After celebrating our first wedding anniversary, one of the most common things people asked me (after saying congratulations) was... "do you give up your youth when you settle down?" It's a valid concern I guess, but I can honestly say I have done more adventurous things in the last four years with Jake than I have in my entire life. Sure you may not catch me out at the bar every Friday and Saturday night, but that's only because my priorities have changed. I'm not looking for someone anymore and it's expensive AF to keep up with the constant weekend nightlife, especially when you're now paying for two. Preferably, I'd rather save the money to spend on experiences and moments, like traveling to Greece with 20 of our friends! Now don't get me wrong, if it's a special occasion, like a birthday or something, I'll come out no problem, but I can't meet you at Dive Bar at 1am every Saturday just for shits and gigs ...and quite frankly I don't want to. Catch me on my couch, cuddling and watching Netflix... no shame. It doesn't mean I don't care about my friends anymore or that I've become "boring", it's honestly just the ease of being able to be "taken home" without spending money getting hammered first and hoping for the slightest compatibility ...cause at the end of the day isn't that what we're all out there looking for anyways? Can't blame me for the convenience...

This is what blogs were made for... amazing, colorful, perfectly planned sessions like this. I was approached by our photographer after taking our engagement pictures and she was looking for models to do a styled shoot. Now I had modeled when I was younger, so the opportunity to do it again was an absolute dream because up until this point I thought I had left that hobby in my past. So Jake and I jumped at the occasion and headed down to an Akron facility, Studio 526. When we walked in we met Val from Perfectly Planned who, together with our photographer, had created this picturesque jewel toned dream. Every last detail was taken care of, from the cake to the chair covers, it was as if they were setting up for our own personal wedding—talk about romantic. 

I know everyone says their wedding was the “best ever”, but I truly believe that our day definitely would have won that TLC show: Four Weddings …for every airing …for eternity. I don’t even know where to begin to describe the chain of events, bear with me this is also my first blog post, but I suppose getting ready in the morning would be a good start. For me, the day started at my mom’s house; I invited all of my—ten—amazing bridesmaids over to get ready with me in the morning. We slipped into our robes, hung our dresses, and then our makeup artists & hair stylists came and started getting to work! …and boy were we ready for this pampering. As a gift to the bridesmaids, I had laid out monogrammed stemless glasses for the girls and they went to town on the Mimosa Bar. My Maid Of Honor made an amazing playlist and we were dancing the morning away along with those pre-wed butterflies! Now when I say butterflies, I don’t mean “OMG what am I doing getting married before 25? To this guy?” second-guessing butterflies. I knew very well that Jake was the person I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with, but after being engaged for a year and a half you definitely have that holy sh**, top of the rollercoaster moment when you realize everything you’ve been talking about and planning for is all coming together and happening today.