Anthony & Alicia Erb - Wedding Story

Memorable. As I look back at my wedding day, it's hard to pin point only one memorable moment. Though, there are a few moments throughout the day that stand out more than others. First of all, my Dad seeing me in my gown for the first time. He didn't have to say anything. I could tell by the way he looked at me that he thought I looked beautiful. I know he'll remember that moment for the rest of his life, as so will I.

Another memorable moment is probably the most cliché. Seeing my husband-to-be at the end of the aisle waiting for me. He later told me that he was whispering to himself "Don't cry. I'm not going to cry." But, he said, as soon as he saw me and how beautiful I looked, he couldn't help it. When I got up to him and my dad gave me away, I just looked into Anthony's eyes and felt so loved. All the butterflies in my stomach went away at that very moment. It was the best feeling in the world.

Lastly, one of the MOST memorable moments would have to be my Matron Of Honor's (Ashley, Anthony's sister) speech. She talked about Anthony and my love for each other and how happy she knows we make one another. Though, the part of her speech I will never forget was when she began talking about their dad, who passed away in September. As all three of us fought back tears, she told us how happy he would be for us and how he wouldn't miss our wedding for anything. He was there with us and in our hearts the whole day, but at that moment there was not a soul in the room that didn't feel him as well. It was very touching.

Stressed. I am one of the biggest procrastinators there are, so of course the month before the wedding I was more than overwhelmed with all of the things left to do. I was also a DIY type of bride. If there was something I knew I could do on my own, at a better price, I was going to try it. For instance I had taken it upon myself to paint our monogram on our aisle runner.3 days before the wedding! That was the most stressful time. I was trying to be patient, yet all I could think was "I need to get this done.now!" It also didn't help that I wanted to design and put together our favor tags. I waited until 2 days before the wedding to cut, print, glue, and tie the tags onto the favors. Thankfully, I always had Anthony, his mom, and my bridesmaids to talk me down from my panic attacks and help me focus on getting things done. Besides, it all paid off in the end. Everything came together perfectly.

Favorite. I'd have to say my most favorite part of our wedding day begins as a series of events. First, we were announced as Mr. and Mrs. into our reception venue, followed by seeing everything (all of our décor) for the first time, and going into our first dance. Then, respecting the advice from our photographer, Amanda, we took a few moments to let everything sink in. We saw all of our loved ones who had gathered together to celebrate with us. Everyone was sitting at tables with décor that we had closely designed with our vendors. We saw the fabric treatment above us and our monogram shining on the wall and talked about how everything had turned out better than we could have imagined. The time on the dance floor was the only time we had during the entire day where no one could hear what we were saying. We took that time to just be together and soak in what was happening. We were finally married! The feeling of such happiness and contentment at that moment is most definitely my favorite part of the whole day.

Advice. The best advice I can give any bride is decide on a budget and stick with it. There are going to be things you want for your wedding.some you can afford and some you can't. Make sure you decide early in your planning what things are most important to the both of you. For us, one of the top things was photography. Keeping that in mind, we opted to have a cash bar as opposed to a full, so that we could have the funds available for the photographer we really wanted. Free liquor for everyone at our wedding wasn't as important to us as having great photographs to show our friends and family afterwards.

Also, to help you stay on budget, always search before you buy. Don't just go with the first thing you see. A lot of times you can find a better deal somewhere else. When I found a hairpiece that I liked, I went home and googled every possible description of the hair piece. I ended up finding a better one for a lot less money, on Etsy.com. By the way, if you haven't heard of that site yet, check it out. They have a lot of really great things for brides.