Las Vegas might not be the first spot that comes to mind when planning a romantic wedding, but Natalie and Martin sure know how to make it work. Their nuptials were nothing short of spectacular, complete with all the glitz and glam that Sin City has to offer. But they didn’t stop there. Oh no, they went and added a little something extra – fireworks. Because what’s a wedding without a little sparkle and pizzazz, am I right? Honestly, it’s hard not to be a little jealous of these two and their over-the-top celebration. Congrats, Natalie and Martin, on one heck of a way to tie the knot.
How did you meet?
We met the new way millions of other couples have met this day and age, through online dating (Eharmony) to be exact. We connected after being on line for 7 months. Martin reached out to me on Friday, February 1st 2019, we communicated back in fourth for two days and agreed to meet on Sunday February 3rd for coffee. Our second date was on Tuesday, February 5th and from that point on we knew that we had something special and wanted to continue dating to see where this would go.
What is your proposal story?
After asking my future Father-in-law for his daughter’s hand in marriage, my plan was to go away for a few days on a romantic getaway, to Lake Las Vegas, where I would propose. And that’s what we did, on February 17th, 2021, we had a romantic sunset dinner, followed by a brief walk by the lake, and as we were enjoying an evening cocktail, I told her I had something for her, as I nervously (but at the same time very excitedly) pulled out the engagement ring and got on one knee, and asked her if she would marry me… to which she ecstatically replied YES!! Next to our wedding day, it was the second-best day of my life!
Tell us a little a bit about your wedding
When it came to the details surrounding our wedding we knew that we wanted our special day to capture elegance, romance, and class without feeling too formal. We fell in love with our venue on our first visit, which had a Tuscany feel to it. From the grounds, and architecture to the overfall privacy of the venue it made our choice very easy. As for our color choice we wanted it to reflect the winter season in which we were getting married. We chose navy blue, champagne pink and rose gold.
Tell us about your attire choices.
My wedding dress had a soft pink champagne undertone with white lace flower embellishments. The grooms attire was a dark navy blue three piece suit with black satin accents on the collar and lapel. The bridesmaid wore a navy blue, lace embellished long sleeve, floor length gown. The flower girl had a similar dress to the bridesmaid accept her dress was in white with a navy blue ribbon tied around her waist. The groomsman wore a dark navy blue suit similar to the groom minus the black satin accents.
What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
While planning our wedding we wanted to keep the main focal point on the importance of family and close friends. We highlighted this by incorporating them in many aspects throughout our wedding.
The one item that we both felt was worth having was a videographer. Besides an incredible photographer to capture your day in beautiful photos. Having a mini movie of your day allows you to relive all the special moments in motion. To watch back and have an audio/video recording brings you right back to all the wonderful moments of your day.
What were your favorite parts of the day?
As we recount our wedding day, there were so many favorite moments it’s hard to narrow them down. From both of our fathers giving heartfelt speeches, our maid of honor sharing our cupcake story with our guests to our surprise firework send off, the whole day was magical and full of special memories.
Tell us about your wedding flowers.
Choosing our wedding flowers were quite easy. Since the pattern on my dress had roses on it we decided to play off on that and select our flowers based on my dress. As for the design of the flowers, we wanted them to be romantic and timeless and also complement our color scheme.
Tell us about your wedding cake.
The significance of our wedding cake had a very special story behind it. We did not choose your traditional three tiered wedding cake. We celebrated our union with cupcakes. These were no regular cupcakes, they had a specific meaning behind them. Here’s our story. On our 6th date 02/22/2019 I invited Martin over for dinner. I was busy cooking and preparing the meal but knew I was not going to have enough time to make dessert, so while I was out grocery shopping I decided to pick up a red velvet cupcake and a hostess cupcake for our dessert. I never communicated with Martin regarding dessert plans. When Martin contacted me later that evening before he left his house to come to my place for dinner he said he had to make a quick stop and then he would be over, not knowing what that quick stop was for he showed up at my front doorstep with dessert in hand, to my surprise and shock he brought over a red velvet cupcake and hostess cupcake not knowing I had picked up the exact same cupcakes hours earlier. Talk about a sign knowing whether or not you’re with the right person, the cupcakes sealed the deal. Fast forward two years later, when we selected our wedding date 02/22/22 we did not realize at the time that that was our cupcake date, looking back on the photo of the cupcakes and realizing the time and date stamp was exactly three years ago to the day that we had our memorable cupcake moment. That is why we celebrated our wedding day with red velvet and hostess cupcakes.
What did you do for favors?
We decided on an assorted box of beef jerky for our wedding favors. My husbands family runs a very unique beef jerky company with fun and interesting flavored jerky. Since most of our wedding guests came from out of town we thought it would be the perfect favor to enjoy on their way home.
Please describe any DIY, handmade, or personal details.
One of the nicest personal touches to our wedding was our cookie table.
These goodies were all handmade sweets and treats made possible by our dear family and friends. Generational recipes representing both our backgrounds (Polish, Canadian, American, and Argentinian), created and displayed for all to enjoy.
Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?
We didn’t include any heirlooms, and traditional pastries and desserts is what we went for, combining both our family’s backgrounds in the process.
Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
The advice we would give to other couples planning their wedding would be strongly consider hiring a professional wedding planner. This is a monumental event in both of your lives where you want no detail missed, and for your special day to go off without a glitch. Most of all remember to respect the process, enjoy the journey, and don’t lose sight of why you are getting married.