Courtney and Jon, “Baker”, are such a fun, laid back couple and we are thrilled to be working with them for their October 2013 wedding at the Visual Art Exchange and Flanders Art Gallery in downtown Raleigh. We have had the pleasure of working with Courtney and Baker since this past September and have enjoyed getting to know them individually and as a couple! We’ve marked a lot of major items off their list and can’t wait to help them plan the rest! You can get a sense of how awesome this couple is from their engagement session with Michael Moss at the fair. Check out these amazing images:

We also asked Courtney to answer a few questions:

How did Baker propose?

Baker proposed on a random Tuesday night back in August, much to everyone’s surprise since we were headed off to Scotland and England the following week!  Baker surprised me and popped the question by attaching the ring to one of our dog’s (Butters) leashes as we took them for their nightly walk.  Being the bright one that I am, I made it all the way inside and detached the leash none-the-wiser.  When I turned around Baker was down on one knee saying something to the effect of “you missed it!”  Once it finally clicked, Baker popped the question and I said yes!  Butters was very proud to be a part of the special moment, while our Frenchie Luna just sat there waiting for dinner!

So far, what aspect of planning the wedding has been the most enjoyable?

The aspect that has been most enjoyable has been honestly the never-ending possibilities of what we can do with our day!  I was never one of those girls that had their wedding day planned out when they were seven, so taking the first pass at digging into all of the colors, entertainment, venues, etc that’s possible is so much fun! We are getting married in downtown Raleigh so the possibilities are endless.

Do you have any advice for recently engaged brides to help them stay stress-free throughout the planning process?

I feel like all of the stock-standard wedding websites out there try to make you feel like you should have had everything booked, signed, and delivered two weeks ago, even if your wedding isn’t for another 9-12 months!  I feel like the biggest tip I can give is to figure out what your top two to three priorities are (such as you really really want a certain venue or photographer), and focus on those things first since the rest will fall into place.  Our photographer was only available one date in the month we were looking into (because he rocks!), but we knew we wanted to work with him and found dates for perfect venues that worked with his schedule.  We didn’t have to make any concessions, and felt like our priorities were all met.

What are you most excited about for the day of the wedding?

Of course, I am most excited to be married to the love of my life!  Baker and I have been together for 3 ½+ years, but we are both anxious to start our next chapter.  We’re still 10 months out so we have a lot of the other details yet to come, but Baker and I are both excited to share both our ceremony (the love!) and reception (the party!) with our families and closest friends!  Additionally, we’re also pumped for everything we’ve booked so far: our photographer (we had a BLAST at our engagement shoot), videographer, DJ, & open-style photobooth!  It’s so hard to pick favorites!

What are three words to describe the feel of your upcoming wedding?

Bright, Fun, & Personal

What made you decide to hire a planner?

As a corporate event planner, I know all too well what day-of production is like for a major event (controlled chaos!), and I knew I didn’t want my family, my groom, or myself to be in charge of any of that on our wedding day!  Finding someone else to trust with such a personal role wasn’t a task I took lightly, but now that we are in the throes of planning, Megan and Gina are beyond rock stars at what they do!  I rarely put my trust into others’ hands for project management (let alone my own project), but I would trust these girls with anything!  If my own opinions weren’t enough, every vendor I come in contact with that has worked with either of them just glows with positivity and praises ME for hiring them haha!

Courtney and Baker: Thank you so much for being the awesome couple that you are and choosing A Southern Soiree to help plan your wedding!