Our Day

Our love story is my favorite one. Ever.

Before Brett and I met, we both went through some times that would break anyone down no matter how tough they were. Everything made perfect sense though, once we met, and we realized that those hard times carried us into this fairytale of ours. We still cannot believe how obvious it is that we were without a doubt, made for each other.

I cannot wait to tell you all about the best day of our life! First, I want to tell a little about our wedding planning…

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We both knew we would be spending the rest of our lives together after only a couple months of dating, so we had dreamed about our wedding day before Brett ever even popped the question.

In our minds was an intimate ceremony with immediate family and close friends and a small reception after. We were torn on where it would be, because we both loved the idea of the ceremony being outside (preferably on my family’s farmland somewhere), but having been raised in a Catholic church, part of me felt we should get married in the church and have a Catholic ceremony. Brett wanted to do whatever made me happy (and yes, he truly meant that), but his one request was that we not get married outside in the heat in the month of June!

Fast forward a few months, and at month 7, we were engaged! So began the planning.

We wanted so much for our wedding to be very “us.” If a suggestion about anything wedding-related came up and it didn’t feel like it had “Brett &/or Paige” written all over it, we weren’t doing it! A cute little Catholic church out in the country became the location we were looking for and WOW is it hard to find a Catholic church that is both little and in the country. But Brett found one and we set the date for June 6th!

I had our invitations printed, addressed, and in the mailbox one day in May, but that same day I had a change of heart. Something was telling me that it would be better if we were married outside rather than in that church. Also, I was worried about Covid ruining our church wedding plans because it may not have been possible to stay 6 feet away from others in the small church.

We decided our new location would be under a pretty, big tree at my parents house. Remember we originally wanted to get married outside on my family’s land? Check.

So I took the invitations out of the mailbox, printed new ones with my parents’ address, and sent them out for REAL this time. Nothing like sending out wedding invites less than a month before the wedding!

I was so excited about getting married outside and knew it would be beautiful and would make my soul happy! The only problem was… we didn’t have anyone to marry us. To have a Catholic wedding, the ceremony has to be in the church. Since we were not getting married in the church anymore, we knew the priest would not be able to marry us. Or so we thought…

Our priest, Father Dan, had gotten to know Brett and myself and cares a lot about us. So, he did everything he could to get the Bishop to give him permission to marry us outside the church. Because of Covid causing an issue with our church plans, the Bishop granted us permission to be married in a Catholic ceremony outside the church – if you aren’t Catholic you might not know, but this is a BIG deal. Remember I also wanted to have a Catholic ceremony? Check.

So let’s see what we’ve got here:

• Outdoor wedding on family farm
• Catholic ceremony
• Original wedding date June 6th despite Covid

Remember Brett said no outdoor wedding in June? Sorry Brett!

Anyway, now you’re caught up with the wedding planning, so keep reading to find out how our perfect day went!

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Morning

Most of us know how stressful wedding days can be, but one thing I did not want for anyone on this day was to be stressed. This day was to be all about those few minutes of repeating our vows and saying “I do,” and less about the minor details. Since my parents, brother, and I set up the wedding at the tree the day before and Brett’s mom, step-mom, and sisters set up the reception venue, it made for a very relaxed morning and I am so thankful for that.

After morning coffee with my sister, we did some things here and there to get ready before our hair and makeup girls came. This included putting our nails on. I told you I was not worried about minor details – I wore press-on nails that I did not even like very much and they even started falling off before we left the house! Btw, do NOT by Kiss press-on nails. The imPRESS kind are the best!

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Hair & Makeup

Our makeup was mostly done before the photographer arrived but I am glad she was able to get a few shots of my mom, sister, and I getting our hair done by Darian.

I wanted my hair to be loose and flowy rather than perfect and polished because I wanted to look like myself on my wedding day! I ordered a flower crown off Etsy to add some detail to my hair. My sister actually painted some of the flowers a lighter color that morning because they were much pinker than the picture showed online (go figure).

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Dress

I could not wait to put my dress on! It wasn’t until this point that I started getting a little stressed because I was running a little later than I had anticipated. We weren’t late for the wedding at all, but I always try to set a time in my head and treat it like a goal and if I don’t make the goal, it bothers me!

I was so glad that we were able to have gotten ready in the new house because I knew the pictures would turn out great with how bright our house is. Our reception venue had a bridal suite where we could have gotten ready but I am such a homebody and I knew I would feel more comfortable at home.

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The Ceremony

We arrived at my parents’ house about 30 minutes before the ceremony so that I could do a confession session (lol) with Father Dan and so he could tell me how the ceremony would go, since we did not have a rehearsal.

We started right at 4 because I did not want to keep everyone waiting in the heat – I think it was 94 degrees that day! Again, sorry Brett. But I think he still looked pretty happy watching me walk down the aisle! This is definitely one of my favorite pictures of him.

I think my dad was (almost) as happy as I was to be marrying Brett because I don’t think anyone but God could have ever imagined a man as amazing as Brett to be my husband.

Our ceremony was perfect. It was simple, pretty, and most of all – meaningful. It was everything we could have wanted and so after the ceremony itself, I was completely content with the day because I was finally married to the love of my life and that’s all I’ve really wanted since I realized months ago that Brett was the one.

Father Dan read the following from the bible…

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not hishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

…and Brett is in every one of those lines. Such a godly man, naturally!

My sister, Monica, and Brett’s best friend, Kris, stood next to us on our special day. They have been there for us through it all and always will be, just like we will be for them.

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After the Ceremony

Even the dogs got dressed up in their finest bow ties for the occasion, so we had to get a picture with them. Such a big part of our life are these good boys!

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The Reception

Introducing, Mr. and Mrs. Brett Houchen!

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I sure was excited to finally have some almond wine and celebrate our happy day! My sister gave a little speech before supper and I am pretty sure we are laughing about the part where she told Brett to prepare to have a lot more pets in the future! I’m an animal lover, not sorry ’bout it.

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Our first dance was to the song God Whispered Your Name – no explanation needed! And yes, the way he looks at me makes my heart melt, too!

My dad and I danced to Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest, Brett and his mom danced to Momma Song by Cody Jinks, and I am not sure what Emmy and Brett’s song was but they definitely stole the show with their dance! She sure has her Uncle Bub’s heart.

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My mom made our wedding cake for us! It was just what I wanted and it meant a lot to me to have her make it herself. I love how our cake topper looks on top of it!

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My mom made our bouquets, too! I showed her a couple pictures of bouquets that I liked and we went to Hobby Lobby and picked out flowers and greenery similar to the pictures. I wanted them to have pinks and lavender with greens and I liked the idea of the bouquets being sort of droopy rather than stiff-looking. She made them look perfect!

At first I wanted to use fake flowers for the decorations (to save money) and real flowers for my bouquet, but I was convinced to go with fake flowers and I am so glad because we didn’t have to worry about keeping them looking fresh all night and I can display them in our home forever!

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We could not imagine our day being any more perfect. We are so blessed to have found each other and to have such amazing family and friends in our lives to help make this day as special as it was.

I have that feeling that everyone hopes for – the one where you know you are finally right where you have always wanted to be.

PH

Photography by Shelby Lynn Photography