BY LAURIE HAAG | PHOTOS BY NATALIE SPAULDING PHOTOGRAPHY AND ASHLEY WALTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Wedding planner Laurie Haag and her husband experience the wedding of their dreams
May 7, 1988, is one of my favorite days ever. It’s the day I married my husband.
Fast-forward to May 2018, and I can’t believe 30 years have gone by so fast. When we got married, we were very young. We lacked a lot of resources and we had some unusual rules to follow at our church because I already had a baby. So, our wedding wasn’t exactly a “dream wedding,” and from time to time, we have joked about and discussed redoing it.
At our 10-year anniversary, it would have been impossible to redo a wedding celebration as we were in the throes of raising four young daughters and were basically super poor at that time.
At our 25-year anniversary, our oldest daughter was due to have her first baby any day during that timeframe. We couldn’t risk missing the birth of our granddaughter, or our daughter and son-in-law not being at our party.
So, this year, as we were anticipating 30 years and reminiscing about our life, Bryan asked if I thought we should go for it and re-do the “wedding.” We were sitting beachside during a romantic dinner while on vacation and it just seemed like it was meant to be. He asked if it should be a full-fledged vow renewal, and all I could think was that I just didn’t want it to come off corny. But really, a lot of the traditional ceremony things are what we missed out on, so we felt like it was really important and would be special.
I had a mere six weeks to plan the whole thing, but I do own three wedding businesses in town, and I have all the experience, resources and friends in the wedding industry to pull it off to perfection.
The day was so special. The girls and I started off our day with brunch at The Exchange Pub + Kitchen, which decked out our table with flowers and mimosas. We got ready at the Beauty Lounge located at Eventful 203 (which I own). Then, we headed down to Brooklyn and the Butcher for some photos.
The ceremony and reception took place at the Loft on Spring (which I also own) and it was full of sentimental, funny and lively moments.
Bryan surprised me with an anniversary band during the vow renewal that was officiated by our good friend Ray Green, the pastor at Graceland Baptist Church. We did a short first dance to “I Want to Grow Old with You” by Adam Sandler. Our best man and maid of honor from our original wedding were both able to come, and since we didn’t have toasts at our first wedding, they were gracious enough to do a toast at this one. It was so sweet and, of course, I cried.
But probably the best part of the whole evening was when Bryan did a dance with our four daughters. They started out with “My Girl” and each daughter took a twirl around with their dad during the first verse and chorus. Then, the song cut to “Bad Boys,” then “No Diggity” and finished out with “I’m Too Sexy.” They had it all perfectly choreographed, and it was definitely outside of my husband’s comfort zone. He typically hates to dance, but he really stole the show and it was a hit.
Really the whole day was about celebrating family and celebrating all the things we had gotten through in 30 years. We are a testament that things in life can be crazy, disappointing, chaotic and full of crises, but if you just stick together through it all, then you will also be able to enjoy the times when it’s sweet, peaceful and full of goodness.
