Guest Post: Military Bride Part 3

Welcome back to the third installment in a three part series of one military bride's story.  If you didn't catch the first two posts, here is the link to part 1 and the link to part 2.  Abby was a FCW client in October 2010 who has a pretty incredible story that started in a grocery store in Blacksburg, VA and ended up halfway across the world living in Guam.  She keeps updating her adventures on her blog, Seaweed & Sassafras, so check it out to see the latest.  This last post is about the formal wedding planning.  Enjoy!

We quickly settled into our little beachfront Condo. How many couples come home from work and walk the beach, or meet with friends to play volleyball? It was heaven. After a few months we decided we were ready to tackle planning a wedding. Now remember, Guam is a good 14 hours ahead of the East Coast, USA. So if it is noon in Maryland, it is 2am in Guam. Plane tickets cost about $2000 and it takes about 26 hours of flying to reach Maryland. It was obvious all of our planning was going to be done via internet and phone calls. After a few talks with my Mom, we realized we needed help; someone to help keep us organized and on track. Enter, Felicity. The first step was prioritizing what we needed to get done and when. We knew Chris would be deploying from November until June, so we started searching for a venue. Being 10,000 miles away from our venue meant no walk through for this girl. I had to trust in my heart to know it when I saw it. It helped to have Felicity and my parents visit the top choices and send me photos. I fell in love with Swan Harbor Farm the moment I saw it on the internet. It had sweeping lawns, grand old trees, overlooked the Chesapeake Bay, I swooned. We took whatever opening they had. In the mean time, Felicity and I would trade emails of decor ideas, colors, etc., trying to pinpoint some design elements. Chris and I share a mutual love for the outdoors and wildlife, so we decided to incorporate that into our theme.

When Chris deployed (for the first time) it was very hard, especially not living in the same country as my friends and family. But I did what every military wife has to do, pick up the pieces and make the best of it. We stayed in touch through email, a few port visits and just the anticipation of the day he would come home. He was always supportive, but let me make a lot of the decisions.

I was able to come home for the holidays. Three weeks turned into a whirlwind of wedding meetings. Felicity and I were finally able to sit down in person and talk through ideas, advice, tips, etc. This trip was also my only chance to find a wedding gown! There’s a little added pressure in finding a wedding dress knowing this is pretty much your only chance, but it didn’t take away from the special moment. We didn’t get everything done, but I left feeling like we had really made progress.

Hitched!!! Himes Wedding 10.3.10

There are certain times when all the stars align and everything comes together beautifully for a wonderful couple with amazing families.  The Himes wedding was exactly this.  Abby found me on Facebook (we had known each other since high school) and contacted me in July 2009 after seeing me post a lot about starting Felicity C Weddings.  Abby & Chris were college sweethearts at Virginia Tech and after graduation, Chris joined the Navy.  From there it was a bit of a whirlwind.  He proposed to Abby in December 2008, in May of 2009 he received orders to Guam, and they had a wedding ceremony at a courthouse with just immediate family before leaving for Guam that same month.  Abby & Chris had wanted a wedding reception stateside with all their friends and family and contacted me to help plan their big day.  I worked very closely with Abby's parents and Abby (a 14 hour time difference!) and I could not be more happy with the whole process and the wedding.

Abby had such a strong vision that it made my job very easy- Abby is a girl who loves being outdoors and loves everything that nature offers so it was a no-brainer that nature and being eco-friendly was the theme of the wedding.  After looking at a few venues online, Abby fell in love with Swan Harbor Farm in Havre de Grace, MD and after visiting the site with Abby's mother, we both knew it was the perfect place.  The venue is actually operated by  Harford county state park and offers 531 acres of beautiful scenery, a farmhouse, landscaped gardens, tented area, and gazebo overlooking the Bay.  I'm so lucky that Abby had such great instincts and was able to choose her vendors online from Guam since she only made one visit to the US during the planning process!  They both arrived about a month before the wedding to go over final details and it was fantastic being able to show her the almost finished product.  The ceremony was officiated by a family friend and neighbor of Abby's parents which made it that much more special.  The amazing venue along with the bridal party and guests were captured by Jacqueline Schlossman Photodocumentary who I cannot say enough good things about.  This wedding was full of great vendors which really makes my job easier.

The wedding was catered by Gourmet By The Bay who did a magnificent job of the setup and the presentation and of course the food & drink were amazing as were their entire staff.  The decor was complemented by the florists of Wicked Willow LLC, who worked a lot with Abby to get the details perfected from the centerpieces to the bridal party flowers, and the lanterns with white candles as guests entered the reception tent.  The ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception music was done by Frank of Friendly Entertainment LLC who was key in helping me to make the whole wedding be such a success.  Last but not least, the surprise groom's cake (a VA Tech lunchbox paying homage to their college days) and the beautiful wedding cake were crafted by Baltimore's own talented SugarBakers Cakes.  The happy couple left their reception in style thanks to A Platinum Plus Limousines Inc.