This adorable couple proves that life just keeps getting better long after your jaunt down the aisle. Even with two daughters and a business, they still seem to find time for one another and when their five year anniversary was coming up, they knew they wanted to do something special. So they threw themselves a mini wedding with loads of pretty, personal touches. Cardin Creative, aka, the bride, designed and planned everything while Paper and Home made all the pretty paper. Ron Miller Photography snapped up all the goodness and there’s even more right here.
From Cardin Creative (The Bride)… Casey and I are both so busy with work, our two beautiful kids and renovating our new house, but I always find time for us. The five-year wedding vow renewal was something that I really wanted to do as a romantic gesture for us, and that’s exactly what it ended up being. Casey and I picked a beautiful location at Springs Preserve, wrote our vows, and had a “mini-wedding” in every sense. It was great to work with a great team of wedding vendors, and they were all on board to help make our vision into a reality. We incorporated a ton of personalized details into the day. It was important to us that everything had meaning and really fit our style. The gray, white and yellow color palette fit our “modern with a hint of traditional” style. Springs Preserve offered the lush green background that I wanted and gave us a perfect backdrop for the romantic natural light, and Trump Hotel offered a more luxurious setting with sexy, dramatic lighting. Together, it was exactly the style that we envisioned. All of the details and props that we used had meaning to us. The vases with our names engraved on them are the original vases we used during our sand ceremony at our wedding five years ago. The “Cardin Family” sign hangs outside our front door to our home, and Casey surprised me with an engraved necklace that says “1+1=4” on one side and “Cardin Family Est. 07-08-07” on the other as a way of symbolizing our kids. I also had the idea of having our vows nicely designed as the “Story of Us” so we can frame them and proudly display them in our home.
A couple of weeks before the vow renewal, I had the idea of doing a pillow fight at the end of the night. I wanted to do something different to show our fun, playful side … plus I wanted to do something that I have never seen done before. A pillow fight – with real feather pillows – was exactly what I had in mind! We only had one shot to get it right, and after a full day, we were ready to unwind and have a bit of fun. With the first swing of the pillow, feathers went everywhere and Casey and I were laughing hysterically. (Dear Trump Hotel: we picked every last feather up, I promise!) This five-minute pillow fight was the perfect way to end a perfect day, and I’m so glad that Casey and Ron were on board with my crazy idea. We wanted the day of our vow renewal to be a mix of romantic, sexy, and playful, and we accomplished exactly that thanks to the “dream team” of wedding vendors. You are all amazing. and Casey and I are forever grateful!
From the Groom… There are so many things that I love about Chelsy: her beauty, her smile, her laugh, her passion for what she does; I could go on and on. I feel so lucky to have my best friend be my wife, as it makes life so much more enjoyable. Our lives since the wedding (7-8-07) have gone by so quickly and have lead up to such a well-thought-out vow renewal. Our oldest daughter, Kylei, who is now 7, has blossomed into a smart, fun, not-so-little girl. When we found out we were having another baby in 2010, we were so excited to have a little one join our family. Kynlee has definitely been such a joy to have — she is now almost 2 and is growing up so fast.
The vow renewal that we planned was definitely full of surprises. We knew we were going to Springs Preserve, but we didn’t realize what we got ourselves into. As we drove to the back area, we pulled off the road and Ron pointed out where we were going. When Chelsy and I got out and looked, we gave each other that look of, “We are going where again?!” We trekked through the shrubs, down a few steep rocky “cliffs” (think tall steep hill) and ended up in a secluded area beneath some beautiful trees. Chelsy said she had wanted grassy fields and to feel like we weren’t in Vegas, and that’s definitely what she got. Afterwards we got to have some fun with feathers and had a pillow fight. I could not believe so many feathers could come out of two pillows! That is something that I will never forget. The day was amazing, and I was very impressed with how everything turned out.
Photography: Ron Miller Photography / Vow Renewal Venues: Springs Preserve + Trump Hotel Las Vegas, Both in Las Vegas, Nevada / Event Coordination + Design: Cardin Creative (The Bride) / Floral Design: Layers of Lovely / Stationery: Paper and Home / Cake: Gimme Some Sugar / Dress: Adrianna Papell via Nordstrom / Hair + Makeup: Amelia C & Co.