Within the first week of knowing each other, Portugal and I knew we were going to get married. It certainly felt crazy, but so, so right. We wanted our wedding to be a huge celebration including everybody we loved. We’ve experienced enough weddings to know that decorations, flowers, and decor can be beautiful and fun, what makes a wedding day memorable is the people who make it special.

During our season of engagement, we intentionally focused on continuing to grow in love. Wedding planning was definitely stressful at times, but simply being reminded of the true meaning of our wedding day was brought me back to a peaceful mindset. I had to continually remind myself that having “that dress” or “those candles” or “those flower arrangements” weren’t what we were gathering on March 11th for. We were gathering for a covenant marriage with God, and we knew it would be beautiful no matter what. While we were engaged, God continually broke us down and taught us so much about what it truly means to selflessly love another person the way Jesus loves us; a lesson we are continually learning.

We kicked off our wedding celebration by having all of our best friends join us at a cabin in Nashville for two days. Those days were packed with dance parties, pizza, hammocking, and good talks. We gave all of our wedding party disposable cameras to use throughout the week (AKA probably the best decision we ever made while wedding planning.)

Portugal and his groomsmen’s bachelor party consisted of a hike to Cummins Falls (where things got pretty weird in TJ Maxx bags), while the girls took me to a “booty wurk” dance class (LOL.) We also went on a field trip to pick up the flowers for the wedding at the wholesale florist.

The day before the wedding, we all caravanned up to Bowling Green, my hometown, to prepare for the festivities. With the help of some incredibly talented and selfless friends, we were able to deck out the church and the reception barn with simple, yet beautiful natural decor. Shoutout to my incredible bridesmaids for making ALL the floral arrangements! We were also blessed to receive a gorgeous wedding cake from a dear friend. We are still overwhelmed by how much love was shown to us on our wedding day!

The morning of the wedding, we all got ready and headed to Historic Potter Farm for photos. Portugal and I got to see each other for the first time in the garden and it was truly surreal. The cloudy March sky made for some beautiful photos — praise God we didn’t have any rain or storms!

The ceremony itself was HEAVY with the Spirit. We took communion with our pastor and were able to spend some quiet moments in reflection and prayer of what God has done for us, and what He will continually do. We danced out of the ceremony to “Take On Me” (duh!) and then continued dancing through the night with our guests. We were so blessed to have the company of family and friends from Brazil, Florida, and beyond! After the wedding, we couldn’t stop talking about how amazing it was to be surrounded by so many amazing friends. That was what we wanted all along, and it was so worth it.

My awesome bridesmaids also snapped some instant film images for us!