Though its chilly outside, this wedding is bringing back all of the fall feels!
We are so excited for the new season, crisp air, and have loved looking back on all of our brides and their fall weddings. With the beautiful leaves changing and fall color palettes, the photos were a dream! Now that the new year has arrived, there are new dresses headed our way and we could not be more excited! As you know, we love seeing all of the wedding photos from our fabulous brides, and cannot wait to hear about the details that made their special day unique and memorable. On October 14th, one of our brides Kimberly Miller, became Kimberly Patz!
From the very beginning of the process, Kimberly was down to earth, so sweet, and her excitement for her wedding was contagious! Here's a sneak peek at some of the precious moments that made her big day so special!
Tell us your love story.
Marco and I both graduated from Lancaster Bible College. He transferred his senior year from Northland International University. I was definitely attracted to him, but he was a cool soccer player and I was a nerdy education major who spent a lot of her time in the science lab. We would run into each other in the workout room, or the dining hall, but only conversed a few times. Little did I know that one of our mutual friends kept encouraging Marco to talk to me but Marco didn’t think he wanted to start a relationship a semester before he graduated. Two days before he graduated though, I was on RA duty monitoring the dorms, and he walked by the front desk and struck up a conversation. We talked for a while and really hit it off. He moved to Michigan after graduating, though, so I thought that was the end of it. He tried contacting me, but ended up accidentally contacting someone else with the same name! We eventually began talking over Facebook, but I knew something was different when he asked if he could call me. We would talk for hours on the phone, usually every day. He then asked if I would be his date for a mutual friend’s wedding. He came back to PA for the wedding and stayed with me and my family. He asked my dad if he could date me and thus began our long distance dating. Dating someone 600 miles away is hard - but he was worth it. We visited each other several times and,on one visit, which included a trip to Niagara Falls, he proposed! Through the long hard months of being apart, we learned about communication, trust, and commitment. I’m thankful for that season, but nothing beats doing life with each other side by side. We can both be pretty independent people, so I think that this African proverb sums up our relationship well: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
As a bride, there are many options when it comes to where you look for your wedding dress. What brought you to Blush Bridal and what was the experience like finding your dress?
At the time that I was engaged, I was actually living with a family from my church because it was too far to commute to my job from my family’s home. The family recommended Blush Bridal to me because they personally knew the owners and knew that they were also Christians. I actually went to another bridal shop first but was disappointed by the selection. I had a pretty good idea of what kind of dress I thought I wanted, and I wasn’t finding it. The other bridal shop I had gone to was a consignment store. The women who worked there were very kind, but I knew I wanted to keep looking. Immediately upon entering Blush Bridal though, I felt like a bride. The reality started to sink in and I had a hunch I would find my “yes” there.
While trying on dresses at Blush Bridal, I felt so loved and cared for. I felt like the employees genuinely were excited for me and for the big day. I love the fact that Blush Bridal tithes 10 percent of its profits each month to a charity. I’m a teacher and I love kids, so the fact that the charity for the month helped rescue children from trafficking sealed the deal for me. Not only did I love my dress, but I loved knowing that by wearing it, I was helping another child.
Where did you get married and how did you decide on that venue?
My husband, Marco, and I got married at our church, Community Bible Church in Marietta, PA. Truthfully, our budget limited us as to which venues we could pick, but throughout the whole wedding planning process we knew we didn’t want our wedding to be extravagant. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong in extravagant weddings, but we didn’t want to be wrapped up in the details that would be forgotten in a few days that we missed the beautiful simplicity of the gospel we were (and still are!) hoping to proclaim through our marriage – truths that will last through all eternity .
Tell us about the inspiration for your decor, flowers, and any other fun details!
In terms of style, I remember driving one night with Marco and asking him to help me establish a vision for our wedding. We decided to try to stick with a rustic elegance theme. With that in mind, we went with burgundy and navy blue and grey for our colors (also good fall colors), and very simple, down-to-earth, yet still beautiful decorations. A lot of our decorations were handmade by loving, creative friends who just wanted to support us. We felt so blessed and loved to have such caring people help us and make our dream happen.
What was your favorite part about your wedding day?
My favorite part about the wedding day was just marrying my best friend! But in terms of the order of the day, we both loved the ceremony and agreed that was our favorite part. It was so special being able to honor our families with a short letter we had each written to our parents, saying our vows to one another, praying together, and singing together as a congregation, Marco's and my prayer for our marriage: "Be Thou My Vision." It was also really special having Marco's older brother, Daniel, officiate the wedding and having my grandpa pray over us.
What advice or words of wisdom would you give to other brides who are preparing for their wedding day?
Oh goodness, my advice to other brides... well, definitely get your dress from Blush Bridal! But on a more serious note, I think I would just say that in looking back, I was so anxious for the engagement period to be over and just to be married. Truthfully, I didn't really enjoy most of the wedding planning. My perfectionist tendencies made the planning way more stressful than it needed to be. So I hope that other brides can avoid those mistakes that I made and enjoy the whole process, and to do that by giving thanks at each and every milestone. It will all come together. I promise! But don't be afraid to ask for help, and just be thankful and content in the simple things - like being able to go dress shopping with your mom and sisters, getting to sample cakes (I mean, who wouldn't be grateful for getting to eat cake?!), and staying up late with your fiancé to finalize your guest list. Celebrate those moments you get to spend with the people closest to you who want nothing less than your fullest joy.
Vendors:
Dress: Blush Bridal
Photography: Eliana Carolyn Photography