“Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me heaven sighs
And tho I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose

When you press me to your heart
I’m in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak, angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be la vie en rose”

• Sung by Bing Crosby

I wanted to share the words to Brandon & Tani’s first dance song to start out this blog post because I feel like it fits them perfectly. For their first dance they had a choreographed dance to this song and it was so beautiful. I have never seen a first dance like it and that is the feeling I had through out their whole day. It was a day full being held close and the tenderness of this song resonated through the whole day.

The rain threatened before the ceremony started at the Central Park Chapel but it didn’t start coming down until Tani was through those doors and walking towards her Groom. What I loved the most about this day was the rain did not get anyone down. They all just embraced it and made the most of it. Tani had even decided that if it was still raining during the reception we would go out without an umbrella and get all “the notebook” with it and just have them kiss in the pouring rain. That didn’t happen and the rain did stop so we had a chance to get some gorgeous images but it was exciting to hear her just fully embrace the day.

This wedding was full of beautiful simplicity and proof that you can have more of a simple wedding day without all of the bells and whistles and still have the most incredible wedding day. It isn’t about what kind of flowers you had or what the tables looked like or any of those little details, its about the couple and the commitment they are making to each other. It isn’t just some little thing, it is a big deal and I could feel how important it was to them through out the whole day.

Here are the people that helped put together Brandon & Tani’s gorgeous wedding day:

Ceremony Location: Central Park Chapel

Reception/catering: City Flats Hotel 

Wedding Dress: Spring Lake Bridal

Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal

Tuxedos: Dunhill Tuxedo

Hair & Makeup: Done by Tani & her sister

Invitations, signs, programs: Done by Tani

Decorations at the ceremony & reception were done by Tani with help from her family

Veil: It was Tani’s Mom’s veil

Bouquets & Centerpieces: Eastern Floral

The blue brooch on Tani’s bouquet was her aunts who passed in January and the locket was a gift from her best friend on her own wedding day and she passed away in 2014 from cancer.