“Together can never be close enough for me
To feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I’ll wear out the words “I love you”
And “You’re beautiful”
Train – Marry Me
Welcome to our wedding post! Not only do you have me and my photos here this time, but you also have Mackenzie’s photos as well! We had planned on co-blogging this, but real life is busy (which I’m sure we can all relate to), so I have the go-ahead to write this one. She will definitely be on here in the future, though, so keep your eyes open for that. Make sure you head over to her Flickr and show her some love on her photos. You can look forward to photos by both of us (I’m going to be super honest and say she took breathtaking photos that are to die for), thoughts on the big day, and how great Costa Bella Weddings treated us. The featured photo for this post is not mine, either. Mackenzie, whom I’ve said numerous times is fantastic at what she does, gets that honor today. Congratulations, Mrs. Spiritor! ♥
I obviously had no idea what Mackenzie had picked out for her look at all, as is customary. I stuck to it and didn’t try to spy or find out anything. I wanted to be surprised, and I was stunned at how incredible her entire styling looked. I didn’t get the chance to sit and take photos during the wedding and couldn’t before for obvious reasons. This meant I had to go back and capture some shots of just her because it’s important to have them and be able to look back at how elegant she looked. She is always a willing participant in any idea I have for a picture (no matter how insane they can be).
So I got these taken and edited, a front of her look and a back view because she picked out a beautiful necklace that trailed down. It really added to the overall look with her tattoo and the style of her Kayla gown from .: {Sofia} :.. I can’t imagine the amount of work that has to go into putting together the bridal look. Lord knows I have it easy as a guy. Here’s a suit from [Deadwool], and you’re pretty much set. My absolutely gorgeous bride paired her dress with Dahlia’s Emma headpiece in gold and had her Burgundy bouquet delivered from Ariskea.
I am so proud of her and lucky to have her in my life. She is my first thought every morning and my last thought every night. I don’t know where I would be without her. I am eternally grateful that our paths lined up. Every day since then has been nothing short of amazing. I’ve talked about past lives before; as you know, she and I are both pretty big believers of us having had one at some point, somewhere, and we’ve found our way back to one another now.
The team at Costa Bella Weddings was extremely impressive. Every detail was carefully considered and planned out as we wanted. Costa Bella is owned and operated by Robin Moonkill, who also runs The Birthing Center; you might remember Robinnurse Rowlands from Rock A Bye Babies back in the day if you had babies. It’s a gorgeously put-together place with multiple venues that you can see immediately, which for us, was a huge benefit. It was exceptionally reasonable when it came to pricing and what was included in the package we chose. I can honestly say that the level of care we received well surpassed what we spent, and you could see that they truly care about each wedding there.
Our wedding planner Emi checked in often and went above and beyond to make sure everything was ready and right for us. Our wedding officiant Alaska wrote up a beautiful ceremony that fit us, and we, of course, had the option to adjust anything we wanted. There was honestly never a moment where it felt like we didn’t know what was going on, who to talk to, where to go. Emi made sure that everything was communicated to us, and once we met the entire team, we had contact whenever needed without question. Truly a level of service that stands out.
I’d be failing if I didn’t mention our wedding party, either. A massive thank you to Felix for giving my lovely Mackenzie away to me; I appreciate your kindness, jokes, and your willingness to give her away to me. I probably still owe you something, somehow, haha.
Our Maid Of Honor, Evie, you are such an important part of Mackenzie’s life and, therefore, mine as well. You’re a person she trusts completely, and I know it means a lot to me (and I’m sure to her as well) that you’re there for her. You were the first and only choice to be the Maid Of Honor. Thank you for being an invaluable part of our lives.
To the Best Man, Shep, we’ve been down many roads in the years we’ve known one another. Some good, some bumpy, but you’ve always been there when it comes down to it. I couldn’t think of a better person to be my Best Man, and I know I can speak for both of us when I say that your kindness, consideration, and effort to be the best brother/brother-in-law you can be means the world to us. Thank you all for your willingness to be there and spend your time being part of our day.
Lastly, to all of our guests, thank you for being part of our wedding day. We are blessed to have all of you in our lives, and getting to share our day with you made it even more special. We love you all and hope you know how much it meant to see you there. ♥ (Bonus thank you to Thundr, without you, we’d probably never meet. Cheers, you swipey little app.)
We have a set of frames in our home now that have my vows on the left side, a photo of our kiss from the wedding in the middle (Mackenzie’s kiss photo below), and Mackenzie’s vows on the right side. All in black and white and 100% inspired by ETSY. It’s something I thought was a beautiful way to memorialize our commitment to one another. I figured why not add them to the post since our journey together has been documented here, and while we couldn’t and didn’t invite everyone on the grid, the people who do take the time to read this can have a more complete picture of the day.
I was extremely nervous writing my vows because I wanted them to be right and make sure I didn’t miss anything. I honestly rewrote them at least forty times by the end of it. I know Mackenzie was nervous about writing hers too, but after I heard them, I was the one in tears. She wrote from the heart; they turned out truly beautiful and are something I will never ever forget.
We both got shots of our kiss, which you can see above and below in a “perspectives” format. We used two different poses because variety is the spice of life, and you never know which one will look better. I think both ended up being fantastic in the end. I truly love what she captured; she always finds an angle or direction that I just don’t see. I love being able to see what she does and how it contrasts with mine. I, of course, shot it how I tend to normally shoot something.
