Our Names: Jeremy and Lisa J.

Our Occupations: Both in Sales

We’re from: Jeremy is from Lafayette, Lisa is from Menomonie, WI

How long we’ve been together: 2.5 years

How we met:  At the most magical place on earth – Disney World

What makes our personalities so compatible:  We balance each other.  Laughing, staying focused when needed, and keeping sights on an effective work/life balance.

The kind of dress I thought I wanted, versus the kind of dress I ended up choosing:  I wanted something “antique” yet flirty and feminine.  He wanted it to be fitted, and was actually quite inquisitive though he didn’t get answers.  I questioned my dress a lot since I had bought it a full year before our wedding date, but every time I put it on it just felt right and I didn’t want to take it off. The best part, I stayed under budget.

The thing that makes my bridal look unique:  We just tried to make the whole wedding “us” while making sure our guests would enjoy the event.  We inserted elements of FUN wherever we could.  For example, we didn’t use traditional bridal portraits at the welcome table of the reception, but rather an engagement picture of the two of us enjoying the MN State Fair.

(Groom) How I felt when I saw my bride for the first time:  Absolutely breath taking gorgeous- my heart began to race!

A moment from the wedding you’ll never forget:

Groom: Looking into her eyes as we read our vows and proclaimed our love to each other before God.

Bride: First eye contact with Jeremy about half-way up the aisle.  I couldn’t take my eyes off him from then on…

Emotions experienced during the wedding:

Groom: Complete happiness- very spiritual ceremony.

Emotions experienced during the wedding:

Bride:  I felt as though he and I were the only two in the room listening to Father Keith.  It was a very personal time for us.

Mode of transportation:  Limo Bus from Acadiana Limo.

Wedding Venue and why we chose it:  Wolff Ballroom, Washington, LA.  We loved the open-air concept, needed a lot of space, fell in love with the wood floors, brick walls, large iron chandeliers, and more.  We had lots of out of town family joining us and we wanted to show them Louisiana character and not a hotel banquet room that could be in any state.

Other vendors we would highly recommend:  We had great vendors!  Geaux Photo, Daisey Cakes, Flowers Etc., Andy Smith Band, Lafayette Reception & Catering,  Day of Coordinator:  Madison Baltodano at Breathe Easy Event Planning.

What we liked about having Erin as our wedding photographer and our wedding day pictures:   Erin was on time (very important for my tight timeline of events), had a smile the entire evening, and very graciously took the time to ask Jeremy and I about any last minute photos we wanted, even though it was past time for her to leave for the night.  She kept us on task in effort to capture the special moments.   Since the evening tends to be a whirlwind, some direction is nice.  We are excited to see the pictures!

Our Names: Jess & Heidi B.

Our Occupations: Jess is an actuary and Heidi is a Registered Dietitian

We’re from: Jess is from Sulphur, Louisiana and Heidi is from Dysart, Iowa

How long we’ve been together: We’ve been together for 3.5 years.

The kind of dress I thought I wanted, versus the kind of dress I ended up choosing:  I never really dreamed of my wedding dress as some girls do. When I started looking I thought I might like something very simple and elegant.  My actual dress had lots of bead-work and was still very elegant.

The thing that makes my bridal look unique: I wore my great-grandmother’s ring on my right hand ring finger. My grandmother wore it for her wedding and gave it to my mother to wear for her wedding. Now I have it

How we met: We met at a young adult Catholic weekend retreat called Emmaus in the summer of 2005. We were in the same small group.  We re-met the summer of 2007 at a Theology on Tap meeting.  We didn’t start dating until November 2007.

(Groom) How I felt when I saw my bride for the first time:  “stoked”

A moment from the wedding you’ll never forget:

Groom: “My bride walking down the aisle”

What makes our personalities so compatible:  We are both laid back, easy going, love God, Catholic, and we love to travel. Jess loves to be silly and I love to laugh.

Emotions experienced during the wedding:

Groom: “happy, jubilant, proud, delighted”

Emotions experienced during the wedding:

Bride: I was just so happy and confident that I just married the man God made for me!

Wedding Venue and why we chose it: Jess and I moved to Miami, Florida for work. We met in Jacksonville, Florida and have many mutual friends there. We choose to get married in Louisiana to be closer to both of our families and our friends.  Jess went to college at UL and was very involved at Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic Church.  We chose Our Lady of Wisdom and Jean Mard Hall because of it’s location, memories, and beauty.

Other vendors we would highly recommend:
Crystal Weddings for wedding cakes!  Her cakes look and taste amazing!  She has a huge variety of flavors and fillings.

A moment from the wedding you’ll never forget:

Bride: My father attempting to break dance at the reception!

Our bartender was great too: Chris Johnston 337-347-4444
Chef Bobby and Dot Catering–My family loved their food and prices were great.  Also they pack all the leftovers up for the bride/groom and families.
Salon Des Amis for hair and makeup.

Mode of transportation: rental car

What we liked about having Erin as our wedding photographer and our wedding day pictures: Erin has a great personality and artistic mind. She was a huge help in planning our day.

