From the Bride: In describing us, all I can say is is that we are outdoorsy, worldly, minimalist, and quirky artists, who like to think outside the box. We wanted our wedding to be our personalities wrapped up into an event, and I think we accomplished that. We both are very artistically driven people, with very similar tastes in how we like things to look, which I believe really helped us pull this wedding off so well. Also, planning our wedding in two and a half months, we found that we could accomplish this goal with diligence - meeting with vendors every weekend, keeping it small with our budget in mind, and being smart in our choices would make this possible.

We definitely wanted to incorporate our backgrounds (we are both Scottish and Irish - big Braveheart fans, so we wanted to have a Celtic style wedding), our love of the outdoors and natural aesthetics, and our musical tastes. Mathieu, being a singer and guitar player in the band Lotus Blake, handpicked all of the songs to be played in order for the ceremony and reception, from strings to the DJ, and picked out the kilts for him and his guys. He decided on a style of kilt suit with a modern, classic look to it, and handpicked Sgiah Dubh knives for their socks as their groomsmen's gifts. We also performed a traditional hand-fasting ceremony, which is a classic Celtic tradition where the bride and groom's hands are tied together in union with a sentimental cloth during the ceremony. Months before the wedding, as a graphic designer, I was constantly adding beautiful images of natural floral head-dresses and classic boho wedding dresses to our wedding pinterest board. I discovered the perfect dress exactly in the style I was looking for to fit our whole wedding plan; classic lace, comfortable and light, and off the rack, so I got it that day! This led us to discover our florist who provided the perfect natural flower arrangements, following our requests to the T. We are also both photographers, and we wanted to select a venue that allowed beautiful natural light, had vintage historical elements (we live in a Victorian house-apartment from the 1800's in old Louisville, for some perspective), and an outdoor setting for our wedding and reception. We looked at places for hours, but found our perfect venue - we knew it was perfect with it's lush gardens, delicious catering, and classical look.

If I had to choose a favorite part of the wedding, I would have to say it was getting ready with my girls. I had never been so dressed up in my life, and it was so exhilarating to see myself like that. I felt so beautiful that day, and my girls and I just let loose and had fun up to the moment when it was time to walk down the aisle. My husband’s favorite part of the wedding was getting our photos done. He loved it because as photographers, we got to collaborate with Emily and we could tell the images were going to give the wedding a great look.

Alexandria + Mathieu's Celtic Wedding