Wedding of Mark and Kris #OgilvieEverAfter #BESTDAYEVER

 

6.18.2021

On the last day of 2021 and pretty much six months later...

This post is coming a late but I still felt the need that I should write about it. As many as you know 2021 is the year that I had the blessing of being married for a time and all eternity. I remember that I had dreamed about this with this day this kind of love, this season of life and this type of happiness.

 I will say that I do feel that I did feel joy and happiness while I was single. I feel I did the best to improve myself and to love others as I continued the journey of dating and trying to find a match. However now that I am married I do love being able to share all the very private moments of life with my husband and to make decisions with him and to support him as he supports me. 

The Temple Sealing 

Now onto the fun stuff I really enjoyed the big day. I know it is cliche to say "best day ever" but I think it really is the best day ever--at least for the bride I hope it is for the groom as well but I will always remember our wedding day as one of the most special days of my life It was just so sweet to celebrate our union,our love and to have all the people who we love and the people that love and support us doing the same. I felt like my friends and family who went to any of the events for our wedding and who reached out to congratulate us just made the whole wedding season that much more memorable. 

The love and happiness that I felt the date of was just so palpable and especially when we were being married in the temple. I can say I literally felt the outpouring love of each and every person in attendance and even of our Father in heaven and of our family who has passed. I know that my sound a little dramatic but I know that a lot of people were a part of my journey in finding my eternal companion and essentially rooting for a happy ending or better yet beginning. 

 One of my favorite memories of the temple ceremony is also when the spiritual and sweet words were exchanged between my husband and I and one something I remember is when I was asked if I would take him as my husband I “said yes a million times yes!” That's how lucky I feel to have found my husband and how I feel he is a great man of God and totally worth the wait. A funny memory of the temple ceremony would be that when we had our first looks my husband actually took longer in getting ready I was out first, in his defense as he would say he has more to cover haha. After the first look we walked hand in hand and made our exit from the temple as husband and wife with mask on (because of covid rules) but took them off quickly and had our first kiss in public as husband and wife and where each greeted by our loved ones who were there to cheer us on and take family and friends photos. 

We then had our bridal photos and videos—my mom was so kind and stayed in the Florida summer heat to help prep me and my dress for photos. My friends Stephanie and Matt were so kind and went to go buy us Gatorades and snacks and later on my parents brought us lunch. So our first meal together as husband and wife was in the car in our wedding attire eating Burger King. 

"Downtime"

 Then after that we headed to my parents house and we got all the decorations and things ready to take to the wedding venue. I had Mark and Andrew go and print out the wedding seating chart just in case our digital file didn't work on the digital frames which the wedding venue offered. Thankfully it did work but that's what we did in our free time. 

Venue

Once we got to the wedding venue we helped out with adding the special touches, which I would say was the wedding ring ceremony floral decor and candles the light up Ogilvie sign and arch at our sweetheart table and then everything else the flowers, the DJ, draping, tables, food, the lighting and photobooth was all taken care of by vendors. I love the venue that we found we were lucky to find it. Because of COVID there was a lot of ramped up need for all the brides of the past years to get married in the summer. We were able to compromise and do our wedding reception on a Friday evening versus Saturday because it was easier to find in “short notice”. But it really was beautiful. It was waterfront and it had a groom’s room and a brides room all glamours in white and we also had an area in the 1st floor for the ring ceremony, we had the pier for our live musicians and appetizers and then the second floor is where we had our reception overlooking the water. As for the food our caterer was amazing we had for the cocktail hour of course no alcohol but we did have a variety of drinks and appetizers that included seafood, bruschetta and others. Then for dinner we had a lovely orange strawberry vinaigrette salad to start with and bread rolls. The options for dinner were chicken, salmon and steak. For our sides we had veggies like asparagus and potatoes.

The Cake

The #weddingcake of my dreams! I thought I wanted the trendy naked cake but fell in love with the too many flavors (and wanted chocolate since it’s the grooms fav) was afraid seeing the different color layers of cake so we looked for a new design. But it could of not been more perfect for the aesthetics of the wedding. Details: Design- 3 tall tiers Inspo, white stone with gold accents The flavors- Chocolate Raspberry Honey Apricot Lemon Raspberry Floral- Roses, Astilbe & orchids **AND YES it was as YUMMY as it looked. We saved the fourth tier for our wedding anniversary.

