the day she became mrs. allyson brock.
one of my best friends, allyson, got married 51 days after i did, so we got to experience a lot of the wedding excitement, stress, planning, and craziness together. wasn't she beautiful? i cried. and then i cried. and then when she walked down the aisle, i cried some more. here's a few of her and her groom, chris.
ps: the bottom has a carolina panther's surprise.
aren't those huge balloons awesome?? i was in love with allyson's choice of her unique details for the big day. i'd like to share a few of my absolute favorite photos of her story book wedding - or... i mean her wedding hashtag - #astorybrockwedding.
and then they were married! i know if her ceremony was anything like mine (coming soon!), it flies by. you think you're in there for like 5 minutes and it's truly about 30 minutes or so. i love the way chris is looking at her here - you can tell his love.
the bridesmaids got to choose a gown of their choice in allyson's stunning color of champagne. champagne, ivory, and gold were her main colors - and i get all heart eyed emojis just thinking about that. plain and simple. it gets the job done!
and then we got to enjoy a delicious dinner under the twinkly lights.
allyson had her guests grab their dinner inside and then were seated at a table outside under the stars. speeches were made, toasts were given. it was a truly a perfect night for them.
so what happens after dinner? party time.
myself plus the bridesmaids danced our butts off for her and chris - but honestly - that's a part of a bridesmaids' job. we danced to backstreet boys, garth brooks, and - of course - the titanic theme song. because when the bride tells you on the dance floor the song she wants to hear next... you make it happen.
it was a fairytale to watch someone who has the kindest heart marry the love of her life. i was so honored to be a part of it and be a tiny part in making things special for her, because i know she sure did for me during my wedding.
allyson - thank you for being my panthers girl, my fellow titanic obesssion, my burger king chicken tender and burger buyer, my taylor swift concert partner, my bff night turns into what happened (???) kinda girl, and everything else that makes you one of my best friends. here's to you and chris.
____
so now on to the panthers surprise. allyson loves the panthers. anyone who knows her knows that. she keeps up with a panthers twitter handle {@miss_purr} and tweets all her emotions and feelings. it's awesome.
so i wanted to do something special for her.
i contacted the panthers. originally i wanted to surprise her with sir purr himself, but after talking with the team events person, i found out that he had an event on her wedding day of 10.17.15, so an appearance wasn't possible.
so i wrote a poem.
ten days out from allyson's wedding i started texting her a mini poem every morning as a day countdown. i did this on purpose - so i was able to read her the poem i wrote to sir purr. it basically went to say that allyson was the biggest panther fan i'd ever known and it would be an honor if he could send me something to give to her on her big day to go along with my own wedding day gift.
i had the panthers logo wood-burned into a sign for her, as you can see below, and whatever sir purr wanted to come up with would only accompany that.
so the poem below is a copy of what i sent in and i read it to allyson on her wedding day. her reaction was amazing. i was shaking as i read it to her. i have no idea why i was so nervous! i seriously read it to lee like at least 6 times the week of her wedding to make sure it sounded right. i was just excited to give her what i had kept a secret for a while.
i suck at exciting secrets :)
sir purr and team mailed me a signed mini posted saying "congrats and best whiskers!" - and signed sir purr style. it truly made our bride happy and that was my #1 goal. thank you to sir purr and the panthers for making this special for her.
all photos by julia of amore vita photography
and now, as previously mentioned earlier this week, our panthers are 10-0. i'd like to think it's only fitting that our #1 fan got married during this season.
