The Story of Ariel + Mackenzie: An Intimate Outer Banks Wedding in Kill Devil Hills, NC
“We met in middle school in a small town called Mechanicsburg in Pennsylvania. Our close friendship bloomed into a more romantic relationship in high school, and we became high school sweethearts. Our story continued when we chose different colleges in North Carolina and fell in love with the weather and people down there. We have always been the kind of people that would stay all day at a beach if we could. So when we thought about having the perfect wedding day, the beach was a must. And that is how the idea of having our wedding in the Outer Banks was born. We also wanted a small, intimate wedding ceremony with our immediate families and close friends, in order to keep our focus on God yet include those who have been the key ingredients in what makes us who we are, both individually and as a couple. We ended up renting a beautiful beachfront property in Kill Devil Hills for the entire week, which allowed us to spend quality time with our friends and family during the days leading up to the wedding. Not only did we have an amazing week with our families and our wedding party, but we were able to relax and prepare for the splendid day to come.”
“When I, the bride, woke up that morning, I could not believe the day was finally there. I started the day by going out on the beach with my mom and my brother, John, to watch the sunrise. As I prepared to submit to my new husband and to begin our own family, we reflected on all of the good times we have had as a family so far and talked about the significance of what was about to happen that day.”
“For myself, the groom, I remember waking up that morning early and just feeling such a rush of happiness; the day was finally here that I could get married to the girl of my dreams. I walked outside to a beautiful morning and just knew that God was there, blessing us with a beautiful day. The guys spent all day downstairs as the girls got prepared upstairs and we went out to take some great photos...”
“Then it was time to relax, as I was taking a nap I heard a knock on my door, my dad, he was prior to the week still recovering from neck surgery and told me he couldn’t make it. So this knock on the door and his face popping into the room made the day that much better.”
“The LOVE of my family that has been my strength throughout my life was shown not only by my mom and sisters surrounding me upstairs but my dad and brothers who transitioned the beach through hours in the HOT sun to create a “picture perfect spot” to exchange our wedding vows.”
"I found my wedding dress at cute boutique in Hughesville, PA called T.S. Adams. Terri, the owner was extremely helpful with the search and also very friendly. The seamstress there is the one that stitched Ken’s patch on the dress. My hair and make-up was done solely by my mom, sisters, and bridesmaids. Everybody was throwing in ideas and helping out, it was a great time! And they did such an amazing job! I just gave them pictures and they made it happen!
To follow some tradition, I had something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. For the something old, we tied the wedding rings of my maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother to my bouquet. My mother and brother bought me beautiful aqua earrings to wear as my something new. As something borrowed, I wore the veil that my most recent sister-in-law, Sarah, wore on her wedding day." - Ariel
“...The something blue is the most special detail to my family and me. Almost a year and a half prior to the wedding day, a very important member of the family departed from the Earth and joined Jesus in Heaven: my step-father, Kenny. Ken was diagnosed with and aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme stage IV in December of 2011. Throughout the battle just shy of a year long, Ken promised me multiple times that he would be there on my wedding day to walk me down the aisle. Though he was not there in the physical that day, he was there in spirit. I had a patch from his old, blue work shirt sewn into the train of my wedding dress, as my something blue, and I tied a little vial of his ashes to my bouquet.”
"The flowers were done by Bells and Whistles out of Kitty Hawk, NC. All I did was send her a few pictures of inspiration, and Dorothy and her crew took it from there. They nailed it! The bouquets and boutonnieres turned out beautifully." - Ariel
“When Ken went to Heaven, my oldest brother, Dustin, stepped up as the head male in the family. He stepped into many of the roles that Ken held in our family, including the task of walking me down the aisle. As I began walking down, I tried to acknowledge all of the people in the crowd, the people I love so much, but all I could focus on was Mackenzie standing there at the end. It truly is an amazing feeling to make the promises and commitments of marriage to the love of your life under God and in front of people who love you.”
“My final memory was of my beautiful wife walking down the aisle with her brother. Gentlemen, this moment, when you see the love of your life walk down that aisle, wherever it may be, is THE greatest feeling in the world. No words can do justice for the beauty that I saw in her. It was a great day, great moment, and great start to a new life. My life with my wife begun that day and it’s been all happiness since!”
“A special shout-out to our wedding officiant, Pastor Layne Lebo, for taking the time to drive all the way down to the Outer Banks from Pennsylvania. He is the head pastor at our home church in PA, Mechanicsburg Brethren in Christ, and a family friend.”
"The Good Life Eatery, in Kitty Hawk, NC, provided the catering for the night of the wedding. They had a very wide variety of delicious options, including gluten-free! The desserts were done by one of the bridesmaids, Emily Wallace, who lives in North Ridgeville, OH. Baking is a new passion of hers, and she did a fantastic job making the cupcakes look and taste amazing!" - Ariel + Mackenzie
“After the ceremony, we had a wonderful time celebrating together and eating. We ended the night by releasing Chinese sky lanterns into the sky over the ocean, in honor of Ken. In that moment, I could feel Ken smiling down on me, blessing my marriage to Mackenzie.”
Tips and advice from Ariel + Mackenzie:
- Don’t worry about every single little detail of the day. If it doesn't have a special meaning to you, you won’t even notice it the day of - plus you’ll be distracted by your new hubby.
- Just relax and enjoy it. After months of planning, it goes by so quickly.
- Remember what marriage is all about. It is an extraordinary union between man and woman, modeled after the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church. Consider Ephesians 5:22-32. The relationship between man and wife should be built on the foundation of God’s love, and God’s love is not concerned about material things like if the cake didn’t turn out perfect or if a decoration falls down. So if something doesn’t go as planned, it doesn’t matter. Focus on the significance of the day, and don’t get caught up in the world. You made promises to your new spouse and you now have the opportunity to grow, as one, to become more like Jesus!
“Married life is great! We are both so excited about what each day holds for us and for the opportunity to share our lives with each other. Yes, there are some hardships with learning to live together, but it is so amazing to be learning how to love each other as God loves us - unconditionally.”
“P.S. Heather and Jason were AMAZING! They not only took beautiful photos but they were able to join in with the events taking place. They split up which allowed for each of our wedding parties to take pictures without feeling too rushed. But overall they made the night awesome because they didn’t feel like they were there just doing their job they were talking to our family and friends, and celebrating with us it was a blessing to have such a wonderful couple document our day! We owe all our thanks to them for making our day that much more special and allowing us to keep so many memories through the pictures they took.”
Videography by Cody Wanner from Mechanicsburg, PA - It was great working with you! - Jason + Heather