Then she showed me what she took, and honestly, it blew me away. I mean, you can see for yourself above. Just an absolutely beautiful choice of lighting, angle, and everything. She also got multiple versions of the featured photo at the beginning of this post. I keep encouraging her to do more because I can see the talent there, and god, do I wish I could shoot like that. While she didn’t get to write on this post, make sure you all show her some love on the photos because she deserves it.
We booked Maximillion Kleene to sing for an hour at the reception because he’s someone we both love and of course, we felt if he was performing, we’d invite him to the wedding too. I know Mackenzie fangirled over Max being there and staying for a while; it’s always nice when the people you enjoy show a level of care that matches what you thought. Max stayed for as long as he could after his hour and danced with us all.
You can find Max in these places: His Schedule, YouTube, and Twitch! You will not regret checking him out if you haven’t already. He’s one of our absolute favorite performers on the grid and probably one of yours if you’ve heard him. He helped make our day something extremely special with his presence and care. We love you, Max; thank you for being you.
Then DJ Khal took over the stream for an hour of dance mob, which was an absolute blast. We all hopped on the same dance set up, and it shifts you around, similar to a flash mob with people moving and the dance changing as we went from song to song. It was his suggestion, and I know I can speak for us both when I say it was a great idea and made for a ton of fun.
Mackenzie managed to grab a few video clips of it, so I’ll add those below to give you an idea of how it works and how much fun it was. I highly recommend doing it if you have the option to. It really made for an incredible second hour of the reception!
Mackenzie got a lovely shot of us cutting the cake, and it’s the cake that she knew she wanted from the moment she saw it. Dahlia’s Lotti Cake which was at the September round of Collabor88, won the cake war (you can find it now at their main store). We almost missed getting it because life makes timing tricky.
I forgot that the event it was at was ending, and when I remembered, I forgot to remind her. So thankfully, we were able to get in last minute and pick it up. She got it all in place, and we made sure that it was a good size and looked how we wanted it to. There may have been some cake smashing on faces as well, haha. But she was kind and kept us clean for the photo she took.
Below, you can see a gallery of shots that feature the entire wedding venue itself. These are very minimally edited to make them all flow together. The gorgeous venue was a great fit for what we wanted.
They have five different venues to choose from; the Beach Venue, the Winter Venue, the Las Vegas Venue, the After Dark Venue (which is brand new!), and the Country Venue which we chose.
We were able to tour it quite literally the night we landed there to look around, and after about an hour of thinking, we decided that it was the one. It fit the colors we wanted, and they even allowed us to substitute our altar design to make it our own. A huge thank you to Emi for being there the night we landed and welcoming us warmly. Allowing us to see everything, ask any questions we had, and just being available made a huge impact.
We also got to enjoy an amazing honeymoon at Las Brisas Island. It is a gorgeously decorated island-style getaway that covers an entire homestead. That means you have it all to yourself to do whatever you want on your honeymoon. We spent much of our time just enjoying one another and being husband and wife. I know for me, it was amazing just to be able to call Mackenzie my wife finally. I cherish all of our moments together, but the moments we got for the wedding and honeymoon are special. You only get to do it for the that first time once, so making the most of it and being able to look back on all of the amazing memories is something we wanted to make sure we had.
I really wanted to get a shot of carrying her over the threshold into the house, even if it wasn’t “our home,” because I had never shot one of those before. While her dress is stunning, it would have been quite difficult to photograph for this, so we shed some layers to make it a little warmer, and each shot our own perspective again. I love having a wife who enjoys doing these kinds of things because it makes it a lot more fun for me, and I know I’m not boring the hell out of her, either. Happy wife, happy life, right? She is, without a doubt, the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive, loving, intelligent (this list could go on for years) wife than her. One of a kind, my love, one a kind. Shine, baby, shine bright. I love you.
You can see some lightly edited photos of Las Brisas below; we wanted to make sure we had nice shots of all the spaces to remember our time there and share with everyone else. It is a truly beautiful place and one we were thrilled to be able to spend our honeymoon at. There are two lovely houses on the homestead that you can use, and each is decorated beautifully.
We chose to stay in the main one so the photos are of that one since we were there. It’s decorated in a very island vibe, nice tropical color palette, as well as bits and bobs of decor that make it feel like you’re walking into a honeymoon in Jamaica, St. Lucia, Barbados, etc. It was our favorite out of the options available, and I can say neither of us regretted making the choice to stay there.
I could not recommend a place to get married more highly than Costa Bella Weddings. From the moment we landed to even now, they have been exceptional in every way. You can’t go wrong there; they are absolutely a pleasure to work with, and they go above and beyond to make sure your special day is truly special. To the team there, you all have our appreciation and love for the time and care you put into making our day something we’ll never forget.
“Promise me
You’ll always be
Happy by my side
I promise to
Sing to you
When all the music dies”
Train – Marry Me
Credits:
Right yeah, credits. I credited some of the things above in a less formal fashion than I normally do, but let’s be honest; there is too much to credit, and the time spent was best spent enjoying it, not worrying about what was worn necessarily. Enjoy; thanks for understanding, and thank you to all of the creators who played a part in the photos here.
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