Getting married on Valentine's is any girl's dream come true but then life hits you in the face and you have kids, rent, food, car payments, bills and all of a sudden your dream of a beautiful wedding disappears and you settle for the county courthouse. This was the case with 7 brides that submitted their love story to us in a recent email.
Eight days before Valentine's Day we had a crazy idea. Instead of going out to some fancy restaurant, we decided our time would be better spent giving dream weddings to well-deserving couples. We sent out an email to our email list of 3000 brides asking them to share their love stories. Based on their stories we gifted 7 couples a free wedding on Valentine's Day.
It was so last minute and such a crazy idea that we thought we wouldn't get any submissions. Within 10 minutes of the email going out, we had 14 submissions and then 44 in total over the span of a few days. One of the funniest questions that almost every bride initially asked us was..."Is this a scam?" They couldn't believe that they were going to get an entire dream wedding for free. They were in disbelief that they would be having their wedding on our 31-acre European countryside venue which included a wedding planner, photographers, an officiant, dinner, drinks, DJ, and a cake all for free.
One of the brides that was selected, Shannon Green, wrote this to us...
"We’ve already been through thick and thin together and have been engaged since 2019... We've been struggling financially for a long time and always just put off the whole wedding experience... being able to have this intimate, beautiful wedding would be a dream."
Jazlynn Rivera, shown below, was the first bride of the day. She chose to get married in our romantic Tuscan pathway with the sun behind her back. She had the entire property to herself in the early morning.
After her wedding she left this review for us...
"We got eloped here and let me tell you, it was amazing! Everything was perfect, the venue is beyond beautiful with many amazing photo opportunities. The pizza from the brick oven was delicious. One of my favorites was the bridal suites."
Our unique bridal suites were definitely a hit with the brides!
Among one of the most memorable moments of the day was when one of the grooms, Chris, played a beautiful classical piece on his violin as part of his vows to seal his love for his bride.
After he was done, Keith, the officiant, looked at the bride and said "good luck following those vows," as everyone including Julia, the bride, laughed out loud.
Julia and Chris left this review after their wedding...
"Andalusian Oaks gave us our perfect dream wedding, from prepping as a bride in the beautiful bubble dome to walking down the aisle in the piazza at sunset. We have zero complaints. They accommodated everything from food and music to even the wedding cake. It was a magical night that we will never forget!"
For the reception we thought why not have ALL of the brides and their families party together!
We got on the phone with each bride and to our surprise 3 of them were down for the party and thought it was a great idea. The best part and our favorite was the cake cutting and bouquet toss. The brides did it together! We had a custom cake designed for them and then partied all night.
Each of the brides came up to us after to share their stories about why this was the perfect timing for their wedding and how grateful they were. Until this moment, they hadn't been able to have their dream wedding because of financial reasons, life getting in the way, kids, and they just hadn't been able to tie the knot.
This Valentine's Day their dream finally came true.
Here are more pics of the day...
One thing we learned about love is that even though everyone has a different love story, the feelings are the same for that special someone. It doesn't matter the culture or the location.
Usually, my wife and I go out to some nice restaurant on Valentine's to celebrate our love but this year we decided to provide 7 couples with an unforgettable experience. It was the best Valentine's Day we have ever had together. I guess that is another lesson... happiness comes from helping others find theirs.
Credits:
Venue: Andalusian Oaks
Photography: Caela Westfall, Christy Rossi, Josh Rossi
Wedding Officiant: Keith Carson
Wedding Planner: Morgan from Seas Your Day Events