Annalise + Luke's Covington Wedding

From the Bride: April 2nd of 2022 was a day that I have been dreaming of for a long time-- and it did not disappoint! It was Luke and I's senior year at UofL when I asked him out in 2018 (girl power), and after only a few months, I knew that Luke was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. After our engagement in November of 2020, Luke and I quickly decided that we wanted our family, friends, and faith to be the main aspects of our wedding day. We have 11 siblings between the two of us, plus several close friends, so we asked 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen to be next to us at the altar (the party bus was a fun time to say the least!!).

The cherry trees are in full bloom for a short time in the spring, and thankfully, our wedding day fell during such time. Our first look location at the Weeping Cherry Tree Grove at Ault Park just across the river in Cincinnati, OH complimented our wedding colors nicely. Our main colors were white and mauve, along with navy, gorgeous greenery, and hints of pink and gold. My vision for my bridal bouquet was grand, but neutral. I adore the simplicity yet elegance of a white rose, so my florist helped me pick three types of white roses to embody the majority of my bouquet. The notable roses along with touches of olive branch, baby's breath, silver dollar eucalyptus, baby blue eucalyptus, plus more, resulted in gorgeous variance that I was extremely happy with.

We were surrounded by our loved ones in Covington, KY at Mother of God Church for the ceremony, and then drove just a few blocks away to The Madison's Grande Ballroom for a fun-filled evening reception.

There are several other aspects of our special day that Luke and I adored. Luke and I were both born and raised in Northern Kentucky, so naturally we wanted to share our enjoyment of goetta and bourbon at our wedding reception. We ordered a beautiful, oak bourbon barrel lid engraved with our last name and wedding date. Our guests signed our bourbon barrel lid when they arrived to our reception, and it is now hanging in our living room as a wonderful reminder of the day we married! In addition, our guests raved about the delicious goetta ball appetizers that were offered before the main meal. Our beautiful three-tier cake, made by Luke's mother and aunt, contained three crowd-pleasing flavors. Luke and I's favorite flavor was the rich, chocolate bourbon cake with a decadent mocha filling. The second flavor of our wedding cake was luscious strawberry cake with a strawberry filling. Our third flavor was white cake with a delicious raspberry filling. Luke's mother and aunt made an additional sheet cake as Luke's groom cake. The flavor was a mouthwatering mocha velvet, complete with a Luke Skywalker lego set on top! We saved the top layer of our wedding cake to enjoy on our anniversary (if we can manage to wait that long!).

Our First Dance was to the song "You & Me" by Dave Matthews Band. This has been our favorite song to dance and sing to together since the beginning of our relationship. It is on our bucket list to make it to a Dave Matthews Band concert one day!

Luke and I are mega bourbon fans, so of course we had to implement bourbon in our signature cocktails at our wedding reception! Luke chose his all-time favorite cocktail, a Colonel Collins, to be served as the "His" cocktail. The lemon juice, club soda, and simple syrup combined with Maker's Mark bourbon resulted in a refreshing cocktail. My "Hers" cocktail was a Rosemary Kentucky Mule. It contained the lime juice, ginger beer, and bourbon of a traditional Kentucky Mule, however, the rosemary-infused simply syrup put such a unique twist on the bourbon cocktail! Luke handmade the rosemary simple syrup from scratch, and we received many compliments from our guests about how much they enjoyed the drink.

Luke and I are beyond blessed that we were able to safely celebrate our wedding day surrounded by our many family members and friends. We will be forever thankful for our loving and supporting parents that helped make our day possible. Each of our vendors went above and beyond for our authentic Kentucky wedding! We will always cherish our surplus of memories, photos, and videos that we have of April 2nd, 2022.

Bride’s Advice: Start planning early, and just remember that a wedding lasts a day, but a marriage lasts a lifetime!

Photography: Bethany Lane Photography | Videography: Elegant Films | Location: Covington | Venue: (Ceremony) Mother of God Church (Reception) The Grande Ballroom at the Madison Event Center | Florals: The Secret Garden | Caterer: Madison Event Center | Music: McFadden Music DJ’s | Transportation: Wright Party Bus & Limo | Stationery + Paper Goods: Minted | Hair + Makeup: Janay Beauty | Bride’s Attire: Donna Salyer's Fabulous Bridal | Groom’s Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Credits: (Bride’s Perfume) Tiffany & Co. (Shoes) Anthropologie (Bourbon Barrel Guest Book) GirlyBuilds via Etsy (Bridal Party Pajamas) SelineLounge via Etsy (Veil) ABusyMother via Etsy (Bracelet) DarethColburnDesigns via Etsy (Floral Sequin Clutch) Lulus