AnnMarie & Brandon had the most unforgettable wedding somewhere in the Atlantic ocean. It was the wedding that almost couldn’t happen due to hurricane Florence, but they did make it possible. We’re swonning over the big blue view and AnnMarie was so radiant in her flowy chiffon gown! Let’s check their stunning cruise photos below:
All photos were taken by Norwegian Cruise Line
Wedding Dress Style: #LD3734
Q: Any advice or tips for future Mrs.?
My advice to others would be not to stress the small stuff. We always have people asking us “do you guys ever fight?”. We always laugh and find it funny because we never really thought about that, we really never fight, neither of us like the tension and it’s not worth it. We try to compromise and meet half way with everything. If there is an issue we try to address it and not bottle it in and let it build up. Often we see other couples fight and just think “that’s so much energy and work, why are they fighting over something so stupid?”.
Q: Tell us your love story! Where & How did he propose?
The story of us began in May of 2012 when a friend introduced us. At the moment neither of us expected to fall for each other. It went from that night of hanging out at a friends house to Memorial Day cookouts, camping, dinner dates, beach trips, just all the fun summer things. The following summer Brandon’s family took us on our first cruise from NYC to Bermuda. We fell in love with that island, so much that we went back three more times every summer after that. While on our trips to Bermuda we always saw other weddings and would see how fun and happy they all were.
In late 2016 we got our first house together, when the weather became nice we decided to throw a big housewarming party cookout. During that party, Brandon proposed in front of all of our close friends and family. It poured all day until just before our party started, the sun ends up coming out, it became a beautiful summer afternoon and evening, it was perfect. When we got engaged we thought back to the weddings we witnessed from our trips to Bermuda and decided we would make our 5th trip there a special one.
During that year of planning, we gathered 44 of our closest friends and family to join us in Bermuda for our wedding. Come the week before the wedding we start watching hurricane Florence, we just kept hoping it would go away and nothing would come of it. Three days prior to leaving, we get a call saying we can no longer go to Bermuda, our wedding itinerary had to change to the Bahamas. As devastating as that was to us, we were just happy to be able to have our wedding somewhere beautiful with our closest friends and family still.
The night before our wedding we were sitting at dinner and heard an announcement on the loudspeaker. It was the captain telling us we would no longer be going to the Bahamas any more, the hurricane had been shifting more south and we had to sail further out to sea to miss the storm. At that moment, we thought it was a bad dream, how can this be happening? That night was a whirlwind, it was complete chaos. When we woke up the next morning, it was beautiful outside, we waited until the coordinators were awake and then pleaded with them to please let us have our wedding on the top deck of the boat. They said as long as the captain approved, we would be allowed. Thankfully the captain agreed to let us. That very day at 2 pm, we got married on deck 20 of the Norwegian escape, somewhere in between Bermuda and the Carolinas we were able to make it happen at sea.
Q: How would you define the message ” Dare to Love”?
To me, dare to love means to not be afraid of giving someone your all. Let love happen, don’t try to force it, don’t over think it, when it feels right, just go with it and be yourself.
Q: Did you enjoy the wedding planning process? Why or why not?
To me the wedding process went so smooth, we tried not to over think and stress too much. It all was fairly easy for us to plan. We honestly didn’t stress one bit until hurricane Florence came along. We had everything 100% planned until that storm came along, and just like that everything changed.
Q: What was your hubby’s reaction when he first saw you on your big day?
The morning of the wedding we met with the photographer and she asked us what pictures we wanted, one thing we definitely wanted was the “first look”. I wanted Brandon’s face captured when I walked down the aisle and he saw me for the first time. Our photographer did an amazing job at capturing all the best moments that day. When Brandon first saw me, he had the biggest smile on his face(it was so sunny so he had sunglasses on, you couldn’t see his eyes, but he definitely had to wipe a few tears).
Q: What did you love most about your #Cocomelody dress?
I don’t think I can name just one favorite part of my wedding dress. I LOVED the sleeves, the wispy fringe, the V in the back, the train(that train when the wind blew, it was breathtaking). I had strangers asking me where I got my dress and telling me how gorgeous it was. Nobody could believe that it was under $500 and I ordered it online. I had gone to dress shops locally and couldn’t find anything like it, when I saw it advertised on Facebook I couldn’t get it off my mind. After a few weeks of contemplating and reading reviews, I decided to take the risk, I am so happy I did, my dress couldn’t have been any more perfect.
Q: What do you think about Cocomelody and the customer service?
I never had to communicate with Cocomelody customer service. My dress did come when they said it was and I honestly never had any need to contact them back.