The Wedding Looks

My wedding looks🤍👰🏻 Shoes: @jimmychoo |loved all the sparkles and that it was not slip on. Hair and makeup: @moonstone.artistry | we went for the soft glam look for makeup and retro extra volume hair with a side hair piece. I also wore a cathedral pearl veil for the ceremony. 

 My bouquet: @eventbosscfl | I wanted more muted colors so my bouquet was composed of a variety of lush white, ivory and soft pink florals and topped off with fluffy pampas it was perfect —loved all the different textures. And tied with trailing blush pink ribbon. 

 Full ball gown look: @vladiyan_official @whiteagentbridal |Threaded lace sleeves and chest area,crepe material for the rest, long train, pockets, slit and added a beaded belt— loved it all together for a more fairytale moment. 

 Mermaid fit and flare look: @theperfectdressbridal |This dress had a hint of pink, lots of beading, vintage lace and buttons through the back—all the glam that I love. 

 Fitted little white dress: @lulus |This dress was perfect for the exist as it felt bridal but easy to store in a suitcase since we flew to our honeymoon the next morning.

I said YES to the dress(es) ♡

 

I had so much fun trying on wedding dresses I felt so beautiful I pretty much loved all of them. I wish I could wear them all🤍But for the ones I did get I got all the feels and knew my boy would love it.

💍👰🏻🤍Also felt so lucky my family flew out to go wedding dress shopping🙏🏼. I had been looking forward to finding my dream dress and totally had ideas of what I wanted but my advice is to try on all styles of dresses since what you save on pinterest or screen shot might not be or fit the way you thought.

To my surprise I loved two very different styles one I thought I wouldn't even try one but once on I loved it. Having time to make the dress what you wish is so important too. So make sure you have lead time ahead of your bridals if you take them or of your date. You want to have time if something goes wrong or a fix the wedding dress isn't what you thought it would be.

But of all enjoy this time, I am happy I did. I loved every minute of it.

Future MRS. Ogilvie: Florida Bridal Shower ♡

 

Future MRS. Ogilvie...has a nice ring to it #ogilvieeverafter

I love being a daughter, sister, friend and aunty & now I am so excited to add Mrs. to all the things I love to be.🤍 Thanks to my mom and sisters for hosting my 3rd shower and everyone who made it special for attending. 

The theme of course was Future Mrs. and I loved it. They bought me a personalized pageant sash and I totally loved wearing. I have to my surprise loved all the "cheesy" bride swag and wearing white to all my parties it's been the sweetest experiences. 

The food was so great since it was hosted an Italian restaurant plus fruit tarts and my family's "traditional"cake is the white chocolate raspberry bundt cake..yum!

We also had super fun games, questions that Marked answered that I needed to guess (that melted my heart because he remembers all the little details), a drawing game to guess my dress, the guest guessing what "I rather" (I have become so Utah hahah my answers shocked people...) fun date night/and advice was given too. 

And because I am from Florida this Bridal Shower was so special because the ladies who went wept with me through the years over my heartaches and to finally have found my dream man now they have even more really felt the pure happiness and joy with me. 

You never know what the future holds but one thing that is for sure is to welcome and love people along the way that make everyday sweeter. 

I feel lucky I get to share this joy and bliss of marriage with all my people. 

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@withlovefromkris

✨Future MRS. Ogilvie ✨ ##bridetobe ##bridalshower ##bridalshowers ##bridetobe2021 ##weddingtiktok ##whitedress ##latinabride ##isaidyes ##boda

♬ Love Story - Disco Lines

Bride To Be: Utah Friends Bridal Shower ♡

 

I have lived in Utah since 2015 so pretty much 6 years (I just moved again). Yes, I learned to not just consider it my home but loved all the growth and people that made it special. And now during my wedding celebrations season it was extra special to gather with ladies from my different points of my timeline in Utah. 

