabbing some snacks, we were doing our entrance dance. Our wedding party was huge so the announcements took a while but once they announced Christian and I, we excitedly danced in with our family and friends hyping us up. After walking in, we went straight into the first dance. 

Our friend, Jello, sang our first dance song which was Yellow, by Coldplay. That is our song. Our first dance portrayed our relationship perfectly. We stared into each other’s eyes lovingly but of course, we burst into laughter along the way. Typical. 

After the first dance, we jumped into the speeches, and Alex, the best man, had everyone tearing up. It was an amazing speech– all of the speeches were. Once the speech portion was over, we ate, mingled, and took photos before the fun began. 

Wedding Look

When I was a child, honestly, I wanted a Christmas-themed wedding. Seriously. I wanted a big, poofy, Cinderella gown, fake snow, everyone in red, angels, and much more dramatics. Then I got older and cringed. My vibe now that I have an identity is very boho with a touch of minimalism and maximalism depending on how I’m feeling. So, for my wedding, I wanted to channel that. I wanted a look that was boho but also whimsical and romantic. Our venue, Lake Pearl, was perfect to embody that.

When I went dress shopping back in January, I looked for an off-the-shoulder, a-line gown that was going to make me look like a boho princess but also not kill me in the August heat. And, my dress was perfect! It was long, lace, flowy, and checked off all of my boxes. The detail was even better! There was lace and sparkles all around. 

The dress is from the brand Essence Australia and I got it from a boutique in Fall River MA called Alexandra’s Boutique! Alexandria’s is one of the most popular boutiques in the area and they carry almost every brand and style. I recommend it for any bride or girl looking for a prom dress.

Alexandria’s also has every accessory you can think of, including a variety of veils. Originally, I wanted a cathedral floral veil but I found a lacy cathedral veil at Alexandria’s that perfectly matched the lace on my dress, So, I opted to go with the floral on my heels. I found the perfect chunky heels on Amazon, with roses on the top and a strap. My jewelry was simple, I opted for white and gold round earrings. 

When it came to my hair, that was a hassle! My first hairdresser bailed 20 days before the wedding and then the second one, she did my hair on Friday but wasn’t available to style it on the day of. My sister ended up doing my hair…and burned my ears along the way. But, my hair still looked cute even though it wasn’t 100% the look I wanted. However, I will say, I should’ve gone with my first idea, a lighter, curlier look because the curls in my hair fell flat quickly due to the heat!

But, my makeup was nice! I found my makeup artist; Metamorphosis Beauty, on the app Thumbtack and she slayed all of us…on time! That was very impressive because there were 10 of us. The look was a soft glam, blushing pink look that made us look sunkissed and whimsical. 

I loved everything about my look and the day. It was the best day of my life and I wish I could relive it. If you’re engaged and planning your wedding, my biggest advice is to HAVE FUN! Make it special, add in whatever you want, and make it yours. It is your day and you should feel like it. I wanted to feel like a boho princess and I did!

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Xoxo,

Shay