Whitney Rife

4.28.18 | Our First Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my husband, my love, the father of my son. I am grateful for you every single day (although, some days I may not show it, hehe). God’s timing is so perfect; you came into my life at exactly the right moment and have blessed me with my greatest gift, being Bo’s Mom. Watching you hold Bo, making him laugh, or teaching him to do things, fills my heart in a way I can never fully express. Shawn, you are selfless and always put us first, I will never know how I got so lucky. And thank you for being the best Instagram husband — always coming through with the shot — there is truly no one else I’d rather do life with.

To commemorate our first anniversary here are some of my favorite photos of our wedding. (Photos by Pasha Belman)

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What To Wear: Engagement Shoot

Much like a relationship unfolds, so should your engagement shoot. When Shawn and I designed the looks and setting for our engagement photos (view all of our engagement photos here), we knew we wanted it to evolve much like that of our relationship – from casual and flirty to intimate and romantic to classically timeless.

First, we set sail with bright hues and playful patterns atop crisp cotton, adorned with baubles and beads. This initial look should show off a little leg or sun-kissed shoulders. These suggested looks are flirty, yet classy, much like what I chose for our nautical venue – our future wedding destination. A cute romper or off-the-shoulder sundress can be paired with a big, floppy hat and wedge peep-toes for the perfect day look. 

My hat can be found here.

Moving in a more romantic direction, Shawn and I dressed the part for a nostalgic picnic. My crisp white lace dress and blue silk scarf complimented Shawn’s seersucker perfectly. Shown here are blush colored dresses and pantsuits, delicate floral prints and lady-like ruffles that will work seamlessly for an engagement shoot. I especially love flowing, soft material for outside shoots. Some of my favorite snapshots were of tousled hair and fabrics. 

Finally, I formalized our shoot by wearing a classic black dress and beaded bodice. Overcast skies worked in our favor by softening the photos and framing our bodies delicately. With just a hint of skin, this tulle overlaid skirt worked the wind and made for a dramatic shoot. The finale of your shoot can be just as sexy with a black fitted pantsuit, embellished gown or reflective threads – shown here. 

Engagement Photos by: Hunter Ryan Photography

I’m just going to say it, choosing your perfect photo ensemble can be almost as hard as choosing your perfect man, he he! Hopefully my suggestions make one of the two a little easier 😉

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Saying “Yes” to the Dress

January 28, 2017 was just one of those days I don’t think you can EVER forget.
On an UNEXPECTED Saturday, 15 months before I would say “I do” to Shawn, my mom, brother (Man of Honor), and I said “YES” to the wedding dress of my dreams.

In our lifetime, we have shopped in more stores than we could ever count, for many different things, and had some of the best times of our lives doing so, but January 28th was one of my favorite shopping days ever and now that the wedding is over, I wanted to share with you all some behind the scene pictures of the day as well as my experience with Winnie Couture in Charlotte, NC.

February 7-13, we had plans to fly to New York City to visit a few bridal boutiques there, as it was always my dream to get engaged in NYC AND say “Yes” to the dress there.  At the time, I was being casted to be on the show and was in back and forth talks with them arranging our schedules etc.  On one of our last conversations, their director said to “be sure to come with what in mind we were looking for, we only had an hour.”  I started panicking, I was like HOW IN THE WORLD CAN I FIT MY DREAM APPOINTMENT INTO ONE HOUR?! I never even thought I would ever wear a  gown much less narrow it down so quickly.

Mom had suggested going to a couple of stores before hand to just try some dresses on. So that is exactly what I did.  I made an appointment to visit Winnie Couture in Charlotte because we were going to be at the lake house that weekend and it would be easy for us to go and just try dresses on.

My appointment was at 11 AM and Shawn and I were at our lake home on Lake Norman, which is about a 45 minute drive to Winnie Couture.  The morning I was supposed to be there, WE HAD NO RUNNING WATER AT THE LAKE and I literally had to BRUSH MY TEETH IN THE TARGET BATHROOM, NO JOKE y’all! My hair was a freaking wreck, my outfit was UGH, I started my period that morning, I couldn’t wash my face, and I was running late.  Brennan and mom were coming from Concord, NC so of course they beat me and I rolled in on two wheels, lol!

Walking in, we were greeted by Gina and she is literally a living, breathing doll.  Right away, we hit it off and I completely trusted her.  I was also very upfront with her that we were just looking and I had NO plans to say “yes” today, as we already had booked our trip to NYC and were heading up there in just a few weeks.  She totally understood, and still let me choose any gown that I wanted to try on.

