Mandy’s Unique Vision - “Together Is A Beautiful Place To Be”

Sharon Rumsey  0:00  

You don't want your wedding to look like everyone else's. If you're wondering how to add personal touches to your day, make it unique and special. And think a little bit out of the box.

Kristina Stubblefield  0:11  

This episode is for you. We got to sit down and pick the brain of a newly married bride. And you're going to get all the feels emotions, and memories of her special day.

Michael Gaddie  0:24  

So let's hear her story from her engagement to her honeymoon. And all the things in between.

Kristina Stubblefield  0:30  

You got engaged. Now what? Happy? Yes, joyful time, of course, stressed and overwhelmed. 100%. Don't worry, you're in the right place. Welcome to the ring, the blink and all the things where we will get you from down on one knee to down the aisle. We'll cover all things from yes to I do's and all that happens in between. Hi, I'm Kristina Stubblefield, one of your hosts, along with my two good friends, Michael Gaddie. And Sharon Rumsey. With over 50 years of wedding experience between us. We have seen it, heard it, done it and found a way around it. So buckle up and enjoy the journey. Now, let's get started with this episode.

Okay, so I know Sharon is really excited about this episode. And for good reason. But Mike, that means you're gonna have to take a minute before you get to talk. But

Michael Gaddie  1:39  

it's okay. You're used to that.

Kristina Stubblefield  1:41  

Sharon, go ahead, take it away.

Sharon Rumsey  1:42  

So we're super excited today. I love every bride I work with but there are always those that stand out because their weddings were so unique and special. And today we have Mandy, on who is a bride that Michael and I shared her wedding. And we have her on to talk about just what it was like to be a bride and to plan her wedding. And hear all of the unique things that she came up with to make her wedding personal and special.

Kristina Stubblefield  2:13  

You know what? And before you start Mandy, I know Sharon really wants to talk about the wedding planning and that whole process. But tell us a little bit about your engagement.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  2:21  

Sure. Okay. Hi, I'm Mandy. Um, yeah, so I got engaged. Oh, gosh, it was July of I guess it was 2019. You know, I knew it had been coming. I helped plan a ton of my friends engagements, all of their weddings. Evan and I at that point had been together I think for five years. So you know, he was always just like, when's it come? And was it comin? I'm so after, after work one day, I in my gross work clothes. We were actually moving in together. So we were supposed to do a walkthrough of our house. So I show up, I'm running late. I'm calling him He's not answering. I'm like, Where is he? And I pull in and I see his truck there. And it was backed in and I was like, okay, weird backing in like, Who are you trying to put you know, like, why would you in his truck. And so I get out and I see a sheet on the door and it says walkthrough checklist. And right away, obviously, I know this is not a real walkthrough checklist because he puts that on the front door. And it was like, come inside change clothes. Meet Evan in the backyard. Say yes. Celebrate with your I'm gonna already cry, celebrate with your friends and family. Like live happily ever after or something like that. And I looked down and our doormat or Yeah, I think that's called a doormat said that Howard's on it, which was my new last name. And I like look around because I automatically know like, I'm not alone, right. So I'm looking for my friends like hiding in bushes. I don't see any of them. Turns out they were hiding in his truck like profusely sweating. It's July. So they like hyperventilating in his truck. So I walk in. It's our new house. There's nothing in there. So in the bathroom, though, my friends had sneakily bought me like two outfits to choose from had brought my makeup so I freshened up, went outside. He was there. And we had been together I think, yeah, five years, there were five different tables. And each table there were a bunch of pictures. And each one he took me to there was like a letter that, you know, it was like about that year together. So we went through each table and I'm a hot mess crying literally hot sweating. And we get to the the last one, which was this beautiful. I think it was a frame structure that I think Mike supplied florals for shout out. And that's where he proposed and then Alison and three of my other good friends came running out afterwards. And then we took some pictures and then went to our favorite brewery where they had rented out the backroom and all of our friends were there celebrated. Oh, and we went to dinner with our families at our first date spot afterwards. So

Kristina Stubblefield  4:49  

I literally did not know the story. Yeah, it was perfect. I'm about to cry. It was great. That's amazing. Like

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  4:56  

this is sweetest guy. Okay, I will give a lot of credit to Evan as well. His heart. He's a perfectionist, and I know he helps. But like, he did not do that by himself. I have I have lots of great great friends that definitely helped him heavily.

Kristina Stubblefield  5:09  

Like this could be a podcast episode on its own about this engagement. For some people out there listening like she set the bar high or Evan set the bar high, I

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  5:18  

should say, yeah, it was perfect. Yeah, that was one of the happiest days. Definitely.

Kristina Stubblefield  5:23  

I kind of feel like I was listening to a hallmark or Lifetime movie, right?

Sharon Rumsey  5:27  

The one a table for every year how he remembered things from each year. Yep.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  5:31  

And he wrote letters and each one and he, we there was a photographer in the bushes that took pictures of the whole thing.

Sharon Rumsey  5:37  

I've seen those pictures. Yeah.

Kristina Stubblefield  5:39  

Yeah. Well, we might have to maybe get one of those photos from you on our social media when this episode drops, so just constantly. So Sharon, when you step in to help plan this wedding, like, Wow, that's great engagement story. So the wedding is got to just be off the charts then, right?

Sharon Rumsey  5:59  

It was and when I met Mandy The first time I, I realized then that it wasn't going to be my typical client, because my typical client comes in and they kind of know what they want. And they kind of want me to give them ideas. And honestly, I was not Mandy's wedding planner. I was Mandy's assistant, because Mandy knew exactly what she wanted. And when I met with her the first time and we started talking about the different things she wanted in her wedding. I was like I am so in I am up for it. It's gonna be so fun. She had a lot of different ideas. And so I just felt honored to get come along for the ride and we had a ball.

Kristina Stubblefield  6:40  

And I heard from Mandy that she threw a lot at you. All these ideas, just she threw them at you.

Sharon Rumsey  6:47  

And I loved every single minute of it.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  6:49  

So okay, Mandy, I have a question. What was the very first thing you did? As far as wedding planning goes after getting engaged? After getting engaged? I believe my first stop was truthfully Mike at Boyd's florist. That was our first stop. I remember going there with my mom, I was so ill. So like, I don't know how we pulled it off. But I was so sick, but we went and I had all of my Pinterest pictures and all that had a folder ready to go. And all I told Mike was I have the picture in my head. I know exactly which one I showed you. It was like, I want wild flowers. So

Kristina Stubblefield  7:23  

and there's a story behind this. So you want to share a little bit. She told me about this before we started.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  7:28  

So I tried with the wedding to incorporate like everything had a meaning behind it. So I wanted wild flowers because Evan had asked me to be his girlfriend he drove up from he's from Harlan. So he drove up from Harlan to Lexington, and all the way had stopped and picked wild flowers and just had a bouquet of wild flowers. And he that's how he asked me to be his girlfriend. So I was like wild flowers are the flowers. So that's what I told Mike. I was like, I want wild flowers. Here's a picture and he was like, yep, got it. I don't even know what wild flowers are. I don't know

