Jordan + Gary's Wedding - Tara Lauren Real Love Tara Lauren

Jordan + Gary’s wedding was like a love story from the pages of a fairytale with sweet, personal touches.

Of her custom VALERIA + GIULETTA gown, Jordan said: “I needed my wedding dress to be elegant, yet modern and romantic, but most important of all, I needed something timeless. After trying on so many gowns, I said “If only I could take the bodice of the VALERIA and the skirt of GIULETTA and put them together.” To my surprise, the stylist said “We can absolutely do that!” And just like that, my dream dress was born!”

Names: Jordan + Gary

Wedding Date: 10.23.2021

Guest Numbers: 105

Wedding Location: Rostlewait’s Country Weddings, OR

Photographer: Alyssa Brooke Photography

Tell Us Your Love Story

How did you meet?

We met in law school at the University of Oregon. Go Ducks! Our first year, we were in all of the same classes together and hung out with the same group of friends. Somewhere along the way, the two of us decided we had a “thing”, and during our second semester of the first year, Gary finally asked to make our “thing” official.

How did he put a ring on it?

We planned to go on a week-long vacation in Maui. The morning we were leaving for the airport, I was upstairs packing up our things and Gary asked me to come down to the kitchen because he had a surprise. When I came down the stairs and rounded the corner, I saw a small ring size box on the counter with a note and a bottle of champagne. Gary asked me to first read the note and when I finished reading, I looked up and he was down on one knee asking me to marry him! Gary previously decided there was no way he could sit through a 5 hour plane flight without asking me to be his wife.

Where did you draw inspiration from?

I drew inspiration from Pinterest, Instagram, wedding blogs – you name it! I organized tons of inspiration photos into different categories and started my vision for different aspects of what I wanted our wedding to look like.

What made the wedding personal to you?

I love to make and design all kinds of things, so I ended up doing a lot of DIY for different details at the wedding. I designed the wedding invitations, which included curating a vintage stamp set where each stamp represented something about Gary and I, and got a special wax seal made with our wedding date to use to add an elegant touch. I designed our seating chart and enlisted my dad to help bring the design to life. The seating chart was made of wood which held personalized wine stoppers for each guest to take as a favor and had each guest’s name burned into the wood above their personal cork. I made sure to have a signature cocktail sign to incorporate our sweet puppy in the wedding. We had 3 cocktails, “his” Old Fashioned, “hers” French 75 and “Lucy’s” Margarita. I spent months making a flower wall to use as a photobooth backdrop. I hand painted every flower to get them just the right color! We convinced Gary’s uncle to drive our dog, Lucy, down to the venue 3 hours before the wedding so we could take photos of the three of us, and of course Lucy wore her specially embroidered “dog of honor” bandana. Needless to say, the details were a top priority to make the wedding personal to us!

What were you most nervous or excited about?

I was most nervous about the weather! In Oregon, you never know what the weather might be like in October. It could be sunny or could be down-pouring rain. It ended up raining most of the morning of our wedding, but the sun came out during our ceremony and it was absolutely beautiful. Plus I hear rain on wedding day is good luck anyway!

I was most excited to marry Gary and to see all of our visions and plans come to life.

Now, the most important part – the Dress!

Tell us about your dress?

When I first went dress shopping, I had a vision of what I wanted my dress to look like. I needed something elegant, yet modern and romantic, but most important of all, I needed something timeless. I tried on a couple of dresses that weren’t quite right, and then I put on the VALERIA by Tara Lauren. I loved the bodice of the dress with the simplicity of the solid white color mixed with the sexiness of the plunging V neckline. I loved the A-line style with the tulle skirt, however, the one thing I wasn’t quite sold on was the small floral embroidery. I wanted bigger appliqué floral pieces that would add a whimsical and flirty touch. The next dress I tried on was GIULETTA by Tara Lauren. The bottom of GIULETTA was exactly what I was looking for with large lace floral appliqué all over the dress. I turned to two of my best girl friends who came dress shopping with me and said “If only I could take the top of the VALERIA and the bottom of the GIULETTA and put them together, then I would have the perfect dress!” To my surprise, the stylist assisting us said “We can absolutely do just that!” And just like that, my dream dress was born!

What stockist did you get it from?

True Society by The White Dress, OR

What was your most memorable moment from your day?

It is so tough to choose just one moment! I’m torn between our first look where we read our personal vows, as it was an incredibly intimate and special moment, but also our first dance. It somehow felt like we were the only ones in the whole room, and I was just so genuinely happy and present in the moment. We also loved dancing and laughing with all our family and friends, and who could forget the sparkler exit (we all love a good sparkler exit)!