Sara and Braxton’s magical day came together with the help and love of everyone involved, from the planner to the photographer to the DJ. After a difficult year for Sara’s family, with her dad becoming paralyzed, it was beyond special for everyone to come together to celebrate such an exciting occasion. This wedding was a big family affair—for more than just the usual reasons.
Close to Home
Her sister Taylor, the former owner of Utah’s very own Taylor Made Cakes, made Sara’s gorgeous wedding cake. Sara grew up tasting all of Taylor’s delicious cakes when she would make them for other weddings, so when her own wedding day came around Sara knew exactly what she wanted! Taylor came out of retirement just for her.
Sara’s cousin did her flowers, and absolutely blew everyone away. She had recently began a floral business after going to school in London, and Sara trusted her with everything. “It was like a, ‘You’re so much more creative than me, take it away,’ sort of thing. I gave her the colors I liked, I didn’t pick out anything else, I didn’t pick out placement or anything. It was so pretty, and I seriously got comments about my flowers for weeks, so it was so special to have her do all of them.” Our jaws dropped when we saw the photos of her flowers.
Sara grew up in Holladay Utah, which is where The Perfect Dress Bridal is located, and she would pass by it every day. “I would go out of my way to drive by it to see the dresses in the window because I thought it was always so fun to see what they were displaying.” Naturally, that was the first place Sara went wedding dress shopping, and she ended up getting the first dress she ever tried on! Like everything else on her wedding day, everything fell into place perfectly, as if it were meant to be.
A Miraculous First Dance
Here’s where you’ll need your tissues. Just over a year ago, Sara’s dad became paralyzed from the neck down after an accidental fall. “I had always imagined the first dance with my dad, and so I was like, ‘Oh I’m never gonna have that, I’m gonna have to do it in a wheelchair or something.’ Obviously we would’ve made it work, but he made a miraculous recovery and was walking on my wedding day and everything, so we got to do that first dance and it was so fun.”
One look at the pictures from their first dance will have you weeping, it’s so precious. “So many people were crying because I feel like everybody there was a part of it, tons of family and friends that had watched that whole experience, so that was really special.”
Coming Together in Love
Because of the unique situation with her dad, Sara worried about being able to get everything together for her wedding day. But every single one of her vendors made sure that Sara and Braxton’s day was amazing in every way.
“A lot of people during the wedding planning process went out of their way to make my day special. I feel like everyone always told me that wedding planning is so stressful, but for me, it was this huge joy in my life. I could kind of step away from reality. A lot of people stepped in to help and it was just amazing.”
She especially loved her photographer, Whitney Hunt. “Whitney is so amazing! She knew my family before because she did my sister’s wedding, so when all of this stuff was going on with my dad, my sister reached out to her and was like, ‘What’s the possibility you would do Sarah’s wedding?’ and she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I would do it for any price, I love you guys so much, I know that this is a way I could help your family.’ She was seriously so amazing and we love every single picture she took. It was so special to have her there and I just feel like we have such a great relationship now.”
Whitney isn’t the only vendor who stepped up either. Their videographer, DJ, planner, and more did all they could to help Sara’s dreams come true. “I am so grateful because I really did not expect to have as great of a wedding as I did at that point in time, so I’m very grateful for everyone who did those things for me.”
Love is in the Details
And the sentimental details don’t stop there. At their reception, Sara did a choreographed dance routine with her eight-year-old nephew, who she says has always been like a little brother to her. “He was really serious about it. He didn’t want to tell anybody either so it was a surprise. We practiced in secret, it was so fun.” He even included a dip and everything!
Another detail that we can’t leave out—Braxton’s suit was custom-made to match the lining of Sara’s dress, with sailboats on the inside. He proposed to Sara on a sailboat, so it was only fitting that they tied that into their wedding in the most dapper way.
Sara also mentioned how much her mom helped and was involved in everything from the start. “My mom was amazing, she came to every dress fitting, every venue we went to, every food tasting, anything that we had, she was there, and she was so awesome.” Special shout-out to all the amazing moms out there! Our weddings wouldn’t be what they are without them.
Enjoy the Process
Sara’s biggest piece of advice for anyone who’s planning a wedding is to enjoy it! “Everybody says it’s so stressful and it does not need to be. Just have fun with it.” A big help for Sara and Braxton’s wedding was having a planner. “It just made it so much easier to just be happy and enjoy the day.”
When we say every person in Sara and Braxton’s family was involved in their wedding day, we mean it. Everyone came together in the most special ways, both to celebrate the love between Sara and Braxton, and the love they all share with each other. Take this as a sign to hug your loved ones!
Vendors:
Planning: La Fete Floral
Florals: Oak Leaf Designs
Dress: The Perfect Dress
Makeup: Sarah Black
Suit: Indochino
Venue: Twenty and Creek
Catering: Marvellous Catering
DJ: DJ Cam Reeve
Cake: (the bride’s sister!) Taylor Made Cakes
Photography: Whitney Hunt Photo
Video: Runaway Vows
