Andrew and Alexandra 's Wedding in Apex, North Carolina

The story of our wedding

After 2 long years of planning, we made it to our perfect day!It all started at 8:30 AM on Saturday 11/2/19. The girls had to be at the venue at 8:30 AM to start getting ready. I had 5 girls in my wedding party; my oldest sister as my Matron of Honor, my middle sister as my Maid of Honor, and my bridesmaids were my cousin and two best friends. Around 1:30, I was told to get my dress on to go surprise my dad for our first look. As you can imagine, it was an absolute sob fest (so thankful for fake eyelashes and airbrush makeup). After that I went back inside for everyone to set up Andrew, my husband-to-be, for our first look. I will always remember the look on his face the second he turned around and saw me; cue sob fest again.After all of the crying, I went to admire the decor as this was the first time I had seen it all put together. My bouquet and arrangements were everything I could have asked for, the reception was set up perfectly, and the ambiance was just perfect for that fall feel. The reception was a tented brick patio while the ceremony was outdoors in front of two giant dark wooden doors.I joke that the walkway/aisle to the ceremony is a 5k, but it really is a long way to walk while everyone is staring at you and the music needs to be replayed 3 times. I planned for everyone to post up halfway and start our procession from there. To get out there without being seen, my dad held a giant burgundy umbrella in front of us until it was our time to walk.We walked down to “How Long Will I Love You” by Ellie Goulding, and it was probably one of the most memorable parts of the day. Our friend was our officiant and he wrote an amazing 15 minute reading and then we read our own vows. Time slowed down during that moment and I’m so happy it did because the rest of the night flew by.I wouldn’t change a single part of the day; from my hair and makeup to the decor and food, it was flawless.