Nate & Nicole | Ponte Vedra Wedding Planner

Nicole & Nate, an amazing, fearless, love propelled couple. They share a passion for travel, adventure, their faith, and of course, each other.

They met during a Wounded for Warriors – Soldier Ride that Nicole was organizing as the Logistics Coordinator. I loved how she joked about helping unload one of the trucks and picked up two prosthetic legs with Sperry top-siders on them, saying “someone is far from home” being that the stretch of the ride was taking place in New York. That’s right, her sweet husband is a double amputee. He served our country and on his first tour, he lost both of his legs due to an IED.

They have seen struggles, they have risen above those together, and it has only made them stronger. Trust me, Nicole didn’t make the courtship easy on Nate, she made him wait for almost 6 months before finally giving in and going on a date. I know he is so glad she did, because the way he looks at her makes me believe that no one would ever make him feel that way.

How long was your engagement and can you tell us a brief snippet of the proposal story?

Thankfully with you on board Nathan and I were able to have a short engagement. We were engaged towards the end of October and married May 1st.

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Oh my goodness, the engagement TOTALLY caught me off guard. We had only been dating a total of 10 months and Nathan Came down to spend a week in Jax while I was on PTO. On a random Monday, Without thinking of anything , my grandma and grandpa were in town and as always my grandma and I got our nails done that day. We went to lunch and that evening Nathan and I planned on taking to them to my favorite little park on the river to watch the sunset and then go to dinner. Before we left my”retired” grandfather backed out of going saying he has a business call and that he and my grandma would meet us at dinner. So they handed Nathan a camera and told us to take pictures. We went to the park and were sitting out at the dock when Nathan pulled a letter out of his pocket. Side note: Nathan is extremely old fashion and would always write letters (still does to this day) so when he handed me a note I didn’t think anything of it. In this note it stated that it was exactly 1 year ago, he left the Walter Reed Hospital with his set of new running legs ran the Army Ten Miler where I was waiting at the finish line to surprise him. (Of course I’m not a person to remember this) the note stated he knew from that moment on whether I wanted to or not he was going to convince me to date him and eventually marry him. As I finished the letter, he got down on his fake knee and I couldn’t tell you a single word that was said only that he quoted my favorite bible verse psalms 139:14 “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made ; your works are wonderful and I know that full well” I was so caught off guard I almost fell off the dock!!!! After I said yes, my best friend jumped out of hiding while taking pictures of the proposal.(it made sense why my grandparents handed him a camera! Haha)

What was your favorite part of the planning process?

BEING ENTIRELY STRESS FREE! I really felt like I handed it off to you {Adair} and it was the best decision I could have made.

Who designed your gown and what other pieces were part of your bridal arettilie?

My dress was an allure bridal gown and I LOVED it. We had an outdoor wedding so I wanted something with an open back, lace, and that felt “lite” so I wouldn’t sweat to death! I had a STUNNING hair piece that I got from haircomesthebride.com and the rest of my bridal Jewlery was from Ellie Bing.

How did you determine the perfect vendors for you?

I wanted to talk to all vendors before choosing them. I know how amazing you are at your job and trusted your judgement. With that being said I asked for your top 2 vendors you like working with and called them personally to talk. The most important thing for me (especially photographer, hair, makeup) was I wanted to know they were easy going, fun, talkative people. I wanted to make sure our personalities meshed well since they would be some of the people I would spend the most time with

What were the most important planning elements to you?

Truthfully, all I really cared about was my dress, and that I my handsome groom waiting for me at the end of the aisle.

What was the best part of your day?

Oh gosh, what wasn’t the best part of the day?!?!? I think having a moment with my dad in the Limo before walking down the aisle and seeing my sweet husbands face as I came down. He has overcome so much and this wedding meant the world to him. I don’t think he ever thought dancing at his own wedding would be possible and to know how much joy it brought him to have this day made my heart so happy.

What advice would you give any bride planning their wedding?

HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER AND RELEASE ALL CONTROL. It may sound crazy and for most women hard to do, but I didn’t know much of anything about my wedding which means I had NO stress. If something went wrong I had no idea about it and with you being my planner I knew it would be absolutely beautiful and perfect.