Casey & Katie // Rustic Elegant Summer Wedding

Casey & Katie – July 7, 2018
Rustic Elegant Wedding

For a guy trying to plan out an amazing proposal, things don’t always go as planned.
But, let’s start at the beginning: step 1 is usually picking out a ring, right?

So, Casey & Katie had talked about getting married & talked about rings. With Casey’s proposal plans rolling around in his brain, he went into a local jeweler to actually buy the ring. There was just one small problem: it wasn’t actually in stock (crazy coincidence, the closest place the ring could be found was in Pittsburgh!) Knowing that he needed the ring within the next 36 hours, Casey paid to have the ring overnighted from Pittsburgh up to Towanda. Step 1: complete.

Step 2 is usually planning out the time & place to actually propose.
Casey had planned to go to Texas over the 4th of July. He thought, what better place to propose than on vacation? So, he presented his plans to Katie as nonchalantly as possible and she promptly shot down his ideas. She had other plans for the 4th of July and none of them involved going to Texas. Thankfully, with the help of Katie’s best friend, Casey finally convinced her to go.

Ring in hand (but not literally in hand, it was hidden in Casey’s carryon), they set off for the airport. They had a whole series of flights that would finally get them down to Texas – what could go wrong, right?

As things do with airports & airplanes, one of their flights ended up getting delayed, which led to an (unromantic) night sleeping in the airport & ultimately them missing their last flight altogether. Frustrated with airplanes, they ended up renting a car & driving the last leg of their journey.

Finally at their destination, with all the hiccups of the ring & the travel behind them, they met up with a group of Casey’s friends. They all went out together on some pontoon boats to do some fishing and as they pulled into a quiet little cove & Katie went to the front of the boat to take pictures of the lily pads & flowers in the water. Casey saw his moment. Always the jokester, he walked up behind her & teased her about throwing her in the water. She shooed him away, saying she wanted to just look at the pretty flowers & not go swimming. Which is when he turned her around & showed her the ring she had so desperately wanted – asking her to marry him.

Needless to say, she said yes (and was so so glad that she had decided to go on the crazy Texas adventure to begin with)!

This past Saturday, on a piece of property that belonged to Katie’s late Grandparents, they pulled off the wedding of Katie’s dreams. The day was perfectly warm & sunny, with not a drop of rain in the sky. And the amount of work that Casey put into making sure that the location was perfect for his bride was simply amazing: he cleared trees, planted grass, spread mulch – the whole nine yards. In the near future, they plan to build a house right there on the property that not only holds so many memories because it belonged to Katie’s Grandparents, but now holds all of the memories of their incredible wedding day as well.

Casey & Katie: you guys have something special, there is no doubt about it. If the two of you weren’t meant to be, then I don’t know anyone who is. The way you look at & talk to one another is simply precious to watch & it just breathes life into a dark & hopeless world. Never lose that sparkle in your eyes or the ability to make each other belly-laugh. Thank you so much for letting Derrick & I celebrate your day with you!

Katie & her bridesmaids have all been friends since high school – can you tell? They were simply all overjoyed to be together & celebrating their friend!

Because Katie & her bridesmaids have been friends for so long, there were several locations that each held a big bag full of memories that we talked about going to for portraits. In the end, Ali’s family’s lake house won out & it made for the perfect backdrop for photos!

Are you ready? Hold your horses because it just gets better & better from here!

I think I could have stood & stared at this arch all day long, it was SO incredible!

All of the bouquets & boutonnieres were from EcoFlower (the same company that did the bouquets for my sister’s wedding!) They were stunning.

Check out this crazy tree – isn’t it wild?!

This is one of Derrick’s shots & I’m absolutely in love with it!!

The thought & detail that went into literally every single inch of the reception space was just incredible! It took my breath away.

Katie was so excited to have The Wandering Brew serving drinks at her wedding! It’s only the second wedding that this refurbished horse trailer has ever been to & it’s so incredible! Super unique & fun (and we had fun with it later on in the evening).

I told you I couldn’t get enough of this arch – we used it for some after-dinner photos.

Recognize these two lovebirds? I met Katie at Tara & Matt’s wedding last summer & it was so much fun to catch up with them this past weekend!

Katie had really hoped we could grab a few photos with The Wandering Brew trailer in the daylight, but with their guests flooding it as soon as the ceremony ended, we simply couldn’t make it happen. I am pretty pumped about what we did make happen at the end of the night though (we only had to set up a perimeter with security guards & police dogs in order to keep guests away for 5 minutes – okay, that’s an exaggeration – I literally couldn’t have made these photos happen without Derrick’s help in clearing the area for a few minutes though!)

Huge shout-out and thank you to the amazing team of vendors, as well as friends & family, who helped make Casey & Katie’s wedding day absolutely perfect!

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Private Property
Wedding Day Designer: Jim Pietrzkowski – Legacy Design & Events in Rochester, NY
Catering: Railhouse Restaurant & Taproom in Waverly, NY
Alcohol: Beer Buggy from Flynn Beverage in Towanda, PA & The Wandering Brew in Scranton, PA
Bridal Gown: David’s Bridal
Bridesmaid Gowns: David’s Bridal
Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Old Navy
Hair & Makeup: Katie Dooley in Towanda, PA
Invitations: Shutterfly
Bridal & Bridesmaids Bouquets: EcoFlower
Cake Bakery: Gaile Kershner in Towanda, PA
Cupcakes & Cookies: Country Cottage in Wysox, PA
Ring Designer: C and G Wilcox in Towanda, PA
DJ: Erick Murtland – Ultimate Sound DJ in Sayre, PA
Rentals: C&P Party Rentals in Towanda, PA
Chalkboard Calligraphy: Variety Vintage
Transportation: C and J Transportation Services
Videographer: Emily Goodwin Photography
Photographer: Kara Abbey Photography in Irwin, PA