It’s been exactly two months since our big day, so I figured it was time to share some magical moments from our Beauty and the Beast inspired wedding. Before we get to all the beautiful details from our special day, let me give you a little background on Derek and I’s relationship.
Derek and I have been together for four years. We met on an online dating website in spring 2014, dated for a little over two years and then we got engaged in October 2016 in Disney World. Since we got engaged in Disney World and since I have literally been obsessed with all things Disney for my entire life, it only made sense for us to have a Disney themed wedding. Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite Disney movie. When I was little, I used to walk down the stairs of my grandparents’ house, toting a basket and a book while singing “Belle” from the movie. I would play Belle and my grandfather would pretend to be the Beast. I have such fond memories of this movie, the characters, the beautiful imagery and of course the beautiful love story between Belle and the Beast.
When I started planning my wedding, I knew I wanted it to have all the Beauty and the Beast vibes, but I didn’t want it to be over the top Disney. I instead went for a more subtle and elegant Disney theme, using the 2017 Beauty and the Beast movie starting Emma Watson as my inspiration. For our wedding décor, I collected vintage clocks, candelabras, books and created my own version of the enchanted rose that I placed under a beautiful glass dome. Our colors were light pink with gold accents.
The wedding ceremony and reception was held at the historic Mount Airy Mansion in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on June 3, 2018 and it was the perfect backdrop for our Beauty and the Beast styled affair. It was a beautiful day, filled with memories that Derek and I will cherish for a lifetime. So here are all the fun wedding day details!
The morning of the wedding, my bridesmaids, mom and I headed over to the mansion where we got our hair and make-up done upstairs in one of the mansion’s suites. The boys arrived around 2 p.m. and they got ready downstairs in one of the mansion’s suites. As we were getting ready in our own rooms, a gift was delivered to me. Derek gifted me a surprise award, highlighting all my accomplishments in 2018! It was a bit of an inside joke, since over the course of the year I kept giving him a hard time about how I wanted an achievement award for juggling buying a new house, getting a new job, completing graduate school and planning a wedding all at the same time. Derek did not disappoint. I laughed, as well as shed a couple tears as I opened the gift and read his very sweet card.
Our ceremony was scheduled to take place outside on the mansion grounds at 4 p.m. but was moved inside due to the rain. They say rain on your wedding day is good luck and it poured, so I would say our marriage is off to a good start! Despite the rain, our wedding ceremony was perfect. The ceremony took place inside the mansion in a room with large windows that brought in lots of natural light. Guests enjoyed a scenic backdrop of the lush greenery on the mansion’s grounds.
My favorite moment from the wedding was walking down the aisle to see Derek waiting for me at the altar. As I walked down the aisle, my youngest brother played “Beauty and the Beast” on the steel drum.
I shed a few happy tears as I approached Derek, who was beaming ear to ear. He kindly wiped my tears away with his pocket square.
My brother Dylan was our officiant and we all enjoyed a few laughs throughout the course of the ceremony. After we exchanged rings and were pronounced husband and wife, our guests enjoyed cocktail hour while we took pictures with our wedding party.
Once cocktail hour ended, we all entered for the reception. We entered the reception, along with our wedding party to the song “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis. Following our entrance, we had our first dance to “Beauty and the Beast” sung by Celine Dion. Isn’t it amazing that I got Derek to dance to a Disney song at our wedding? I would say he is a keeper!
We then enjoyed a dinner catered by Mission BBQ and listened to some beautiful heartfelt speeches from our friends and family. After visiting with all our guests, we snuck outside for some private photos with our amazing photographer Ashton Kelley. Keep in mind it had been raining all day and the grounds were really wet. I knew that my heels would sink in the wet ground. Ashton literally threw off her flats, gave them to me and ran around barefoot outside so she could capture our gorgeous wedding shots. Ashton, you are my hero! Taking pictures outside was another one of my favorite moments from the day. It was so nice to sneak away and share some intimate moments with one another. We are so thankful that these moments were captured in photos that we will cherish forever.
After returning to the mansion, we cut our wedding cake.
We then changed into some more comfortable clothes and joined our guests on the dance floor. At the end of the night, we shared one last slow dance before saying goodnight to our guests.
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding day. The beautiful venue, delicious food, great music and dancing were all amazing. Beyond that, the most special part of day was getting to marry the love of my life and share this special milestone that we will look back on for years to come. It was a day that I will never forget and it was truly a fairytale.
For more special moments from our wedding day, you can view our wedding highlight video here!