Featured love story
Hello, Studio Swoon readers! I’m Natalie and I write over at Natalie Merrillyn about design, fashion, and life. I started my blog when I was planning our wedding almost two years ago {can’t believe how time flies}! I’m so lucky to have found someone as incredible as Matt — a huge thanks to Tamra for featuring our little story!
Matt and Natalie Newman
September 4, 2010 – The Running Fox, Chestertown, Maryland
Love Story
Matt and I met through a mutual friend, who he knew from undergrad and I knew from my hometown. Matt lived in Los Angeles and I lived in Maryland, so our entire dating relationship was long distance. We emailed, called, Skyped, and flew back and forth as much as we could. He even flew out to Sydney, Australia {twice!} when I was living there for six months. Looking back I think that experience really shaped us and brought us closer together. We worked really hard to stay close and connected, even from across the country {and world!}.
Proposal StoryMatt flew in to meet me on the east coast, in South Carolina while I was in school. Despite the horrible weather that had cancelled his first flight, he was insistent about this visit and finally made it. We met up at our favorite coffee shop. From the beginning of our relationships, coffee shops had always been our “place” to relax and have alone time after our flights to visit each other. We sat down to do some reading but Matt was acting super antsy and weird. I wish I could remember everything that Matt said to me, but he had the sweetest speech. He got down on one knee , held out the prettiest ring I’ve ever seen, and proposed. I squealed a big “YES!” Afterwards, I started making calls to my family to tell them the news. As I was on the phone, I turned around and saw my parents, brothers, and sisters, walking into the coffee shop. Matt had asked them to drive the ten hour drive from Maryland to be with us on our day. It meant more than anything to have my family with us to celebrate. Everyone was crying, it was one of the happiest days of my life!Wedding StoryWe wanted our wedding experience to be unique, intimate, and romantic. We really wanted our guests to feel important and know how important they were to us as well, so we kept things on the smaller side.I loved how so much of our family and friends were involved. Matt’s dad officiated the wedding, my cousin sang and played guitar, my brother played the bagpipes. My friend and bridesmaid, Lauren made our wedding cake. The list goes on of all of our amazing family and friends who pitched into make our day extra special.Favorite DetailIt’s hard to pick one, but I loved that we had hanging, lit chandeliers at our outdoor reception. It was my absolute dream come true and the atmosphere was amazing. The outdoor lighting really helped us create that intimate feel we were going for, our guests loved it!Thanks so much for having me, Tamra!xo
The photos are gorgeous! And I’ll admit I had to hold back a tear or two while reading. So romantical!
So beautiful! All of it! Story & photos. You have me swooning again. There you go again… :) xoxo
Love the photos and story!
And I love the bridesmaid dresses! Congrats!
Tara
http://madmaxandfamily.blogspot.com
http://blog.chron.com/madabouttown/
What a sweet story! I love Natalie, and I am so inspired by love stories that survive miles of distance. Her wedding photos are gorgeous, too!
Natalie!!! You look so incredibly gorgeous. The dress, the veil the flowers the cake…everything… You did a fabulous job evoking a romantic feel!! xoxo
Beautiful photos and story. I love that there is cake and an entire dessert table. hat is my kind of wedding:)
*Erin
What a beautiful event. It all looks so romantic.
Absolutely stunning…what a sweet proposal story! You did a fab job planning everything!
such a stunning couple and wedding!!!
Natalie’s wedding was gorgeous + what a beautiful proposal story! Such a lovely couple xx
Everything about this makes me happy. Love nat and love this story!
oh my gosh Natalie you look beautiful! What a perfect wedding & perfect proposal :) xoxo
love her shoes!
xoxo navy & orange
I want to frame that second photo. That would be really weird since it’s not mine, but that photograph is beautiful!
not weird at all :)