Michael Gaddie  7:58  

what well, when she said I want it to look like you went off the side of the road and picked it. And I thought okay, that was a little hard for me to be honest with you. But I think we accomplished that. But I love that.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  8:10  

Yeah. Yeah, it turned out beautiful. And I knew all of my bridesmaids were gonna have different colors. So in order for it to quote my mother and not look like a circus. I I had different colors in my bouquet. And then I wanted my girls to have more of a neutral, okay, because they were so colorful, they should be neutral. And something you

Sharon Rumsey  8:29  

just said to me is what made your wedding so special. She said, I wanted everything in my wedding to mean something. There was a story behind the table numbers. There was a story behind the dresses like every single thing was personal to Mandy and Evan. And when I when I sit in I meet with Brides, they'll say Well, what do I have to do? or What am I supposed to do? And the answer is nothing. There's no supposed to, like you're supposed to make that wedding be about the couple. And Mandy just knocked that out of the park. Make sure

Michael Gaddie  9:04  

well, every little detail. I mean, I do a lot of weddings. I've been doing it for 32 years. And I have never ever had a bride so involved with the details of every little thing down to the glass that they drank out of or the China they ate off of. I mean, the detail of that wedding was beyond words

Sharon Rumsey  9:25  

when she said it when she said I'm gonna trust you to make sure the venue is set up and ready. You know, because she was doing pictures and stuff. I literally was like sweet baby Jesus. Do not let me fail this girl because I knew that she had that vision like down to the tiniest, tiniest detail in her head. And her binder. I keep a binder for every wedding and it had so many drawings and sketches and, and things in it but we had a great team and it all came together

Kristina Stubblefield  9:55  

now and I know Mike Sharon is gonna get upset with us because she likes to have a plan. Do these episodes and we are off the rails. We're on down the tracks. But something that you had mentioned earlier was a structure that your dad had built. And I know that's something that we really wanted to touch on. You want to share that story with us? Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  10:13  

So again, you know, everything had meaning and everything was just so we tried to make everything have meaning, but then also thought about the guests experience as well. So I'm gonna say it wrong again. pergola. pergola there it is pergola. We, I wanted more dimension to the reception area, because it's a beautiful large space, and it's beautiful. And that can either be you know, a blessing, or it can be look empty. So I swallowed up, right, so I knew I wanted to bring more and I kind of wanted a garden feel in there. So my dad, I showed my dad, I'd screenshotted something off of Instagram story from I don't even I followed all the hashtags and everything. So I don't know where it came from. But I showed him a picture and he was like, I want this and dad was like, got it. And I was like, Are you sure? He was like Got it? It was like Okay, so then, you know me painstakingly trying to figure out what the blueprint of the reception area was. You remember trying to figure that out? That was the math stuff. So finally got the blueprint down in my dad made exact measurements. Because we had one I wanted the biggest structure over my bridal party. I had nine bridesmaids and Evan had nine groomsmen, so we had a huge bridal party. So this table was giant. So that table was huge. And I wanted to pergolas one over that, and then two more, just to give it more of a feel. So dad, yeah, he made all of those, which was amazing. And I remember Actually, we just talked about this yesterday, I think Dan I did. He said he remembers putting them up because it was Friday, we got to go in the venue the day before. And him and some other guys were putting because he had to then assemble them in the reception area because they wouldn't fit through the door. So he had to bring ladders and drills and other things. And I look at his back. I mean, it's completely soaked. He had not stopped moving for one minute. And he said I look over and everyone's just sitting cross legged on the floor staring at me and he said what were like he said one of my friends was like, Papa hug we think you're gonna die. Please stop and take a drink. Because he was just so you know, set on getting those up. But it really I think that really just made it it and then the greenery that Mike provided overtop of it. And I had bought those floating candles, things glass or glass orbs. And he was like, how do you want these? I said, Well, there's 100. And there's four pergolas. So 25 on each, so go at it. So they all put it up and it looks

Michael Gaddie  12:44  

well. And I have to say when you know, when we talked about it in the consultation, I was thinking and you show me a picture and you drew it on a paper on the paper. And I was thinking that was gonna be like two by fours. Oh, yeah. And just big O square two by fours. I walked into the reception. And I saw that, again, back to the detail of how this I mean, it wasn't just a square post, right? Or a frame, it was very detailed all the way around from the ceiling to the all the way down to the legs, and they are heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy.

Kristina Stubblefield  13:16  

We're probably gonna have about 25 or 50 pictures to go along with this episode, on the website and on social media. My question is, what what happened to this after the reception?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  13:29  

Well, um, so I thankfully got to go and you know, scoot, scoot on my honeymoon. And I'm right, right.

Kristina Stubblefield  13:36  

I'm hoping this is being repurposed.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  13:38  

So we ended up I think we sold some of them because they were custom made to fit that reception area, because they had, they have beams going through the middle of it, and one of them was stuck right in between those two beams. So it was like, perfectly made for that venue. So dad tried to sell it to the venue. But because of COVID they had they didn't have storage space for it because they had to store all of their chairs and everything that they weren't using. So they weren't able to purchase it but various brides have purchased it and I think there's truthfully one still in our driveway that I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate into my life somehow.

Sharon Rumsey  14:12  

Almost when you're the wedding planner in and you see this all on paper. I was kind of like Mike I'm like, okay, you know, and then it comes setup day we were her parents thank god rented the venue for the day before. And I always encourage my clients that was a blessing. Yeah, it really was. I always encourage my clients to get like a u haul. We've talked about that before to bring their decor and to take it home after but Mandy's dad pulled up in a legit moving truck. Like you could have moved a family across the country with this truck.

Kristina Stubblefield  14:44  

And they started taking these off and they were in you know several pieces each. And I just was like oh my here we go like this is happening and a bunch of guys came together and they worked and I think we started at like nine and I think by three 30 they were built well in a scene and on paper is one thing. But you have to make this happen within a short window of time when you're talking. Some people only get it the day of or maybe the day before, but you're talking about resurrecting something. When

Sharon Rumsey  15:15  

I looked at the setup we had to do I

Michael Gaddie  15:17  

she was scared.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  15:18  

Yeah, I remember that Macau stirs meeting when you're like Maddie, and I was like Sharon. And I said can happen. Okay?

Sharon Rumsey  15:27  

I said, I'm game, but we have to get the venue the day before, like, we have to get the venue.

Kristina Stubblefield  15:32  

Well, and I think you've talked about this before. And we talk a lot about timelines, and planning. Although we give Sharon a hard way to go about planning that everything about I'm sorry about everything. But this is a different level of planning. Because not only do you have to have a timeline, but you really have to orchestrate it because something's going to come up. We've talked about that before. It's not what's gonna happen. It's how it's handled. But with this small window of time, really got to be able to coordinate all of that coming together. Because that had to be done before Mike could do flowers, and other things. You have to

Sharon Rumsey  16:05  

come in with the right mindset to you have to come in with this is what she wants. And you guys have heard me say the only vote I care about someone wearing the white dress, it's what she wants.

