Real Bride: Shannon Nolte

Shannon and Jamie had an absolutely breathtaking destination wedding in Cancun. Her pictures (and her gown!) are stunning, to say the least, and look at that gorgeous turquoise water! Just wait until you get to her "trash the dress" picture as well - that had to be SO much fun!

Your name: Shannon

Partner’s name: Jamie

Wedding date: August 13, 2017

City, State: Cancun, Quintana Roo Mexico

Tell us more about you!

How long have you been together?

2.5+ years

How did he propose? (Or how did you propose!)

Jamie proposed on Christmas Eve. Every year, my mom throws a big Christmas Eve Party. My uncle dresses up as Santa for the little kids and hands out presents. The last present he pulled out was a box for me! The next thing I knew, Jamie was on one knee in front of my whole family.

What was your favorite part of the wedding?

Its so hard to choose one part. It was literally a perfect day from beginning to end. We had a destination wedding in Cancun, where we had a group of 60 family and friends stay for 7 days. If I had to chose one part it would have to be when I was walking down the aisle. Seeing all of our friends and family gathered together and Jamie standing at the end gave me all the feels.

What went wrong with your wedding?

Nobody knew how to bustle my dress after the ceremony! I had a mini panic attack and visions of my train getting ripped on the dance floor at the reception, but my bridesmaids figured it out and all was good! :)

Did you find any tricks to save you money?

We didn't spend much money on décor at all. The beach setting was beautiful enough on its own that we really didn't need any extras.

If you could go back and redo it, would you change anything; and if so, what would you change?

The only thing I wish we would have done was extend the reception! I would have loved to have just one more hour to dance and have fun. It went by way too fast.

Do you have any advice for new brides?

Don't stress! I know it's way easier said than done, but it's true. I stressed SO MUCH in the weeks leading up to the wedding and it was really all for nothing. Everything turned out perfectly.

Did you over-plan or under-plan, or was it just right?

I really think we planned pretty well for the wedding. We were prepared and everything ran smoothly.

Did any of your vendors knock your socks off?

All of my vendors were truly amazing. Our photographer really stands out because he took such beautiful pictures.

Did any of your vendors disappoint?

Nope not one, we are very lucky.

What was one (or more!) special element in your wedding that isn’t in most?

We decided to "trash the dress" a couple days after our wedding while we were still in Cancun. We originally just wanted a couple beach and pool pictures, but just as we were finishing up and getting ready to change we found out that our resort was having a foam pool party. We couldn't pass up the chance to go in our wedding outfits. It was one of my favorite memories of the whole trip.

What do you wish you’d spent more on (whether you were able to or not)?

I would have loved to have a late night snack like a taco bar or mac & cheese for the end of the reception.

Where do you feel like you could have saved money or overspent?

I don't think we really overspent on anything. We tried to be practical throughout our planning.

How many guests did you invite vs how many RSVP’ed vs how many actually came?

We invited a lot of people on the basis that we were having a destination wedding and people could use it as their vacation. I think we invited over 100 and we had 60 guests attend.