I was over the moon when Kylie Swanson, co-owner of Rekindled Vintage Rentals, reached out to me and submitted her oh-so-sweet-and-pretty ?home reception?!! Kylie and her hubby, John, had a destination wedding, and wanted a laid back, casual, relaxed reception when they came home with the people who couldn?t make it down to Mexico. Her love of all things vintage, eclectic, and ?at-home? came together beautifully thanks to Lindsay Gibson of Gibson Events and Kelly Long of Poppy Lane Design. They had an outstanding table of desserts (no, really, I want to hop into the pictures Mary Poppins style and partake in one of those delectable treats) thanks to Abbey Road Catering and Amy Cakes. And Holli B Photography was on hand for Kylie and John?s entire wedding week to capture every last, little, beautiful bit! I absolutely adore the idea of a destination wedding and ?at-home? reception as I?ve often thought I?ll do the same one day :). I also have to tell you that Kylie did such a sweet job in telling me about her and John?s love story that I couldn?t bear to rewrite it. I just can?t express her love and happiness for this man the way she can. So, there you go :).
?Thinking back to the first time John and I met just makes my heart explode with happiness! It was during our junior year of college at the University of Oklahoma and we?ve been inseparable ever since. While I was his first ?real? relationship, I had kissed my fair share of frogs and was ready to swear off relationships right as he decided to walk into my life. He?s truly every answer to my endless amounts of prayers and I wonder what I could have possibly done to deserve him on a daily basis!?
?I knew I loved John from the minute I first met him. He?s one of those people with a magnetic personality, someone that you just feel as though you have to get to know. Whether it was his infectious laugh or his undeniable charm, I?ll never know. Regardless, I was smitten from day one. Thankfully, he was too, and after nearly 10 months of dating, he popped the question.?
?Our proposal is almost as memorable as our wedding week was. I had mentioned (in more ways than one) that my dream proposal would be a complete and utter surprise. Quite a tough task when I can, on occasion, be a tad nosey. I?m sure everyone in our lives wondered how John would pull off a surprise engagement when I had to have known it was coming sooner or later. He somehow managed to sneak this one right under my nose and I will always remember it as one of the best days of my life.
It was Halloween and my mom had invited John and I to a family friend?s ranch for a casual get-together. She actually invited just me and I asked if John could attend. So in a way, I thought I was the one making plans for the evening. My mom came to pick us up and we drove up in what I now remember as awkward silence. I can only assume my mom threatened my two younger brothers with their lives if they opened their mouths about the real plans for the evening.
Once we arrived at the ranch, John asked me if I wanted to hop on a horse and ride down to the bottom pasture. Because I can sometimes be a pain, I said no and told him to ask my younger brother to go with him. He was persistent and finally got me to agree to accompany him. On our ride, he started telling me how much he loved me. Oblivious, I still didn?t catch on to what was happening.
Once we arrived at the pasture, he asked me if we could get off the horses and walk for a bit. Again, being stubborn, I declined the offer and insisted on staying on my horse. I?m sure at this point he was wondering why on earth he was about sign up to spend a lifetime with my hardheadedness!
After awhile, I finally agreed to get off. Before I knew it, he was down on one knee asking me to be his wife. I have truly never been happier or more surprised. We got back on our horses and saw my second surprise of the evening: the rest of my family and his were back at the house waiting for us. We spent the rest of the night grilling steaks, popping champagne, and eating scrumptious cupcakes that my mom had specially ordered with my new soon-to-be initials. It was by far the best Halloween I?ve ever had.?
?I don?t even know if I waited a week to hire my wedding planner (the fabulous Lindsay Gibson of Gibson Events?she is a shining star!) and drove straight into wedding plans. We had the date set, the venue picked out, the vendors chosen. Not more than four months before the big day, I started to unravel. I felt like we were truly a few clowns short of a circus. The guest list was out of control, the details were becoming bigger than what really mattered?our marriage!?and I pleaded with my fianc? to elope with me to Vegas. Thankfully he didn?t agree to that one!?
?We decided to change the plans a bit and have what we both had wanted from the beginning: a destination wedding. So, in between a full course load of classes, I planned our wedding (for the second time!) to a destination none of us had ever been to before. I?m not sure why I ended up choosing The Four Seasons Punta Mita, but I know it was one of the best decisions I?ve ever made. It was pure bliss.?
?A teeny road block popped up about a month before we had planned to leave and we learned that we would need to be legally married in the States unless we planned on being in Mexico a minimum of five days before we tied the knot there. What started as a plan for John and I to go to the court house by ourselves ended up turning into a beautiful ceremony on the campus of OU with only a pastor and our two witnesses (our wedding planner and photographer!). I wore my late grandmother?s wedding dress, my mother?s pearls, and carried the prettiest little bouquet made by Kelly Long of Poppy Lane Design. That evening we had dinner with both of our parents and prepared to leave for Mexico five short days later.?
?When we returned, we had the most amazing ?home? reception with almost 300 of our nearest and dearest. Everything was more perfect than I could have ever imagined. We shared our second ?first dance? to Ray Lamontagne?s ?You Are The Best Thing? and spent the evening under the stars with our favorite people in the world. One of the most important details of the day was to create an at-home feel outdoors. I wanted a lounge area, mix-matched seating, vintage farm tables, and other eclectic details that, at the time, were not real trendy yet. It wasn?t easy finding these pieces, but our wedding planner truly knocked our socks off. It was everything I had dreamt of plus so much more. And it sparked something inside of me that would later lead to my dream job, launching Rekindled Vintage Rentals.?
?It was truly such a fun evening, filled with endless amounts of desserts and lots of dancing. The evening was held at Cobblestone Creek Country Club and planned to perfection by Lindsay Gibson of Gibson Events. The flowers were my favorites, everything was so eclectic and came together perfectly! Kelly Long of Poppy Lane Design made my vision come to life. We had a live band to start the evening and it was too perfect for words. Clancy David, who happens to be Blake Shelton?s talented cousin, absolutely blew me away. Later, we had a DJ from Box Talent that kept guests grooving for hours on end. Since we wanted the reception to be fairly informal, we really went crazy with the desserts. Abbey Road Catering and Amy Cakes collaborated to bring together the prettiest little sweets station. I loved every detail! My only regret was that I didn?t have a second to enjoy any of the delectable desserts! None of these details would have mattered had it not been for our phenomenal photographer, Holli Brewer of Holli B Photography. She spent the entire week with us in Mexico and then met up with us the day after we returned to shoot this reception as well. She definitely became more of a friend than a photog! We simply adore her and are forever grateful for the memories she created for us.?
?One of my favorite wedding gifts was from one of my dad?s business friends who shot the majority of his advertising pieces. He sent over his talented people to video the entire evening and it remains to be one of my favorite things from our wedding week! It captured the night to a tee and I could not be more thankful!?
{Advice for Couples} My biggest piece of advice for couples getting ready to tie the knot would be to focus on what truly matters and forget the rest. Having a beautiful wedding is undoubtedly an amazing and memorable experience, but having a marriage that?s even more beautiful than your wedding is what you?ll look back on 50 years from now.
Thank you so much Kylie for sharing your love story, details of your wedding week, and at-home reception with us!! We wish you and John so much love and laughter in the many years you?ll share together!!?xoxo
Source: http://www.heartloveweddings.com/2013/09/vintage-backyard-wedding-reception/
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