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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow It Started<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>Caroline and Alex met on Hinge in 2019 and were engaged in February of 2023 and I wasn’t sure how my message would resonate with them <\/strong>after I sent it off. It was worded straight forward, no mincing of words nor content. “Let me blog about yours and Alex\u2019s experiences of wedding plans<\/strong>\u2026straight talk, no input just the intro\u2026then strictly q and a,” I had typed before clicking the send button. A mere minutes later, she replied, “Ok I\u2019m down!! Been a lot of planning.” Seconds later she added, “Let\u2019s do it!”<\/strong> after I mentioned how her experiences could be informative for others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Venue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Going into the process, Alex and I both envisioned a beautiful, fun day with all our family and friends,” Caroline began, “but we didn’t have a firm vision of what<\/em> that day looked like. We didn’t have a strong opinion about a caterer or the type of silverware nor did we have an eye on a particular florist. We just knew that we wanted the food to taste good, the table settings to look elegant and the florals to be abundant.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The search for a venue began, as Caroline told me, “We toured a mix of all-inclusive venues (meaning the venue provides a florist, all table settings, caters out of house, gives you a planner and also helps you plan the entire event) and venues that were just the location and we’d have to bring in everything else.” After viewing five or six venues, in person, she says they found an absolutely stunning site, but it would land them at the top end of their budget, and they’d be required to assemble their own vendors; a daunting task that they didn’t want to take on. Luckily, she added they found the perfect site for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “A simple yet classic, indoor and outdoor location.” she tells me located in Southern California, “that was all-inclusive but still allowed for us to bring in the things we really wanted, to bring in like wine – my family are big wine people and we wanted to serve a trusted favorite. We’ve had several meetings with our planner at the venue to make individualized choices, we had a tasting and picked our menu, upgraded our floral package and are bringing in some additional furniture for our cocktail hour.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Flowers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>I could see Caroline’s eyes opening wider in glee when I broached this subject. “I brought a PowerPoint.” said the actor laughingly, “with some of my inspirations. She (the planner) was totally onboard and showed me a variety of florals that could make our spring garden come to life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n They had chosen the theme with light pink, orange and yellow florals and the florist was provided by the venue. “We will have peonies, snapdragons, ranunculus, sweet peas, orchids. Lots of greenery with Italian ruckus and eucalyptus,” she said happily and added, “Instead of an arch, we’re having an 8 foot long, 1 1\/2-foot-high arrangement of flowers behind us. Arrangements will dot the aisle at every other row,” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Food<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong> “We had our tasting a few weeks ago, at the venue, and have finalized our menu,” Caroline said while continuing, “The thing we are most excited about is the prime rib. It was just as good as it sounds and will definitely be a highlight. We opted for buffet over plated service. Other than the carving station, we’ll have a chicken option and a vegetarian option (pasta).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline, also, stated there will be plenty of sides and salads and will have six passed appetizers during cocktail hour that she is excited about as well. “Bacon wrapped scallions.” will be served too, in which she simply says, “Yum.” to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Other than cake,” the future bride adds, “dessert will include a donut wall and we have asked people to let us know if they have any dietary restrictions so we can let the venue know. I have a few vegan relatives and the venue is making some special meals for them!” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wedding Cake<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Their “cake is going to be huge” Caroline says excitedly and adds it will be four tiers tall. Torrance Bakery<\/strong> is making it and they’re “an awesome bakery, anyone in the area should certainly check it out,” attached Alex’s future wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We have a pretty big guest list and want everyone to have cake, if they want it,” she adds, “I’m a huge cake fan. Alex doesn’t like cake as much as I do but he had a surprisingly strong opinion on our cake flavor, and I went with him on it. We’re having a white cake with buttercream frosting and a layer of raspberry jam and lemon mousse on the inside. We will also have a tier of cake that is simply white cake with buttercream filling and buttercream frosting for those who don’t like raspberry and lemon. Instead of a cake topper, we opted for florals to be placed on the cake.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table Settings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although official guest numbers aren’t in yet, Caroline says they’ve invited about two hundred family and friends. From her family, alone, there are a total of fourteen siblings attached to her parents. Eleven from her fathers and another three from her mother’s side, not to mention Alex’s family, which she jokingly says is ‘average sized.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re very excited to celebrate with those nearest and dearest to us! We’re doing a mix of farm tables and round tables and will have sage green runners on our farm tables with no tablecloth,” Caroline magnifies. “On the round tables, we’ll have white tablecloths. We’ll have little, small flower arrangements on the dining tables so that people can see and talk to each other! We also may have the farm tables pushed together, Harry Potter style. Not sure, this is still up in the air depending on our numbers,” she acknowledged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Makeup Team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong> “This is a part that I’m super excited about,” confesses the actor. “In 2018 I shot a commercial down in Long Beach and the makeup artist and I just clicked.” And remembering that she had told her, all those years ago, that she did weddings as well, Caroline reached out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “At the end of the shoot we connected on Instagram but didn’t really keep in touch,” she continued, “fast forward to the end of 2023 and I’m thinking about makeup and hiring a local artist. I remember the woman from the shoot, looked her up on my Instagram and sure enough, she’s still doing weddings and her business is based in Long Beach.