Giovanna & Ryan
04-06-19

Ryan and Giovanna met in 7th grade when Giovanna moved from Parkville, Maryland to Pasadena, Maryland. They rode the same bus and lived in the same neighborhood. Neither of them was too fond of one another until they were in 10th grade. Ryan moved to Florida to live with his dad in 11th grade, and they lost touch. They reconnected in July 2014, the summer before Giovanna’s junior year of college, through Facebook and the rest is history.

The Proposal

Wedding Inspiration
“Purple is both of our favorite colors, so we decided to go with purple and silver as our wedding colors. Ryan’s uncle was our officiant and had his wedding reception at our venue, so we loved that about it. I also was set on getting married outside, and the venue had a lovely garden area where we had our ceremony.”

Favorite Wedding Memory
“My mother tragically passed away in July 2018, so we had several different ways to honor her memory, and those are some of my favorite wedding details. For our ceremony, we had a chair that was wrapped in tulle and had pictures of her and a small flower arrangement to reserve her spot. Inside the reception area, we had a table that had a special flower arrangement of orchids (her favorite flower) for her surrounded by photos of her. I also went to visit my mother’s gravesite with my aunt before our ceremony, and that was very special to me. Another one of my favorite wedding details was our seating chart and guest poster. Our seating chart was a Polaroid seating chart, and our guests replaced their names with pictures of themselves. It was a nice way of seeing everyone who came. Our guest poster was designed by my brother Joseph, and it was very special to us. One of my favorite memories during our reception was playing “the shoe game”. It was a lot of fun seeing the differences between my husband and I’s answers for some of the questions and it was a way for everyone to get to know us better. We could not stop laughing. “

D.I.Y. Details
“Our entire wedding was D.I.Y. actually. We did not have a wedding planner or a wedding coordinator; it was me (lol). I made all of our centerpieces and designed all of the signs we had (welcome sign, unplugged sign, bar menu, seating cards, etc.). Ryan spray painted all of the lanterns, picture frames, wreaths, and almost anything that was silver. Ryan and I and our wedding party and families set-up and decorated our venue, inside and outside. A few of my aunts made our appetizers, which was lumpia (Filipino egg rolls), and one of my ushers pre-mixed all of our wedding cocktails. “

& a Word of Advice…
“Don’t get caught up in all the small details, and just enjoy it. Your wedding day goes by so fast and some of the little details that seem important when you’re planning it just aren’t on the day of. “

Vendors:

Photography: Classic Photographers – Carletta G.

Venue: Historic Baldwin Hall, Millersville MD

Hair: Tracey does Hair, Westminster MD

Makeup: Manic Pixie Makeup Artistry by Lindsay Schoen, Baltimore MD

Nails: Zayshala’s Unique Nails, Opelika AL

Lashes: Laurel Lynn Lashes, Auburn, AL

Dress: The Bridal Boutique, Columbia MD

Bridesmaid Dresses: JJshouse.com

Suits: Men’s Wearhouse

Caterer/Rentals: Beefalo Bob’s, Pasadena MD

Cake & Cupcakes: Kari’s Kakes, Sykesville MD

DJ: Bugsy’s Mobile Beats, Crofton MD

Florist: Fleur de Lee by Mary Lee, New Market, MD

Videographer: Kendrick Morrison of KMorrison Photo, Waynesboro, VA & Andrew Gilford of Andrew Jay Films, Staunton, VA

“We had an amazing day surrounded by family and friends. Our wedding was in Maryland, but we live in Alabama, and had friends and family travel to our wedding from Alabama, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arizona and the Philippines. We were overwhelmed with support and could not have pictured a better day.”