Kristina Stubblefield  16:15  

So and you're gonna make it happen. Oh, man, I

Sharon Rumsey  16:17  

showed up that morning at nine o'clock with coffee and doughnuts for the whole crew. I'm like, this is what I'm thinking you this is your job. And this is your job. I kind of had on paper I had made little teams and what they were going to do. And then I let Mandy just be the supervisor, and put the guys on the structures. And

Michael Gaddie  16:34  

I really don't know, the the venue really knew either, what those structures were going to consist of. When we got when we got there. I mean, they had all the tables set up. And I was like, I got to be moved. So we work together as a team removed. Yeah. And the the structures went up and then we moved the tables back in. But I mean, that's why you have good people. I

Sharon Rumsey  16:59  

really, really love Mandy's dad, he he definitely gets like father of the Year award. He not only did he do all of this, but we got to go to rehearsal dinner that night. And Mandy's dad had created. What do you call it? bridal party? jep Jeopardy?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  17:19  

Yeah, so if you don't know by now, my dad is super extra and that get all the extra cuz I just again, I showed him the picture. He's like, got it. I know exactly what to do. And I was like, cool. Same deal with this. So yeah, we did. That's how we introduced our bridal party was using bridal Jeopardy, because Evan and I are like 80 years old and like to watch Jeopardy every night and eat Oreos. That's like our routine 730 every night. So for our rehearsal dinner, we played bridal party jeopardy. So like each category like one was like, they were weightier than this one was like growing up. One was Greek life. One was, oh, I don't even know. But so then each clue was a story about either how we met or like a memorable story about the bridal party and then also our family. So that's when we, you know, everyone was eating their Oreo cake that we got for his groom's cake that was just a giant Oreo. And it was really good. And then that's when we introduced everybody and gave them their bridal party, her dad

Sharon Rumsey  18:18  

made a computer program and the Jeopardy music played. And then it was like Mandy met this bride after a UK football game or something. And then everybody would go, Alison. And it was so fun.

Kristina Stubblefield  18:32  

And you know what, I think maybe one of the biggest takeaways from this episode will be again, here we go thinking what people are going to think. But is making it your own. Make it you see it actually, at the end of the day, after the I do's and the events over. We've said this you there's no do overs. Make sure you can really enjoy it and make it your own. Of course, do you have to think about your guests that are coming? Yes. But this really touches on all aspects of the memories you made that day are unforgettable. And you really took the time to make every part of it your own. And I think people the stories we hear get so caught up in traditions or my friend did this or my parents want me to do that. I think it's so important. What you're saying is how you truly made it urine Evans day.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  19:27  

Yeah. And I think everybody that came, you know, thought that as well. And I will say this just getting caught up in that stuff. I think and I again was talking to my dad about it the other day that COVID truthfully, because of COVID I was able to enjoy my wedding more because I am a naturally anxious person. And I was worried that you know, my wedding day I'd be so worried about everything that was going wrong like to cheer and put it here to cheer I had absolutely no doubt you share it. Yeah, but that's just who I am.

Kristina Stubblefield  19:59  

So Though she had no doubt, yeah, absolutely

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  20:01  

none had known.

Sharon Rumsey  20:02  

Farren was hoping Sharon put it in the right place.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  20:06  

But I think it was just it was after everybody had gotten there, I was dressed and ready for rehearsal. All the structures were up in the reception, and my people were there. And I was like, just so happy that I could have the day, you know. So anything that went wrong, I was like, whatever spine everyone's here, we got it. This is the day that I wanted. I got it. So because of COVID my dad even said he like said something right before we went down the aisle. And I said, you know, dad, it is what it is. And he was like, are you what drug Are you want someone medicate you? And I was like, is what it is? And I don't that's not me. So that's

Kristina Stubblefield  20:45  

an interesting perspective. Because with the pandemic in, you know, we touch on it, we try not to focus completely on it. But that is such an interesting perspective. You just, it is what it is. Yeah. And there was no use thinking anymore about it. You were just gonna enjoy your day.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  21:03  

100%. Yeah, I was just glad to have the day.

Kristina Stubblefield  21:07  

You've touched on that too, before sharing about when that day gets there, just really live in the moment because it's going to go by so quickly.

Sharon Rumsey  21:14  

And I think too, and I don't want to dwell on COVID because I'm so over it. But I think that what Mandy says, packs a big punch because brides that have rode what I call the roller coaster, and been through so much with planning. They do get to that point, they just want their day, you know, and I don't remember any big things going wrong. We had a little weather glitch, but it was after ceremony. Yeah, I don't remember anything going wrong at all. But even if it would have, she would have still been thrilled with her day. Because what she wanted was everybody she loved and cared about there to celebrate her wedding. And that's what she had.

Kristina Stubblefield  21:57  

And you have talked about that on a couple different episodes is at the end of the day, you're married. And that's what you said.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  22:07  

I will say though, people told me that so many times, and I looked at AB and I'll say in front of his face again. I said, Evan, I love you. And I like if that is all that mattered to me. We would have gotten married at the courthouse two years ago. So like, he wanted the wedding needed the wedding. Got the wedding. So,

Kristina Stubblefield  22:24  

but you've also brought perspective, too, you can still get married 100% even with COVID going on, and there is a way to do it. With safety in mind. Yeah, yep.

Sharon Rumsey  22:35  

Yep, we followed all all of the guidelines for our state. She still had her wedding. We did tweak a few things and how we did them in order to make them adhere to the regulations. But for the most part, I think she got exactly

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  22:50  

the day that she wanted my placecards became hand sanitizer bottles.

Michael Gaddie  22:56  

You know, that's another detail. Yeah. Something I wanted to touch base on is your cocktail hour. Oh, yes. Your date was 711.

Kristina Stubblefield  23:06  

You mean there's more and yeah, there's

Michael Gaddie  23:07  

more to this story. And let me tell you, she Mandy did not realize her wedding was 711 until she sat down with me and I asked her what her wedding date was at 711. Oppo So then she took that same same theme and took it to the cocktail hour and everything was 711 like you were going into a 711 and picking up popcorn or drink

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  23:30  

right and we were not tied to that date at all. It's just what was available.

Michael Gaddie  23:34  

I mean, she there's a big water fountain as you come in the front door. And she even had a decal 711

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  23:40  

Yeah, on there. That's so cool instead of a wedding hashtag because none of our it wasn't none of them were cute. And we try to do like the celebrity name. His name is Evan and my name is Mandy. So we try to do a Vandy but it didn't stick. So then I'm doing with the 711. So I signed my contract and it's you know, wedding, what's your wedding date? And I was like, 711 I was like you were getting married on 711. Like it. We have to do something with that. Because we wanted it to be fun anyway. So yeah, so we one of our friends, one of our neighbors is a graphic designer. So you know, I emailed him, I was like, hey, anyway, you can like, come up with a logo for 711 but incorporate Mandy and Evan into it. And he was like, Yeah, for sure. So it says Manny and Ivan and it's the 711 logo and the blue it says 2020 so it looks identical. So I caught that and I put it on Styrofoam cups, I put it on color changing cups, it was that decal.