I feel lucky and grateful to my bestie and her mom who hosted this second shower in Utah. They are like my family and I know were placed in my life with purpose. 

Now on to the party. The decorations were all so beautiful and pink and the food so yummy and pretty.Oh and we can;t forget the perfect peonies bouquet, which lasted in my kitchen for days--they truly were the most stunning flowers.  

We had a great time with the games that were hosted by another one of my sweet friends. And of course the opening of the gifts were a whole another experience because of the more personal wedding night ones. 

Overall, I truly felt so loved and so happy to just remember all the moments in Utah and all the experiences that made me grow and opened my heart to being happy with the present. Because in the end of the day God knows best and knows the whole picture. 

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@withlovefromkris

Another wedding event another white dress 🤍✨#bridetobe2021👰🏻 #bridalshower #isaidyes #bridetobe #weddingplanning #whitedress #tiktokwedding #tiktok

♬ Going To The Chapel - The Paragons

Shabby Chic Lemonade Bar: Bridal Shower ♡

 

Feel so blessed and lucky to have the family and friends that I have already and so excited for the new family I gain through Mark. They have treated me so kindly and have made me feel included since day one. They even hosted a super cute Shabby Chic Lemonade Bar Bridal Shower for me. 

This Bridal Shower was the first to kick-off all the wedding celebrations. I got to get to know more of the ladies in Mark's family who I hadn't yet shared time with and also with those who I had already built relationships with. 

The food was so great it was sweet bacon and sugared biscuits and other yummy breakfast type goodies. The DIY lemonade bar was super cute. The mason jars gave it the extra touch for the shabby chic look. 

What was used for the Lemonade Bar:

• flavored syrups
• lemonade
• ice
• mason jars or clear plastic cups
• glass pitchers 
• cute straws
• fresh seasonal fruit
• lemon slices
• Mint leaves 

DRINK IDEAS

BLUEBERRY LEMONADE

3 pumps blueberry flavoring

ice

lemonade

blueberries

lemon slice

mint leaf

WATERMELON LEMONADE

3 pumps watermelon flavoring

ice

lemonade

fresh strawberry slices

lemon slice

mint leaf

PEACH-MANGO LEMONADE

2 pumps peach flavor

2 pumps mango flavoring

ice

lemonade

black berries

lemon slice

mint leaf

  P.S. Lastly something fun I decided to do as a bride-to-be is to try and wear white for all my upcoming celebrations (I mention this in the video below, here is the back-story). I first wore white not on purpose since my proposal was a total surprise but at the beach. And then I wore a white sequin dress for our Engagement photos and now I wore this cute collared Urban Outfitters and Ralph LAUREN outfit for this first bridal shower. I'll write a blog post to follow on all my "white looks" (;

@withlovefromkris

I want all the white dresses 💍🤍👰🏻 (this is the 2nd one, my first was for engagement photos) ##bridalshower ##whitedress ##bridetobe ##weddingplanning

♬ Send Me on My Way - Vibe Street

Easy Full Choreographed Wedding Dance to "A Thousand Years" ♡

 

These last few months have been so busy but truly full of experiences that I will always cherish and remember. Being the "bride to be" has been one of those experiences that I felt so far away but life can change in as fast as a light switch as it did for me. I will start sharing all the wonderful bride and wedding experiences I got to do in preparation for our wedding and marriage. 

To start with, I'll share this fun video of a dance lesson for a choreographed 1st dance for the bride and groom to our choice of wedding song "A Thousand Years."

But first a little background on the song choice. I had a list of songs that I thought were romantic and beautiful enough to be a 1st dance song. But Mark wanted a song that would be meaningful to us and musically would lend itself to a traditional waltz. 

He brought up "A Thousand Years," and I was shocked because I am a total TWILIGHT fan and this song is off the film's soundtracks. But after dating Mark this song had a whole knew meaning. I always knew this song had great relation to me because I was single throughout all my 20s so that meant to me I had "waited 1000 years."

However, one day on a road trip Mark and I were just casually talking, as he drove us, about the past and how excited we both were about where we were up until that point and how a year ago we didn't know each other. 

