Valentine’s Day isn’t over yet – and thank goodness for that – because it’s about to get a whole lot lovelier with this romantic wedding film from Heart Stone Films! I absolutely adore this film. From the beautiful bride in her pretty, pretty wedding dress to the oh-so-sweetly-nervous yet overwhelmingly happy groom. The vows (the very same I hope to someday say at my wedding) make my heart swoon almost as much as it swells with happiness over the romantic first dance, where, to the bride and groom, they are the only two in the room. A beautiful love story, a perfect day, a breathtaking film. One that the best kind of chills and happy tears are made of.

Emily + Danny

Videography: Heart Stone Films | Photographer: Walters & Walters | Venue: Carolina Inn

Wedding Planner: A Southern Soiree | Flowers: Watered Garden | Cake + Gelato Bar: Sugarland

Hair + Makeup: Makeupforyourday | Dress: Alexia’s Bridal | Officiant: Reverend Kayelily Middleton

DJ: Randy Bennett of Joe Bunn DJ Company | Ceremony/Cocktail Music: Arioso Strings

{The Story} She knew from the day they started dating that they had a special relationship and that this would be the man she’d spend her life with… They met through a mutual friend in college at UNC, but didn’t become friends until after graduation when she started volunteering with the South Orange Rescue Squad in Carrboro, where he was also a volunteer. He was also the instructor for her MCAT prep class so they got to see a lot of each other. They started dating a couple months after the class ended.

It was New Year’s Eve and he made dinner plans for the two of them but didn’t tell her where they were going. Surprise dates were a common thing so she didn’t think anything of it. On the way to the restaurant he turned the car around because he said he forgot the tickets for the after party. While she was searching through their apartment for these ‘tickets,’ he was pulling out the ring, and then asking her to be his wife.

{The Details} Emily + Danny were married at the historic Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC. They had an outdoor ceremony with a string trio and 6 small paged programs that folded out into a fan. Since it was July 4th weekend, they had a gelato cart and gelato martinis to cool everyone off. 

Toward the end of the night, they put out baskets of New York-style black and white cookies as favors for guests. Black and white cookies are one of their favorite treats! And since most of Danny’s family is from New York, they thought that would be a cute way to tie everything in.

Heart Stone Films created a breathtaking memory for Emily and Danny to relive for many, many years to come. I’d like to relive it one more time, wouldn’t you? :) Thank you Chris and Toni for sharing this very special wedding film with us on Valentine’s Day!

Go ahead and watch it one more time.

Sigh.

Swoon.

Then, go kiss the love of your life.

And tell them you love them.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

xoxo

Your afternoon is about to get a whole lot lovelier because I have a beyond beautiful wedding film to share with you from One Tree Photo + Cinema! From the moment the piano began to plan to  when the groom pledges his love to the bride in his handwritten vows, I was in love. Then, the bride’s dress came into view. Oh my goodness gracious is it a beauty! She seems to simply float down the aisle on all those filmy ruffled layers to her one true love. Le sigh. I love this video and know you will too.

Tiffany & Ben

I am absolutely swooning after seeing this video for the umpteenth time. It’s just so gorgeous. I think the words you wear white and I’ll wear out the words I love you from Train’s song, Marry Me, fit Tiffany and Ben to a T. I loved watching these two interact, especially during their portraits. They’re so playful together and obviously very much in love. Did anyone else catch the mischievous gleam in Tiffany’s eye a second before she smashed the cake in his face?! Then she ran… Probably something I would do, ha! Love it! :)

Thank you so much Matt of One Tree Photo + Cinema for sending us a wedding film to swoon about!

