I’m going to do a lot of gushing over this wedding today… Not only is the love story completely smile-worthy, but the details are out-of-this-world AMAZING!!! From the exquisite brooch bouquet handmade by the bride, to the tree planting they decided to do at their ceremony, the mini saplings of the same tree they chose to give away, to the “find your photo, find your seat” seating chart, the chocolate milk toast, sparkler getaway, all the way to the bride and groom’s request that everyone wear TOMS on their wedding day. What I love most is that everything was completely, utterly and perfectly them. For a complete play-by-play of all the handmade, heartfelt details, see the bride’s description at the end of this post. But first, indulge in the most beautiful set of photos you ever did see! All captured fabulously by Marvelous Things Photography!

Janelle met Danny through her best friend, Alex, at the beginning of her junior year in college. Danny and Alex were in the same group of friends at George Mason University. Neither of them can remember the exact moment they first met, just that Janelle told Alex, “Hey! That Danny guy’s kind of cute!”

 Their first conversation however, was very memorable. Janelle had made a spontaneous trip to visit Alex in September 2009. After a CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) worship gathering, Danny went up to Janelle and said, “Why didn’t you tell me you were here?!” Janelle carried on conversation as normal all the while thinking, “…I didn’t know I was supposed to tell you I was here :)”

The next day, Janelle found herself back in Pittsburgh, and decided to say “hi!” to Danny on Facebook. They literally haven’t gone a day without talking since!

They were long distance, but when Danny and Janelle were able to hang out, they honestly just loved hanging out!! For their first date, they went to a thrift store, got dinner, and wandered around for the entire day just talking and laughing. One of their favorite things to do together is to take canvas and paints, go to a park, and paint!

Their first kiss happened when Janelle went to visit Alex (and by then, Danny, too) two days before the Snowpocalypse hit DC in 2009. She and Danny spent a lot of time just hanging out in his apartment watching movies. They became “official” the night before he kissed her for the very first time. They were on the couch, watching the movie “Just Friends” when he leaned in. Ironic, huh? :)

Instead of asking the normal “will you be my girlfriend” question, Danny looked at Janelle and said, “I don’t want to scare you off, but I don’t want to date you just to date you – I want to pursue you for marriage.” DANG! But, of course, it didn’t scare Janelle away. As she’d always had the mentality that you don’t commit to a relationship with somebody unless you saw them as possible marriage material, she knew (in that moment) that he was the real deal :)

Danny and Janelle are VERY goofy people, so many of their best memories revolve around silly inside jokes. They love going on adventures, poking fun at their opposite-ness (she LOVES the Pittsburgh Steelers, he hates them, he LOVES spicy food, she can’t stand too much pepper…etc), and playing board and card games (the rivalry of which can be pretty intense).

The very first time Danny ever said “I love you” was perfect. They were laying on Janelle’s bed, goofing off, pushing each other and laughing hysterically. All of a sudden, he got super serious and looked at her and said, “I am SO in love with you!”

They took turns driving between Pittsburgh and DC, but the more serious they got, the more they had a tough time saying goodbye. Neither Danny nor Janelle are the kind of people that believe you need to have everything figured out before jumping in, but, at the same time, for them, they felt like they needed to be able to be in the same vicinity to make sure what was between them was right and true. So, Danny moved to Pittsburgh!

On the night Danny proposed (March 8th, 2011 – exactly 7 months from their wedding day!), both his sister and Janelle’s brother were in town visiting. It was the only day they were in town at the same time, so when Danny asked Janelle to get dessert just the two of them, Janelle was really confused. Of course, she immediately thought that this was “IT!”. What else would be important enough to pull them away from their family?!

And because Danny knew that that’s exactly what she would be thinking, he spent the entire night doing things like telling her how much he loved her, reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone, and telling her the time – basically psyching her out and toying with her each time. With great affection, Janelle refers to him as a butthead for doing so ;)

By the time they got home, Danny still had not popped the question, and Janelle was more than a little annoyed and upset. So when Danny disappeared to change and returned with the journal they’d started at the beginning of their relationship and asked her to write in it, she told him no. When he insisted, she snapped that he better get her a pen instead of the pencil he’d brought her. Up until then, they’d always written in the journal in pen. She was being such a stinker! Danny just said, “OPEN. THE. JOURNAL.” And when she did, she saw the space where he’d cut out part of the journal to make room for the ring, a note about how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and the question “Will you marry me? Circle Yes or No.” By the time she looked up, Danny was already on his knee – in his PJs :)

{From the Bride} Our number one goal for our wedding was that it was US. That being said, even though our wedding day was about us and getting married, we wanted it to be selfless. We tried to forget about all the stereotypes and expectations that typically come along with planning a wedding, and just focused on doing everything from our own hearts, and what would be a blessing to as many people as possible.

