Blush Bridal Spotlight: Amanda Long

Wedding season is upon us and we could not be more excited for all of our "Brides of Blush" as they celebrate their upcoming nuptials! As you know, we love being a part of your wedding planning journey and seeing all of your wedding dreams come to life! On today's post, Amanda shares about her wonderful wedding and the details that made it even more memorable!

Tell us a little about your love story.

My husband and I met on a blind date on February 14th, 2017 at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Lititz, Pennsylvania, yes...Valentines Day, (ha)! We were set up by my sister and Nathan's best friend from college (they both love to take credit for playing matchmaker). After we began dating, we both knew something special was developing. We dated for a little over a year before Nathan asked me to marry him. We spent the day at Longwood Gardens, which I thoroughly enjoyed, only to find out later that Nathan could barely focus on one flower knowing his big plans for the day. On our way home from Longwood, we stopped at Susquehannock State Park where we had the river overlook all to ourselves. As the sun was setting, Nathan got down on one knee and asked for my hand in marriage! We celebrated with our families later that evening!

As a bride, you have many options when it comes to where you will look for your wedding dress. What brought you to Blush Bridal and what was the experience of finding your dress like?

I made appointments at three different bridal shops over the span of one weekend, with the goal of finding "the one" right away. Blush Bridal was the first shop that my mom, my sister and I visited to try on dresses. We were treated with charm and honest feedback from Jackie right away. She helped to rein in my broad scope of dress preferences. Bottom line, I had no idea what I liked and didn't like. Jackie was able to pick dresses off the rack based off of my subtle hints, once I started to learn what I actually did like. My wedding dress ended up being the second dress that I had ever tried on. I didn't know at the time, however, I started to figure it out once I began comparing every dress to "the one". I still went to the other two bridal shops but as soon as I got back in my car, I called Jackie and rushed to Blush Bridal to try on "the one". I ordered it that next day!

Where was your wedding and how did you decide on that venue?

We were married at our church, Wheatland Presbyterian, and our reception venue was The Willows at Historic Strasburg. We planned our wedding in seven months and were somewhat limited in finding a venue with Saturday availability. We both decided that we didn't want to prolong our engagement just to have a better vendor, or a certain time of year with more availability. We agreed that if we planned things that way, we would be getting away from the true meaning of our wedding day. After visiting The Willows at Historic Strasburg, we knew right away that it was going to be flawless! Amanda (the onsite wedding coordinator) won us over with her planning expertise, and along with the stunning beauty of the venue, we knew it was our place! We felt comfortable and trusted our wedding plans to the amazing staff. We were taken very good care of from start to finish!

Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for your wedding colors, flowers, and any other fun details?

I built our color scheme off of one picture I found on Pinterest. Where else?! It was based on a bouquet of flowers that just looked like Autumn and it really caught my attention. Our main colors were navy, thistle blue, with gold accents, as well as accents of burgundy, peach-orange and silvery-green eucalyptus. Our amazing florist, Petals with Style, truly brought the color scheme to life.

What was your favorite part about your wedding day?

That question is impossible! It's so difficult to answer because each moment of the day flew by remarkably fast. I can truthfully say that each moment was full of joy and happiness- even as I ran into the church through the raindrops. There were few moments that we had to ourselves on our wedding day, but one that stands out to me was in the lobby of the church, just seconds after we had walked down the aisle, after saying "I do". We had just enough time to share a true, newlywed kiss! We looked at each other in disbelief realizing we were actually, finally married!

What advice or words of wisdom would you give to other brides as they prepare for their wedding day?

Have a short engagement, don't give yourself too may options, get your dress and bridesmaids' dresses from Blush Bridal, and make it about you and your groom. Don't worry about what everyone else will think!