To kick off the wedding portion of our real weddings series, we are happy to share photos of the day Kristen and Deke got married. Their relationship and marriage has developed through distance, since Deke is oftentimes away flying as an Air Force pilot overseas. Despite their time apart, Kristen is steadfast in her loyalty and admiration for him. These two tied the knot at a gorgeous lodge overlooking a lake in Hartland, Michigan, and boy, are the photos amazing. The bride created a rustic elegant atmosphere by working with the venue's charm and adding lanterns, candles, burlap, and twine. In every single photo, the love these two have for each other shines through. Have a look at all the details that made their day picture perfect.
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You and Deke look so in love. How did you two meet, and how did you know he was the one?
Deke and I met freshman year of college at Central Michigan University. He grew up all over the world as his dad was in the Air Force, but his family is originally from Michigan which is why he applied to colleges there. My friends, Lindsay and Caitlin, met Deke during welcome weekend and became friends with him before I knew who he was. Whenever Lindsay and Caitlin would see Deke in the cafeteria of our dorm and say hi to him, I always thought he seemed super nice and had a very interesting name. It also didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes. I found out that Lindsay had a geology class with Deke. Lindsay knew I thought that he was cute and told me that Deke was coming over to study for an upcoming exam. Lindsay and I lived down the hall from each other in our dorm, Beddow. Being the forward and outgoing person I am, I went to Lindsay's room to "borrow" her vacuum and conveniently returned it when Deke was over studying. I introduced myself, and we started hanging out after that. After hanging out for a few months, we decided that we should just be friends. Well, little did we know that it was not the end :) Deke and I rarely talked for 2 years, besides when we saw each other in our math class that we had together sophomore year. Deke then transferred to U of M junior year of college to start his ROTC Air Force training. He would come to CMU on the weekends to see his friends and would always call me to hang out. I didn't really think much of it at first, but we soon realized we both still liked each other and began dating. We became an "official" couple on New Years of 2008.
I honestly knew Deke was "the one" freshman year of college. I wasn't sure if our short dating relationship then would work out because we both were in different places at the time, but I knew he was the type of guy I wanted to be with for the long haul. I can remember one night freshman year he came over to watch a movie and stayed over talking until 3 am. It was one of the best conversations I have ever had with anyone. After he left my room, I remember going into my bedroom and waking my roommate, Shana, up and telling her I was going to marry Deke...and lookie there, I did just that! After we started dating again junior year of college, I knew right away that Deke was going to be it for me. He is a humble, caring, easy-going, funny, smart, and selfless man of the Lord and I could not imagine being with anyone else.
Where did your wedding take place, and what inspired your vision for the day?
Deke and I got married at Waldenwoods in Hartland, MI on the hottest and most humid day of summer in July of 2012. I know this sounds cliche, but the day was absolutely perfect in every single way. I hired a wedding planner which was one of the best choices I made because on my wedding day, I could enjoy just being a bride! I didn't have to worry once about setting up my decorations, linens, table numbers, etc. Plus, it was so amazing to walk down from the bridal room to see all of my hard work and planning come to life! I am not your typical "girly-girl", so I didn't want my wedding to be "froofy" or "blingy". I knew I wanted it to be elegant and rustic, since Waldenwoods is a gorgeous lodge with lots of exposed beams, stone fireplaces, and windows overlooking the lake, and I feel like I achieved just that. My bridesmaids wore short navy blue dresses that they chose themselves...I just told them to get a navy dress and I love the look that having different dresses achieved. I had lots of twine and burlap details to help with the rustic vibe I was going for, but also had TONS of candlelight and lanterns on the tables and around the venue to achieve the soft elegant look, too.
Do you have any advice for brides going through the wedding planning process? What was your favorite part, and what do you wish you could do differently?
My advice to brides going through the planning process is don't sweat the small stuff! It's SO easy to get wrapped up in all of the ideas and gorgeous weddings you see on Pinterest and wedding blogs such as Style Me Pretty (trust me, I know! I was one of them!!). But just trust your taste and style and your wedding will be absolutely perfect. Easier said than done, I know! Deke and I were engaged for over a year and a half so I had a lot of time really nit-pick the details of our day, but the day of, I didn't care one bit! Nothing mattered to me except that I was marrying the love of my life, that's that's truly what the day is about. Stay focused on that and everything will turn out great! I had 2 favorite parts of our day...the first one was when we did our "first look" with our photographer. We got married at 5:30 pm and I knew I couldn't go all day on our wedding day without seeing or talking to Deke. I can remember feeling so nervous as I was walking up to him, and I will never forget his face when he turned around and saw me in my dress for the first time. It was priceless. A lot of brides don't want to ruin the tradition of seeing each other before the wedding ceremony, but I'm so glad we did a first look! It really made us feel more at ease the rest of the day and I felt so much more relaxed.
My second favorite part of our day was our ceremony. We wanted our whole ceremony to focus around our strong relationship with God and how He has played a role in us becoming man and wife. The pastor who married us, Steve, was the pastor at our church in Fenton, MI where Deke was the worship leader there for 2 years. Steve had since moved to be a missionary in Costa Rica with his family but we flew him back to MI to marry us. It was important that he marry us because that is the church where I accepted Christ into my life. Deke and I wrote our own vows to each other and took communion together. The whole ceremony was absolutely incredible and perfect in every way. This is going to sound strange, but I honestly don't think there is anything that I would have changed about my day! I feel like all of the details came together exactly how I wanted them to, and everyone had a blast! It was a day I will never, ever forget!
Being married is the best and most amazing blessing in life. I get to wake up every day next to my best friend. Our whole dating relationship was spent long distance. I was finishing up my Master's degree at CMU and Deke was at U of M so we only saw each other on weekends. He then moved to Texas for pilot training for the Air Force so I only saw him on vacations from school. Now that we are married, I enjoy doing simple every day things with him, like grocery shopping or just running errands - things we never got to really enjoy together when we were dating. We love to cook together, watch movies, and explore our new home of Washington state. Deke's career as a C-17 pilot in the Air Force moved us across the country just a week after our wedding. We absolutely LOVE it here! Deke is gone a ton with his job flying overseas, but I definitely keep busy with my job (I am a speech-language pathologist) and am involved in our church here, as well. The time away from each other truly strengthens our relationship and marriage. It really makes us appreciate one another and cherish our time that we do get to be together.
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I knew you would love them! You can get more inspiration from the trailer of their wedding video here and be sure to check back tomorrow when we share all the personalized touches they included.
All photos by Amy Carroll Photography.
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