Today we’re excited to feature the wedding of Lauren & Sergio!  From their proposal to the big day, the couple chose to make The Barn a big part of their story.  Read on for a beautiful extra special wedding for the Charlotte’s team, as well as some amazing advice from Lauren.

Lauren and Sergio first met through a mutual friend at a bar.

“My friend Carly and I were going out for drinks and happened to run into Sergio and Nick.  Carly had known the two of them from growing up in the same area.”

The four hung out for the evening getting to know each other.  They even made plans to grab breakfast the following morning.

“Sergio loves to say that I stood him up that following morning, but actually Carly wasn’t feeling great and I wasn’t about to go all by myself!”

It all worked out after that initial meeting. Lauren & Sergio stayed in touch and a few months later started dating.

For the perfect proposal, Sergio enlisted the help of Kellye Hildebrandt, a family friend and coordinator for events at The Barn.

“Sergio had Kellye ask me if we would be interested in doing a mini couple’s photo shoot at The Barn.  This made it seem like it was all her idea so I wouldn’t suspect anything!”

The couple had never had any pictures done so Lauren jumped at the chance!  Kellye had a photographer looking to do some practice shooting couples.  It just so happened to fall on Lauren and Sergio’s anniversary weekend.

“Leading up to it whenever people found out we were getting pictures taken Sergio would act like it was such a drag to do just to make sure I didn’t get any ideas of what actually may be happening.”

Lindsey, (Lauren’s older sister and Charlotte’s store manager) insisted on doing hair and makeup for the shoot which didn’t surprise Lauren.

“It was completely normal for Lindsey to offer because there is no way she would let me have pictures done without her being my stylist!”

When the day finally came Kellye and the photographer, Brittany, met Sergio and Lauren at The Barn ready to make some magic.

“We started in the Cherry orchard taking some photos there, then moved to an open field that had the most amazing view.”

While in the field, Brittany asked to get some solo shots of Lauren.  This gave Sergio a moment to snag the ring from Kellye who was playing assistant to the photographer for the day.  After a few more solo pictures, Sergio led Lauren to a new spot where he was ready to get down on one knee all while Brittany was there to snag the pics.

“Sergio got down on one knee, took out the ring and said: ‘It has always been me and you and that’s how I want it to be forever. Will you be my wife?’”

“I did have my suspicions that maybe a proposal was coming but nothing can compare to the moment when it actually happened!”

The couple finished up their photo shoot – turning it into an engagement shoot.  About 16 months later, the couple would end up saying “I do” at the same venue where their engagement began!

“For me, wedding planning was a lot of fun!  We were engaged for about 16 months which gave us a lot of time to plan and get everything organized without it being overly stressful or cramming a lot into a short period of time.”

Lauren and Sergio made wedding planning something fun to do together.  The two would work together and bounce ideas off one another and it became a fun project for them to tackle as a couple.

“Once we had our venue and colors picked everything else was really easy and just kind of fell into place.  We were definitely busy the last few days getting everything moved over to the venue and set in place but overall it wasn’t so bad since we gave ourselves the time.”

The best part of wedding planning for Lauren was the crafts!

“I loved doing wedding crafts! I made most of the decorations and all of the centerpieces.  It was fun to try different things, see what worked and what didn’t work. I had one craft fail and now I know that puff paint works best when making burlap signs!”

For Lauren and Sergio, the time spent together creating the pieces for their big day made it all the more special.

“All of the detail stuff was a lot of fun and are the things that really made the day more personalized to us and the things that we like and enjoy.

The couple also chose to write their own vows!

“Sergio and I chose to write our own vows, so finally getting to hear his was so special…and to finally read him mine!  That was a favorite moment of our wedding day.”

“Oh, and we went to the bar where we first met and had drinks still dressed in our wedding attire!”

When it came time to shop for the perfect dress to say “I do” in, there was no question that Lauren would find it at Charlotte’s.

“Over the last year or so I have gotten to know Krysta (Charlotte’s Weddings owner) a lot more.  She has such an amazing shop with the best staff who really do want to make your wedding day dreams come true!”

Lauren was especially excited to shop at Charlotte’s because Lindsey, her older sister would be her consultant for the big day!

“It was special to have my sister be my consultant and for me to see her first hand doing what she loves and what she is extremely good at.  Lindsey is the fashionista of the family and probably knows my style better than I do!”

Before the appointment Lindsey had Lauren look over Pinterest and get some ideas for styles she might like.  The appointment was booked for our annual Meet the Designer, Justin Alexander trunk show. This gave Lauren even more options for the perfect dress.

“The designer, Teri, also helped with my appointment for a little bit which was so fun!  I tried on about 10 dresses and kept going back to one that I’d tried on at the very start.  When I put it back on towards the end of my appointment, I loved everything about it.  I just knew that it was going to be the dress I would say ‘I do’ in!

When all the planning was done, Sept. 29^th rolled around and it was time for Lauren and Sergio to say their vows!

“Before the ceremony started the anticipation was really starting to get to me and I just wanted to see Sergio!  We had decided to wait until I came down the aisle to see each other rather than do a first look and I was so excited!”

The couple also chose to write their own vows!

“Sergio and I chose to write our own vows, so finally getting to hear his was so special…and to finally read him mine!  That was a favorite moment of our wedding day.”

“Oh, and we went to the bar where we first met and had drinks still dressed in our wedding attire!”

ADVICE FOR FUTURE BRIDES

After the wedding, Sergio and Lauren headed off for their honeymoon to bask in the glow of newlywed life!

“My advice for future brides is take a few days after the wedding to be unplugged with your new husband!  Whether you do a big honeymoon, staycation or just a small get away for a few days, turn off your phones and just enjoy one another’s company.  The wedding is so much fun but it’s also very busy.  It was so nice for us to just relax and not have an agenda for a few days.  Oh, also maybe have a couple spa days!!

Vendors:

Venue: The Barn PNW

Dress: Justin Alexander

Alterations: August Veils

Photographer: Sabrina Stutzman

Florist: Kelly Buxton, Nature’s Reflections

Hair: Lacy Sullivan

Makeup Artist: Lindsey O’Halloran

Day of Coordinator: Britnee Sheridan

Venue Coordinator: Kellye Hildebrandt