A Wedding at the Bride’s Parents’ Home Let This Couple Make It All Their Own

Their Story

Kourtney and Dylan tied the knot on September 17, 2022 at her parents’ home. “We met many years ago, life happened and we ended up going our separate ways,” the bride says. “Fast forward a few years, we met back up for a date and then he deployed a few months later. I visited him on his leave in Texas before he left for his year-long deployment.”

During that time they talked, Facetimed, made care packages and built a strong foundation. He came home at the end of 2019 and they “made our house a home” and got a Goldendoodle puppy named Apollo.

The Proposal

The couple started looking at rings together a few months before Dylan popped the question, but once the ring was picked, Kourtney had “zero idea of when it was going to happen or how.” He proposed on Christmas Eve.

Choosing the Venue

“We really wanted to have an amazing party to celebrate our marriage that did not have all these guidelines and rules to follow,” says Kourtney. “We ended up talking to my parents and asking them if they would be okay with hosting our wedding at their house.”

The ceremony was in the backyard and the reception in the front. Kourtney’s parents live on a secluded street, so there was privacy.

Details of the Day

Both Kourtney and Dylan are into “deep, moody colors,” which was evident throughout their wedding. Main colors were emerald green and deep fuchsia. Tables were black with either a velvet emerald or velvet fuchsia runner with candles; many accents were black to have those two colors pop.

The bride’s sister created a beautiful arch from faux flowers that sat behind the sweetheart table from faux flowers, which made the neon sign pop.

“I was not a huge fan of a lot of florals but rather candlelight—with him as a fireman, I think it killed him a little on the inside,” says Kourtney. For the bouquets, “I knew I wanted to steer clear of baby breath and pastel and white flowers. I opted for a lot of eucalyptus and deep colored florals.” They were wrapped with hot-pink tulle fabric.

The couple both loves space and often says “I love you to the moon and back,” inspiring their theme. Their invitations were a deep emerald green with stars. A hot pink neon sign hung behind our sweetheart table that read “to the moon and back.” The bride hand-made all of the signs at the wedding.

The Menu

“I can’t say there was ever a wedding that we have gone to that we absolutely loved the food, which was also something that drew us away from a traditional wedding venue. We knew that food was extremely important to us,” says the bride.

The couple had a custom grazing table made by S’Cuterie Boards: four feet long by two feet.

For the main course, the couple had two station: Brick Oven Boys (pizza) and Italian favorites like pastas, salads and sides from Villa Mannino in Bordentown.

For dessert, the couple had cake and a Mister Softee truck. “It was so fun to see everyone getting a treat and reminiscing on their childhood of having the ice cream truck stop,” says Kourtney.

The Bride’s Gown

“Going into dress shopping I wanted to wear a black dress or this beautiful pearl dress that I have seen on Pinterest since forever ago. Two very different styles but I guess I had to try to them both to see,” says the bride. “I started my dress shopping at one store, and was very upset and honestly felt that I was not going to find my dress.”

Her second stop, Bridal Garden, proved very different. Although her wedding gown wasn’t black nor did it feature pearls, she loved it. “It complimented every aspect of my body, was light, I was able to move and dance in it, and the length was perfect with the Vans that I planned on wearing,” she says.

Favorite Moment

“The the first look. I think I shocked my husband because I was not in black and he thought for sure I was coming out in a black dress. I also did not tell him I was wearing the pearls that he had gotten me from his deployment.”

Detail They Couldn’t Live Without

The 1978 Clénet Series 1 Roadster that a friend let them borrow for photos.

Advice for Other Couples

“Stop looking at Instagram and TikTok. You are going to drive yourself insane. Our wedding did not follow the current aesthetics at the time and I am so happy that we went with what we wanted not was social media was telling us.

“Surround yourself with people who care about you. My bridesmaids Door Dashed McDonald’s for us between photos. It was exactly what we needed at that time.

“If your wedding is outside, there could be bees. It never crossed my mind but a bee crawled from the bottom of my veil to the top during our vows. My maid of honor got it out without incident.

“Your wedding should be about you two as a couple. Do what makes you happy! We did not have a traditional wedding in some aspects. We did not do introductions and once we said our vows, we got right to the party. We also kept our guest list to those that we see frequently so we did not have to keep have mini catch ups throughout the night.”

Honeymoon

The couple traveled all the way to Antartica, through a cruise on Atlas Ocean Voyages. The yacht expedition had less than 150 guests.