Oslo Gown – Corey & Matt

January 20, 2021

Real Brides

Oslo Gown – Corey & Matt

COUPLE’S NAMES

Corey & Matt

WEDDING DATE

21 Novemeber 2020

WEDDING LOCATION

Our micro-wedding and reception were held in my husband’s brother and sister-in-law’s backyard. We started planning one month before and primarily wanted a place where our family could feel safe and the kiddos and dogs could run around freely. We are very grateful for the ability to have used their beautiful backyard as our venue.

GUEST TOTAL

15. Both our parents attended, along with my husband’s siblings and their children, ranging in age from one to eleven. Our two golden retrievers were also present.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Brittany Gilbert – we found her online and met her on the day of the wedding. Her style is so fun and honest. I was drawn to how she captures precious golden hour moments and clearly makes her subjects feel comfortable and seen.

BRIDE’S DRESS

Bo & Luca – Oslo. I am obsessed with the 70’s styling and details of how the beaded cuffs anchor the billowy organza sleeves.

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES

None. We chose not to have a wedding party for this small of an event. The guests were given the freedom to wear whatever they chose, and it worked out well!

ENGAGEMENT STORY

Such plans in the time of COVID-19 are unpredictable, and we were supposed to be on an extended Italian vacation over the summer that was inevitably postponed. Matt told me after the fact that he was planning to propose during that trip! Either way, he’d planned a hike for us to a nearby greenbelt and was very stressed out the entire time. He was on his phone most of the hike and was desperate to find the best spot to “take a cute picture of the dogs.” I was completely surprised when he was suddenly down on one knee and gave me a gorgeous ring, asked me to marry him, and his brother was hiding nearby to capture the moment. I would have said yes regardless of the setting.

WEDDING THEME

Al fresco dinner party.

WEDDING RINGS

My engagement ring is a cushion-cut diamond with a prong setting on a yellow gold band, and the wedding band has three rows of pave diamonds set in yellow gold. My husband’s band is yellow gold. Both my husband and I had nearly the exact same thing engraved inside of each others bands (without knowing). He loves the Beatles, and our first dance was to “From Me to You,” so both bands have some version of “with love from me to you” engraved.

FLOWERS & BOUQUETS

Uncomplicated/informal garden bunches of green and white blooms. My bouquet was an organic shape of olive greenery, white peonies with some unexpected textural sprays.

WEDDING CAKE

Our cake was a small, two-tier with a modern dot-pattern. The top tier was lemon butter cake with blueberry jam filling, and the base tier was funetti cake with chocolate mousse filling.

WEDDING SONGS

Bride’s intro: “Halo” cover by Lotte Kestner. First Dance: “From Me to You” cover by Futurebirds. Cocktail hour, dinner and reception were covered by a playlist we created of our favorite songs from the Beatles, Kacey Musgraves, Spotify’s “Latino Dinner Party” playlist and others.

FOOD & DRINKS

My parents-in-law supplied wine, [copious amounts of] champagne and spiked seltzers for a catered dinner of pecan-crusted white fish and beef tenderloin (homemade chicken tenders for the kids). The groom’s brother built a magnificent charcuterie board for nibbles during cocktail hour.

HONEYMOON

We spent our wedding night at the Joule in downtown Dallas, but are planning on taking a post-vaccine safari to Africa as soon as we’re able.

GIFTS REGISTRY

We had a small registry, but given that we only invited immediate family members, we weren’t expecting very much. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family who supported us from afar! We are very much looking forward to hosting our friends to a big dinner party at our house when the pandemic “ends.”

MEMORABLE MOMENT

I had never seen my husband cry before our wedding. A few weeks before the ceremony, we decided to write our own vows. We both ended up crying at each other’s vows and it was unexpectedly sweet!

ADVICE FOR BRIDES-TO-BE

Small weddings are SO much fun and stress-free. I’m in disbelief that we planned it all in one month, but it was so worth the effort to not have to wait a long time for the world to re-open and get married. To have a crowded table during a pandemic was a dream come true, and everyone felt safe being together.