Fly Me to the Moon: Real Wedding: Kristin and Carder's Military Wedding

After meeting through match.com, Kristin and Carder enjoyed a whirlwind romance. The couple became engaged on the beach over Memorial Day weekend and jumped into planning right away. Kristin found her gorgeous Augusta Jones Ali style gown at StarDust, as well as her Toni Federici veil.

Quickly realizing they needed assistance with planning, Kristin enlisted our team of wedding planners to help create her dream wedding.

A pediatric oncology nurse, Kristin was looking forward to becoming a Navy wife to Carder, an Ensign in the US Navy, so she wanted to bring in lots of military details.

We went with a Navy-inspired color palette of sapphire blue, white and silver, which also worked well for the season for this winter wedding.

We created a cohesive look throughout the wedding by incorporating a scrolled frame with various iterations of Kristin and Carder’s names or initials that we put on everything from wedding invitations and programs to the wedding cake and dance floor gobo.

And course, we included traditional military wedding traditions. The couple walked proudly under the saber arch on their way out of the church.

Later, they carefully cut the cake with Carder’s saber. Kristin surprised Carder with an incredible groom’s cake – a replica of an aircraft carrier!

The couple wed at Custer Road United Methodist Church, and the reception was held at the Belo Pavilion. While we kept décor for the ceremony to a simple minimum, the reception site was beautiful with the ballroom awash in dramatic lighting and the space punctuated by alternating tall and short lush floral centerpieces.

Elegant sapphire blue and white linens were complemented by bling accents, including rhinestone napkin rings, bejeweled table number frames and hanging crystals.

Guests enjoyed passed hors d’oeuvres such as mini crab cakes and spicy beef empanadas during cocktail hour, along with a specialty cocktail called Anchors Away. For dinner, the couple chose a relaxed station style, with fun and delicious food options with themes of Southern Comfort, Texas Steakhouse and a Taste of Italy.

Later in the evening, the couple offered a passed snack of brisket sliders and shoestring fries. Guests enjoyed winter-themed cake pops as a final pick-me-up treat on their way out.