Nicole & Simon
6.1.2019
How did you two meet?
Simon and I met at our job right out of college - a recruiting company in Southfield, MI during May 2011. We started on the same day and sat next to each other in the training class & even got put on the same customer account. For the first year, we were best friends and didn't start dating until March 2012 and fast forward to December 2017.... is when he proposed during our annual holiday photoshoot. We just bought a house in Royal Oak so we decided to get pictures downtown Royal Oak. While we were getting set up for another picture, our friend who was our photographer asked us when we were going to get engaged. Earlier that week, Simon told me that I wouldn't turn another year older without being engaged, which would be August 2018. This didn't bring up any red flags because we always have talked like this. While we were taking pictures, Simon turned to me and asked "How about now instead of August" and he got down on one knee - I HAD NO CLUE and neither did our photographer. It was so special because we got holiday photos AND just engaged photos done.
What was your favorite wedding day highlight?
Besides getting married to Simon - I would have to say it's tied between our dogs being our ring bear and flower girl (our love for our fur babies runs that DEEP) & just dancing all night long. Not a lot of guests knew we were having our dogs in our wedding, so it was amazing seeing the guests realize our dogs were walking down the aisle in their wedding outfits. Bow Tie for our dog Loki with a sign on his neck saying "Dad Here Comes Mom". And Carmen had her own flower girl dress, along with a basket of rose petals that were dropped on behalf of her. Simon & I love dancing so we were on the dance floor the entire night, which was so much fun!
Any advice for a future bride?
I have a few key points....
1) Everyone kept telling me to make sure to take everything in and BE PRESENT! Don't ignore this advice when you hear it....I am glad I didn't ignore it, being present in the moment made everything sink in & made every moment so special. It also helped the day not seem like a blur. I can honestly say I remember the majority of the ceremony because I worked so hard on being present and making sure I took everything in.
2) TYPE A personality brides (like myself) - BEST ADVICE I got was "You have 1 job to do that day.....get married. If something happens that messes up the timeline, it doesn't matter". That piece of advice helped me be so relaxed the morning of and not care when there was a HUGE thunderstorm that prevented us from taking pre-ceremony photos outside.
3) HIRE A DAY OF COORDINATOR - I swear this is the BEST money I spent. I was SO relaxed the morning of because my day of coordinator took care of everything and set up our reception room. She also worked so well with my officiant, DJ, and Photographers because she kept everyone on the same page. No one came to be asking me questions, everyone knew to go to Kathy.
Who would you like to give credit for helping make the big day so successful?
First off my day of coordinator Kathy - like I said BEST MONEY I spent! Also, as cheesy as it sounds my entire family, bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, and my officiant. - it was truly a group effort. If I needed to make sure my husband Simon did something at a specific time, the groomsmen took care of it. If I needed something specific, I couldn't finish my sentence before my bridesmaids were off getting what I needed or making sure something was done.
- Nicole
