What were you thinking when you woke up on your wedding day?
It felt similar to waking up on race day, but 100 times more. I was excited beyond measure but so at peace at the same time. I went for a prayer walk alone on the morning of our wedding. I walked down to the train bridge (where Jer proposed to me) and I took a video of my prayer and sent it to Jeremy. Then I turned my phone on airplane mode for the rest of the day. As I was walking back to my house I started thinking a lot about my future daughter, and how the next time I will experience something of this magnitude will be on her wedding day. Then I got a Holy Spirit nudge to act on these thoughts. For some reason I felt very strongly that I was supposed to write my future daughter a letter. It was a letter that I would give to her on her wedding day, but it was written on my wedding day. I wrote about all the things that I was feeling, and tried to comfort, encourage, and celebrate with her, by being able to relate to her future emotions through my current ones. It was a wild experience. It was as if I was writing to someone I knew, but she was still unknown to the world. I ended by praying for her future husband and letting her know that her father, Jeremy, and I have been praying for them both for a long time (by now).
Where did you get your dress/who designed it?
So I saw the movie Anna Karenina… and the dress that Keira Knightley wore in the end of the movie was the closest thing to what I pictured my wedding dress to look like. I searched Pinterest for a replica to no avail. Finally I found something close, but of course it was made a few years ago and isn’t sold in stores anymore. Even if they did still make/sell it, it retailed for 3 times my budget. The dress is called Eliza by Vera Wang Couture. So I began the search determined to find this dress. After all, most everything I own is from a Goodwill, thrift, or antique store. My bother even asked me, “so where are you going to buy your wedding dress, Goodwill?!” I started searching around on the all used wedding dress websites including oncewed.com and preownedweddingdresses.com. After a month or so, I found the dress in my exact size. It was a sample on a mannequin in a hotel in Philadelphia. Never worn by a bride. Score! I had the seller send me tons of pictures and we negotiated a deal where I would be able to return the dress and ship it back if necessary. Honestly it was a very risky move, and the dress needed a lot of work when it arrived. There was a stain in the front, a chunk of tulle missing from the side, the hook and eye was missing, the zipper was broken, and it was dirty and wrinkled. With the help of my amazing mom (her career was in apparel design) and the incredible seamstress we found (if you need a seamstress in Oregon e-mail me and I will give you her number) we made my vision come to life! I wanted the dress to be backless, with off shoulder cap sleeves, boning in the front, sweat-hearted, with more lace, shortened, and taken in on the sides. Pretty much an impossible task…. But somehow it all came together to be the most perfect dress for me to wear when I became Audrey Mirabella Roloff.
Did you and Jer agree on everything?
Yes, we actually pretty much did. Jer and I have very similar styles and a knack for the sentimental details.
How did you plan your wedding on such short notice?
I have an incredibly creative, resourceful and supportive mom, and I also had THE BEST wedding planner. Her name was Mandi Wiley and her company is called Champagne Wedding Coordination. My wedding would not have been what it was without Mandi. Her organizational skills, professionalism, and established relationships with other vendors were exceptional. Usually, you need to find/order your wedding dress and book your wedding venue 8 months to a year in advance… but my wedding dress was used… and my venue was my fiancés back yard… so this helped expedite the process. And as my mom always says, “things only take you as long as the amount of time you have to do them.” We had to make it happen before summer turned to fall, or it would have been a “plan B” day.
What did the signs say?
You can read about that here! Here is the link to her shop: Little Flock Designs
Who made the dresses?
You can read about that soon!!! But in the meantime be sure to check out my best friend and bridesmaid Lauren Graebner’s shop: Eva’s By Reclamation !!!
What were your songs?
Ceremony starts (Jeremy/Family walks down the aisle): Hallelujiah –Chris Botti
Bridal party walks down aisle: Tired of Waiting – Sean McConnell
Bride walks down aisle: On a Night Like This – Dave Barnes
Bride and groom announced husband and wife: Come Go With Me – Del Vikings
Bride and groom enter reception: Stand By Me – Ben E. King
Bride and groom first dance: I Don’t Dance – Lee Brice
Father-daughter dance: Together at Last (from the Broadway musical “Annie”)
Mother-son dance: You are my Sunshine – Johnny Cash
Cake Cutting: Forever Like That – Ben Rector
Exit/Sparkler Tunnel: I’m Gonna Love You Forever – Randy Travis
How many bridesmaids/groomsmen?
12 bridesmaids 11 groomsmen
What was your cake?
My dream was always to have cobbler (my favorite dessert and possibly food) as my wedding cake. Mindi at Decadent Creations made our cobblers. We had four different kinds; summer berry, blackberry-peach, peach-bourbon, and apple crisp. Jeremy and I had one of each of the cobblers stacked in a copper cake tier, custom made by Decadent Creations. Everyone in our bridal party each got their own serving size of “blackberry-peach” (our favorite) on the bridal party table, but I wanted all of our wedding guests to be served their various types of cobbler, “Young Life Pazookie Style.” To do this I put a red lips sticker on the bottom of one dessert plate on each of the guest tables. When we did our “cake cutting” the DJ instructed everyone to look at the bottom of their dessert plates to see if they had a red lips sticker. That person was then instructed to raise their hand, and my high school Young Life girls brought the pie pan of cobbler to that person. This is how they do it at Young Life camp because it creates community/conversation at the table by designating one person to serve everyone else. And it was special for me to have my Young Life girls serve the dessert at my wedding!
What does ALWAYS MORE mean that you wrote on your hand and said in your vows?
You can read about that here!
Where did you go on your honeymoon?
All-inclusive Swept Away Couples Resort in Negril, Jamaica. It was perfect. Go!
Who made your flower crown?
Vanessa Schmidt. She has a company called Tribes N Pines. She also did the giant chalkboard calligraphy seating chart, our wedding invitations, and all the baby’s breath bridesmaid/flower girl crowns.
Who married you?
Chris Herb. He was my Young Life area director in Corvallis when I was in school at Oregon State leading Young Life. His wife was my mentor all through college, and they also did our pre-marital counseling. One of the most amazing and respected couples I know. Chris gave Jeremy and I a very special and surprise gift during the ceremony. It was a sign made from the railroad wood on the tracks behind behind the church on the farm where we got married. My siblings collected the wood for him and he made this sign that read, “New tracks – God. Each other. Others.” He knew how special train tracks are to us, so he incorporated our metaphorical reason for loving them, into our wedding ceremony. It was the most perfect gift.
How and when did you know you wanted to marry Jeremy?
So there was this one night…. we refer to it as “the night by the fire.” Jeremy and I had known each other and been friends for about six months. I was home from school for the summer so I would hang out with him and his friends at the farm. We were all having a campfire one night, and then next thing you know it was just Jeremy and I. We were awestruck by the beauty of the created world around us, and we were mutually confessing its glory. Next thing you know… it was silent…and I had this blood-pulsing feeling in my veins that this was who I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Although I barely acknowledged the thought at the time, when I look back on that moment, I realized that “I turned a corner in my soul” (in the words of Brooks and Dunn) that night. It was the night before I left to work at a Young Life camp in Minnesota for the summer. Jeremy wrote me letters.
How many people were at the wedding?
Although you never quite know exactly because it’s always changing, we had somewhere around 295 people there.
Who were your photographers?
CHRISTIANNE TAYLOR AND MONTANA DENNIS. Both are based in Santa Baraba and friends with Jeremy. Their talent is unmatched.
Where was all your décor from?
Goodwill’s, thrift stores, things we collected around the farm, my family and friend’s quilts, The Party Place, and two vintage rental companies: “Something Borrowed PDX” and “Theme Vintage.”
Did you cry?
When…? But the answer is probably yes. That morning, seeing Jeremy for the first time, walking down the aisle towards my groom, saying my vows and hearing Jeremy’s, the toasts, our first dance, and leaving the reception. All tears of joy.
Where did you get the robes you and your bridesmaids got ready in?
I ordered them on Etsy from “ChezBlanc Bridal Shop.”
Where did you get each other’s wedding rings/bands?
Jeremy got my engagement ring and band from a shop in the diamond district in LA, and I bought his on Etsy from a shop called Staghead Designs!
You posted your full vows to your blog, but do we get to see Jeremy’s?
These are Jeremy’s vows, and this is a picture of Jeremy writing them. This is by his beloved campfire pit, just a couple hundred feet from where we were wed.
Audrey Mirabella botti
My beautiful bride
Today I take your hand and commit myself to you. My heart is full of joy and I want you to know that there is not a doubt in my mind that God’s is too.
I commit myself to our mission. To be your teammate lay down my pride and practice self submission.
I vow to stand by you in sickness, ahead of you in trials, behind you in support and with you in joy
Audrey, I am yours.
Audrey Mirabella Botti
Too you I vow my service. For completion of who you are to be. Love of my life, a Kingdom warrior with aid to set the world free.
I Promise to love the new you every year
I promise to pursue you in all of your beauty
You are the strongest person I know. You inspire me teach me support me and excite me.
To begin a life with you and live out the years is what I was built to do. my confidence in this through prayer and desire has extinguished all the fears
I vow to listen to your heart and to give you thine.
Audrey Mirabella Botti
Finally, I make you mine.
For more details and a few other stories be sure to check out The Knot’s Blog soon!
Great post! Great writer! You articulate your thoughts and feeling amazingly. Can you tell me what lipstick you are wearing on your wedding day? Thank you kindly. In fact if you have a few lippie colors you use most, would love to know. Many redheads in the family, always interested in colors that lol great on beautiful redheads as yourself. Cheers to you