{SBB Bride of the Week} Krystyna
K R Y S T Y N A
+
J E S S E
{July 6th, 2024}
{Photos by: Rachelle Baggett Photography}
This wedding, y’all!!
Introducing our beautiful bride, Krystyna!
For her summer wedding, Krystyna chose a lacy A-line gown by Essense of Australia!
We love so many things about this dress! The neckline, the hidden slit and the train are just a few of them!
{Photos by: Rachelle Baggett Photography}
Krystyna’s flowers were stunning!!
And even cooler? She ordered the flowers from Flower Moxie and made all the arrangements with her sister!
{Photos by: Rachelle Baggett Photography}
Before the ceremony, Krystyna wanted to share a special first look with her soon-to-be hubby, Jesse!
{Photos by: Rachelle Baggett Photography}
Krystyna and Jesse were married in a gorgeous outdoor ceremony at Dragonfly Wedding Venue in Herrin, Illinois!
{Photos by: Rachelle Baggett Photography}
After the couple said “I do”, everyone headed to the reception space!
We are so in love with the whole retro vibe of this wedding!
{Photos by: Rachelle Baggett Photography}
How did Krystyna and Jesse first “meet?
“We met in a biology class at Prairie State Community College and spent time together via our shared friend group. We became close party buddies and regularly took Jesse's jeep to the city to see our friend Alex's band play in small venues across the city. After a year of parties and summer shenanigans we slowly started to realize that our friendship had this potential to be so much more. As fall and winter came and went we decided to see what more there was to our relationship and started dating on Christmas Eve of 2015. We fell in love sooo quickly from that point forward and haven't looked back.”
How did Jesse pop the question?
“Jesse proposed to me in front of my family on my grandparents' back deck on the weekend of my golden birthday in 2021. My grandparents moved to Southern Illinois on my first birthday and that area and the Shawnee National Forest were the backdrop of my childhood. So many birthday candles were blown out there. This one was extra special.
Early in our relationship, Jesse started joining the monthly trips I'd make to visit my grandparents and sister who moved to southern IL as well. Jesse knew how much my Buma and Opa (my grandparents) meant to me and that it would mean beyond everything to share this milestone with them. He facetimed every single member of my family asking for their blessing and recorded every response ending with my grandparents and proceeding to ask if he could do it at their home on the lake.
On the day we arrived in Southern Illinois he took me hiking with my dad sharing that my Buma and Opa were at a doctor's appointment when we arrived. We hiked and then he shared that my Buma had a birthday gift she wanted to give me so we needed to go to their house. We arrived to her and my mom on the porch all dressed up and she gave me a blindfold and walked me to their deck where she took the blindfold off to Jesse on one knee. He had our good friend drive all the way down to film the whole thing and we celebrated on the deck all night together.
My Opa has since passed and my Buma has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. Sharing that chapter of our journey with them meant everything in the world. He knew how much it meant to me to have them and my family there.”
Are you crying? Cause we are!!
Was it all a big a surprise or did Krystyna have an idea it was coming?
“We had talked about the timeline we'd like to get engaged and married and I knew that he'd be proposing that year, but I didn't know when or how! I had a feeling he would do it in Southern Illinois.”
Let’s move on to our favorite topic: dress shopping!
“I was beyond excited to go wedding dress shopping. It was truly a day I had dreamed of my whole life and I was especially excited to go to Something Blue Bridal where my sister found her dress as well. I was in awe walking around the store and so giddy choosing styles to try on while my mom and sister picked out some styles as well. Every dress I tried on at Something Blue was in a style I was excited about and I felt so safe and welcomed in the space. I felt like the weight and importance of picking out a wedding dress isn't taken lightly there and the staff really recognizes that and walks through that excitement with you.”
How did she know her dress was "the one"?
“My dress was the first dress that left me speechless. I immediately teared up and couldn't see any part of it I wished to change. I remember feeling so much anticipation walking out of the dressing room hoping my mom and sister would feel the same and they had that moment of awe as well. I couldn't stop staring at all the thoughtful details it had. I continued to try on dresses, but when we finished I had no desire to try on additional styles and it was the only one I wanted to try back on. I walked out one last time and we all cried and knew it was the one. It felt extra special because my sister is my best friend and she was the one who had selected it.”
When it comes to wedding planning, what was Krystyna’s favorite part?
“My favorite part of the planning process was all of the intentional and DIY details we put together for our day. I really wanted our wedding day to be as personal to us and our style as possible so I used canva to design all of our wedding stationary (outside of save the dates) and paper details. It made putting wax seals and ribbons on everything feel so special knowing I touched every aspect of what our friends and family would receive and people have told us even months later that they've held on to small details like our paperclips and it feels so immensely special that people appreciated the effort we put it, even for the tiniest of things. My dad, Jesse, my sister, and I also all worked together to build my vision of a vintage bar style photo backdrop. We crafted every inch of it by hand - my dad doing the woodworking, Jesse and I staining it, choosing fabrics, and filling it with sentimental items like letters from grandparents and their old sweaters and items found while hiking or antiquing together. My friend Anna even drove over two hours to get a $50 facebook marketplace couch for it, which was one of the most fun wedding planning journeys! Also shoutout to our friend Tabitha who MADE our embroidered welcome sign exactly how I pictured it in my brain even surprising us by hiding our wedding date in the lantern.
The list really goes on and on of the love and effort of our friends and family poured into every detail that made everything hold a sentimental weight that covered our whole wedding day.”
SO special!
What about her least favorite part of the planning process?
“Managing family dynamics...weddings amplify the good and the bad in relationships in your life and I want other couples to know that they aren't alone in navigating complicated relationships during wedding planning. Making decisions on if certain individuals are truly happy and excited for you as a couple and if they deserve a seat is so hard and delivering that news can be gut wrenching and complicated if most days it can pass by as "okay" or not be brought up. Weddings bring up these relationships and can lead them to be addressed and that can feel complex. We felt only those who are truly there for us and want to share the day in authentic joy were meant to be present and that was hard, but ultimately we felt it was the right route. I think folks should remind themselves their wedding is not the reason for the complicated relationship so a decision to not include someone on the day is not a wedding invite issue, but the result of bigger issues at play.”
Does Krystyna have a favorite moment from the wedding?
“Jesse and I asked each other this the night of our wedding and we both shared the same favorite moment. We did a first look and private vows and it was by far the most special moment of the whole day. Having that calm and excitement with each other before the day got busy was such a grounding and foundational moment. It was time to share the full reason we got to that day with each other for nobody else but us. It took away any pressure of an audience and allowed it to be so authentic to us and for us. It was the heart of such an amazing day. We also took portraits of each other on my Opa's film camera that he left to me after we shared our vows.
Second was seeing everyone's faces from every aspect of our lives during the ceremony and third was eating barbecue in bed at the end of the night together talking about the day (have someone save you food!).”
Does Krystyna have any words of wisdom for brides-to-be who are currently planning their big day?
“Lean in!!! Lean into the love that everyone is showering you both with because they want to do so and it's so special! Lean into planning because even when it's hard it will only be for just a short and special season! Lean into the two hour drives to Michigan for a wedding couch and picking out little details at the thrift store! Those moments all become special memories tied to your wedding so enjoy the process and not just the end goal!
If you have hard family dynamics, address them sooner than later so you can heal and move forward into the joyful parts of the process. Choose people that will always choose you both!”
Congratulations, Krystyna and Jesse!!
Don’t miss more of their beautiful wedding photos by Rachelle Baggett Photography in the gallery below!
