Notre Dame, Indiana Wedding Photography | May 8, 2010
Photographer: Katie Whitcomb | Photographers, Ceremony Venue: Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame, Reception Venue: Tippecanoe Place Restaurant, Florist: Poppies by Polly, Caterer: Tippecanoe Place Restaurant, Cake: Cakewalk, LLC, Band: Blammo, Transportation: C and C Limosuine, Tuxedo: Men’s Warehouse, Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero, Wedding Coordinator: Katie Vogelsang, Hair: Emerald Cut Salon, Honeymoon: Tour of Europe
John and I met in Okinawa, Japan. John had been stationed there with the Navy for about a year and I had just arrived on the island for my tour of duty in the hospital. One of my friends that was already stationed there, took me out and invited many of her friends to join us. John happened to be on the invite list and showed up at the Officer’s Club, along with many others. We met briefly, but didn’t really talk much that night. A couple of weeks later, a group of my friends and a group of John’s friends all went to the Marine Corps Ball together. I spent more time with John than my actual date and had a blast. John got my phone number that night and we started dating later that week. Unfortunately, about 4 months later, John went on his second of many deployments and we were left asking questions about where we went from there. We stuck it out and 3 years and 4 deployments later (3 of John’s and 1 of my own,) we are very excited to be making a lifelong commitment to each other!
John devised a trip to Niagara Falls under the pretense of buying a cat for Courtney just before he left for his latest deployment so he could leave her with a furry companion in his absence. It may seem odd to make a trip to upstate New York just to get a cat, but this is a special breed of miniature cat that Courtney actually liked because they were “super cute” and was excited that it always stay “widdle”. Considering that Courtney was called “Tuna Legs” because she was terrorized by the family cat attacking her legs EVERY day growing up, John could not pass up on the opportunity to get her reacquainted with cats. After seeing all of the sights that Niagara had to offer, the deal for “Kitty” was made and the little fur ball quickly stole Courtney’s heart. Not to be outdone, John stole Courtney’s heart back on a clear evening with the colorfully lit Falls as a backdrop when he asked for her hand in marriage. She said “yes” and John left for deployment two days later. John enjoys hearing updates on the wedding planning because they are usually punctuated with Courtney’s yelps as Kitty bites on her feet when he calls.
We wanted to keep it simple, the outdoor tent was elegant on it’s own and we didn’t want to detract from that. My favorite colors are black, white and pink, so the color palate was easily decided.
We chose the Basilica because of the significance to John and the beauty of the church. After doing research on the South Bend area for receptions, we found there were only a few places that would accommodate an outdoor reception, so that narrowed down the choices quickly. We decided on a lunch-time reception after our 9am wedding, so with all these different requests, The Tippecanoe Place Restaurant fit all of our needs and the price was right too! All of our guests really loved the inside of the restaurant, the food, and the location to downtown.
I found Katie Whitcomb | Photographers through the internet when I was researching South Bend Photographers. I narrowed our search down to the packages and pricing we were looking for and then started calling! Since the wedding was planned over the phone and internet, I had to rely on the vibe I got from talking with people on the phone. After several phone calls with various photographers, I felt the most comfortable with Katie Whitcomb | Photographers and their willingness to change the package option to meet our needs. AND…they were available!
The food choices were pretty easy for us, we wanted a chicken and beef option for our guests and after visiting the restaurant, we went with the Prime Rib and the Mushroom Chicken. They were delicious! For our favor boxes, we decided on different pieces of candy for the guests to enjoy. We looked for red/pink candies to fit the color decor and were also easy to snack on.
I really wanted bright colors that were different from the traditional arrangements and all the centerpieces were different.
Our cake was “white wedding” cake with a fresh strawberry filling and butter cream frosting. Alexis (from CakeWalk, LLC)gave us many samples to choose from but we knew we wanted a fruit filling for our spring wedding. We narrowed down the cake flavor quickly, but had difficulty choosing the filling because of all the great options! After about 5 slices of cake and 10 different fillings, John made the executive decision to go with the white and strawberry. We were very happy with our choice! Alexis was great to work with and was able to put our vision onto paper and then into a beautiful (and yummy) 4 tiered cake!
Our favorite part of the day was actually when John and I were taking photos, just the two of us. We loved spending time with each other one on one. This is followed closely by the sword arch and getting to see all of our friends and family!
Delegate, delegate, delegate! You can’t do everything so find people you trust and let them run with little projects like place cards, guest favors, or programs! The more help you have for the big day, the less you will worry and the more time you’ll have to enjoy yourself!
Click here to see the rest of Courtney and John’s Real Wedding.
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