Sharon Rumsey  24:34  

It was even on your photo booth. Yeah, your photo mirror

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  24:37  

right? Yeah, the selfie with a Slurpee

Sharon Rumsey  24:39  

cup and then when Mike talks about her cocktail hour, one of the things I loved Mandy and Evan did do a first look. So they did not need a lot of time to take pictures. They wanted to enjoy their party. So we did a pre ceremony cocktail hour. So she had snack mix. She had popcorn. She Had a photo booth opportunity that again was very personal. It was a cutout of Louis her dog, a cutout of her cutout of Evan, that people could hold up and take pictures. There was an acoustic guitar player. And people I was out in that area and people would come in and go, I can have I can have this now. And I would say she wants you to get a glass of wine, get a alcoholic slushy, some popcorn, and she didn't care if they actually took it to the ceremony. It was the most laid back relaxed, just fun party. And that's exactly what she wanted. So once again, you know, you don't have to check that box and do what everyone else does.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  25:39  

Right. And with that, too, we got married in July, and much to my mother's dismay, we had an outdoor ceremony. So being in July, you know, it's hot. The sun is beaming on you. So we could have our cocktail or a pre ceremony our and that kind of knocked our ceremony time back a little bit. So people were starving, because if we've knocked the ceremony time back, then that would knock dinner back and people would be hungry and angry. Yes. Loved it. Yeah. And so that way, we had snacks and drinks beforehand, and they could be an air conditioned room. Kind of mingle a little bit, take some photos signer guess book, which were cornhole boards, do all of that and take pictures and enjoy. And then they could have the ceremony and then after the ceremony was just half an hour, they got appetizers. We took a few more pictures, and then time to party.

Kristina Stubblefield  26:30  

We've got to go back for a second. Did you just say that your guestbook was cornhole boards,

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  26:34  

yes. actually made by my maid of honors husband. And they were sharp. I put a decal on it, and then my dad ended up sealing it so that we can

Kristina Stubblefield  26:45  

forever we're gonna need a picture of that. Make it note, right.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  26:49  

Yeah, they were pretty cool.

Sharon Rumsey  26:50  

Yeah. And her, the families, the parents on both sides loved that pre ceremony hour as well, because I remember it was time to line everyone up for precessional. And I had to go like, literally pull Mandy's mom and say, I'm taking her now. Like it was time to line up and she was visiting with neighbors and everything. I mean, everybody just had the best time. Yeah, I had a hard time actually getting them out of there to go Be seated for ceremony.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  27:18  

Yeah, we actually ran out. So my mom makes really good frozen bourbon slush. It's like a recipe that many people asked for. So we had the slushie machines from Frozen delights. And one was full of bourbon slash and the other was full of a frozen Margarita. And I mean, I got one I think like it was gone. People drank it. How many gallons was that? Like? 2035 50?

Michael Gaddie  27:42  

Yeah. A lot.

Kristina Stubblefield  27:45  

Do that again. Have you tried? Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  27:48  

So it was a good time. I think it really set the tone for just start fun.

Kristina Stubblefield  27:53  

party now. Okay, so we've talked about cocktail hour and everything. But can we talk fashion for a minute? Oh, fashion? Yes. I mean, how much planning went into? Will again, we're gonna share this picture because Mandy did the hat, of course, but these bridesmaids dresses, all different colors. And I know there's people that kind of think about that, and they're like, no, they should all be in one color. But again, you went the unique route. And I think more Are you seeing that more?

Sharon Rumsey  28:25  

Not only were they all different colors, they were all different florals. All that Yeah, yes. It was so cool. I remember we were getting ready that morning. And the makeup artists that I work with all the time. She would want to see each girl's dress before she did their makeup. And we actually got to like match the makeup to the dresses. Then Not only did they do that but they took it another step and they all did bobby pin art in their hair. So some different kind of design with bobby pins and it was just all things I had never done before and I was so in love with it all. I think I took almost as many pictures that day as a photographer.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  29:07  

So my vision for that was I all of my bridesmaids are obviously beautiful, they are stylish, and they all look good in different colors. They look good in different dresses, and kind of fitting with my wildflower theme. I was like sure let's just do it. So I gave them I said no neon colors, which I don't think any of them would have picked that but better to say it than not. And I wanted tiered so I was looking for more like layers and texture. So I wanted to wear dresses

Michael Gaddie  29:40  

again that detail.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  29:41  

Yeah, and some I said you could do floral you know but if you want to so I will take some credit but a lot of credit goes to bridesmaids, all my friends have style. So I was like go for it. You just kind of gave them a general guideline. I would send them I mean gosh, you're probably annoyed with me like I would send them you know just screenshots of once and I was like oh This one's cool. This one's on sale. If you want this one people would hop on it. Or they would find their own and send it to me. Actually, two girls had the same dress. He just didn't know it. One was pink and one was blue, and one girl wore her straps up and one girl wore his drops down. But you would never know. Yeah, so, but then everyone else kind of chose their own. Some girls were like, please help and I would kind of choose one for them. But as far as like shoes and accessories went, you know, I said, whatever matches your dress, I'm not going to give you one because we all have different dresses. So just simple gold jewelry, whatever shoes are most comfortable. I didn't care if it was a wedge or heel. Because we'd be we were walking around taking pictures. And then as far as hair goes, I tried to I think as well. I feel like I had a lot of components going on, but kind of bring in the southern kind of soft charm, but then also some modern edges. So that's where the bobby pin hair came in. So some girls had half back with like, sunburst going on. Some had, I don't even know like a spiral situation. It was really cute. I really it turned out really well. But yeah, going back to the pre ceremony, Mike, I think this was like last minute, so shout out to you for this. I wanted acrylic cocktail tables. So my I cannot find acrylic cocktail tables anywhere. They were not a thing. So I had to custom kit them from California. But that's a whole nother story. And that was one of those things where it's like a drop in the bucket shield your eyes just order it. So I did that.

Michael Gaddie  31:30  

But it turned out great. Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  31:31  

And so I was like I wanted, I did that because they would be clear, but they were a little so you couldn't have a floral arrangement on top. Which was so I was like, oh, we'll just put it under. They were hollow. They were hollow and clear. So we had floral arrangements under it. So we're just going to need access

Kristina Stubblefield  31:47  

to her photo album. We're gonna put on our social media. Yeah. Because for people listening, you really are going to need to see it's almost It

Michael Gaddie  31:56  

was. It was amazing.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  31:58  

Yeah. So thankfully, Mike was able to pull together just some that wasn't.

Michael Gaddie  32:02  

I forgot what

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  32:03  

it was like weeks. I remember sitting in my office like emailing you. Hope rich. I did not plan my wedding during work.

Kristina Stubblefield  32:11  

It was right after right?

Sharon Rumsey  32:14  

Yeah,

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  32:14  

I came in early, actually. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I came in early to do that. And

Kristina Stubblefield  32:19  

I bet Sharon was like, when you came up with these ideas. She was like, Yes, Mandy, if we can do

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  32:25  

that it writes down these notes. Yeah. And

Sharon Rumsey  32:27  

it happened. I killed the floral arrangement. And I put the table over it and too bad. We

Kristina Stubblefield  32:32  

don't have video of that tissue.