And he said (in a jokingly matter I thought... )

"Did you miss me when you were in school?"

I said "I didn't even know you. And to keep joking I said "Did you you miss me?"

I asked but mostly because I knew of course not...

He said "Of course you didn't know I existed. But I did miss you, I missed you every year. I knew you existed. You already existed in my mind and in my heart. I just had to find you."

AND he did find me, we found each other thanks to the Lord's timing and grace. 

Now back to the dance.  

Before this lesson we already had taken a dancing lesson class as one of our dates during courtship. From all my years in the dating world Mark was always the most creative and fun with dates including this a dance class (he mostly wanted to fulfill his dream of Latin dancing with a Latin girl hahah).

So this pre-wedding dance class was his idea too. Although because of my dress and timing we did not dance what we had learned this was still a fun relationship building date and special memory. If asked I would advise couples to do so if they have the time. 

I got to wear my wedding shoes and felt all the feelings practicing our dance to our wedding song in that almost empty (our dance instructor was there) ballroom it was truly such a surreal private moment. 

Our Story: The Proposal ♡

 

SO I AM ENGAGED!!!

If you didn't know I was dating, read here to see how we met. 

But now back to this magical day, still feels like a dream.

I have been working remote for the past year because of Covid. And have been lucky to work from wherever including in Florida with my family. 

I thought since the world is "opening up" again that I would be working from the office next month in May therefore April was my last chance to work from Florida and it was going to be the weeks that Mark, was going to be on call so super busy and we weren't planning on seeing each other (we are long distance but would fly to each other on the weekends.)

So I booked my flight for two weeks, my sister who lives in Boston also came along with her baby for the first time since COVID. 

Now that all the sisters were in town (we are three girls) we planned a beach front vacation for my dad's birthday. And while being at the beach we were planning on taking family photos.

So the week leading up to the beach weekend, we all went shopping to buy outfits for the "pictures" and we did our nails. 

Then the weekend came and we left for the beach. It took us forever since it was Spring Break lots of bumper to bumper traffic. 

But we made it and then it started to rain but very heavy since a storm was coming. We had to stay indoors to let it go by. 

That same day we were suppose to take family photos and go to my dad's birthday dinner. So we started to get ready even though it was pouring still. 

I was ready first so I started to dance with my two little nieces and then my sister said...

IT'S TIME TO TAKE PICTURES...

We all go down to the beach, my brother-in-law said "we can take them here by the hammocks" and I went to touch them and they were soaked ---I think he was just setting up the area to where MARK would be. 

And just like that when I was finishing saying "it's wet", my niece yells "LOOK, LOOK" I turn around and it's him walking out of the trees with a small blue box in his hands. 

And I just manage to say "NOO WAY," BUT even today I know the feeling I had. I was so surprised. So shocked he was there. I felt like I was in a literal dream. Like I felt I was still upstairs napping or something. 

Like is this real life?? He did such a great job involving my family (he also asked my dad before hand too) and keeping it a secret. I had NO IDEA WHATSOEVER that he was coming or that he was going to propose. 

We had even talked all week about his busy work schedule. So in that moment it just feel so surreal but so sweet and beautiful. 

The storm also had stopped. He even ran like over a mile (physically instead of waiting in traffic in the car) to make it for the most beautiful sunset at the beach—it was perfect.

I could of never imagined a better way for him to do it or a better man. Best day ever!

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A post shared by Kris Andrade💋 (@withlovefromkris)

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A post shared by Kris Andrade💋 (@withlovefromkris)

OUR STORY: How We Met ♡

Answering our top question: How did we met?

But first of all thank so much for all the kindness and sweet messages about the engagement means the world to me🤍

Here’s the condensed version of the story, feel free to ask questions. 

We didn’t match by swiping left or right on each other...

BUT we were matched by using professional matchmakers. I didn’t want to give it a try at first, I thought it sounded too gimmicky or even something written for the movies or reality T.V. But my friend who had seen the billboard told me to “apply," at this point she was in a serious relationship so she figured it would be fun for me to try or at least fun enough for a blog post. So she insisted and I convinced myself...why not if I had tried apps, dating sites, blind dates and everything else in between...

