Something Old or Something New

The third article, Something Old or Something New, is up on Bayside Bride. In this article I share the history of wedding traditions and some fresh alternatives to liven the event. I talk about white wedding dresses vs colored dresses, who "gives away" the bride, the first look debate, personalized and preset vows, and the kissing game I learned at Ryan and Jenn's wedding.

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Find out both sides of the wedding tradition debates to see what you and your fiance will use for your wedding.

Jenn & Ryan's Wedding

My brother and sister-in-law, Ryan and Jenn Kirby, were married February 17, 2013 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Their wedding was beautiful, fun, and incredibly special. We spent the week at the beach, banana boating, clubbing, dancing, swimming, and snorkeling all up to their big day.

When Jenn walked down the aisle to The Bright Eyes "First Day of My Life" Ryan was in tears, so was I, so was everyone. Jenn was lovely. After their ceremony, the wedding quickly turned into a party. They had a photo booth, cigar rollers, and fire dancers there for entertainment which really had everyone going. And when the music started everyone jumped on the dance floor and didn't stop dancing until midnight. It was so much fun.

Kataya Nova's pictures are up on her blog now. So go take a peek at Ryan and Jenn's wedding! 

P.S. If you see a man with a tie around his head and white hair, that's my Pop Pop. He's crazy fun and I really hope he gets like this for my wedding.

Navy Wedding Accents

My second article, Navy Wedding Accents, is up on Bayside Bride. Read about ways to incorporate the "Navy" theme without going to overboard. I talk about bouquets, garters, cakes, and Top Gun serenades.

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I'm really enjoying this internship so far and discovering a few things: I love weddings, reseraching Navy tidbits, and writing articles.

Shannon

Military Wedding Traditions and Etiquette

My first article, Military Wedding Traditions and Etiquette, is up on Bayside Bride. Read about the traditions of the Arch of Swords and cake cutting as well as the etiquette involving proper dress atire and invitations.

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I had a great time researching all the information with Claire MacCullum from the USNA Chapel and I cannot wait to put these traditions and etiquette into effect for my own wedding.

Shannon

Internship at Bayside Bride

Tons of wonderful things happened over break and I love that I finally get to share them with you like my Spring 2013 Internship with Bayside Bride. Now I've been a big follower of the annapolis wedding site for years now and well the timing could not be better to intern with them since I'm newly engaged. So far I'm loving that I'll be learning about the wedding industry as well as the blogging world.

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One of my first assignments was to familiarize myself with Bayside Bride and find 10 of my favorite posts. I've linked them up here so you can check them out as well and see the blog for yourself.

DIY Nautical Totes

Ireland | Honeymoon Destination

DC Boathouse Engagement Session

Natalie & Huey's Proposal

Layers of Lovely | Signature Wedding Cocktails

Rhode River Engagement | Tara Peddicord Photography

Creative Wedding Playlist

Nautical Wedding Inspiration Shoot | Krista Leigh Hurst Photography

What To Do Once You're Engaged

Out of Town Guest Bag

I'm beyond excited and cannot wait to see what I'll be learning this semester from Natalie and Krista.

Shannon

England's National Wedding Show

The Saturday of our trip to England, Karyn and I traveled by train all the way to Birmingham for the National Wedding Show. Honestly we decided to visit the weekend of October 5-7 so that we could attend this event on a whim after seeing an add in a magazine. Great decision.

The event was held in a giant convention center where there were over 250 vendors for photographers, cakes, honeymoons, make-up artists --you name it. I had a great time visiting each stand and getting a little bit of inspiration. 

My favorite tents to visit were obviously the ones with the gowns--they were so lovely! I definitely tried one on, because why not. Another favorite tent of ours was the photo booths because we made tons of silly faces and got to use some props. The very best part had to be the Vera Wang fashion show that included all sorts of themes and hilarious acting from some male models.

I can't wait to visit more of these with my Mom when I get back home!

Shannon

The Ring

It's been two weeks now since Gerred proposed to me on the hillside and I must admit I'm still in that newly engaged glow. I wake up every morning and feel the ring on my finger and think "Oh, I'm engaged!"And I can hardly stop myself from tilting it and watching it sparkle. There have been lots of requests to see the ring Gerred had custom made at the jewelers, so here it is.

Seriously, this new feeling of knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with with the man I love is putting a permanent smile on my face. Even when it rains here, I'm smiling.

Shannon

Kinsale Proposal

For Gerred's trip to Ireland, he knew he wanted to visit the southern coast of Ireland, since he had seen many of the pictures from my last trip four years ago. We looked through a bunch of coastal areas not far from Cork and decided to journey to the quaint fishing town of Kinsale, Ireland. Once we arrived we fell in love with the towns nautical charm and explored all that we could.

After missing the famous tour that we came out to Kinsale to see, we decided to wing it and head on our own adventure (which seemed to be a theme for the day since we'd already missed the bus that was supposed to bring us to Kinsale.) We took a walk around the river, over a bridge, and hiked up a hill to Fort James to see all of Kinsale from the top.

After we had explored the fort and the fields we were just about ready to head back into town for dinner, when the sun began to set. That's when Gerred dropped down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. And there on the hillside, surrounded by sailboats, I said yes.

And so begins a new journey.

Shannon

P.S. There was a hiker passing by just as Gerred was about to propose. He asked her to take a picture of us at sunset and then to continue photographing during the event. When we came to show her the ring she said, "Bless the both of you. I'll have to tell my husband all about this when I get home, since on Monday it will have been our 25th anniversary."