Sharon Rumsey  32:34  

We only broke one of them.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  32:36  

I am I broke that was no, that

Sharon Rumsey  32:38  

was no man. The bride broke it. But the wedding planner, put it back together with glue dots. Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  32:43  

And you would have never known.

Kristina Stubblefield  32:46  

Wow, that's a really I never thought about

Sharon Rumsey  32:48  

I was so glad she did it instead of me.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  32:50  

Oh my gosh, I was it's whatever, again, whatever.

Kristina Stubblefield  32:56  

Okay, so I've got to circle back for just a minute. Where did this come from about wearing a hat?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  33:03  

To be honest, the Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan. If you remember, she's in like London with her mom. And they're doing that big bridal shoot. And it's like the fun song in the mall. And the bride model is wearing a hat. I was like that.

Kristina Stubblefield  33:19  

And you know what? Thank goodness, my husband's not out here because he probably tell you how many times I've seen that movie. Yeah. I know exactly what you're

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  33:28  

trying to think of the song because you know, it's a good one. It is.

Kristina Stubblefield  33:31  

Yeah. And let's not even talk about how long ago that movie was made.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  33:34  

I don't know.

Kristina Stubblefield  33:37  

As soon as I saw the pictures with Sharon and told me that you were wearing a hat. But the picture that stands out to me is when you are alongside the building. I believe it was and you're standing with your bridesmaid. Oh, yeah. And you're I think in the middle of them. Yes. Yeah, it was. It's just a statement. Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  33:55  

I mean, my favorite pictures to

Kristina Stubblefield  33:57  

I don't know if I can imagine it without the hat. Honestly, seeing the pictures when eautiful when you get to know Mandy

Sharon Rumsey  34:04  

that's Mandy. You know, she's, she's fun. She's loving. She's carefree. And it that was just her without the hat. It wouldn't it wouldn't have been Mandy. And that's what I loved about her wedding. I can't say it enough is she? She didn't care what anyone thought she didn't care what any. She made that Mandy and Evans wedding and I love it.

Kristina Stubblefield  34:28  

Did you wear it during the reception too?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  34:31  

I took it off. So it was I knew I had it and it was a game day decision truthfully thing with my dress. So my dress had different straps strap option so I wore it up where it was made to be worn off the shoulder but I wore them up so that I could take them off the shoulder. You know, I could also remove them. So I didn't really know what I was gonna do until I like walk down the aisle. I didn't know if I was gonna wear the hat don't down the aisle. I had it on for most of my pictures. So Yeah, so it was just a gametime decision. I knew I didn't want to Vale It was too casual. It was too hot for that. So yeah, so I had it on for pictures. And I was like, you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna wear it down the aisle, I'm gonna do it. So

Sharon Rumsey  35:10  

I remember I, I always have a little moment with My Brides. And she and I were in a bedroom at the Airbnb. And I kind of get them powdered up, we call him dressed, get him dressed ready, so that there's magical products so that like, you won't sweat in certain places. And that kind of a robe and no Jabra.

Kristina Stubblefield  35:28  

So she and I will be another episode.

Sharon Rumsey  35:31  

I mean, it could be its own episode. But anyway, I always help them before they get their dress on. So that, you know, I want to be comfortable the rest of the day. And I remember I'm helping her get ready to get dressed. And she's talking about well, I could do my straps like that. And I could do my straps like this. And I remember saying, Yeah, we probably need to decide that. Because like you she's going to get married in an hour.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  35:56  

Yeah, and I remember I went to hug somebody in the reception. So I did my first dance with the hat on and then I took it off and my hair actually still looks fine, which was great. And then I went to hug somebody at the reception. And I'm so short, I had to do a big old thing. And my, one of my straps was like that and just popped off. And I was like, Oh, it's okay. And I just let them off. And I was like, We're going strapless I guess.

Kristina Stubblefield  36:19  

Again, we're back to all the unique things that took place at this wedding. Yeah, I'm

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  36:23  

sure that person will

Sharon Rumsey  36:24  

see I'm sorry. Some other things that really stand out in my mind about her wedding. When we were talking and we were doing her processional order. You'll have to help me Mandy, how old is Evans Nana?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  36:37  

Oh, she is 94. She'll be 95 like next week.

Sharon Rumsey  36:40  

So she was our flower girl. And I had never gotten to do that before either. And Mandy bought her a bubble gun. So as she went down the aisle, she was shooting her bubble gun. And I have never heard people just out and out start clapping. Yeah, she was Yeah. She's they started clapping for her. Like during the processional, and she was beaming from ear to ear. She had that bubble gun and was just go into town. I loved that so much. And they I remember afterwards and everybody was recessing out, we stopped and Mandy and Evan got on each side of her. She was in a wheelchair and they got on each side and took a picture with her. And I remember telling Mandy a few years, you're gonna cherish this picture like this is gonna be one of your favorite pictures. And it's one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. Yeah,

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  37:35  

I mean, Nana's Evans. Like best friend like hands down. He always takes pictures of the food that I make in the food that he makes him like, Who are you sending these to? Like, who cares what you're eating nana nana every single time. Okay,

Sharon Rumsey  37:46  

we had so much fun with her too. She had never had her makeup professionally done. And she was just She was beautiful. Oh my gosh, she was so so sweet. Yeah, and just kind of an extra cherry on top of the already perfect wedding

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  38:00  

as she she rolled down the aisle to Here comes the sun and it was Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was really good. Yeah.

Sharon Rumsey  38:07  

And then Evan is from for those of you listening who are not from Kentucky, we forgive you but Evan is from a holler. He lives

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  38:15  

on Howard holler. His last name is Howard.

Sharon Rumsey  38:18  

Yeah, a holler is kind of like a little divot between two mountains.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  38:24  

It's more of a valley this was like it's like it's a road up a mountain

Kristina Stubblefield  38:28  

sharing plan dictionary.

Sharon Rumsey  38:31  

Well, I didn't know when I first heard that word what it meant But

Michael Gaddie  38:33  

anyway, she all call me mackel down in the hall

Sharon Rumsey  38:39  

but she walked down the aisle to deeper than the holler.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  38:42  

Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did by Randy Travis. Yeah, yeah. So I

Sharon Rumsey  38:45  

could go on and on about little special touches.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  38:48  

Yeah, I'm sure the DJ could to me cuz I'm on him. I'm like at six minutes and 54.2 seconds. Yeah, I wanted to start and when I kid I needed to be at the

Sharon Rumsey  38:59  

right time. Yeah.

