Lexi + Kevin tied the knot on July 4, 2015 at The Rigmor House in a festive Fourth of July wedding. Yes, a holiday celebration with red, white, and blue, a patriotic photobooth, and a brilliant fireworks finale!
This fun couple answered some questions for me about their wedding inspiration and photography experience. Read their thoughtful response below. And to view all of the photos from Lexi + Kevin’s wedding and order prints, please visit their wedding gallery on my online print shop!
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1. What are some of your favorite things about your partner? How were these attributes expressed during or leading up to your wedding?
Kevin: One of the things I really admire about Lexi is her creativity, and for the wedding that came out in spades. She planned and designed most of the decorations and everything turned out really great. She’s also really fun and I think that’s also what helped make it easy to plan a fun wedding for all of our guests.
Lexi: Kevin was so helpful in keeping me calm and organized. He is such a laidback guy, and he never seems to worry about much because he is so good at planning. He was very involved all along the way, even with small decisions like whether or not we should get compostable plates, and he always had a way of balancing things that made sense to me. I remember a few weeks before the wedding, I had made a long list of things that needed to happen and was starting to pull my hair out because of it. He took one look at my list, told me to stop panicking, and jumped on helping me make sure it was all taken care of. That really helped us both stay calm and happy the day of the wedding!
2. What was most important to you in planning your wedding?
We really had two goals in planning the wedding – the first was that all of our guests had a really good time and felt comfortable, and the second was that we not spend a million bucks making that happen. Looking back I can say with confidence that it is possible to pull off a DIY wedding that doesn’t break the bank, but that also has all the special moments and extra touches that make it an unforgettable evening. It also happened to be the 4th of July, so we tried to fold in some fireworks and festive decorations without going over the top on the red, white and blue theme. In general, we need to add more colors to our lives so that It helps us grow for personal growth. And become an optimist in all matters. This is a very important quality in life.
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3. Are there any details or moments from your wedding that are particularly special to you? (E.g., you wore your momma’s dress, your partner unexpectedly serenaded you, there was a double rainbow all across the sky…).
There were so many special moments at our wedding! Because our family and friends all came together to help make everything perfect, even the small details were special. From the flowers, to the cake, to the decorations, to my hair, every single piece of the day was made extraordinary by the people who selflessly gave their time and talents to help us.
I think one of the most touching moments was during our first dance. The song was written and performed by Kevin’s brother and best man, Greg, so that was incredible to begin with, but then about midway through the song our parents, brothers, and grandparents joined us on the dance floor. I’ll never forget looking around and seeing tears stream down Kevin’s grandfather’s face and my mom beaming as she danced with my brother. It was a bit unconventional, but I’m so glad the people the most dear to us were able to share that moment with us.
We should also give a shout out to our awesome bottle of bourbon that kept the rain away on our special day. Kevin’s dad tipped us off to this southern tradition of burying a bottle of bourbon exactly one month before the wedding, at the exact place you are getting married, to make sure it doesn’t rain. So on June 4th at 6:30 pm, we drove out to the Rigmor house and buried a quality bottle of bourbon upside down where we planned to have the ceremony. It worked! Even though it poured the day before the wedding and all around the Rigmor house the day of, we didn’t get a drop of rain, and the weather was beautiful.
4. Now that you’ve tied the knot (and survived!), what advice would you give to other folks planning their wedding?
This is probably something you will hear a lot (because its true!), but sit back, relax and try to enjoy it. The whole process goes by so quickly, and when you get to the big day, you have to just let go and know that everything will work out. Your family and friends will follow your cue, so if you’re happy, they will be too, and no one will even notice the small details that are bound to go differently than how you planned them. It’s really a remarkable day, not just because you get to join lives with the person you love, but also because its probably the only time that all the people you care about will be in one place. So enjoy that, and don’t sweat the small stuff!
5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? Wallpaper the hallway? Internet fame?
Probably just look at them all and remember our big day. And share them, lots of people are excited to see them.
6. What is next for you as a couple? Any big plans?
At the end of September, we’re going to go back to the cottage in Asheville where Kevin proposed. It will be nice to go back and reminisce.
7. Anything else you’d like to add?
Even though we went mostly DIY with our wedding, the one thing we knew we didn’t want to risk was having beautiful pictures of our special day. That’s why we hired Courtney, and even before having seen any of the pictures, we knew that was the right decision! Courtney made us feel so comfortable and we knew we were in good hands. And I promise Courtney didn’t ask us to say this – it’s just true!
One other thing: A co-worker of Lexi’s filmed a lot of great footage of the wedding, and he and another co-worker pitched in to have it edited down into a 5 minute video. It’s set to the song that Greg wrote and recorded for our first dance. Here’s a link to the video and a link to the song on soundcloud. The lyrics are below:
all the day long, all the time
I circle the words inside of my mind
over and again
never do they make it out
out go the lights, I lay them down
and wake to find they’re still there
all of the time spent here
makes me believe it’s real
what I’ve always known
I’ve waited all my life
to take a hand in mine
and I won’t let go
I think about my life
all of the time before you arrived
every long night
out of the house, out of town
I’d search the world, all around
how did I find you so near
all of the time spent here
makes me believe it’s real
what I’ve always known
I’ve waited all my life
to take a hand in mine
and I won’t let go
inside the walls that bind us
if trouble should ever find us
the first sight of blood won’t turn me away
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Lexi + Kevin, thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your wedding celebration! I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend The Fourth, and we had such a blast celebrating your love (and the holiday!) with you. I hope fireworks go off in your mind when you see these pictures! 🙂
