Kristin + Matt: Built to Last

I’m so excited to present the unique story of our very own production coordinator, Kristin, and her newlywed husband, Matt!

K + M met nearly five years ago  in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a Wednesday night, and, happily single, Kristin almost stayed home.  But her group of guy friends convinced her to join them for “Mug Night” at The Pour House, a local bar/music hall, for a reggae-ish show.

When she arrived, the opening act (Matt’s band) had already finished and the headlining band was about to start its set.  About an hour later, a little inner voice pointed out that if she kept standing around with her male friends, she could miss out on meeting someone. Matt had already seen her upstairs with said male friends but hesitated to approach and remained downstairs to drink some liquid courage.  Kristin made her way downstairs and Matt made his move.  He asked if she’d seen the first band play, and Kristin responded, “No, how were they?” “We were alright,” he replied, and Kristin, of course, laughed. They stood there talking the entire night.  At one point, he asked for her phone number — which she did not generally give out — and she agreed to give it to him if he promised to actually use it. A little bit later, he walked her to her car and left her with a goodnight kiss on the cheek.

A week later, Matt called and invited Kristin to his house to join him and some friends for a game of quarters. From that night on, they spent nearly every moment together. About 8 months into the relationship, Kristin moved in with Matt; they’ve now lived in three downtown Raleigh houses together.

Last September, they celebrated Matt’s birthday weekend with a local Raleigh music festival, Hopscotch. Little did Kristin know that Matt had been carrying around a certain something special in his pocket the whole time and even the previous month!  (The ring he was carrying held the same beautiful diamond that his father proposed to his mother with about thirty years ago!)

Sunday morning that weekend, they awoke with the idea of grabbing brunch and headed to Poole’s Diner downtown. Not wanting to return directly home afterwards, Kristin suggested stopping by the construction site of the new AIA (American Institute of Architects) building near their house. Matt is a designer-soon-to-be-architect and Kristin is an artist/designer, so they found the modern structure very interesting and exciting. They made their way through the various floors, admiring the architecture and views.  Once they made it to the top floor, they looked out over the city and kissed. All of a sudden Matt was on his knee! Beyond shocked and elated, Kristin squealed, “Really?!  Really?!” and then, of course, “YES!”

Since their love story unfolded completely within downtown Raleigh, the task of selecting a wedding venue was greatly simplified. They settled on Historic Mordecai, a charming park within walking distance of their home!

They knew right away they wanted their colors to be gray and yellow — two of their favorites — and threw in a bit of aqua for good measure. Initially, they did not have a theme in mind, but wanted the day to be original, handmade, and lighthearted. Kristin’s style/taste is “kind of all over the map,” but Matt likes modern design, so they aimed to blend it all together.

When it came time to designing the stationery, Kristin played around with various ideas, but finally decided to incorporate a pair of patterned birds along with some feathers. They used the same basic design throughout their stationery, but did a little something different with the invitations. Though they were printed with text only, the invitations still featured birds: Kristin hand-pulled screen prints of them and used patterned paper to add color. Each and every invitation was unique!

Nearly every detail about the wedding screamed “original” (Kristin is a true ‘Roo, after all!)

Matt designed a ceremony backdrop screen-of-sorts for the two of them to stand in front of; it was one of Kristin’s most favorite parts of the wedding. He built it using wood and wire and poured concrete bases. They cut and strung bits of colored fabric to hang from it, which were quite pretty blowing in the breeze. Matt attached two handmade fabric birds to the very top, perched sweetly above them. Similar fabric birds were used throughout, from the girls’ bouquets to the centerpieces. Other handmade details included: initials to hang around the grounds, Kristin’s hairpin, jewelry, and the guys’ boutonnieres.

As guests arrived, a friend of the couple played acoustic guitar. Four little ones made their way down the aisle — Kristin’s nephew as ring bearer, their godsons carrying a drum and a banner, and a sweet friend as flower girl. Both the bride and groom had two brothers by their sides, along with three dear friends. One of Matt’s cousins officiated the ceremony holding a favorite album, and another cousin read a poem and selected song lyrics.

Something else that they hoped would make the wedding special was using as many local resources as possible. Most of the vendors and the day-of coordinator reside within a mile of K+M’s little corner of Raleigh! They even hired a local rickshaw company, Crank Arm, to drive them away to their favorite downtown restaurant/bar after the reception.

When the newlyweds kissed at the end of the ceremony, they both dug into their pockets to pull out a handful of confetti to throw! It had been their little secret all along, so it was a fun, unexpected surprise.

On the way down to the reception area, guests passed a sweet little lemonade station. A tent lined with colorful lanterns and sweet and simple table decor — flowers by Artfully Arranged by Martha — welcomed everyone at the bottom of the hill, as well as tasty hors d’oeuvres by Side Street Restaurant. Lovely heartfelt speeches, dancing and lots of chatting and laughter ensued. When darkness finally fell across the field, The Square Rabbit served an assortment of scrumptious cakes on the porch.

At the end of the evening, the two hopped into the rickshaw for the grand exit. After riding through a line of all of their friends holding up sparklers, they laughed all the way to the after party as the people of downtown Raleigh honked and yelled their congratulations!

If you’d like us to feature your unique event, please email us at blog@theamericanwedding.com.

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