Kristina Stubblefield  39:02  

I'm attention to detail right

Michael Gaddie  39:05  

at the beginning. I mean, I'm not at work on this wedding. One other thing that I really loved about it is the China oh my gosh, isn't the glasses Yeah, so how long did it take you to collect all

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  39:16  

Gosh, honestly all props to my mom she did most of the credit to mama hug for them. Lots of goodwill trips we took actually so I didn't get to go on a bachelorette due to the restrictions. So mom and I took a beach trip with it the week two weeks before the wedding I think and while we were on that beach trip we hit up like thrift stores looking for more China. This is two weeks before the wedding just like last minute. I don't know. yard sales, goodwill all of that. I wanted

Michael Gaddie  39:43  

I would have never honestly I would have never thought

Kristina Stubblefield  39:46  

yeah, that. So tell us a little bit about this though. What was your vision?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  39:50  

I wanted all mismatched. And then I kind of struggled with well if there we were originally which we still did get to have a buffet but obviously COVID Safety but So usually when you have a buffet, your plates aren't at the table. They're at the buffet. And at that just didn't track with my vision. I wanted it because all of my tablecloths were more of a neutral ish color. Because everything was so colorful, but I wanted the plates to still be mismatched and all of the glasses were either blue or white goblets. So I wanted them all to be mismatched. Didn't matter what color what size so on that and then we had a napkin that was like tied around it and had the menu on top on I don't even remember what that paper is called, like the see through paper. Yeah, vellum paper. So that way you could see through it and still see the detail of the China and and I'm sure a photographer got a picture of us, right? Yes, definitely. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And then all of my blue and white hand sanitizer name cards that was fun to fill. With Louie on it, my dog.

Sharon Rumsey  40:49  

She made little. I mean, you got to bloom where you're planted. Right. So we wanted everyone to have hand sanitizer when all of the COVID regulations came out. So she found these little bitty bottles, and she ordered them another credit to Mandy's mom. She went Welcome to Kentucky to a distillery and bought a bunch of hand sanitizer. Yeah. And they filled the little bottles and then she had your your escort card. You know, your name card for your seat was your hand sanitizer, and it had a picture of Mandy and Evans dog on it with your name. And those were fun to set out.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  41:25  

Yeah, yeah, that was a whole that was a whole thing too. But I'm going to the China going back to so we had mismatch China for everyone. And then at the head table, we use all of family China. So the head table, so we all ate off of like, you know, my grandmother's Evans great, great grandmother's China. That's all yeah. So we

Michael Gaddie  41:43  

did not add had to not know that. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. So that's why

Sharon Rumsey  41:47  

we were so careful setting, setting it up.

Kristina Stubblefield  41:52  

Again, we're back to a lot of moving parts and making things make sure everything goes I probably

Sharon Rumsey  41:57  

walked that venue. I'm not kidding you 50 times, just to make sure that every little single thing. My husband could have told you were anything and that was supposed to go my assistant could have told you like we had true meetings about

Michael Gaddie  42:12  

Yeah. Well, there's another thing that blew my mind at this wedding, too. Was your seating chart.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  42:18  

Yeah,

Michael Gaddie  42:19  

that was a whole job. Oh, yeah, I

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  42:22  

forgot about that.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  42:25  

Yes.

Michael Gaddie  42:26  

Now, can you forget that? Explain that to us and tell us for lunch.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  42:29  

So I again wanted to bring kind of some depth to, to this giant room because what that room can hold like 400. I think the ceilings are tall. So I wanted some depth in that. And then I remember it well, it can't just be this tiny board. Because a lot of brides just do one foam board, right? But then you have 250 guests all trying to see that foam board. So they're like, yeah, they're all just there, no one can find where they're supposed to go. So this was a double layered. Just a structure made out of PVC pipe that I spray painted copper. And then these foam boards with everybody's name on it. And so the front row was down in the background was up.

Michael Gaddie  43:11  

And it was like three dimensional. It was stuck. I mean, it was

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  43:15  

unbelievable. So that told you what your table number was. And then in the front, it told you what national park your table was under because we had to make our tables so big to fit under these pergolas. And so instead of just having you know four long tables in a row B table number for each table was a number and then that whole long table was a national park. She

Sharon Rumsey  43:39  

and Evan love to hike. Yeah, so so each table was a national park. And I remember giving the list to the DJ, because you always want your DJ to be able to call out you know your tables. And it's usually just we have 15 tables, you know, start with the head table. And I gave the list to Kenny our DJ and it was literally all these national parks. And he would go give me what oh, gosh, Denali. Yeah. Welcome to the buffet, you

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  44:06  

know. So that way more people to were getting up and eating and that way we could move that quicker because we really just wanted to get to the dancing like immediately. And we didn't do a lot of traditional things because I didn't want to pull people from the dance floor. So we did not do not do tosses. We did not do the garter. We cut the cake but that was just for pictures. Like everyone was still dancing. They grabbed me then I came

Sharon Rumsey  44:31  

up cake. Yeah. And we talked about that cake. So

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  44:34  

hi, love. Truthfully, Sam's Club cookie cake, the double layer cookie cake. I get that for my birthday every year. I personally went to Sam's Club and tried to ask the baker like can you make me a tiered cookie cake? And she was like, we only make squares. I said okay, can you make me a square tiered cookie cake. Apparently they couldn't do it. I don't know. So I was heartbroken then mom. I don't know why. got those just randomly went to huysmans and had one of those little cookie sandwiches and we were eating I was like, this is just like the cookie cake that I love, but almost it's better because the butter cream is like, homemade. It was so good. So we talked to Marguerite and ends up I didn't know what it was gonna be. I don't know how big it was gonna be late bringing in what was 150 pounds of cake. It was like three giant tears. It took

Sharon Rumsey  45:24  

it took three people from the bakery and they still brought it in in tears and then had to build it. It was huge. Yeah, I've

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  45:31  

seen that picture. Yeah, it was delicious.

Michael Gaddie  45:34  

It was delicious.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  45:36  

I hope everyone got some 100

Sharon Rumsey  45:38  

pounds. She had little cutouts of she and Evan like little paint. They look like little paper dolls.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  45:43  

They were the same from our invites. Sorry. Yeah, it's were like a cartoon that we had someone draw of us and Louis, and I ordered from that same company. And she does cake toppers. So is the same from our invitations. us on top of the cake, and then a banner. And then Mike did some flowers.

Sharon Rumsey  46:00  

Our invitations. were so cute. And like she said it was her and Evan and their dog but it was also they went to college at UK. So it had a building from UK in the background. I mean, it was very, very it was so cute actually that I framed it and I still have it in my office on my desk. Yeah, it's Yeah,

Kristina Stubblefield  46:18  

I'm so glad you brought that up though. Because that cake there were so many people talking about that. That weren't even along with me.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  46:26  

I hope you did. We all did. Cuz that was a lot of cake. I did not realize how much was her mom

Sharon Rumsey  46:31  

was literally at the door going want cake? Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  46:34  

Yes. Because we also had two chocolate fountains full of all the goodies, my favorites peanut butter balls cheesecake, you know, pulled out all

Sharon Rumsey  46:43  

Yes. Then you had she had Mandy had Mexican stations. So rather than just one big buffet. We had kind of stations in different corners of the room. And she had a case Oh fountain as well. I mean, you if you left that wedding hungry, it was your own fault.

