Real Bride: Samantha Millwood
Samantha and Tyler tied the knot on a beautiful summer day in Georgia. The bride looked absolutely stunning in a lace gown. She had so many beautiful details that you will definitely want to steal--from her custom monogrammed Converse shoes, to her awesome doughnut bar!
Your name: Samantha Millwood
Partner’s name: Tyler Millwood
Wedding date: August 4th, 2017
City, State: Ball Ground, Georgia
Tell us more about you!
How long have you been together? We had just celebrated our six-year anniversary. We started dating in my senior year of high school, and now I'm going into my senior year of college being married!
How did he propose? (Or how did you propose!) Tyler knows I'm the BEST surprise guesser! I always know when something is going to happen so I told him no matter when he does it, just make sure I'm not expecting it. So on a random Thursday night in our work clothes, he hid his phone in the kitchen to record it and he proposed in the house we had just moved into together. He has always been a sappy guy but he was shaking and so nervous, making it all the more special.
What was your favorite part of the wedding? Weirdly, it had to be our first dance. I'm a huge crier so I was worried I wouldn’t be able to say my vows from crying. However, throughout the ceremony we both held it together pretty well, but during our first dance it hit both of us and I broke down crying. It was the first "this really just happened" moment. By that time, all of the nerves had gone away and we were able to soak in that moment that we were officially married.
What went wrong with your wedding? For some reason, it slipped my mind to confirm with the rehearsal dinner restaurant after booking two months in advance. All 20 of us walked in and they thought we were crazy. They forgot to mark us in the book and were not prepared. They came together and handled it pretty well. Lesson learned: ALWAYS call your vendors a few days before.
Did you find any tricks to save you money? I tell all of my wedding planning friends to buy a Cricut machine. I found a great deal on one and bought it on a whim. I made signs for the wedding, gifts for my bridesmaids, and even used it to address my invitations. It was the best wedding planning investment!
If you could go back and redo it, would you change anything; and if so, what would you change? I've been asked that a million times since the wedding, and I still have yet to think of anything. It really was a perfect representation of us.
Do you have any advice for new brides? Do what YOU want. Traditional isn't always best, and never do something to please someone else. I stood up for myself throughout all the planning and only did what I truly wanted rather than what everyone thought we should do, and my wedding turned out everything I could ever want it to be.
Pick your bridal party wisely. The guys and girls in our bridal party, and their spouses who were involved in everything with us, made my entire day. They handled everything that they needed to and kept us laughing throughout the entire day. There aren’t enough thank-yous in the world for all they did for us.
Did you over-plan or under-plan, or was it just right? I over plan for everything! I'm a planner by nature so I had everything scheduled and ready to go months in advance. But because I had everything together I got to spend the month leading up to the wedding adding special touches and not having to stress. I also had the best coordinator who helped keep everything on track.
Did any of your vendors knock your socks off? I had three vendors who I could not have made it through the day without them.
Ivy Ferguson and her team at Ivy Marie Weddings- my florist and coordinator. She was the bomb. Throughout the day of the wedding she handled everything from decorations, to vendors, to keeping everyone on schedule. She brought us drinks and snacks while we did pictures and was there if I needed anything. My flowers were everything I had envisioned and were the perfect blend of the millions of Pinterest pictures I had sent her.
Paulina Epperson Photography- Paulina and Nikki were a dream to work with. I did a boudoir shoot with Paulina a few months prior and when I received my pictures I knew we had the same eye for detail. I received a sneak peak less than 24 hours after my wedding and the pictures brought me to tears.
BLUSH Bridal- Ashley Martin from the newly established BLUSH did our on-site hair and makeup. My makeup was a huge concern for me--I wanted it to look flawless. Ashley became a one-woman show and rocked 4 hair and makeup styles the day of the wedding.
Did any of your vendors disappoint? I was really disappointed with my rehearsal dinner location. (Ball Ground Burger Bus) They denied me needing to sign a contract or any paperwork when I booked and prepaid for dinner, even after I had asked. I believe since nothing was ever signed, that was a huge factor in why we were forgotten about. Lesson learned: Put everything in writing!
What was one (or more!) special element in your wedding that isn’t in most? I'm a huge monogram fan. Everything I own has my monogram on it, so for the day of the wedding me and my bridesmaids wore monogrammed Converse. I received a ton of compliments on them and many "thank you's" from my girls at the end of the night for not making them wear heels!
Another aspect that added a special touch was our exit. Tyler is a race car driver, so we wanted to incorporate that into our wedding somehow. We agreed on checkered flags for our guests to help us bring the night to a finish. ;)
What do you wish you’d spent more on (whether you were able to or not)? We never really set a specific budget, we just agreed that we would hunt for the best deal on whatever I wanted. We skimped on food, thinking it wouldn't be a huge factor considering we had appetizers, tons of desserts, and an open bar. The lack of a variety of food cut the dinner time in half. If I were to go back I would have spent more for a plated dinner rather than a "small bites" menu.
Where do you feel like you could have saved money or overspent? Tyler isn't much of a cake fan so we decided to do donuts instead! They were purchased from Paradise Donuts in Dallas and were absolutely delicious and came in multiple flavors! However, out of the 120 donuts that we bought only about 15 were eaten. We were handing them out by the dozen to the vendors at the end of the night and still left with boxes full. I was super disappointed we spent all the money (and many tastings :)) for them to be thrown in the trash.
How many guests did you invite vs how many RSVP’ed vs how many actually came? Our venue only held 100 at maximum capacity so we went into planning knowing we would, unfortunately, make some cuts. We started with children and decided to have an adult-only wedding. It was the best decision and allowed the adults to have a fun night out. With 91 invited, 78 RSVP'ed yes, and 70 showed.
Wedding Venue: The Corner District, Ball Ground, Georgia
Caterer: Gotta Have It Catering, Atlanta, Georgia
Photographer: Paulina Epperson Photography
Videographer: None
Planner: Ivy Marie at Ivy Marie Weddings
DJ/Band: Mike Wells at MSA Entertainment
Dress Designer: Carrie's Bridal; All dresses are custom made for the store and all under $1000 (Mine was only $900!)
Bridal Salon: Carrie's Bridal
Bridesmaids’ Dress Designer: Steel Blue from David's Bridal
Bridesmaids’ Salon: David's Bridal
Menswear: Savvi Formalwear, Kennesaw, Georgia
Officiant: Tyler Brookshire; He was actually my MOH's fiance and the person who introduced me and Tyler back in high school. We thought it was only appropriate for him to marry us as well!
Florist: Ivy Marie at Ivy Marie Weddings
Jeweler: David's Bridal
Hair Stylist: Ashley Martin for BLUSH
Makeup Artist: Ashley Martin for BLUSH
Cake: Publix for the cutting cake and Paradise Donuts for the donuts
Invitations: Vista Print
Bartender: Ivy Marie Weddings
Transportation: Action Limos, Canton, Georgia
