This Joyful Detroit Area Wedding is Full of Classic Elegance: The Real Wedding of Jacqueline and John Katner

Photos ByAmanda Lalama

Written By

Chrysa Keenon

Date

April 29, 2020

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John and Jacqueline were childhood friends but reconnected with each other in college where they shared a biology class. After hitting it off, the pair moved in together and imagined a life together. When the couple took a trip to Detroit, John dropped to one knee and Jacqueline said 'yes'!

Jacqueline fell in love with her dress through the window of the boutique shop. “When I went dress shopping, it was the first dress I put on and had pulled,” she remembers. “My mom wanted me in something tighter and I tried on different styles, but it all came back to the dress I had been running by for months!”

Jacqueline had been looking forward to her wedding her whole life, so she was ready to get planning as soon as she was engaged. “I felt like the more I looked at things the more ideas and inspiration I had. I knew at the end of the day what mattered was that I was marrying the love of my life, so I tried to begin the process slow,” she adds.

What we love

The pair honored those who couldn’t be present at the wedding by placing their photos on a grand piano. Playing on the old wedding tradition, Jacqueline wore a “borrowed” wedding ring from John’s grandmother. For her “something old,” she used an authentic 1890 silver dollar. She explains, “Before my grandma passed away, she gave my dad a silver dollar and two others. He carries it with him every day and when I was old enough, he gave me one of the others. I let my sister carry mine on her wedding day as a way to have our Grandma Lorraine with us.”

Advice from the couple

“Focus on what matters to you and your spouse!” Jacqueline advises. “The day is about the two of you! It doesn’t matter whether you have Chiavari chairs, chargers, the largest cake, etc. What matters is that as you walk down the aisle you know you’re marrying the love of your life, your better half.”