As we walked on into their showroom, I was mesmerized by the beauty of not only the gowns, but the architecture of the store.  Talk about major store SWOON!

I tried on probably 4-5 gowns that I thought I would like on my body and just really wasn’t feeling any of them.  I tried on the 6th gown, which was very similar to the one I chose, and I fell in love with it.  The way it flower was just gorgeous and I loved the shape that it gave me.  I really can’t go on to any more details about it honestly because as soon as I tried on the 7th gown, I had forgotten about any other dress I tried on.  It was beautiful, it was elegant, it was GRAND, it was my dress, even tho I DID NOT want to say “YES,” hehe.  My mom and my brother looked at me I swear as if I was the most beautiful girl in the entire world and just kept telling me how WOW it was.  I had kept going back and forth between it and the 6th dress, secretly I loved the 6th one, but EVERYONE in Winnie Couture including my mom and brother LOVED the last dress I tried on.  Once we started adding things I wanted, like the sleeves, belt, veil, earrings, etc.  I began to fall even more in love.

AH, I was so indecisive and truthfully I still had my heart set on NYC.  Everyone kept saying “Which dress would Shawn like more?” And all I could say was, “He wouldn’t care if I walked down the aisle in a brown paper sack….” hehe, and that is true.

After trying the dress on ONE more time, Gina said “Whitney, is this your dress?” I immediately looked at my mom, and then looked at my brother and we all started balling crying (I’m sitting here crying just reliving this moment).  I knew then, that was my dress.  That was the dress I would walk down the aisle in to marry the love of my life in.  It was also an even more special moment for us as my Grandmother, my moms mom, her name was Winnie. It was like she too was there with us.

 

 

 

I had to wait about 5-6 months to go back and see the dress.  In the meantime, I would always think, oh my gosh did I choose the right dress.  I wasn’t 100% confident in my dress and would often go back looking at the videos and photos of the dress I loved, and the dress I chose. Later that day we would go on to sign our contract to get married at Trump National on April 28, 2018.  Exactly 15 months later.

And the March rolled around, and we found out I was pregnant.  Talk about MAJOR GULP.  HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO GET IN THE DRESS WE ARE HAVING CUSTOM MADE TO FIT MY BODY WHEN I WAS IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE?! Oh my gosh, I was FREAKING OUT.

June rolled around and I got a phone call from Gina saying that my dress was in.  GULP, “okay, awesome! I will be there to pick it up this weekend?!”  On June 13th, nervously I walked into Winnie Couture only to see the dress I loved on a mannequin.  She walked me back to my changing room to try on MY dress and GUESS WHAT, IT FIT, hehe, and IT WAS THE MOST GORGEOUS GOWN I HAD EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.  I cannot believe I ever doubted myself, my mom, or my brother, lol. 

I can never express my sincere gratitude to Winnie Couture, Gina, and their WONDERFUL staff for all of their help.  Since we were getting married in North Carolina, I would often call them for recommendations or advice, and their customer service was TOP NOTCH! In fact, they recommend Bella Bridesmaids, where we got our bridesmaid dresses and Paper Twist, where our invitations came from.

If you live near a Winnie Couture, shoot even if you have to travel (it is TOTALLY worth it), I would say YES a million times to go and see them! In my opinion, they are the BEST in the business and they work with you 100% on making YOUR dream dress come to reality! ps. Tell them Whitney sent you!!!

*This post is and was not sponsored in any way.  All thoughts and recommendations are mine.

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My Bridal Portraits

Photography by Pasha Belman Photography | Hair & Make Up by Heather Carter
My wedding gown, belt, and veil are all custom designs from Winnie Couture
Earrings: The Foxy Lady | Shoes: Christian Louboutin

Oh my gosh y’all, I am so sorry I am JUST getting around to sharing my Bridal Portraits with you all! I swear time flies when you’re single, then you swear times flies when you’re married, and throw a baby in there with all of that and TIME REALLY FLIES! I’m going to apologize now because I said in my head “ok Whitney, only choose a couple…” and about 50 in, I said “ok Whitney, THAT IS ENOUGH!” He he! Now y’all can see what it was SO dang hard to only CHOOSE one bridal portrait to display at our wedding so I think we had like 4-5, oops, he he!

The day we shot my bridal portraits, I swear it was like a dream.  The weather was perfect, the home was perfect, and everything kind of just came together.

We were scheduled to have these taken on a plantation, but the more I thought about it, the more the plantation idea just didn’t did AW me.  My brother suggested we call one of our family friends and see if she was in town and we could use their BEAUTIFUL home for portraits.  She was SO welcoming and being able to have my photos done there was an absolute DREAM!

