The Wedding Story of Kate and Matt Oosterwal

You know a blind date was successful when both people come home that night feeling as if they fell in love. After meeting through mutual friends, this is exactly what happened to Kate and Matt. When the pair vacationed with Matt’s family in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, their lives changed forever. “He took me away from everyone one night to Gatlinburg where he proposed on the Space Needle overlooking the mountains,” says Kate.
 

Armed with a full Pinterest board, Kate knew exactly what she wanted—from the colors to the chairs and favors.

The couple fell in love with their venue’s bright, beautiful and open space where they could all be together. Kate says, “It was very elegant and classy. As soon as I walked in, I got goosebumps and just knew it was it.”

Kate says, “We actually used family for quite a few of our vendors including flowers, cupcakes and the DJ. It meant a lot to us to have them play a big part in our day. Our photographer I knew I wanted for years after attending a friend’s wedding. Everyone else we chose had great reviews.”

“Going in, I thought I wanted a long-sleeved lace dress,” says Kate. “I had tried them all on, and it wasn’t until the very last one. I started crying before I even got out of the dressing room. It was a Calla Blanche dress with a lace top, open back and the most beautiful and fun train ever.”

Every bride wants to personalize their wedding day in some way and Kate and Matt added some extra unique touches. Kate explains, “It was our day, so of course I wanted to add special touches about us to it. My husband and I are both hunters, so I wanted to have a tray of homemade beef jerky sitting out for everyone to munch on throughout the evening. That turned into a full-blown beef jerky bar homemade by my dad using meat from the deer both him and I had shot. My husband’s family is Dutch (like, some of them have accents), and I wanted to add a touch of that, so I had a cake stand of Stroopwafels (Dutch cookie) sitting next to the coffee. My husband is a police officer and I am a volunteer firefighter, so we incorporated that by having our ring bearer and flower girl dress up as each of us in uniform walking into the reception. So cute. And last but definitely my favorite is that we had my brother sing and perform our first dance song. He is an aspiring artist in Nashville and surprised us by writing us a song called ‘Shelter Me.’ I then asked him if he would play it live for our first dance.”

 

Advice From the Bride

Kate says, “Don’t worry about going overboard or worry about little details. Have fun with it because it will be over before you know it. Take a few minutes during the reception with your husband to just walk around and look at everything you did and take a minute to breathe and stand back and look at everyone who is there to celebrate you.”

 

What We Love

“My Matron of Honor gave me a ‘congratulations’ packet right after getting engaged,” says Kate. “There was a WeddingDay Magazine in there, and I was pleasantly surprised because everything in there was fairly local and there wasn’t anything that was unrealistic! I began to follow WeddingDay on Facebook.”

 

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