So in summary it was not a traditional way to match nor was the “process” but I know it was meant to be and for many reasons I’ll share later it was the perfect way for me and perfect timing.🤍

THE PROCESS (My Perspective)

 Two years ago I created my initial profile that was added to the "Little Black Book." I submitted pictures, a bio and answered questions. All information shared was kept private, only to be used in matching. 

Then once my profile was accepted I became eligible to be matched with one of their active "clients."

Joining is FREE. I did not pay for any of the process on my end. 

I went out with one of their clients for the first time the year I assigned up. It was a nice date, great guy but no spark to develop a future relationship. 

Fast forward to COVID summer while I was living in Florida because of remote work, I got a call from the matchmakers --the same week I had bought a flight back to Utah after almost 7 months because I was in the middle of buying my first home and needed to go see it (I had only seen it online). 

To my surprise this time I was communicating with the lovely owner of the matchmakers agency. She said I had been kindly recommended after her staff had met me last time I was set up. She was excited to chat because of my job, I am a Product Manager for my day job. In her past life she was a recruiter for PMs which made our chat easy and great. Then at the end of our conversation she said she had someone in mind for me who was super kind. 

I was very excited they had thought of me again but I did not think much would come of it because it did not the last time and I was already excited to go on some dates with guys I had been Facetime dating over the summer. But my sister had a good feeling about this one. So I said yes. 

They sent me a picture to see if I was attracted to him and of course I was. The first week he started to go on dates I was already going on dates with the summer guys but then I met him the second weekend rounds of dates which was my first weekend back to Utah. 

AND it was an amazing first date. I was shocked it went so well. We chatted for hours and it felt like minutes. I was also surprised because at this point I had become a serial dater haha and nothing came of them but this one was different. I only hoped it was the same for him. 

After the date I got sent a post date survey with questions, ratings, suggestions and overall "performance."

Of course, I scored him high. 

Now unto a little insight on how the process is for the client which in this case was the guy but girls can apply for it too. 

He applied to be the client which is a whole process too, the matchmakers don't take everyone. Even if you can pay the service they vet you first. 

Below is what the VIP MATCHMAKER program includes:

• They screen all potential matches according to his criteria.
• Date planning (they make reservations and give ideas)
• Weekly strategy after date calls
• Dating Coach (who was a previous marriage therapist)
• Professional photoshoot
• Image consulting 
• Real-time dating advice 
• Access to extensive online learning system

A two month minimum is required, which is what he did. 

So for the first 2 months he was meeting many girls from the match service. They taught him not to "pick" a girl too fast even if he had a favorite. For example on week 3 he wanted to invite me on a family trip but he was advised not to because it was too early in our relationship and he still needed to go through the process of many more first dates, some second dates and third dates. 

Eventually he had less first dates and through the process he kept on going on dates with me. 

Until there were two other girls and me who had gone on multiple dates with him and he wanted to be "pre exclusive with me" so he cut ties with the other two girls and was still going on some first dates with new girls until we became exclusive (boyfriend/girlfriend). 

At that point I had taken the "risk" of ending all my other dating relationships even if I knew I was still in the process but I was ready to only date him. He then told me that he had stopped taking out the others girls like a month before we became exclusive. 

And after that our relationship became more like the norm. Lots of fun dates. Lost of traveling since we are long distance and lost of Facetime and long phone calls. But we also had help from the dating coaches --teaching us, and taking us through the stages to strengthen and deepen our connection and love all the way up until now. 

We still do couple sessions with the coach, they have been so amazing in building a secure attachment and lasting love.

SO YEAH... it really does sound like a movie, or reality TV show a la mode the Bachelor but for me it was all very real, it was what was meant to be for me to find my person and I couldn't be happier. 

And now we are engaged!!! That's a whole nother story, I was super surprised--read here(;

Feel free to ask questions.

*Okay everyone is asking who we used? Here is the link to signup:

 matchmakers

with love, 

Kris  

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