Kathleen & Alex Wedding
Kathleen & Alex Wedding - May 17, 2025
Venue: St. Bernadette Catholic Church / The Mill at Rock Creek
Photography / Videography: Ludwig Photo & Film
Florals: Spruce Pine Florist
Coordinator: Wooded Wilds Events
Catering: Catering by Tracy
Rentals: The Festive Elk
Cake: Mountain Range Sweets
Beauty: Souther Roots / Makeup by Cheyenne
Entertainment: A Night to Remember
Transportation: Air Haven / Boone Party Bus
A Midwestern Queen and a Southern Gentleman
Kathleen is a Michigan native with a thick northern accent and Alex has got the best southern drawl I’ve ever heard. I first met them in person after we did a venue walkthrough at the Saint Bernadette Catholic Church where their ceremony was taking place. Afterwards we had a solid planning session at Grandfather Winery and chatted about all the wedding dreams they had over a glass of wine, which then turned into us splitting a bottle. I literally had so much fun with them from the start and was so excited to tackle my first traditional catholic wedding with them.
The cathedral was absolutely breathtaking, and took very little effort on my part to make the ceremony look as beautiful as it did. Spruce Pine Florist set up a few gorgeous arrangements framing the tabernacle with Grandfather Mountain being framed in the window as our backdrop. Father Bond led us in a traditional catholic ceremony with the most pure and angelic choir singing intermittently throughout the service. It was regal, spiritual, holy. It was truly an incredible ceremony to witness, and I felt so lucky to have been able to be a part of it.
When working weddings with two different locations, it always creates a level of challenge, which I am always up for. So, there were a lot of logistics we had to think through, and our Bride & Groom did such an amazing job navigating all of these obstacles. From communication with our guests, to transportation services, to figuring out when and where we can take our pictures, it was a doozy!
We had to make a few last-minute changes to their venue contract and were luckily able to extend the hours to access the reception location at the Mill at Rock Creek. We miraculously were able to setup the entire reception space in just under two hours. By the time cocktail hour began, the vendors and I all gave each other a sweaty high five and nearly collapsed in a chair for at least 10 minutes before we had to be up on our feet again.
Kathleen had a BEAST of a dress; it was magnificent and required 13 hooks in order to bustle the train on her dress. It took a team of gals to get it done before the reception began. We also had to spend a decent chunk of time with tide pens and chalk trying to get a green stain off her dress from a matcha tea spill. I’m happy to report we got the job done!
Alex’s best man / older brother gave the sweetest speech during dinner, and it ALMOST cracked me, everyone else was in tears by the end of the toast. And Kathleen’s Maid of Honor / older sister was such an incredible help throughout the day, and I very much appreciated her organization skills and her ability to push the bridal party towards staying on task. We were SO punctual throughout the day, and I have to give her a lot of credit for that. Not to mention she was 20 weeks pregnant and handled it like a champ!
Catering by Tracy delivered the most delicious dinner. We had glazed salmon, roasted chicken, and pasta with the creamiest mashed potatoes and homemade buttered rolls. It was quite possibly the best dinner I have had out of all the weddings I have worked so far.
We had a solid team of vendors working Kathleen and Alex’s wedding. We all worked together so seamlessly and literally every little and big thing we had planned for the day went perfectly. The ONLY thing that didn’t go to plan was we were not able to set up the cocktail tables with decorations since the wind was so bad. You can’t fight mother nature, you got to learn how to work with it and pick your battles. That was one we decided we would not be able to win.
While everyone was dancing the night away, my assistant and I slowly and meticulously began breaking everything down in the background. We only had roughly 45 minutes from the time send-off happened until the doors to the venue are shut so the pressure was on to make sure we got everything and everyone out of there by 11PM sharp. I am happy to report we were out of there with 15 minutes to spare! A true miracle considering the fact that there were about 1,428 candles to clean up and pack away.
At the end of the night, I gave our bride and groom a big hug and told them I will miss them…and I meant it. It was so much fun working with Kathleen and Alex and I loved the dynamic we all had when we worked together. I told them if they ever wanted to do this again sometime, to call me ;)