Kristina Stubblefield  46:57  

Okay, but can we get to the part about the end of the night?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  47:00  

Yes. So this was kind of an ode to my dad. So this was a surprise to my dad. When I was little we would go on daddy daughter dates. And I would pick and he's like you can pick anywhere you want. And I would always pick Waffle House. We would sit up at the bar and Waffle House is still my jam to this day love Waffle House. So what I really wanted was the Waffle House food truck. I had been to Atlanta to like a football game and they had a food truck there and I was like they have a food truck. I need that looked into it. They didn't travel outside of Atlanta, so that's fine. So I got it catered as a late night snack so we had a waffle bar and it had the fresh made waffles with all the toppings and then a hash brown bar where they would then like smother cover dice, whatever. And then I like specifically said I need the paper hats like I've got to have the wallpops so they brought a ton of paper hats and it was super cool. They gave us little goodie bags. So every night now have Waffle House t shirts, Waffle House mugs, and then everybody had little Waffle House hats on later in the night. Yeah, it was I think yeah, if you left hungry then that's on you because it

Sharon Rumsey  48:11  

was like wedding planner dream to get to stand up there and watch the DJ because we had Waffle House set up in kind of the back of the room. And everybody was on the dance floor you know by this time it's 1030 at night yeah. And just to watch the DJ say big surprise we have Waffle House and you know Waffle House on side or something like that. And just people just went in like droves. Yeah, to this the waffle bar and the hash brown bar. And I get to put my bride in her Waffle House t shirt over her wedding dress with her Waffle House hat on and I had my mug she had a waffle house coffee mug they had given her alcohol

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  48:51  

and we got tell me you have a picture of this

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  48:53  

i'm sure somewhere to someone else can go Yeah,

Sharon Rumsey  48:55  

yeah, so I mean it was just just a blast it

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  48:59  

was

Sharon Rumsey  48:59  

Yeah,

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  49:00  

yeah, it Yeah, it was that was a guy truthfully didn't even need any waffle and then

Sharon Rumsey  49:05  

to I could talk about your wedding forever but to end the night. She had chosen or I don't know if the DJ chose or you chose but she had these glow sticks. Now I'm

Kristina Stubblefield  49:18  

pretty positive after everything we've talked about Mandy decided this I was gonna let that slide Okay, not the DJ

Sharon Rumsey  49:27  

cuz I remember the song was all night longer. Oh, no, no.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  49:29  

So the song was the UK fight song to start out you know the done I could go on but man Okay. Oh, this is why okay.

Kristina Stubblefield  49:37  

Mike, are you following me? I can't even believe Sharon would say I'm not sure if this was Mandy or the DJ. I have a feeling Mandy gave him a list and said at this time,

Sharon Rumsey  49:46  

I want you to play an assistant in a broom closet and said turn on 200 glowsticks and she did.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  49:53  

I didn't even know that.

Kristina Stubblefield  49:54  

Really?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  49:56  

I mean, yeah, they were suddenly on. I didn't know how I just figured

Sharon Rumsey  50:00  

Thank you. Thank you to Rachel. Yeah.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  50:03  

But then I got foam fingers, which I have so many leftover because I was like we need 200 foam fingers. So I have foam fingers that have a big H and then on the back it says, Go Go cats go Howard or something like that, because we walked out to the UK fight song. And then if you know UK, their football song Grove Street, you know, it's a party, it's a party. So we were like down and then it switched to that. And then we made an immediate U turn because we were not ready to leave the wedding yet and came back inside to continue to dance.

Sharon Rumsey  50:32  

It was epic. You just weren't ready to leave. Nope. We

Michael Gaddie  50:35  

know when I showed up to load up. I was it wasn't wasn't I wasn't ready to load up

Kristina Stubblefield  50:41  

wasn't gonna be over until me and he was ready. Yeah, I mean, she's been very

Michael Gaddie  50:45  

Mandy and Evan both was still sitting, they were taking the stuff

Sharon Rumsey  50:49  

our DJ,

Kristina Stubblefield  50:50  

did they have to kick you out?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  50:52  

Eventually, someone's like, you've got to get like me because I was saying here, they're like, you gotta go. It's like, and then we went back to the house, or the hotel and I changed into a T shirt and shorts and ate the meal. But I just like I don't eat when I get super nothing that I was anxious. But I was like, I have to go say hi. Yeah, so I didn't eat. So thankfully our caterer practice up to go boxes. So Evan and I are just sitting there, like shoveling our faces. And then I grab a pack of beer. I'm like, let's go find people and my like, giant t shirt and tea and shorts and find my parents out on the back deck. And we had it like

Sharon Rumsey  51:27  

it was the perfect perfect day. It was

Kristina Stubblefield  51:30  

Yeah. Yeah. As much as we've just been through. I have a feeling maybe I could probably write a book about planning your wedding. Your wedding? Yeah. Already wedding day. Yes, details. But I know you probably have hundreds of suggestions or ideas. But what are a few of your top things for people out there that may be engaged or in the midst of planning their wedding.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  51:56  

I would say so I had a vision from the start. And I was worried about myself because my mom can attest to when I went Prom Dress shopping. I think I bought three dresses per prom, I went to prom every year, because I couldn't make a decision. And I was like I can't. So then we took back the other two and I wore one. So I was worried for myself that I was gonna have this vision and I was gonna plan plan plan. And then three months ahead, I wanted to completely change it. So but I stuck to my vision. And if there was something that I really wanted, then I just found a way to do it. There are ways to do things, you can DIY things, you can, you know, seek professionals for them, there's always a way to do whatever it is you want to do. And I will also say for the girls right now, especially, you know, still in this time, that it is okay to mourn the day that you don't get. That was something. And I know it was through good intentions that when everything was happening, and everyone's like, oh, it'll be better. It'll be better, you know, positive attitude. I never, I just needed to mourn what was happening and go on to the next step. So find a solution. So it is okay, your feelings are validated. It's not the day that you wanted, but you still get a day and you're still celebrated. Good advice.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  53:14  

That's very good. Really good. Excellent. Thank

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  53:16  

you. Yes. Because that's you just need those validated feelings. Instead of just saying, well, it

Kristina Stubblefield  53:21  

is what it is, right? Or how to do it, or at the

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  53:24  

end of the day, you will be married, you know, one of those things and, or it'll be better because I literally was like, argue if you see into the future, because this was like what when it started February, March, and my wedding is was in July. And in our My dad said if this is still going on in July, we'll have much bigger problems, which was true, because it was going on in July, we did then have bigger problems. But you know, they're like, oh, people are rescheduling for July, you're okay. And then it starts getting towards July. I'm like I'm not okay. Like always, like taking time to mourn what you lost, but then creating a pivot plan, you know, be like, Okay, this is what happened. I'm gonna cry about it for a second. And then what do I have to do next?

Kristina Stubblefield  54:06  

And I would assume that having a wedding planner. And, you know, we talked about sharing being great everything, there's probably no better time to have a person that's just on your team to help you navigate whatever that pivot looks like, whether it's a month from now, six months a year from now. Yeah. Because there's so many things that have to pivot, right, you know, so if a date has to change or something with a venue or guidelines, yeah, just having that person on your team, wherever you are in the world. Having a planner, not just a day of coordinator, I would think should help alleviate or just be right along your side as you're going through that.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  54:46  

Yeah, I agree. And that way they can kind of coordinate with all the vendors because everyone has their own. Even if you are postponing with you really love that photographer, and you postponed maybe that photography is already taken. So you have to take all of that into account and They're able not saying that they're not emotionally there with you, but they're able to kind of disconnect and be able to make, you know, rational decisions rather than emotional decisions

Kristina Stubblefield  55:07  

really kind of operate as a business instead of just a person with feelings. Yeah. To make that vision still come to life. Right, whatever that looks like, right?

