A Family Affair :: KELLY + PATRICK

4/6/2016

I sit here at my desk at 1:19AM and I don't know exactly what to write about this wedding. I actually have writer's block. I am always so emotionally invested in every one of my couples but this post is different. This post is a rare glimpse into my personal family life. The heart of my business; the people that push and support me and are always there to lift me up when I fall. This post is why I do what I do everyday and what A Double G Event is all about; Love. Relationships. Family.

Patrick is my cousin. My closest cousin and possibly at times, my favorite (sorry-not-sorry to all the other 30 cousins who are reading this - you know I love you all)! Growing up an only child, I always wanted a brother. I remember pretending that I did and would even tell people when I was little that I had one. I never realized until the last few years that I already did. Kelly + Patrick have always been right by my side through boyfriends, break-ups, almost weddings (mine not theirs), driving over an hour to lug boxes and furniture into moving trucks through two moves, cousin sleepovers, food, food and more food, birthday weekends to Newport for food and most of all, always making sure I know they are never too far for a phone call, a laugh or an uplifting text. These two are not only my family, they are my heart and I am over the moon that I can officially call Kelly my sister.

But enough about me! Let's talk about two of my favorite people in the world! Kelly and Patrick got married in August of 2015 at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills in Middletown, Connecticut. It was a phenomenally, perfect day and Mother Nature was in a good mood! Surrounded by our family and their friends, they said I do. But their love story began way before last August - back in 2006 when their paths crossed at Central Connecticut State University. Check out their love story!

From the Bride :: Pat and I met in January 2006 in our history class at CCSU. Pat says that from the moment he saw me walk into class, he knew he had to figure out a way to introduce himself. Once we had officially met, he proceeded to walk me to my car every day after class in order to get to know me better. I thought it was really sweet and I always enjoyed our talks! Throughout the next couple of years, our friendship continued to grow over many dinners, movies, AOL Instant Messenger chats, phone calls, and parties with friends. We finally started dating on September 12, 2007, almost two years after we first met! I knew Pat was the one because he quickly became my very best and truest friend, and he made me smile and laugh more than anyone else in the world!

Four months after we started dating, I left to spend a semester abroad in France. It was hard to live an ocean away from each other for so long but it made us realize how much we loved each other. When I returned from France, we finished college together, graduated, and got our first “real” jobs. We spent three years seeing each other on weekends only, as we lived and worked on opposite ends of the state. When that routine grew old, we moved into our first place together! Throughout this time, we pursued our biggest shared passion of traveling! We took a lot of fun trips in the US right after college including California, Nevada, Illinois, Virginia, and North Carolina. We then visited Bermuda, the Philippines (twice!), Italy (twice!), Hong Kong, England, and France.

While in Paris, we decided to arrange a fun photo shoot in front of all the iconic monuments. I was very excited to have some nice keepsake photos from our trip, but little did I know that these would soon become our engagement photos! Pat surprised me with a beautiful proposal in front of the Eiffel Tower at sunrise, and it was more perfect than anything I could have imagined. In that moment, my whole world stopped and the joyful tears started flowing. Six years and one day after we first started dating, we were finally engaged….in PARIS!

Paris Engagement Shoot, CT Wedding Planner

See Kelly + Patrick's engagement blog post HERE! // engagement photography © Pierre Torset

When it came time to start planning our wedding, a travel theme seemed perfectly fitting. Our inspiration came from a Pinterest photo of paper airplane escort cards. Pat and I absolutely LOVED it and knew we had to make it happen for our wedding. We named our reception tables after the different places we had visited together, and then we printed the paper airplane tags with our guests names and their “destinations”. It was a huge hit, and our guests loved “traveling” to their tables. Other travel elements included globes, vintage inspired suitcases, a little metal airplane, and framed engagement photos from Paris. For an alternative guest book, our guests wrote on various travel inspired postcards and then placed them in an old galvanized metal mailbox. The travel theme was so much fun and really helped to personalize our wedding!