Our Names: Megan (Elizabeth) LaGrange Guidry, Braden Keith Guidry

Our Occupations:  Braden – Physical Therapy student at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR, Megan – Pharmacist

We’re from:  Braden – Church Point, LA, Megan - Arnaudville, LA

How long we’ve been together: 5 years

How we met: Braden came ask me to dance to a song at Jamie Bergeron’s Christmas in July concert at Cowboys in July of 2005

What makes our personalities so compatible: We have always had similar interests (our careers, hanging out with friends, cooking, dancing, meeting new people), but what makes us work well together is the fact that Braden is a very laid-back, easy-going person, while I am a very nervous person.  In a way, we compliment each other…He calms me down when I am anxious and I rev him up when we need to get moving or get something accomplished.  It works out well.

A funny story about us: About a year after we starting dating, we booked our first camping trip.  We packed up our camping gear, bikes, and canoe and headed on our way to Chicot State Park, all smiles and taking our sweet time.  After about an hour and a half, we arrived at the entrance of the park.  Braden proceeded to tell the ranger that we had booked a cabin for the weekend.  The ranger then looked at our confirmation letter, only to inform us that we had booked a cabin at the wrong park.  The park that our cabin was located was in Bastrop, LA (4 hours away!)  Since we had already paid for the weekend, we decided to head up north.  We thought, “What the hell? Why not.”  Big mistake.  On our trip to Bastrop, we caught a bad thunderstorm, got a speeding ticket in my brother’s truck (our names weren’t on his insurance), and couldn’t find the park once we made it to the city.  We didn’t make it to the cabin until late that afternoon.  It ended up being a wonderful, relaxing trip together after we finally got to our destination, but who would have known the journey to get there would have been so difficult?!

What we liked about our Engagement Photo Shoot with Adam and the pictures we ended up with:  The pictures Adam took for our engagements came out beautiful!  The weather was perfect.  We really liked how Adam created a relaxing environment for us and allowed us to enjoy taking pictures together.  Adam did a wonderful job of making a 2 and 1/2 hour photo shoot enjoyable and it definitely shows in the pictures.

The kind of dress I thought I wanted, versus the kind of dress I ended up choosing:  The dress I choose for our wedding was exactly what I had pictured in my mind.  I tried on a total of 5 dresses before I knew I found the one.  I’ve always loved the princess and ball-gown look, and the one I chose met those qualifications and was definitely the dress of my dreams.

The thing that makes my bridal look unique: I think that the thing that makes my bridals look unique is the fact that I didn’t have a plan on the day of the photo shoot.  I didn’t have any particular poses or scenery in mind, so the fact that Erin and I just went with it allowed the pictures to come out so much more natural.

What I liked about my Bridal Photo Shoot with Erin and the pictures I ended up with: Erin did a wonderful job for my bridal shoot and the pictures came out beautiful! I really liked how she spent a lot of time getting every single detail perfect, especially for just one pose, and knew exactly which poses would look great for each particular type of scenery (especially the sunset ones!)

Mode of transportation: Limousine

Emotions experienced during the wedding:

Groom:  I was pretty calm, right until about 5 minutes before the ceremony.  I started to get extremely nervous.  Then I was excited and I felt extremely happy.  I think that’s why I couldn’t stop smiling.  I knew that I was marrying the woman I love.

(Groom) How I felt when I saw my bride for the first time:  I was absolutely amazed.  I thought she looked so beautiful.  The lighting behind her made it hard to see at first and it was almost like we were in a movie.

A moment from the wedding you’ll never forget:

Bride: Seeing Braden’s smiling face the moment I walked through the church doors.  It was my focus point.

Emotions experienced during the wedding:

Bride: I experienced a variety of emotions throughout the wedding.  I was very calm throughout the day while getting ready and during our bridal party photo shoot.  The anxious feelings came whenever my bridesmaids exited the limosine and there I was alone with my thoughts.  My videographer then asked me to give some last minute thoughts and then the tears started flowing.  I cried tears of joy while walking down the isle and while saying my vows, but for the majority of the time I was just filled with happiness.  I have never experienced so much joy and love in my entire lifetime.

A moment from the wedding you’ll never forget:

Groom:  Kissing Megan at the end of the ceremony.

Wedding Venue and why we chose it:  St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Grand Coteau, LA – We chose this venue for several reasons.  Both the grounds and the interior of the church are absolutely gorgeous, and the history behind it is so interesting.  Also, it was a church that provided a middle ground for both Braden and I, located between Church Point and Arnaudville.

Reception Venue and why we chose it: Carencro Community Center – We chose this venue because we wanted a place that was large enough to accommodate our large amount of guests comfortably.  We also wanted a place that was near the church as well as a middle ground between Church Point and Arnaudville.  Both the venue and the setup for the reception were perfect.

What we liked about having Adam as our wedding photographer and our wedding day pictures:  Adam is such a go-with-the-flow type of person.  His skills as a photographer come so naturally.  He captures a shot in his mind and makes it a reality.  And each photo comes out so amazing.  What we really liked about Adam capturing our wedding day was that he enjoyed it just as much as we did.  He honored all of our requests with a smile and knew exactly what to say to make us laugh.  It was really wonderful for Adam to stay past his time and enjoy the reception with all of us and capture the very end of the reception where Braden and I said our goodbyes and got into the limousine.

Other vendors we would highly recommend:

Brent’s Catering & Speciality Cakes in Grand Coteau, LA;

Rex Broussard – DJ Services