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  55:18  

I have I mean, I have in my head like vivid memories. I think my head likes a blackout, a lot of that, just for my own, like well being, but I remember being on many zoom calls with Sharon, I remember being in my like, Game of Thrones sweatshirt that I had been wearing all day in a dark room, and changes like, well, Maddie, and I just like start crying. And then Allison's there. And she's like, it's okay. I've been meetings all day long, you know? Yeah, it was, it was, it was just nice to have somebody there and who gets it because, and then I know, we don't want to harp on COVID. But you know, it's, that's all happening and like, in perspective of, there are so many things going on in the world right now. You know, like awful, awful, awful things. And here, I am being sad because I don't get to have a wedding. Like how privileged is that how, you know, you feel guilty, that you're mourning, a wedding, where people are like, not to get down, you know, dying, things like that. So it's nice to have, again, someone there who's like, your feelings or your feelings, it's okay, you know, you're going to feel what you have to feel. And while there are things that are bigger at play, like this is your life, and it's affecting your life. So having those people that just get it.

Sharon Rumsey  56:27  

Well, I remember those calls with Mandy, and then with several other clients, too, and I was blown away at how strong My Brides were this past spring and summer, like anyone who says women are the weaker sex like I will argue lots of I will argue till my last breath with that. But like, I remember talking to Mandy, and she was like, is this really me? Am I am I really this upset over a wedding? When people are dying? I feel so bad. And you know, she needed permission to feel what she was feeling. It didn't mean she didn't care about anything else, just because she still cared about her wedding. And I think just to give them that permission to feel their feelings. And then, you know, when I didn't have the answer, and I'm going to admit it, because a lot of the times I didn't I just to be able to say, whatever we have to do. I am on your team, I am in your corner, we are going to we're going to get through this, and you're going to get married, and it's going to be amazing. Like just just to be able to give whatever little reassurance I could give felt so good.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  57:38  

And like I said, I wouldn't have changed a thing about the day. It was absolutely perfect. It was the perfect day. Yeah,

Kristina Stubblefield  57:43  

you know, we've talked a lot about how special and unique Mandy's day was. And I think there's a lot of things that people will take out of this episode. But I think one of the things that can touch anybody, whether they're planning a wedding or not, is what you all just said, the permission to allow whatever is affecting your life, to have those feelings about that. And a wedding in the next year or so probably doesn't look like weddings that were two or three years ago. And it's allowing yourself room and permission to have those feelings. And then moving on to what is your vision for getting married now. And I think that's going to be so important for people to hear. Because there's feelings all over the place, not only just about the pandemic, but what Mandy said, there's so much going on in the world. But at the end of the day, you've probably thought about your wedding your entire life, you know, and that, that makes it Okay, or anything makes it okay to just be allowed room to feel the way you feel.

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  58:53  

Yeah, and I will say I've mentioned this before, I think I ordered our invitations in November. So before COVID was even a word we heard of. And I was just was supposed to pick a quote for the back of it. To go on the back. It was really pretty. It had wild flowers all over it. But I have framed Yeah, and the back of my invitation says together as a beautiful place to be. And it went out I'm going to cry. One out when COVID was happening, and we couldn't be together. But then we got to be together.

Sharon Rumsey  59:21  

I still look at that in the frame on my desk, and especially when it's been not a great day. And I still remember the roller coaster that it was to get to her wedding. And I still remember like that crazy kind of the best tired in the world when you're a wedding planner, and you've pulled something like that off and you get home and you're exhausted. But it was the it's the best tired in the whole world. And it makes me happy that invitation does because it makes me feel strong and like I can do anything.

Kristina Stubblefield  59:49  

And I think that's one of the takeaways that we've talked about together. Together with your wedding party together with your family. Your wedding team Sharon always talks about your 18 but no matter what comes up,

Sharon Rumsey  1:00:02  

we're all in this together. Yeah. And that's what's really important at the end of the day. And she one thing that really sticks out in my mind about Mandy's wedding is we had the best team of vendors. I mean, if you look at in our area, who's the best of the best in each category, we had that team. And as a wedding planner, that's just like, who, you know, because I, okay, I know they, they've got their part of this. And I still remember at the end of the night, there was so much stuff that China and I mean, just so many things, and our catering staff, you know, shout out to them. They didn't realize they weren't allowed to use the dishwashers at the venue. So I go in the kitchen, and they are hand washing all of these plates and creating them up. And then Mike came, he came to take down the vases and the flowers and everything. And he realizes I've got all this China and things to load. So he has his staff, and they're all helping me, like just everybody came together. And it was just team bride and groom. And we made it happen. And I was I'm not kidding. I was so tired and so proud. The next day, like I just wanted everybody to know about this wedding. Like it was amazing.

Michael Gaddie  1:01:17  

I could go on and on and on. But then she started crying that I want to cry. I really appreciate you being here today. Because it's it. I mean, I always thought your wedding was perfect. But now I even look at it at a totally different way than I did an hour ago. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for letting me be a part of driving in from Atlanta.

Sharon Rumsey  1:01:35  

Atlanta. Yeah, I've

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  1:01:37  

since moved to Georgia.

Kristina Stubblefield  1:01:40  

And I think this is gonna be one of those unique episodes. Anyone can take something from this. But she has lived it. She got married. But the advice that she has shared, we may end up having to break it into two episodes. And that's okay, if

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  1:01:56  

we do and talk her into

Kristina Stubblefield  1:01:59  

everything she's talked about, though, is so important. Ya know, Sharon really does like to talk. When we go back and listen to this, Mike, you know what you're gonna say? Sharon talked a lot in this. Thanks, man. Do you gave her a run? Hey, yeah, hey,

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  1:02:13  

I'm here to do that.

Kristina Stubblefield  1:02:14  

But no, on all honesty, we really appreciate you being willing to share some of the behind the scenes things that went on for your day. And I think the information and advice that you've shared is really priceless, no matter where someone's in their journey with planning their wedding. So I think it's really good. Yeah, well, thanks

Newlywed Bride, Mandy  1:02:33  

for having me. I could talk about my wedding day too. So thanks for letting me do that. Thank you.

Kristina Stubblefield  1:02:38  

Yeah. Okay, so as we mentioned, we're gonna have plenty of things on our social media. We're probably going to have stuff involved on our YouTube channel in regards to pictures and clips and stuff for Mandy special day. So make sure you go and see all of the fun things, and exciting moments and memories that Mandy has for her special day. And special shout out to Sharon and Mike, who was such an intricate part of that day. So make sure to follow us on social media. And until next time, stay safe.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the ring, doubling and all the things. If you like what you heard, make sure to hit the subscribe button to get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also visit our website, the ring, the bling and all the things.com for past episodes, and make sure to connect with us on social media. If you would like to help us get the word out about this podcast. Make sure to share with your family, your friends and anyone you know in the wedding business.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai