We’ve been drooling over this pretty party all morning and now it’s your turn! Without a doubt, our most favorite part of each and every wedding we feature here at SMP is the love and affection between the couples and this one is no different. Yvonne Wong Photography captured so many beautiful and intimate moments between these two that our hearts are literally skipping beats! And that first kiss as husband and wife? Perfection! Click here for even more.
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From the bride: Alex and I met working at a summer camp in Texas in 2009. He had made a commitment to join the Army back in the spring of that year, and he had to leave for basic training in September. Of course, even though we had the whole summer together, we didn’t start dating until the very last minute, right before he had to leave. We agreed that we would do long distance, even though neither of us had ever thought we would be in a long distance relationship. We wrote letters while he was in basic, and when I got to see him for less than 24 hours in the middle of November, he told me he loved me for the first time. By the time he graduated from basic in December we both knew we were going to be together for a long time. We continued to do long distance when he got stationed on the complete opposite side of the country from me at Fort Lewis, Washington. Two months after he was stationed there, he was deployed to Afghanistan. It seemed like the distance would never end, but we both knew we were in it for the long haul.
On the first day of 2011, after he had been back for about 6 months, he proposed to me in a secret little place he had found that overlooked all of his hometown of Arlington. It didn’t even seem real. I kept thinking I was dreaming, and even looking back on that night now, it feels like a dream. I had never been so happy. We still had a while to go before we could be together, though, because I was still in school, only a few months away from graduating. We saw each other once a month until May, once in July, and after that, the next time I saw him was the day before our wedding on September 10th.
Since the wedding was going to be held in my hometown of San Antonio, I had to do most of the planning without him. I knew I wanted an outdoor wedding, but with the Texas heat I knew it would be difficult. When we found the Bushnell and saw the breathtaking view of San Antonio, and saw that it had both an outdoor rooftop terrace and an indoor ballroom, I knew it would be the absolute perfect place for our wedding. The first dress I tried on was the dress I ended up wearing, and while I wanted my bridesmaids to wear blue, I couldn’t find the right color blue. I did, however, find a beautiful, flattering white dress that seemed like it just might work. Their blue flowers and shoes distinguished them from me, and it turned out beautifully, even though other people were a little skeptical of an all white bridal party at first. Alex’s groomsmen complimented us perfectly with their gray suits and black ties and shoes, and Alex looked incredibly handsome with his gray suit and blue tie and shoes. We had the ceremony on the rooftop right before the sun set, and it was the perfect temperature and the perfect romantic setting. The covered part where the ceremony was held was later transformed into a dance floor for the reception, and food and drinks were served both on the rooftop and in the ballroom. Everything went perfectly, especially because Alex and I knew we were finally going to get to be together after two long years of being apart.
Photography: Yvonne Wong Photography / Flowers: Freesia Designs/ Ceremony and Reception Location: The Bushnell / Invitations: You’ve Got Paper / Shoes: Enzo Angiolini / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Suzi Chin by Maggy Boutique / Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Cake: Cathy Young
