Kara & Justin’s Featured Backyard Wedding

10. Feb, 2012

This featured wedding was submitted by Betsy of Modest Couture by Elizabeth. Kara and Justin were married last August. We want to thank Betsy for this wonderful featured wedding and we wish Kara and Justin the very best in their new lives together.

To See More of Kara and Justin’s Wedding Click Here

Photo By Bobette Potter

Brides Name: Kara Hansen

Grooms Name: Justin Bray

Occupations: Kara – Student, Justin- Historical archivist

How did you meet: We met in a history writing class at BYU. We sat by each other for the beginning part of the semester and then became good friends. We passed notes to each other and then one day Justin asked me on a date. The rest is history.

How did you get engaged: We were on our way to a Suns-Jazz game in Salt lake City. Before we entered the arena Justin pulled me aside and asked me to marry him. After that we went to the game and watched the Suns dominate the Jazz.

What do you do for fun Together: When we were dating we learned a lot of spells from Harry Potter and in our spare time we have Wizard duels! We are cupcake connoisseurs and love to try new kinds of cupcakes. We like to run together and just ran a half marathon a few weeks ago. We’re both history nerds and sometimes pretend to have intellectual conversations so people think we’re smart.

Tell us more about your love story: We just have so much fun together!

Do you have a song: “Must have done something right by Relient K

Where are you going on your honeymoon: Cruise to Ensenada, Mexico

What are your wedding colors: We had a lemonade theme and used yellow

& pink as our wedding colors.

Photo By Bobette Porter

What big plans do you have after the wedding? After the wedding we moved into a cute basement apartment in Provo, Utah. I have one more semester left at BYU and then I start a history teaching internship . Justin works in SLC.

What do you like most about him: Justin is absolutely charming and the best person I could have asked for. He is very genuine and treats me like a princess. One thing I really noticed about him is that he loves his mom and treats her really well.

I loved this! He is also always willing to help me and cleans the kitchen every night!!!

What do you like most about her: Kara is quality. She is the complete package – beautiful, caring, fun, funny, smart, creative, and has great style. She’s a great example to everyone, especially her siblings, who I’ve noticed look up to her a lot. I really am lucky to marry her. We have so much fun together! We even have jerseys, because we make a good team.

Wedding Date: Aug. 13, 2011

Location for wedding: Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple

Location for reception: Bride’s parents backyard

What was the thing you remembered most about your wedding: We had quite a few special moments on our wedding day! We were quite honored to have my Grandpa perform the ceremony! He did a wonderful job! Justin’s mom surprised us at the luncheon and read letters form my sister and Justin’s brother who are on mission for our church and could not attend the wedding. It was really special to have them be a part of our wedding. Just said that he will remember how beautiful I was. What a sweetheart! I in turn will remember how handsome and charming he looked.

Is there anything you would do differently, if so what? I would probably focus more on detail. While planning the wedding, I felt like I really focused on detail and creating lots of decorations; however, as I look back, I noticed that it could have been more elaborate.

Who is your photographer & what would you tell your friends about them: My bridals were taken by Jarvie Digital. My wedding photographer was Bobette Potter. She is absolutely amazing. She is just a family friend, but she did such a great job. I would normally recommend that brides get a professional, but I got super lucky and got the best photographer.

Who is doing your flowers & what would you tell your friends about them: One of my bridesmaid, Paige Bryson, did my flowers. She did a really good job and I was so happy for her help!

Photo By Bobette Potter

Who is doing your Wedding Cake & what would you tell your friends about them: Schmidt’s Pastry Cottage in Taylorsville, Utah did our wedding cake. It was absolutely marvelous! It looked and tasted great! I worked there for years and they have a wonderful staff who is willing to work with brides. www.schmidtspastry.net.

Photo By Bobette Potter

Who is your Caterer & tell us how you chose your menu: We served cupcakes from Schmidt’s Pastry Cottage. Once again, they did a fabulous job! We also served some delicious desserts from Pepperidge Farms. The wedding reception was very low key and we wanted the food to reflect that. I also have a major sweet tooth and was very attracted to the cupcake trend.

Where did you get your wedding dress & tell us a little about how you chose it: I wanted a 1950’s inspired tea-length wedding dress. I’ve always loved the dresses of the 1950’s and thought it would be fun to do something non-traditional. I had my dress custom-made by Modest Couture by Elizabeth in Salt Lake City, Utah. We designed my gown together completely. After trying on most of her sample dresses, I decided I liked the sleeves on one of her dresses, the skirt of a different dress, the ruffle from another dress, and the midriff from a completely different dress. We put them all together to make my own dress. I even brought her some of the buttons from my grandmothers wedding dress and she worked them in to the bead work in the midriff that she hand beaded. She did exactly what I wanted!

Photo Courtesy of Jarvie Digital

Photo By Bobette Potter

www.modestcouturebyelizabeth.com

Rings: Brides- Wilson Diamonds in Provo, Grooms- Men’s Rings for Less www.mensringsforless.com

Photo By Bobette Potter

Tux: Justin didn’t want a tux, so instead we got a dashing grey suit from men’s Warehouse. www.menswarehouse.com

Photo By Bobette Potter

Shoes: I bought darling yellow heals at Forever Young Shoes in Provo, Utah.

Photo By Bobette Potter

Entertainment: My younger brother is an amazing acoustic guitar player. Together her and I made a playlist of songs and we had him play them at the reception. It was very nice and really special to have him participate in the wedding.

What other vendors & or wedding sites will you use to help you plan your wedding: I searched a lot of wedding blogs to get ideas for my wedding.

What advice would you give to other Brides when planning their wedding:

I would tell brides to do their homework. Research as many vendors and wedding blogs as they can. It’s good to see a lot of different weddings and see what worked out and what didn’t necessarily go well.