Happy, happy (first!) wedding week, Caroline and Anders!!! I am so excited that Caroline and Anders are getting married this week – and I know they are, too! Caroline and Anders are just one of those dream couples to work with in every way, and I have absolutely loved getting to know them (and Caroline’s mom!) throughout the wedding planning process.

With the utmost concern for all of their loved ones traveling, they made the hard decision to postpone their large wedding celebration til next summer. On their original wedding date, this week, Caroline and Anders decided to get married and not wait to make it official any longer! I LOVE this for them!! They will celebrate on their original wedding date with a ceremony and dinner surrounded by their immediate families and very closest friends. It’s going to be the most special, meaningful, intimate, and celebratory day as Caroline and Anders are wed and celebrated by their nearest and dearest.

I don’t want to give away too much, but this weekend’s intimate celebration includes their ceremony followed by dinner on the lawn… think an elegant outdoor garden party, juicy, lush flowers, a long table with their immediate families and best friends, romantic candlelight and market lights overhead, an exceptionally delicious and innovative menu, a petite wedding cake, and the most intimate, personalized, sweet ceremony. Though it’s not what any of us ever imagined when we started planning a year ago, it’s going to be an incredibly joyful, meaningful, and truly memorable first wedding day for them as Caroline and Anders officially are married!

And next summer, they’ll do it all over again with all of their beloved wedding guests with the same vendors and all of the details and design we originally planned! Their graciousness, flexibility, understanding, and strength during this hard, unprecedented time is truly admirable, and I couldn’t ask for a sweeter, more trusting couple (or parents)! It’s hard to put into words just how special Caroline, Anders, and their families are and how utterly thrilled I am for them to be married this weekend… and to bring their dream wedding day to life not once, but twice!

I have absolutely loved getting to know Caroline and Anders as a couple more and more throughout the wedding planning process over the last year. They are such thoughtful, generous, genuine, trusting, and loving people, and they clearly bring out the very best in one another and are the perfect balance for each other. As much as we all wish a pandemic hadn’t changed their wedding plans, I actually think it’s almost the best of both worlds for them: having such an intimate, private, milestone moment like a wedding ceremony can be a little overwhelming and anxiety-inducing for some, so having just two dozen of their very closest people to witness it may help put them at ease a bit more!

At the end of the day, even with some changes and updates (and plenty of safety precautions, of course!), it’s going to be the sweetest, most extraordinary, most beautiful day as Caroline and Anders are married! It’s such a joyful occasion to celebrate with their beloved family and friends and to kick off married life for Caroline and Anders in such a lovely, romantic, memorable, and meaningful way.

Caroline and Anders, your wedding week is finally here, and I hope you feel nothing but an abundance of love, excitement, and joy as you two are married and are celebrated with such profound joy and excitement! You were clearly made for one another, and your love is so inspiring.

I’m so excited to share Caroline’s bride spotlight with you today, where you can learn more about the two of them, their love story, and what they’re most excited about on their wedding day, covid-edition! I asked Caroline to focus more on this intimate celebration and what it’s like pivoting wedding plans during 2020… and next year, we’ll share plenty more about their bigger celebration! Also, are they not the most attractive couple just bursting with joy?! Their love simply radiates in their engagement session by the incomparable Ally and Bobby Photography — swoon!

1.Tell us about you and your fiancé, Anders, and more about your love story.

Anders and I met playing on an intramural floor hockey team our freshmen year of college. We remained friends for the rest of the semester and began dating our sophomore year. After graduating, I moved to Raleigh for a job and Anders couldn’t stay away so he moved up soon after. We have now lived in Raleigh for 4 years and have loved making it our home together!

2. How have your wedding plans changed due to the pandemic and what did you and Anders decide to do? How has it been for you?