I am BEYOND thankful for Pasha Belman and that he was SO accommodating! He had never shot at this location before and literally had a few hours to change everything and head to Myrtle Beach to do our session (instead of closer to Georgetown, SC).  We had originally planned to do these last summer, but when I found out we were pregnant with Bo in March of last year, Pasha was literally one of the first to know, we had to RESCHEDULE for just WEEKS before the wedding!  Within a few days, I had the most gorgeous photos waiting on me!

After I received the photos, I kept asking Shawn “want to see, want to see…” and he continuously said “NO WHITNEY!” He he.  I wouldn’t have let him, but it was SO hard not to show him, OR YOU ALL right when I had gotten them back!

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed looking at these bridal portraits and hopefully they have inspired yours?!  I love, love, love looking at bridals + wedding photos so if you’re getting married or recently married, TAG ME! I want to see!!

Please stay tuned for more gorgeous photos of our wedding day coming soon!

A very special thank you to Gary and Crystal Langston for letting us use your magnificent home.  It is truly ONE OF A KIND, as are you Crystal, XOXO!

PS. BRIDES, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING ZOLA FOR YOUR WEDDING REGISTRY as well as your wedding website (it’s FREE)!  I found out about it AFTER our wedding by mutual friends who have gotten or are getting married soon and IT IS SO much cooler AND easier than normal registries plus you can register for experiences (aka travel and vacation), luggage, furniture, home decor, kitchen, cash, um, did I mention EXPERIENCES?! The best part is that whatever’s left over your guests didn’t purchase, YOU GET 20% OFF!  What I believe makes Zola so nice, is your guests literally can go to ONE place for ALL your wedding details.  You can give your guests details about events and times, display a map, share your engagement photos, your guests can RSVP ONLINE, you can display a FAQ page for your guests, and it is super simple to use.  I recently visited one of my best friends wedding website thru Zola and I was able to RSVP, find out details about their Welcome Party, find out if babies are welcome, AND purchase their wedding gift and have shipped to their house! As a new mom and business woman, i am THANKFUL for Zola!   I’m telling you, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO REGISTER! Visit this link for more details!

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Our Engagement Session

Photography by Hunter Ryan Photo

What a dream our engagement session was.  Years ago, I had seen an image via Pinterest from a photographer in Naples, Florida and immediately fell in love with it.  I knew that if I was ever lucky enough to find my prince charming, we would HAVE to have pictures like the one I had seen.

When discussing engagement pictures with Shawn, we both knew we wanted them on a boat, as being on the water is our favorite place to be.  I remembered the image I had seen years ago and showed  it to Shawn.  Of course that couple was off the coast of Miami, but since we were getting married in Lake Norman, I thought what better idea than to do our photos on Lake Norman.  I immediately reached out to Hunter Ryan Photo, the photographers who shot my DREAM engagement photos, and fell in love with how SWEET Tiffany of Hunter Ryan Photo was!  We hit it off and chit chatted back and forth on exactly what Shawn and I wanted and she had amazing fashion advice to give in deciding on what Shawn and I would wear.  I knew I wanted to wear Sherri Hill, and honestly the photos in the black Sherri Hill gown absolutely TAKE MY BREATH AWAY.  I can’t WAIT to hang them in our lake home.

On the eve before our engagement pictures, the weather was calling for 80% chance of rain, 20 MPH winds, and possibly a thunderstorm.  I was panicking because this was literally the ONLY day we had to do these photos.  The boat was booked and Cody (Tiffany’s husband) had flown in JUST to do our pictures, so I was beginning to freak out a little.  We had planned on doing our photos later in June when Cody and Tiffany could both fly to Lake Norman and spend the week but our schedules didn’t work out and Cody ended up coming alone to do our pictures.  We loved Cody and his personality-it was like we had known him for forever, however, we do wish Tiffany would have been able to make it and maybe a little sunshine, but we didn’t mind the grey skies!

We cannot thank Cody and Tiffany enough for capturing these beautiful moments, I scroll through them over and over thinking “are these really our pictures?!”  I still cannot believe how gorgeous the area is and cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams in April of 2018.

You can view our outfit details below:
Look 1:
Shawn: Button Down, Shorts, Shoes
Whitney: Romper, Hat, Bracelets and Earrings c/o The Retail Therapist, Heels

Look 2:
Shawn: Pants, Button Down
Whitney: Dress, Neck Tie

Look 3:
Shawn: Tux
Whitney: Dress, Bracelets and Earrings c/o The Retail Therapist

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