Exceptional Wedding Series II

If you remember back to my first 2019 wedding in February, I decided to start this exceptional wedding series. Since I love to focus on creating a unique wedding experience for each of my couples and pride myself on sharing their personalities in my photos, this blog series has been a great way for me to showcase these unique details. I am sharing something specific that stood out to me from each wedding which I thought was special to the couple.

Natalie & Jason had a beautiful day filled with a lot of unique details including a wood burned letter box, the OSU band introducing them into the reception, and my favorite… sharing a last dance together. Many couples have a last song where all of the guests come together and sing their hearts out to end the night, but these two wanted to share a last song together with just them. I thought this was amazing and loved the idea, so I asked Natalie a few questions about it.

Where did you get the idea of sharing a "last dance" together?
While consulting with our videographer Mark Batke, we asked him what kinds of ideas he had. He mentioned a last dance. The idea is to have all the guests leave the venue and leave the dance floor to the new husband and wife. He explained this as the perfect time to soak it all in and reminisce on the night. We loved the idea! 

How did you feel in that moment?
The last dance was the most memorable part of the night for us! It was such an intimate moment for us after the rush of the wedding. It was just what we needed, to take a breath, look at each other as husband and wife, and feel the love between us. It was so nice to be able to relax and be held in my husband’s arms swaying to the music, just us two. 

Would you recommend this to future couples?
Absolutely! Wedding day can be so overwhelming and it all happens so fast. While taking a minute here and there throughout the night to step back and watch as everyone enjoys themselves can be helpful, the last dance is something I think all couples should do! Believe me, it’s so worth it! And not to mention, it’s the perfect time to have the guests gather together for your sendoff. 

Exceptional Wedding Series

Since I am so focused on creating a unique wedding experience for each of my couples and pride myself on sharing their personalities in my photos, I thought I would start something new this year. After each wedding I want to share something specific that stood out to me from the day which I thought was special and unique to the couple.

I’m starting the series off with a great one from my first 2019 couple, Ali & Luke. After three years in the industry and working over 50 weddings, I have never seen this before and really loved the idea! Ali & Luke had these adorable Mr. & Mrs. aprons, (Amazon link below) which they put on right before dinner. They went behind the buffet tables and began serving their guests their food. I loved this idea so much, so I asked them a little more about why they chose to do this.

What inspired you to decide to serve the food to your guests at your wedding?

“The whole focus on our wedding, we wanted to be different. We planned for the marriage and the kind of wife/husband we wanted to be (counseling, praying, conversations, reading books) more than we planned for the wedding day, because that’s what it’s about right? Not to say, the wedding day isn’t important because making vows for life with someone is a big deal, but in our current “selfie” and social media “highlight reel” culture you can really get consumed with super high standards of the “perfect day,” large budgets, and lots of time and stress, then at the end of the day, it doesn’t really have any benefit to the marriage, for you or your spouse.

During our engagement, we talked a lot about showing grace to each other and serving each other as husband and wife. Even when you don’t want to. Rather than being worried about what the other is doing or most likely NOT doing, but loving the other well in how they need it. It’s the picture of how Jesus loves us... we are undeserving and flawed, yet He is devoted to us.

We were thrilled to exemplify that idea of servanthood. We didn’t want our wedding day to be just about us and whatever we wanted without concern of our guests. Just like how we would treat guests in our home, we serve and make our guests comfortable. How we love each other as husband and wife, is humbling oneself for the sake of the other: servanthood.”

- Ali Barhorst - Bride

Love this idea? Find Mr. & Mrs. Aprons on Amazon here! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. PS, did you know you can create an Amazon Wedding Registry? I think that sounds amazing and is just flat out brilliant! Check out the banner to learn more!