A Romantic Wedding at the Ivy Hills

Drew and I met at Kroger, working as interns for their internal media department. It is your typical story; the boy meets a girl, the girl is dating someone else but isn’t really happy, the boy makes the girl laugh more than her boyfriend does, and the girl dumps her boyfriend and starts dating the boy.
From my perspective, the proposal is funny and sweet and a total stress fest for Drew. I figured something was going on when he vacuumed the carpet…Friday night, we went to dinner with our friends Taylor and Bree when Drew usually makes a pizza for us at home. After dinner, we walked around downtown Loveland to look at Christmas lights, but there were not that many, and it was slightly raining. This quickly turned into us walking around in the rain. I was suspicious at this point but ready. I did not know that our friends from Columbus were rushing down to our house to decorate and prepare it to celebrate our engagement, and Drew, Taylor, and Bree were trying to waste as much time as possible. According to Drew, he expected to have to wait for a table at the restaurant. Instead, we were seated right away, received very prompt service, and the whole meal lasted less than an hour, instead of the 2 hours he initially expected. After grabbing some coffee, we all returned to the house, and as I walked up the sidewalk, I was a little disappointed but decided to enjoy having a night out with friends. However, at the front door, Drew stopped me, took my hands, said a little speech, dropped to one knee and asked if I would marry him. After saying yes and getting over the initial shock of it, he told me that Matt and Christina would be here shortly to party and celebrate! The rest, as everyone says, is history.

The only thing I would have changed is my ability to eat!! I was so anxious that I could hardly eat anything at the reception. Don’t worry, I made up for it later by eating all our leftover cake and bundtinis.
Everything else was excellent, my hair and makeup were perfect, and I felt like a queen in my dress! I was so happy we decided to do a first look. Initially, we weren’t going to, but having that private moment just for us was special and helped calm our nerves. Walking down the aisle and the ceremony was hands down my favorite part of the day. Drew walked out and met me in the aisle, and approaching the officiant together instead of being ‘handed away’ was significant to me for many reasons, and I’m grateful Drew understood and agreed with me.
I’m glad I read the final version of our ceremony before the day because I hardly remember what our officiant said when we didn’t have to recite anything! Drew and I was so happy to finally get married that we would hear a line he said, look at each other, and try not to cry happy tears!
The reception was so fun! We hadn’t seen many of our guests before March 2020, and it was lovely to see and catch up with them, even if it was just a few minutes. Honestly, we were so grateful. So many of our friends and family were able to make it with everything going on. We couldn’t have any drinks on the dance floor, and we had to wear masks per covid guidelines, but that did not stop ANYONE from getting out there and joining us in celebrating! Even the DJ commented that our wedding was the first he had been to this summer, where guests didn’t let the new guidelines stop them from dancing.
Our DJs and officiant kept us on schedule. They made everything run seamlessly, even with a few hiccups: forgetting Drew’s ring inside the carriage house, misplacing the toss bouquet, and Drew almost dropping his mother during their dance. Not that either could help with the last one, but a couple hearts skipped a beat, making the night more memorable. Don’t worry, he caught her.

Wedding Location – Cincinnati, OH
Ceremony & Reception Location – Ivy Hills Country Club
Bridal Gown – Enzoani, style Nurit and in the Ivory/Sand color.
Bridal Veil – Toni Federici and in the Light Ivory color.
Bridal Headpiece – PARIS by Debra Moreland, style Undertow
Bridal Earrings – PARIS by Debra Moreland, style Alfie
Photography – Bambino International
Officiant – A Wedding Your Way
DJ – Everlasting Sounds
Hair – Kim Harpers Salon
Makeup – Makeup by Lindsay
Flowers – Harpers Point Kroger
Cake – Nothing Bundt Cakes
Alterations – Soheyla
Honeymoon – First Discount Travel