Obviously Dom and my life is all about weddings now, but we haven’t ever done a post about our wedding, so I figured I’d write one and give you a sneak peek into how we decided to celebrate our commitment together as husband and wife!

Dom originally grew up in the Middle East after having been born in the UK, and I grew up the the Pacific Northwest. We met in Malaysia where we were both working as SCUBA diving instructors and we spent nearly two years working and traveling around SE Asia together. In 2013 we traveled to the U.S. so Dom could meet my family and we decided that if we were going to start a life somewhere together we would do it in Oregon for it’s beauty and relative proximity to my family. This was a big decision for us, and the sacrifice Dom and his family made by accepting our decision to live in Oregon is something I will forever be indebted to for while I am only a state or two away from most of my family, in order to spend time with Dom’s father and siblings it takes a long plane journey overseas.

When we decided to get married, we were restricted by Dom’s VISA and had to plan our wedding faster than perhaps Dom or I would have preferred, but it still turned out amazing and looking back even today after photographing hundreds of weddings there is very little I would have changed.

The winter before our engagement, Dom and I were having a romantic date night walking around in downtown Spokane, WA which has the cutest skating rink and downtown shopping area next to the gorgeous Spokane River. After embarrassing myself with absolutely horrid ice skating skills in comparison to Dom who was quite literally skating backwards circles around me the whole time, we ventured into the famous Davenport hotel to peruse through their annual Christmas tree decorating competition display.

The Davenport Hotel was built in 1914 and at that time was truly one of America’s greatest hotels, boasting never-before-heard-of luxuries such as central air conditioning and ice water to each room. The hotel was a pivotal landmark for gorgeous balls and in the 50s my grandparents used to travel all the way from Montana to attend social functions complete with guests adorned in flowing gowns, top hats and canes.

In 1985, the Hotel had fallen to disarray and was closed. At that time sadly, demolition was a real consideration until in 2000 local entrepreneurs Walt & Karen Worthy purchased the entire city block which housed The Davenport and then spent two years and $38 million to return The Davenport Hotel to its former glory. In the summer of 2002, the Hotel re-opened to the public and has been a Spokane icon ever since.

Christmas time at The Davenport is my absolute favorite as elaborate gingerbread houses and the most breathtaking Christmas trees adorn the golden halls. Most of the private ballrooms are open for guests to admire and walk through as well, so as Dom and I walked around arm in arm, the spirit of the season surrounded us. We entered my favorite ballroom, The Isabella, which has marble pillars, gold accents and mirrors lining the walls. Unexpectedly, Dom pulled me into an embrace and we began to dance while he whispered in my ear how wonderful it would be to marry me right here. It was a magical night and later when we were looking for a wedding venue we already had our hearts set on this breathtaking hotel.

We planned our wedding around Dom’s sibling’s school schedule and my father’s drag racing schedule and ended up with a date of August 23rd. For the majority of the spring leading up to our wedding Dom was in the UK applying for a “K-Visa” (aka fiancee visa) and much of our wedding planning was done via phone calls and Skype chats.

I have a big soft spot for history and given our venue, we planned a luxurious wedding with a victorian vibe. Our colors were burgundy and cream with gold accents and I chose a silky mermaid dress with a bubble train and paired it with white lace knee high boots.

I planned about a million DIY accents, some of which were an absolute disaster, including trying to make my own candles in my aunt and uncle’s kitchen, only to accidentally pour a large amount of hot wax down their sink and necessitating a plumber to be called to fix it!

The centerpieces for our reception tables I created from Manzanita branches which were propped in tall clear vases and draped with candles. I also spent hours and hours designing and hand painting our invitation suites, as well as writing a personalized note to each and every guest to be placed next to their name tag on their reception table, telling them how honored I was that they were there to celebrate with us and recalling an impact they had made in my life.

The week prior to the big day, Dom’s 4 siblings and father arrived from Oman, England and New Zealand. We escaped up to my parent’s cabin on Priest Lake in Idaho and enjoyed an amazing 5 days of uninterrupted family time where I not only got to bond with them, but they also enjoyed the first time of all being together in years.

When the big day finally arrived, me and the girls were up at 5am as we had planned a 10am ceremony and an after-party at my parent’s house where everyone would be able to kick off their fancy shoes and hang out barefoot in the grass to party late into the night.

I did my own makeup for the big day, which looking back was a big risk as at the time I could probably count on one hand how many times I’d worn makeup (no joke!) but my hair was expertly curled and tied to the side by a salon across from the Davenport called “Endless Beauty.” While the guys slept me, my older sister, my best friend from college, Dom’s sister, and my best friend from elementary school jammed out to 90s tunes, drank smoothies, and did a little squat exercise to chase away the wedding nerves.

My amazing photographer, Michael Franklin, was there bright and early photographing all my details and picking the perfect locations for our portraits. Dom and I decided to do a traditional ceremony with no first look since our wedding was so early in the morning, so when I stood outside our ceremony space (The Isabella ballroom of course!) I felt more than a few butterflies flitting in my stomach!

The golden gates opened and my dad took my arm, whispered a private joke to me and as we laughed our way down the aisle I saw my gorgeous soon-to-be husband, beaming at me.

Our dear friend, Ben Klevitt officiated our ceremony which we had written ourselves and included a few fun stories of life in SE Asia and personalized vows Dom and I had written. The ceremony was about 30 minutes (long enough to bring me to tears!) and as we danced our way back down the aisle, hand in hand I couldn’t have been happier!

We spent about an hour taking family portraits and doing bridal portraits, then made our grand entrance to our reception. Our reception area was in a ornate ballroom, the Marie-Antoinette, which was the exact room where my grandparents danced and fell in love in 50 years prior.

Our reception included all the fun traditions and I danced until the sweat poured down my face, laughing and loving being around my friends and family to celebrate our big day!

Dom and I had also planned a fun first dance which began with a waltz and transitioned into a Lindy Hop (swing dancing) complete with an epic lift at the end that despite my falling bustle we were able to execute flawlessly!

Some highlights of the reception for me included my best friend’s dad coming up to me with tears in his eyes thanking me for my note to him, getting to hug one of my very best friends from college who had flown in from New York, seeing my dad’s face as the DJ announced that during the cake cutting we would also be feeing our parents cake pieces, and of course, dancing and singling like maniacs with all my cousins to Journey’s ‘Don’t stop believing’ as was our childhood tradition since we would play it on repeat on the record player in my grandparent’s basement.

As the time came to head out of the hotel we exited to a line of 1920s Model A Fords which would whisk our wedding party to the after-party at my folk’s house. The car which Dom and I would ride in was the same get-away car my parent’s had used and was restored by my late grandfather.

Dom and I stopped to snap a few more portraits with our amazing photographer and my Dad let me in on the little secret that he, his friend, and my cousin had been up until 3am the night prior doing “last minute” tune-ups on the cars to make sure they would run and in fact, during the reception the guys had to slip out just before our exit for even more mechanical assistance to ensure these gorgeous 90+ year old cars would execute our exit without a hitch!

The after-party was amazing, and it was so great to be able to kick back with everyone and enjoy a good old-fashioned backyard party that we didn’t leave until almost midnight!

Dom and I spent the evening in the honeymoon suite at The Davenport Hotel and the next day went to Glacier National Park with his family and stayed for week at my Grandparent’s cabin on Lake Thompson in Montana, swimming, chasing turtles, skiing and enjoying the summer sun.

It was a magical day that flew by all too fast, but I often find myself re-living it through our amazing wedding photos which you’ll get a tase of below!

Thanks for coming along on my nostalgic wedding journey, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below!