A Jeweler's Wedding Day

July 20^th, 2024 I got to marry my partner for life. The day was a wonderful celebration of the love we had for each other and for the people near and dear to us.

Our Wedding Day

Hunter and I chose to start our day at our house, just the two of us. We sat on our porch with our tea/ coffee in hand. We wanted to start and end our wedding day together. Then like a typical bride, I was whisked away for hair and makeup. The rest of the morning was a blur of excitement, nerves and anticipation. But, all of that faded away when I saw Hunter at our First Look. I was so happy this day finally came!

Hunter and I chose to exchange private wedding vows and our wedding bands after our first look. I loved the idea of having this private moment to share with Hunter. HOT TIP: If you plan to take your formal pictures before your ceremony, exchange your bands early, then you will be wearing your rings for all your wedding pictures!

Both Hunter and I made each other's wedding bands. I taught him some simple wax carving techniques that were captured by Alexa Frankovitch Photography during our engagement photo session. Check out my post on Instagram @rachaelmorganjewelry for those photos. We both chose platinum for wedding bands. I wanted my wedding band to match my engagement ring and Hunter has minor allergies to base metals so platinum is a safe bet for him! (It's a safe bet because platinum is not alloyed (mixed) with any other metal.)

Hunter opted for a collar pin instead of a tie. I darked the sterling silver so it would stand out against his cream shirt. I then made pearl drop earrings with a similar shaped stud to go with Hunter's collar pin. I used a four pointed star motif in our wedding stationary and signage, so why not use it in our jewelry??

After our private vows and ring exchange we took our formal wedding pictures with our Matron of Honor Emma and Best Man Christian down by the Point Park fountain.

Isn't our photographer amazing? The Point was filled with people but you would not have known from this picture!

Then, we all headed to our wedding venue The WBU Event Venue. The WBU is the acronym for The Workingmen's Beneficial Union. It was a German cultural and union organization for the local community built in 1880. We picked this venue for multiple reasons. One, because it is bursting with local Pittsburgh history and two, because we felt supported by Natasha and Laura. They were super helpful and upfront with EVERYTHING. It also helps that the venue is less than ten minutes from our house.

Hunter and I in the bar area with an original photo from the WBU.

Hunter and I were greeted by Allison, our lead planner from Day of Pittsburgh upon our arrival at our venue. She was an angel with a clipboard. Allison was with us at every step and made our wedding day seamless and so carefree. We were able to fully enjoy our wedding day because we knew everything was taken care of.

I walked down the aisle to Manchester by Kishi Bashi. Hunter picked the song! It truly set the tone for our wedding ceremony. Hunter and I were so honored that my cousin Michael agreed to be our wedding officiant. We would not have wanted it any other way. Michael injected so much charm and humor into our ceremony; we laughed, we cried, we got married!

"This wedding is brought to you by Home Goods!" Michael's first line of the ceremony. Hunter and I met at work (Home Goods) in 2016.

One part of the ceremony that Hunter and I truly treasure is the moment we had all of our cousins stand and be recognized. Both Hunter and I are only children and in our own words "they are the reason we aren't super weird". And yes, that was said in our ceremony.

All of our "siblings" standing during our ceremony. ❤️

Hunter and I enjoyed our cocktail hour and then it was on to the celebration! I changed into my reception dress from BHLDN. And yes, I was in head to toe pearls. We loved how our reception space was expertly decorated by our by our amazing vendors (Gold Dust Florals & All Occasion Rentals). It was moody but colorful, all at the same time.

Our personal wedding cake was from The Butterwood Bake Consortium. It was Elderflower raspberry with vanilla buttercream & lemon curd. I am just drooling remembering how good it was and I don't even like cake!

All my couples that I made their wedding bands and/or engagement rings. ❤️

After our tasty dinner from Bistro to Go, a menu featuring all your BBQ classics, our DJ opened our dancefloor. A big thanks to Dan, or should I say DJ Funk Masta Fletch, for keeping our dance floor packed all night! We have been hearing rave reviews ever since!

We danced the night away surrounded by all our close friends and family.

One of our favorite pictures from the night.

All of these photos were captured by our amazing wedding photographer Alexa Frankovitch. She made time stand still on our wedding day, which is a very hard task! When we look back at these moments I can feel the love that surrounded us that day.

Family Heirlooms

Let me take a moment to tell you about “my” wedding dress. I was the third woman in my family to wear this dress on their wedding day. I had the honor of wearing my great-aunt Susie’s 1965 wedding dress. My mother, Diana, wore it for her 1992 wedding.

Fran Miller of Sew Glorious took such great care of this gown preserving the integrity of it while altering it for my body. Fran also altered my reception dress and created a bow to wear in my hair for the reception! Check it out in pictures below.