Featured Bride Friday

Names of Bride & Groom: Clare and Anthony

Wedding Date: July 14th, 2012

Ceremony and Reception Location: Sweetwater Farm in Glen Mills, PA

How did you and your fiance meet?: I had heard great things about the new neighbor, Anthony, who had moved in next door to my sister, Penny, in Trolley Square in the spring of 2006. I was living in Dallas at the time, and didn't meet him until a trip home for the holidays later that year. I will never forget the first time I met Anthony...he sleepily answered the door one morning to me bothering him for a key to get into Penny's house. Without saying much, he handed me the key and quickly shut the door. I happily let myself into Penny's house and moments later, a more fully-clothed, Anthony appeared. He apologized for being rude, and sat down to chat with me for a while. I remember being blown away by how friendly and outgoing he was, and we quickly became friends. Our friendship grew from afar through email, phone & travel. I eventually moved back to Delaware and we became a couple in January 2009...the rest is history!!

Tell us about the proposal: After a particularly long week of work for Anthony, we decided to lay low and grab some dinner at the Half Moon in Kennett Square. Initially, Anthony hadn't planned on proposing that night, but he did have the ring and was waiting for the right moment. Life can be busy and complicating, but Anthony and I have always savored nights like that...great food, drink, music and company. By the time we got home, Anthony had decided that it was "the night", and suggested that we take our first night swim in our pool. Before we went outside, I unknowingly said "if you ever propose, I hope it's on a night like tonight." I obviously had no clue what was about to happen. We headed outside with 2 glasses of wine, our dog Rocky and jumped in! I wanted the pool light off, but the darkness made Anthony's plan a little difficult. Cue Rocky: while swimming we heard a crash- the dog had knocked over one of our wine glasses. There were shards of glass all over the love seat in the deep end. Ant eagerly jumped out to turn the pool light on, so we could clean up the mess. As I was picking the last piece up, Ant said that he saw another shard at the bottom of the deep end. In my mind I was thinking "he is going to cut himself at the bottom of the pool", so I was really shocked when he popped back up holding a ring, and asked me to marry him. I think I kept saying "is this for real?", but eventually said YES!!! What a perfectly, unperfect night!

What is the overall theme of your wedding?: Rustic & Romantic (and "Life is Good")

What has been your favorite part of planning?: My favorite part about the planning hasn't really been the planning at all... Other than getting to marry my best friend, I have really enjoyed bringing our two friend groups and families together. It will make the wedding that much more fun now that everyone knows each other!

What has been your fiance's favorite part of the planning?: That its almost over- haha!

What are you looking forward to most on the wedding day?: Seeing Anthony for the very first time- he will look so handsome and he has such a calming effect on me!

What is your fiance most looking forward to on the wedding day?: To quote him: "Seeing how beautiful you look at the reveal and then the cocktail hour and the initial celebration with friends and family."

Which vendor has been your favorite to work with?: That's a tough call, we have awesome vendors! Erin has been amazing to keep me focused and organized. My photographer, Jordan Hayman, is so talented and a super cool guy, Honey Gorny of Honeybunches Floral has been so much fun, and Lisa Benigni at 12th Street Catering has just been a visionary blessing throughout this process!!

What is your biggest worry about the wedding day?: 100 degree, humid weather!

What makes your wedding unique from all the others?: We have spent a lot of time to have many personalized touches: Instead of a typical guestbook, we had a digital artist create a tree that has our initials carved into the trunk. Guests will stamp a leaf and sign their names. At the bottom it says "Davis family planted on July 14, 2012". My mum made so many details from custom burlap table runners, to a "thank you" banner, to our heart-shaped birdseed favors, and mossy letters "A & C" to decorate our sweetheart table. Also, since Anthony is a cigar guy, we have also been collecting cigar boxes that our florist will use for our flower arrangements down our family-style tables. I'm also pretty excited about the crepe station that our caterer didn't bat an eye at creating for us!

Give three words to describe what you imagine you'll feel like the day AFTER the wedding: Exhilarated, Happy, Tired!

Where will you be spending your honeymoon?: We can't wait for our honeymoon...we'll spend 2 weeks in Napa, Maui and Kauai!