Real Brides: Caroline

When I was around the age of 16, my sister Ally had been dating her boyfriend Ryan for quite some time, but I hadn't really been old enough to understand their relationship, let alone Ryan's family. That was when I started to notice Ryan had a brother, Kellen. Kellen was 22 and in my eyes, the man of my dreams. Mind you, I rarely saw him in person or spoke to him, but from stories I had heard from Ryan or saw on social media (these were the myspace days), he was perfect. He was adventurous, artistic, loved his family more than himself, had a relationship with God, and a total hottie. Fast forward three years later...my sister, Ally and Kellen's brother, Ryan, got married. If you would have told my 19 year old self that I would now be married to my brother-in-laws brother...I would have said, "Yeah right! In my dreams!" At that time, I still thought of Kellen as the perfect man. But we were at two very different stages of our life and were in serious relationships of our own. I always thought this little crush of mine was just something silly, that would never be able to happen...but God had something else planned. Two years later, both Kellen and I found ourselves struggling after relationships that we were in, left us heartbroken. We were both left feeling down and questioning ourselves, and why this would happen. During my heartbreak I had discovered that I was really ready to be in a serious relationship and settle down with someone, someone who was possibly older, more mature than the guys my age and ready for the same thing. One night I was hanging out with Ally at her house, and she thought we should go out for a drink. I had recently turned 21, and she knew I was still in a funk from my previous relationship. We were headed to a bar right around the corner from where Kellen lived (conveniently), so she texted him and asked him to come join us. He politely declined as it was a random Thursday night and it was around 10:00pm or so...But I wanted to text him and ask him for myself. I asked Ally for his number, and then texted him and asked him to come out just for one drink, and he ended up meeting us there. It was there that Kellen started to notice that we were both in a similar situation and I was not little Caroline anymore, but someone he wanted to get to know. From there, Kellen and I started meeting up, going out with our siblings and taking me on dates. We visited the Del Mar Horse Races in San Diego and went out to dinner, and it was from there that we knew we were "the one" for each other. Our broken hearts brought us together to makes us realize what we had before didn't happen for a reason. The guy that I had always thought of as the perfect man, was now my best friend and mine. I didn't see it when my heart was broken, but now I look back absolutely perplexed and awed that every little thing added up and brought us to be together. God has a funny way of working things out. We dated for over two and a half years before Kellen asked me to marry him, and it was the easiest question I have ever had to answer. We had nearly a two year engagement to financially plan for the wedding of our dreams at our dream venue, and enjoy time just being an engaged couple. We got married on December 19th, 2019 and it was the best day of my life. I truly married the man of my dreams and best friend. 

I was the girl who had been planning out her wedding since high school. I have had a Pinterest since I was 17, and knew exactly what I wanted and liked for my dream wedding day. This included my dress. Since I don't have curves, I knew I wanted something that was form fitting, like a mermaid or trumpet style. I visited two dress shops before finding my perfect dress. The first shop I visited didn't put me in anything i truly loved and they were styles i didn't really cared for. The second shop, had some beautiful choices, but none of the dresses really felt like "me." I finally visited Mon Amie Bridal Salon in Orange County, and loved my experience. They let me walk around and pick out a few dresses I liked, and then the stylist picked out a few similar styles that she thought I would love. The first dress I put on was the Moonlight dress that the stylist selected, and as soon as I put it on, I knew it was the one. It was form fitting, with a see through bodice, beading, a vintage style lace and low back; everything I wanted. The train was absolutely beautiful and added a extra dash of glam. I felt like a princess. And the best part was, it was beyond comfortable! It felt like the dress was made for me. Working with the staff at Mon Amie could not have been more of a premium experience! So happy to have found my dress there.

Photo Credits: Muse Moments Photos