Nikki and Tim's wedding has an extra special place in my heart because Nikki and I co-led a high school girls small group together and it's just so fun to serve someone who you know and love even before the wedding planning begins! This wedding had all of the ingredients for a memorable wedding day. Flawless bride, handsome groom, meaningful ceremony, one of my favorite wedding venues in Hampton Roads, a gorgeous color palette, some perfectly selected diy elements and wedding guests who danced the night away to one of the best DJ's around! Need I go on?!

Nikki hired us for the "partial planning and design" package and during one of our meetings one day said something that I think articulates really well what makes that package so valuable. She explained that what was challenging to her about designing the decor for her wedding is that it's all conceptual until the wedding day. She compared it to decorating her apartment, which she found easier than planning for wedding decor, because you can put it together piece by piece over time. You can stand back and see what looks good and what might be missing whereas with a wedding you'll never quite know exactly what it will look like until it all comes together on the wedding day! That's where having a planner alongside you for the process can be helpful because we're used to making a concept cohesive and complete while it's all still just a vision in our heads!

Scroll down to see their good lookin' 18 person bridal party, one of my favorite "you may now kiss the bride" moments (Tim's reaction is so cute) and lots of really great dancing pics to boot. This crowd was into it! Lol. And don't forget to scroll all the way down to see their beautiful wedding video! Enjoy!

A great big "Yaaas girl!" for her choice of wedding shoes above. No wonder she had so much fun dancing the night away! TOMS are a great choice for a cute shoe that's so comfortable. They're the only shoes that I wear on wedding days myself!

The two snaps above were taken on my iPhone of the porch area at the Woman's Club of Portsmouth. That big porch fireplace is such a gorgeous feature! We'd planned all along to do cocktail hour out on the front porch while the room inside was being flipped. We rented heat lamps and were planning to have a real fire going in the fireplace as we were expecting that it might be chilly given that the wedding was in February BUT it turned out that the temperature was in the 80's that day! Virginia weather is so weird! Needless to say that we didn't need a fire in the fireplace and we were able to exchange the heat lamps for a gorgeous furniture piece to put their coffee/hot chocolate bar on!

Gah! I love when couples exchange notes on the wedding day. It's such a great way to slow down before the ceremony and really reflect on what the day is all about - your love for one another and the commitment that you're about to make!

Daddy/daughter first looks are so sweet! Consider doing one if you have time in your wedding day schedule. Just be sure to have the tissues handy for the bride, her dad, and anyone watching!