Real Bride: Madelaine Johnson

Madelaine and Justin had a gorgeous summer wedding. Her rustic centerpieces were absolutely "Pinterest Perfect," as was her simply stunning naked cake! If you are thinking about doing a rustic wedding, you will find LOADS of inspiration in this article!

Your name: Madelaine Johnson

Partner’s name: Justin Johnson

Wedding date: August 5th, 2017

City, State: Sevierville, Tennessee

Tell us more about you!

How long have you been together?

Became “official” December 19, 2016 at Disney World!

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

We took a trip down to Charleston, South Carolina for the weekend. That morning, we were walking through Waterfront Park along the coastal front. He was going on and on about how much he loved me and loved spending time with me. I thought something was up because he usually tells me how beautiful I am, but this time it was different. He was telling me all the reasons why he loved me. He then got down on one knee and proposed!!

What was your favorite part of the wedding?

My favorite part of the wedding was seeing his reaction when I walked down the aisle. My husband, being in the Navy, thinks he’s tough and never needs to cry, but the look on his face melted my heart. It was perfect. Everything else didn’t matter at the moment.

What went wrong with your wedding?

I don’t think one thing went wrong. If it did, my parents and bridesmaids took care of it and kept it a secret from me so I wouldn’t panic. The only thing that comes to mind is we ran out of mac and cheese at our BBQ buffet before I could get any! LOL

Did you find any tricks to save you money?

YES! I had one of my bridesmaids do my hair and makeup for me. I made 90% of the decorations. I found a venue that included a day-of coordinator with tons of other things included in the package, such as catering, photography, officiant (changed to bouquets for my bridesmaids since we had a friend officiate for us), decor, cake, floral arrangements (centerpieces), chairs, tables, linens, plates and utensils, etc.

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

I would communicate a little better with coordinator. She was so helpful with any questions I had. I just wish I was able to visit the venue once or twice before our actual wedding date (we had a destination wedding). I wasn’t exactly sure what all I needed since I have literally never planned a wedding before. I used The Knot for my wedding checklist and it helped TONS, but there were still things I didn’t know. The Knot is a general guideline, which helped me through a lot, but I still wasn’t able to visit the venue and really figure everything out.

Do you have any advice for new brides?

My advice to new brides would be, don’t sweat the small stuff. Trust me, this is easier said than done, but at the end of the day, it only matters about you and your spouse. How did you two feel on this day? What goals are you wanting to achieve for your special day? Stick to those goals and nothing else should matter. Don’t let anyone else try to talk you into something you don’t want or don’t like. It’s your day, not theirs. Also, definitely use The Knot’s checklist because it’s amazing! It kept me on track with what I needed to do.

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

I’ve been an over-planner since the day I was born. Our wedding day would be nothing short of that. I planned exactly what time everything should take place. Oops...but really, in the end, it worked out perfectly that I did that. I just sent the way too detailed timeline to our coordinator and she took care of it on the day of. Luckily, I overestimated time so we became ahead of schedule!

Did any of your vendors knock your socks off?

Our cake was absolutely delicious! It was just simple vanilla cake and icing, but it was the best. We also really loved the venue itself. The barn and the open field were perfect for our little wedding. Since most things were included in the wedding package, I didn’t know who any of the vendors were, but I was pleased with everyone. Our photographer, Emily, was so sweet and captured us in the cutest way. She made us feel comfortable being in front of the camera. Our videographer was absolutely awesome to work with, too. He had tons of good ideas and even did a drone shot for us!

Did any of your vendors disappoint?

Not a single one!

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

My husband and I wrote our vows, but shared them in private instead, so during the ceremony, we placed them in a box to read later that night. We both agreed we would write our own vows, but we knew we’d cry the whole time and not make it through a single line. We did write our own vows that the officiant read and we said “I do” to. It worked out just wonderful! We also didn’t assign seats and opted for a buffet instead. We went for more of the laid back, backyard cookout feel.

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

I wish we had spent more on tablecloths. We used the venue’s white ones, but I felt as if we needed to change them to a color in our theme we used, such as blush, navy, or maroon. It’s such a little thing that I didn’t really think about before it was too late.

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

I think I saved money in all the right places by having my friend help with hair and makeup and making a lot of the decor myself. It saved money so we could splurge on the videography and get the package deal with the venue that included everything else.

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

We invited between 70-80 people but didn’t expect everyone to show up since it was a destination wedding. We got about the same number of RSVP’s as who came out to the wedding, right at 40.