Interview with our AWESOME couple. Jenna + Christian:
HOW DID YOU MEET? We are high school sweethearts. We both moved to TN from out of state, and became friends in high school. He was a senior, I was a sophomore when we started dating, although we were friends before then.
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU THE MOST TO YOUR HUSBAND/WIFE? Aside from being amazing looking? She had an air of confidence, and she was always smiling. Add to that the fact that she knows how to take care of herself, but she still appreciates it when I try. 🙂
My husband has an amazing sense of humor. He can lighten any situation, make me laugh just about any time. And the love that I feel coming from him when I’m around him, is just amazing. Its totally unconditional. How can you not love that?
HOW DID HE PROPOSE? I’m going to let him explain this one, since it was his big plans.
Haha, fun. Well it only took me 6 years to build up the courage to ask her, but I made sure the wait was worth it. The engagement was months in the planning, and much was kept under extreme secrecy. The plan I had concocted was extremely elaborate, but she only deserved the best. six months before the proposal I had told her that there was a writing contest being held by the BBC and that I had entered. A month or two went b, and I then told her that I had in fact won the competition. Prize? three plane tickets to the UK. So Jenna, Alison (Jenna’s eventual maid of honor) and I all headed over to England for a vacation. Long story short, we made our way to the White Cliffs of Dover to “meet the TV people” and I dropped to my knee on top of Dover Castle. Having Alison there was the greatest thing. Having someone there to capture that moment in photos was beyond amazing!
WHAT INSPIRED YOUR VISION FOR YOUR WEDDING? The ocean inspired and affected every aspect of the wedding. We fell in love with the Florida Keys four years ago on our first vacation there, and decided that it would be the place that one day we call home. So, why not get married in our favorite place? Thus, when wedding planning came about, everything was beachy, flowy, and relaxed.
TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR VENUE: We wanted a backyard type feel to our wedding, so we didn’t want to rent out a huge wedding venue. Plus we knew that we were going to have a very small intimate wedding with only close friends and family. So we began the search for a house on the Atlantic ocean in the Keys. We found a few that we liked, many that we disliked, but none of them seemed perfect. About a month or two before the wedding, Jenna was looking online again at various vacation rentals and came across East Sister Rock Island. It was perfect. It embodied everything we wanted with our wedding, and arriving on the island the first day of our vacation, we knew we had chosen the right place.
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST PLANNING CHALLENGE? The wedding being a destination wedding!! Everything we did was a guess, and much of it last minute!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN ELEMENT OF YOUR WEDDING? We both love the way we were able to so seamlessly blend many traditional details with our our ideas of what a casual beach wedding should be. It really turned out well and was uniquely “us” while still holding true to a lot of tradition.
DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY DETAILS? Most of them, haha. We made the save-the-dates, invitations, the programs, the centerpieces, the bouquets, the bridal party jewelry, the bride’s jewelry, Jenna’s hairpiece, the cake topper and even the drinks were homemade! The keg of cider was a home-brew created by a friend, and the sangria was our creation using fresh coconut milk from the island. We also made all the food on the island ourselves, kebabs. Yum.
WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY? Oh my, there were so many good moments to remember!! I loved how everybody got together before the wedding to make it happen. We were running a little behind schedule, and everybody that came to the wedding, participated and helped out in some way to make our wedding the amazing day it was. It just felt very “homey”, and made us realize how much we love each and every person who was there to share our day with us.
DESCRIBE YOUR CAKE: DELICIOUS!! It was gorgeous! My mother-in-law made the cake, and she did a fantastic job. It was four tiered, with different flavors, amaretto (using actual alcohol), rainbow, and marble. It tried to melt on her, we had no idea the humidity would try to murder the butter cream fondant. This has made a fantastic story though, and everybody will remember our wedding cake, when usually that detail is forgotten throughout the years.
HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER? Absolutely fantastic!! We didn’t have time to meet with Sarah and Jason before the week of the wedding (other than on the phone), and actually didn’t meet them in person until the rehearsal dinner. But once we met and were introduced, they were immediately brought into our group of family and friends with open arms!! They meshed perfectly with the rest of the group that was in Florida.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU AS A COUPLE? Ha! What isn’t next!? We want to move away from TN. Jenna wants to get a gig working with sea turtles and/or marine mammals, and Christian is striving to be an automotive journalist. Life is an adventure that needs to be lived.
CAN YOU PLEASE LIST YOUR VENDORS:
Officiant: Mike Monnett (An amazing friend we have)
Cake: DKS Cakes
Photographer: Concept Photography
Brew: Rocket Science Brewing
Rental Property: East Sister Rock Island
Tables, chairs, linens: Mile Marker Party Rentals
The Next Morning at Bahia Honda…