Due to the pandemic, Anders and I had to move our larger wedding celebration to next summer. We decided to keep our original wedding date and have an intimate ceremony and dinner at our venue. We knew we still wanted to get married this fall, so we worked closely with Stephanie to come up with a plan that would allow us to still have the celebration we wanted while following the current restrictions. It was tough at first making the call to postpone our big celebration, but Stephanie made our lives so easy and stress-free with getting everything moved and making sure all of our vendors were on board for our new date. Anders and I cannot wait to still get married on our original date in a few short days!

3. What are you most excited about your wedding day in September? Do you have a moment that you’re most anticipating?

I’m most excited about getting to celebrate with some of our closest friends and family. We haven’t seen some of them since before the pandemic began, so being able to spend this big day with them is extremely special. The moment I’m most anticipating is walking down the aisle. Anders and I had originally planned on doing a first look so that we could have a private moment together before the ceremony. With a smaller ceremony, we are more comfortable having that moment when I walk down the aisle. The nice thing about two weddings is that we still get to do our first look next summer – best of both worlds!

4. What are you most excited about next summer?

I’m most looking forward to doing it all over again and continuing to celebrate our love with everyone we had hoped to do so with originally. It’s nice that we get to have an intimate day first and have a big party later with less stress since we will already be married. Also, I can’t wait to finally see everything come together with our original design!

5. What was your biggest inspiration for your intimate ceremony and dinner design?

Our venue and bright summery colors. I knew I wanted to do something different than our big celebration so that we would have two very distinct memories to look back on. Since we are doing everything outside, I wanted the day to have a garden party feel and I can’t wait to see the Merrimon Wynne lawn come alive with our bright color palette.

6. What advice do you have for 2020 brides and for planning a wedding during a pandemic?

Hire a planner – specifically Stephanie if you can (everyone should do that regardless of a pandemic!). I think it’s super important that brides currently planning should be flexible.  It might seem overwhelming at the time and what you imagined isn’t going to happen, but really your vendors and planner still are working hard to make your day perfect. At the end of the day, the important part is that you still are going to get married!

7. What is something you’re passionate about? What are some things you and Anders love to do together?
Anders and I were both collegiate athletes, so we are extremely passionate about sports. We love to stay active and exercise together, but also by ourselves. I play in an adult field hockey league in the Triangle and am a fitness instructor for a dance class. Anders is an avid fisher and when he’s not exercising he’s watching football. We also love to cook together and have been able to try new recipes every week with all of our time at home.

8. What has been the biggest surprise in the wedding planning process?

All of the details that go into the planning process. There are so many decisions that have to be made in terms of vendors and design. Stephanie has made the process so much less stressful than I anticipated by narrowing down choices and giving us options that fit our style and vision for our wedding.

9. What is your favorite part of your intimate wedding design?

The color palette is definitely my favorite part! We decided to go with bright and juicy pinks and oranges, which is way different than our plans for next summer. I love the bright pops of color for a smaller scale wedding and can’t wait to see our vision come to life!

10. What is your favorite thing about Anders?

It’s hard to choose just one thing! I love how caring Anders is towards everyone in his life. He’s a great listener, loyal friend, and always encouraging me to be the best version of myself. I’m so lucky I get to call him my husband in a few days!

Stayed tuned this weekend for lots of sneak peeks of their wedding on my Instagram! I already can’t wait to see it all come to life for Caroline and Anders as we celebrate this joyous, gorgeous day!

all photos by the fabulous Ally and Bobby Photography

As a note, this wedding is taking place in accordance with all current state and local government mandates and ordinates, CDC recommendations, and is well under the capacities for weddings in North Carolina. We are all taking countless health and safety precautions for both guests and vendors, staying well under the current maximum capacity for venues in NC, adhering to all required and recommended safety measures, including but not limited to: moving all of the wedding outdoors, practicing social distancing, requiring guests to wear masks when not seated, eliminating all dancing, spreading out all ceremony and dinner seating and seating families/households together, posting signage, providing additional hand sanitizer and masks, having a seated cocktail hour with no passed or stationed appetizers, and so much more! I just had to add in this little caveat that this wedding very much legal and allowed in North Carolina and at their venue – and that the health and safety of their families, friends, and vendors are incredibly important concerns to all of us.