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline immediately reached out to Sweet Fuss, owned by Alpha, the very makeup artist that did her shoot years before and found out she was available. “She will be doing my makeup,” she boasts, “six years later, almost to the date, for my wedding! We are definitely keeping it simple, and it’ll be her and maybe an assistant. She’s also doing my five bridesmaids and Alex’s mom. For my makeup, I’m going for a natural look. I don’t wear a ton of makeup in my regular life so I will stay away from lashes, etc. I trust Alpha will make me feel confident in my skin,” she concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bridesmaid Dresses <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The bridesmaids’ dresses will be a satin sage green. My bridesmaids all picked their own dresses because I like the idea of a mix of styles all in the same color,” she said. “Also, I wanted them to like<\/em> the dress they were wearing and pick something that they could wear again someday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wedding Dress<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong> “Would you believe me if I told you I went to one shop, found a dress I liked, and was done? Okay, there’s a little more to the story but I dislike shopping in person, so I did a lot of scouring of the internet and Instagram,” Caroline begins, as the humorous truth came out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I collected images I liked, but didn’t love, for a few weeks until I stumbled upon a dress on Instagram that was just so me. Not a lot of excess, just simple, well cut, and extremely detailed when you look at it up closely (She tells me she loves lace and beads). I clicked on the designer and was pleased to find even more dresses that intrigued me,” she went on,<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chicago native expanded even further that her next step was to find a dress shop that carried this design. In the meantime, as Caroline says, she made a document with five dresses that she liked and wanted to try on and distributed the list to her mom, sister and friend who attended the dress appointment with her. “I did this just in case they saw similar dresses from other designers that they thought I should try on. When I got to the shop, I tried on about fifteen dresses, three or four from my favorite designer,” she opined and added, “I ended up purchasing one of the dresses that I had put on my document! Though, I must admit, it was my least favorite on the document and had almost left it off. It was so beautiful on. I dress shopped in August, because you need to do this like nine months in advance, and my dress just came in a few weeks ago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I did not cry trying on the fifteen dresses,” Caroline said. “In fact, I didn’t feel any of the emotions I thought I was “supposed” to have, when saying yes to the dress. But I sobbed when I saw my own dress a few weeks ago. Emotions are weird!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “My dress is simple yet elegant and can’t wait for everyone to see it,” Caroline confesses and added minor alterations to it will be made at the end of March, prior to their May wedding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Invitations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our invitations are the definition of utilitarian,” she aids. “We chose a nice weighted eggshell paper. Our names and the address of the venue are on the front. On the back, we included details for the weekend and how to RSVP. No return cards or anything like that. RSVP’s will be done via the website or people can call and email us to mark it for them.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Caroline, also, told me that there will be a welcome party for guests the day before the wedding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Music<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong> “A fun fact is that Alex,” says Caroline, is that he, “used to work in the music industry and has extensive musical knowledge. We have a DJ, provided by the venue, and are meeting with him in April to go over music choices, our vibe, etc. We contemplated having a musician play during the ceremony and at cocktail hour but decided it felt a little unnecessary for us. It wasn’t something we felt passionate about. Live musicians are quite an extra expense.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Vows<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n “We are writing our own vows, but we haven’t started yet. Or at least I haven’t started yet, I’m not sure about Alex. There’s something wonderfully intimate about sharing your own words of commitment in front of our closest friends and family and having your partner hear those words for the first time. I really look forward to this part of the ceremony,” she said in closing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Writers Note:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll begin my ending with a final thought from Caroline who confided in me, “This has been so fun! Hopefully there are some good tidbits in here for anyone who’s planning a wedding.” I know Caroline, her words are from the heart and I, like her, hope this article can be a guide of what to expect, anticipate and plan for when your special day comes along. <\/strong>It’s definitely a process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To Caroline and Alex, I wish nothing but the very best. You make a wonderful couple and I wish you both a lifetime of love, peace and happiness together and a huge thank you for allowing me to play a small part in your special day! <\/p>\n\n\n\n For my readers, I say thank you once again for stopping by and spending a few minutes following along the isle as Caroline and Alex’s wedding day nears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy Valentine’s Day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow me on Instagram at rickollie<\/a> and subscribe to my email list here at the bottom of the page! And if you enjoy my website, please consider a small donation to help me keep it afloat at paypal.me\/justmeric<\/a>. Thank You.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n