Valerie and Tom got married on April 1, 2017
When I first met Val and Tom, I instantly felt connected to them. They are the kind of people that are just genuine and kind and you can see yourself being friends with. They were full of smiles, loved each other through the tough stuff and had a positive outlook that was inspiring. I have gladly kept in touch with Val since her big day and love seeing posts on Facebook of their family and new baby girl! I thought with it being February and Valentine’s day just passing, I’d make this “Val-n-Toms” post this month to celebrate!
Here’s more from Valerie…
How did you meet?
Tom and I met through work. I was teaching at an Alternative Education School and he is a Probation Officer. He would send students to me to gain credits towards graduation and we would have to go to meetings together for the students. Turns out we had friends in common as well.
Tell us about the proposal…
We had been together almost 6 years before he proposed. It was a running joke that we would never get married. We were on our annual vacation to Siesta Key, Florida when he asked me to marry him. It was 8 am in the morning on our second day there, and apparently he just couldn’t wait anymore! The highlight was being at our favorite place with our family and being able to share it with them. My son was the first person we told and he was so happy for us to all be together all the time!
What inspired the vision you had for your big day?
We knew that we were not a super traditional couple, so even though we wanted a ceremony and reception, we wanted one of our best friends to marry us and to just have a big party. We didn’t use the traditional music and instead chose songs that fit our relationship. I had been looking at centerpiece ideas and color schemes, and we eventually settled on spring colored flowers, rose gold, and black. It turned out very classy! I made all of my own centerpieces and bouquets for my bridesmaids. I also made the flower girl basket. We used a lot of soft lighting and bright flowers to lighten the dark tablecloths at the reception.
What made you chose the Art Center as your venue?
My brother and his wife used the Art Center for their reception and it was beautiful. We actually had another venue picked out for our ceremony but when we had to change the date of our wedding, we couldn’t use it anymore. The Art Center was so accommodating, not only to the date change, but also to having our ceremony there as well. Lyndsay was so easy to work with and recommended some great vendors for us!
What other vendors did you use?
We used Valley Catering for our dinner and they are AMAZING! I can’t express how wonderful they were. Not only was the price right, but the food was delicious and there were so many options! We told them before the wedding that there would probably be a lot of children at our reception and they made chicken tenders for all the kids at no extra cost because they knew they probably wouldn’t eat the fancier food that we had picked out for our guests. It was amazing!
For our music, we used Premier Productions. They were great as well. They did all of the ceremony music and the reception. We were able to pick out all of the music we wanted and they even played background music as the guest arrived. We were impressed at how well they kept the reception going also. They had planned out when to do all of the normal reception activities, like the bouquet throw and the father/daughter dance. The lighting was beautiful and the staff was so nice to work with.
All of our tablecloths came from Grant’s Rental and they were wonderful. We got to pick out the color and material that we wanted and the process of picking up and dropping off were super easy. They were very accommodating as well.
What is your favorite memory of our wedding day?
My son walking me down the aisle with my dad and giving me away was so very special to me. He was nine years old at the time of our wedding and he was so excited for us! During the reception we made sure that the DJ played “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks because it is a wedding family tradition to get in a line, arm and arm, and sing that song. We have a good bit of it on video and it was such a fun moment to have together. The whole day just went off without a hitch and we have such fond memories of each and every part.
Last bits of advice
Our advice is to not stress out about the small stuff…or even the big stuff for that matter. As long as you are with the right person your special day will be perfect. We had a lot of obstacles that came our way during the planning of our wedding- including a date change, and we still made it work and wouldn’t have had it any other way. We can’t wait to show pictures of our wedding to our newborn daughter someday.
Choosing to have all parts of our wedding at the Art Center was the best decision we could have made. The process was so easy and the staff was so helpful.
Lyndsay Dennis
Events & Membership Coordinator
lyndsay@parkersburgartcenter.org
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