For our ceremony, we wanted the biggest focus to be on the fact that our faith was the most important thing in our lives individually, and that it would now be the most important thing in our marriage. We each wrote our own vows because we felt it was really important for us to express what was in our own hearts. We also wanted to make it really clear that the end of our ceremony wasn’t just the end of a ceremony, but the beginning of our lives together serving God, serving others, and serving each other! And what better way to celebrate that than with a huge party with all of our loved ones right there with us! :)

As for our decor and ideas, like I said, we wanted to be original! I LOVE bright colors, and we love that vintage, relaxed, rustic feel. We didn’t have a color palette, except that my favorite colors are yellow and teal. We also knew we wanted to make everything we could, so that’s what we did! Here’s what we did and why… :)

• PAPER – Since Danny’s degree is in graphic design, he made the invitations, the programs…everything!
• MY BROOCH BOUQUET – I found a picture of a brooch bouquet before we were even engaged that I knew I would want for my wedding day! I started collecting immediately (a lot of friends and family came together to donate to the cause) and I made it completely by hand! I was in LOVE with it! :)
• TREE PLANTING – We didn’t want to do a traditional unity candle or sand ceremony, but we still wanted to do something physical to signify our unity. Danny and I decided to plant a tree to not only signify our unity, but also because we wanted to “give back” by being able to plant it!
• RECESSIONAL HEARTS – I (and a bunch of my friends) spent hours throughout our 7 month engagement punching thousands of those little guys…we wanted something bright and cute to be thrown at us as we danced our way back up the aisle!
• THE YELLOW TABLE – Was my great grandparents’. We painted and distressed it to use as our altar.
• GUESTBOOK #1 – One of our favorite dates is going painting. We had gotten a large canvas as a gift a while back, and we set it out with paints and asked each guest to “paint a stroke for a piece of art for our new home!” It now hangs above our kitchen table!
• GUESTBOOK #2 – Danny is a photographer, so we set up his camera for a photobooth with goofy props (that I handmade), and had colorful card stock to write notes on. We later put the notes and photographs together in a scrapbook!
• SEATING CHART – I found a picture of every guest (NOT an easy task as I found out mid way through). They had to find their picture to find their table!
• TABLE NUMBERS – Danny and I took a frame with chalkboard paint, wrote each table number, and took a goofy picture of us holding it. We got some super cheap wooden frames from the dollar store, painted and distressed them, so each table had a different crazy picture of  us holding their number!
• TABLE SETTINGS – We collected/borrowed vintage-looking table cloths from anyone who could contribute. A family friend had a tree fall down, so we chopped it up and set pieces of wood on the tables for the flowers to sit on. We collected a TON of blue mason jars from yard sales for all of the flowers!
• BOUTONNIERES – I made them out of fabric and wire!
• BRIDESMAID BOUQUETS – Each bridesmaid made her own bouquet the morning of the wedding! We asked the florist to just bring buckets of wild flowers and they each created whatever they wanted! :)
• ARROWS SIGN – Made by my Daddy! :)
• GUEST FAVORS – A sapling of the tree we planted during the ceremony, and a list of the songs that mean the most to us as a couple.
• FABRIC STRIP BACKDROP – Hung behind the head table and totally made by my bridesmaids :)
• CHOCOLATE MILK TOAST – I told Danny on our first date about my unadulterated LOVE of chocolate milk, and that I loved it so much that it was going to be what I toast with at my wedding someday. And it was :)
• SPARKLER GETAWAY – I know everyone does it now, but we LOVE sparklers. That’s all :)
• MASHED POTATO BAR AND RIBS – My favorite food is Mashed Potatoes, so we had a bar of them…regular and sweet potatoes with every imaginable topping for both!! We both LOVE Ribs…I had no fear of my dress. Ribs are worth it. :)
• TOMS SHOES – Danny and I both really believe in their cause, so we asked everyone to wear them – guests, bridal party, parents, pastor, us… EVERYONE!

I know I’ve given more details than you know what to do with, but our wedding was literally everything and more than we ever imagined. It took a ton of work, but we didn’t have to leave out anything. It is only a blur in the sense that the day went too quickly, but Danny and I were able to really sit back, take everything in, and enjoy the day because everything fell together perfectly. We’re so grateful! :)

Sparklers, twinkle lights, bunting and cupcakes…oh my goodness, I love these things so much! In all honestly though, I love every single bit of this wedding. I love that it was handmade, heartfelt, and completely about the bride and groom. They even made their own cake! Amazing, right? Their love story made me smile at every turn (but you knew that from the million smiley faces throughout this post). lovelovelove it all! Thank you, Danny and Janelle for sharing your love story with all of us, and congratulations once again! So much love, luck and hugs to you both! Thank you, also, to Marvelous Things Photography for sharing this very special day with us today! xoxo