Here at dbAndrea, we believe in true love. We pride ourselves in preserving the memory of your wedding day to be reminded of that love for years to come. Emily and Justin met during a college conference and neither of them expected the journey that would unfold. After a game of Rock Paper Scissors, reflecting on childhood memories of sunflowers, and a global pandemic later, these two tied the knot and found the perfect way to commemorate their big day. Let’s take a look at their story and the unique request we got when pressing the wedding bouquet!
The Cute Meet
In 2017, Emily and Justin were both working for the recreation departments of their universities when they met at a conference. She went to Clemson University in South Carolina, and he went to East Carolina University 6 hours away in North Carolina. As an ice breaker, they had to challenge someone to a game of Rock Paper Scissors.
“I won,” Emily explains, “but to be fair, he told me he always shot rock.” Pay attention to that detail everyone; it comes up again later!
After the conference, they kept in touch. Their first date was a few months later when Emily traveled to visit her sister at East Carolina University. She met up with Justin who took her out to all of his favorite spots and introduced her to his friends.
“As an introvert, this was a big deal for me,” Emily says. After all, every introvert needs an extrovert!
The Proposal
At the end of every school year, Justin would throw a big party for all of his friends to celebrate. One year, he told Emily that there were going to be a lot of new friends mingling at the party. He suggested that they host a Rock Paper Scissors challenge to break the ice and asked her to help demonstrate. Little did she know, everyone there knew what was about to happen.
“In front of everyone we started playing and on “shoot” he got down on one knee and proposed,” Emily exclaims, “remember, he always shot rock!” This time the rock was a diamond engagement ring!
The Wedding
When planning the wedding, Justin had just as many ideas as his bride, Emily. “He’s a really creative guy but sometimes that meant his ideas were from way out of left field, and sometimes we weren’t even in the same ballpark,” Emily says, “but that made it fun!”
In the end, they planned a “Non-Traditional Barn Wedding.” However, they had no idea just how untraditional it would be. “Our wedding day was nothing like we planned but better than we ever could have imagined,” Emily explains.
The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed their plans, and the wedding went from a 200 person bash to a close gathering of their closest family and friends.
“Our intimate ceremony of 17 people was absolutely beautiful. Everyone that needed to be there, was there. We would have loved for our extended family and friends to see our wedding in person, but our photographer and videographer beautifully captured every moment for us,” says Emily.
The Bouquet
Emily’s florist is also her sister-in-law. She owns Serendipity Petal Cart in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she jumped at the chance to design something beautiful. Emily chose sunflowers for her bouquet for a very special reason.
When I was younger, my father owned a garden center and every spring I would plant sunflowers in containers and sell them to his customers. Ever since then, I’ve always had this connection with sunflowers and knew they had to be in my bouquet,” she explains.
The Bouquet Pressing
At first, preserving her bouquet wasn’t something really important to Emily. That all changed when she realized how much the pandemic was going to affect the big day. She explains, “because it was so small, I wanted to be able to remember every detail and thought flower preservation was a great way to do it.”
With so much of life being uncertain, the team here at dbAndrea loves that we can preserve the memories of our clients for years to come. Originally, Emily ordered a standard 11x14 and 5x5 mini, but then she got an idea.
“I asked if they could switch my order to a custom silhouette of North Carolina. The team recommended the size of 10x20 because the state of North Carolina is so long. I knew that they were the professionals and trusted that they would do right by my flowers,” she adds, “I loved how easy it was to work with dbAndrea. The team was incredibly communicative throughout the entire process, and I knew that my flowers were in good hands from start to finish.”
Emily also chose to add a ring diamond at the last minute for a little extra love. She said it's the perfect way to remember the best day of her life.
Now, the pressed bouquet silhouette hangs on the gallery wall in their living room, and Emily keeps the pressed mini in her office.
“It’s just so beautiful to look at and brings a smile to my face every time I see it,” she concludes.
Preserve Your Bouquet
Interested in preserving your wedding bouquet? Book as soon as you set your wedding date to ensure availability. Choose from our traditional options or dream up something completely custom like Emily.
Share Your Love Story
Are you a current or former dbAndrea bride? We would absolutely love to share your love story! Send us an email at hello@dbandrea.com with the subject line “Love Story” for a chance to be featured.