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo

*Song is Marry Me by Train

I have a confession for all of you. Up until a few months ago, I had yet to see the Disney and Pixar movie UP. From the time it came out in 2009, I flat out refused to see it. I can’t even remember the reason why, I just didn’t want to. Then I saw this wedding from Shannon Kelley Photography. In talking to Shannon about the details and hearing from the bride the details of her love story (much of which has a foundation inspired by the movie), I knew I had to see it. A few months ago, I finally did. I loved it. I sobbed through the first half hour and repeatedly asked myself why I was watching this and why were people so in love with this movie. Then it clicked. It’s because at the heart of adventure, there is love, and vice versa. There is no love without adventure. Or rather, love is the greatest adventure of all. Chris and Christi are just beginning theirs, so let’s see how it all began…

Chris and Christi met purely by chance on a business trip. Chris was called in at the last minute on the tail end of another business trip for support, causing him to miss his daughter’s fourth birthday. Throughout the trip, coworkers commented just how well Chris and Christi worked together, both professionally and personally. But both Chris and Christi were in committed relationships at the time and refused to view their relationship as more than just friendship. Which continued long after the trip had ended.

Their friendship was strong and withstood the 400 miles that separated them for many months. When their respective relationships ended, instead of turning to each other, Chris and Christi parted ways. Choosing to mend their broken hearts alone, at risk of possibly never seeing each other again. (Even though I know how their story plays out, I can’t help my stomach from clenching every time I read this.)

When the time was right, Christi reached out to Chris. Early on in their friendship, Chris had talked about how the movie UP made him cry the first time he watched it (and every time since). The fact that he felt he had never had the kind of loving relationship portrayed in the film was an overwhelming blow. Christi, remembering this, sent Chris a handwritten note and grape soda bottle cap (movie reference). The note simply said, “I want to be your Ellie.” From that moment on, Chris vowed to do everything he possibly could to keep Christi in his life. (Cue the heart flutters.)

The first weekend he could, Chris drove up to see Christi. After a moment of, “Wow. I can’t believe we’re really here.”, they shared their first kiss. To them, it felt like home. Despite being their first kiss, it felt natural (as if they’d been doing it all along, and would for the next 50 years). They both knew at that moment that ‘together’ was where they were meant to be. (Sigh.)

When it came time, Chris put a lot of thought and planning into his proposal. On October 2nd, Chris woke Christi at o’dark thirty (I love Christi’s term for the early wake up call) to drive 45 minutes to meet “someone” at 6:45AM. The “someone” was actually a surprise, sunrise hot air balloon ride. Taking one was something they had talked about doing for a while (and also reminiscent of the movie UP). It was so much more than just that though, it was the start of a new beginning. It was a beautiful and fun experience that Chris had even planned (at the request of their mothers) to videotape. Their pilot caught the entire exchange and proposal on video! Chris later put a compilation of the video and photographs of the day together for their friends and family. You can see it here! (I highly recommend you do. It’s completely fun, totally sweet, sigh-worthy, happy tear-inducing, and perfect.)

{From the Bride} Our wedding ideas changed along the way, but the day of was supposed to be outdoors, in front of this little bridge over the creek that ran through the Hawkesdene property. Unfortunately, it rained and we delayed and it kept raining. Then about 10 minutes after we started the ceremony indoors (completely unplanned for even though we knew it was a possibility) it finally let up and we had our reception outdoors as planned.

I poured my heart into a ton of little details, some of which were never realized due to the craziness that becomes your wedding day. So many family and friends helped me put the finishing touches on what I had spent months and months putting together, and set it all up the day of while I was getting ready. That was what was most special, the love and helping hands that went into making it all happen.

We built a backdrop for a Polaroid guest book with props. I drew and created kids programs as well as adult programs and I crafted the invitations using letterpress and embossing stamps. Vintage hot air balloon stamps/pictures adorned a lot of the paper details. I collected vintage handkerchiefs and made our mother’s clutches. So much more, but that would be a huge list.

It was a SMALL wedding, but it was so special being able to spend quality time with the people who would take the time to travel and be there for us on that important day.

{Advice} Nothing that hasn’t been said before by others much wiser than myself, but I think communication is key: RESPECTFUL communication. You can be upset and not belittle, patronize or otherwise verbally abuse the person you claim to love so much. It’s how you act when things aren’t just perfect or aren’t going your way that matter. If it draws you together and you face it as a couple, fantastic, if not… you might need to work on being on the same team and making reasonable compromises. Life is hard and it gets really busy, so having that foundation of friendship, trust and being able to communicate is oh-so-important.