Matthew + Taylor | Destin Bay House Wedding

This wedding was a joy for us to capture! With all of the thoughtful details, loving family members, and incredible vendor team, the day couldn’t have been smoother. Taylor is the most organized (and cheerfully, too!) person I’ve ever met. When we arrived at the Destin Bay House, she had stations set up: gifts for her bridesmaids, gift bags for her vendors, food for all, details in a box, and so on. It was the day to celebrate HER, yet she celebrated everyone else. With all that to say, humility seems to be a very apparent characteristic of Taylor. She is one of a kind!

One of our favorite memories with Taylor and Matthew was when we sat down at our initial inquiry and we asked her what her new last name would be. That’s when they went into the story of how they met. Matthew came up to Taylor asking what her name was, and when she said Taylor, he told her (probably flirtatiously, right, Taylor?!) that’s a great name…turns out, that is Matthew’s last name! 🙂 They eventually hit it off and realized soon after they were meant to be. Matt looks at his lady with the biggest (and whitest!) smile. He loves her so much, and there is no denying that.

Lastly, the family connection is unbreakable with their families. I’m not sure which event made me cry more, Taylor’s first-look with her dad, her surprise dance for her grandfather, or the bond between her mom and sister (MOH). Seriously, so many tears!! And then of course, Matthew dancing with his mom got me good. Maybe my next blog post will be reasons photographers should not wear mascara on wedding day? 🙂

We hope you can enjoy these for years to come! It was an honor witnessing your union as man and wife. We pray that you continue to grow together in knowledge and love for Jesus Christ, and know that He will sustain you. So here’s to your future!!

 

HOW DID YOU AND MATTHEW KNOW YOU WERE ‘THE ONE’ FOR EACH OTHER? 
We kind of knew we were “the one” for each other when he moved up to Virginia for school, and after only a year of dating I moved up there with him. For me it was like “I can’t really stand to be away from this guy or break it off, so yeah let’s move!” and he said “wow, this girl moved half way across the US for me…she must really love me!” So I think this huge step for both of us made us realize we couldn’t think of being with anyone else and that we enjoyed being together too much to give it up!

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OUT TO A COUPLE PLANNING THEIR WEDDING?
Stick with a budget! Don’t let spending get out of control because you want everything to be perfect. Know where you can save money and where you can’t. I would pick two or three things that are the most important to you both (pictures, venue, dress, etc.) and make those the priority in your budget; adjust everything else accordingly so you don’t go overboard. Also, have FUN planning your wedding! Don’t get so stressed out to where you don’t enjoy the little moments of going to your tasting, picking your flowers, seeing your venue for the first time….you only plan this special day once so don’t get so wrapped up in making it perfect that you aren’t able to enjoy the process 😊

WHY THIS VENUE?
I have always wanted an outdoor wedding, but when you think outdoor wedding on the Emerald Coast you immediately think the beach. I knew this wasn’t for me so I started doing my research on other places that could give me my outdoor wedding without being in the sand or stranded somewhere in the middle of the woods. When researching I found The Bay House online I was immediately impressed. It was exactly what I had in mind…outdoors with a beautiful view, indoor areas for the reception, and an overall beautiful and elegant charm. They also had so many amenities that would make the rest of planning and the day of the ceremony go very smoothly. I scheduled a day to view the property and immediately fell in love! Even on the rainy January day I could imagine this being the place where we said “I Do.” My now husband never saw the venue until the day of our rehearsal so the entire time he just had to trust my judgement. The day of after everything was all set in place we both decided that I made a wonderful decision choosing this venue!

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY?
My most memorable moment of the day would have to be walking down the aisle. It was the first time I had seen the venue decorated and turning the corner it seemed to be something out of a movie. Everything was absolutely beautiful, the music was perfect, friends and family were there, and my soon-to-be husband was standing at the end waiting for me. It literally took my breath away to see our dream day finally put together!
His most memorable moment was our first look. The anxiousness of seeing me, as well as actually seeing me all made up for him was so great. He remembers the sound of my voice all sweet and excited telling him to turn around, and he said the look of joy on my face ready to show him everything I planned for our big day made him smile and will always stick with him.

ANY OTHER DETAILS THAT HELP TELL THE STORY OF YOUR DAY?
Several days before the wedding with very little sleep everything was pulled off to perfection! Even the morning of I was putting together our seating chart and having people run to the store for some last minute things, but it all worked out! Looking back on the day everything was absolutely amazing and we wouldn’t change a thing. The nerves left me as soon as I got to the venue but quickly returned right before our first look…I couldn’t sit still! And he was just so happy all day, but a little anxious to see everything. My face was hurting by the end of the night from smiling so much but I couldn’t stop! None of it could be pulled off though without the help of our families and amazing vendors! Here are a couple of little details about things at our wedding:
We absolutely love animals so our way of incorporating that was into our table settings. I thought it would be unique to use animals instead of numbers and show a little of us at the same time. For our guest book I chose a puzzle for everyone to sign a piece because that is one of our favorite hobbies to do together. I chose a watch as my wedding gift to him because a watch was the first gift I gave to him when we were dating, and I wanted it to also be the final gift I gave during this season of our relationship.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR HONEYMOON:
We took a long, much needed two week trip to Hawaii with one day in Los Angeles. We went to three islands: Oahu, Kauai, and the Big Island. Not much beach time for us but we spent our time doing excursions like hiking, snorkeling, taking tours, random sight-seeing opportunities, and of course lots of eating! One of my favorite things we did in Hawaii was hiking Diamond Head crater on Oahu. It was one of the first things we did, and reaching the top seeing that beautiful blue water for the first time up high will always be in my memory. His favorite thing was snorkeling in Hanauma Bay in Oahu, chasing and seeing the beautiful fish and corals. On our return back to the mainland we stopped in Los Angeles and of course went to DisneyLand to see Mickey Mouse! We also stopped to see the Chinese Theater and the stars of Hollywood which was really cool. By the end of the trip we were so ready to stop living out of a suitcase, and the 10 flights we took really wore us out….but it was so amazing and unforgettable!

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD CHANGE OR DO DIFFERENTLY?
For the wedding there was nothing we would have changed or done differently, except maybe not have waited til the last minute to plan some things (my fault! 😊). For the honeymoon the only thing we would have done differently is stay in fewer hotels. We jumped around a lot and ended up backtracking quite a bit anyways, but 10 different hotels in 14 nights was too much!

HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH US ON YOUR WEDDING DAY?
It was amazing! Y’all were so easy to work with and I know we got plenty of photos of us! That is exactly what we wanted since it was our wedding day! I liked that you made us talk to each other and make each other laugh too so all the photos weren’t so staged. The poses and places for photos were great too! Overall thank you both so much for being there to capture our special day! You were both truly incredible to work with and I can’t wait to see more beautiful photos 😊

XOXO,

Mandi & Haylee