This week's #WCW goes to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Christopher and Jaime Franklin. Chris and Jaime have been together ever since I can remember. Dating back to their juvenile days, the two practically grew up together. They reside in Northern Virginia with their beautiful kids, my niece and nephew, 'Ry' and 'Tre'. The couple love to vacation with Jaime’s family to South Carolina and have possible plans of relocating there, in the future. Please read along to see how Mr. & Mrs. Franklin’s wedding experience was in St. Lucia.
How and where did you meet?
"The first time we met was the middle of freshman year. I think it was 1998. I got on the bus, she was already on the bus, and that was the first time we started talking." -Chris
"January of 1999." -Jaime
When did you start dating?
"We started dating in January of 2003. It wasn't until after we graduated and he had become my brother's best friend that we started dating. He was already a part of the family before we even started dating. He spent Christmas' with us. He always had the same amount of presents under the tree as we did. They loved him before I did." -Jaime
"Yeah, I was best friends with her brother. I pretty much ate dinner at their house every night. Her mom drove me home every night." -Chris
How long were you dating before you got engaged?
"We got engaged July 5, 2006 so about 2 1/2 years." -Jaime
How did you know she was the one?
"That's a funny question. I couldn't say there was one thing. There were multiple events over time. There were certain things that she did and the way that she acted. She was always so cocky. She was cockier than I was. She was like a dude (as far as she didn't care what people thought). That's what first drew me to her. Also their 'home life' and the way she was brought up was the way I wanted my kids to be brought up, so it was pretty much a combination of those two things." -Chris
Wedding Date: December 5, 2006
Inside (due to weather) Ceremony (St. Lucia, SandalsResort)
Inside Reception (after they returned at a local clubhouse)
Approximate expense: $26K (including the reception the couple hosted upon their arrival)
Color Scheme (Reception): Dark Cream, Black & White
Where did you get inspiration from for your color scheme?
“My mom did the reception and based everything off a friend’s custom table cloths that she used at her $110k wedding.” -Jaime
What made you all choose to have a 'Destination Wedding' instead of having the 'Traditional Wedding'?
"We started planning a wedding and we just decided it was too much."
-Chris
"I think the biggest factor was just family, like who to invite and make a part of certain things. Although it was our day, just trying to pick the right people to be a part of it and not offend anybody just became overwhelming. It really got overwhelming when trying to find a venue and then the guest count. I have a really large family and Chris’s immediate family is pretty big. We just got overwhelmed and kind of skipped over the wedding planning and started looking at honeymoons and that's when we were kind of like maybe we should just get married there. Also, we could do it faster because we had dated for so long and pretty much grew up together; it kind of just sped up the process so we could get married sooner." -Jaime
What caused the most stress while planning?
"I don't really think there was a stressful part. When we were getting married they didn't have Pinterest and all those fun D.I.Y sites. Now what is kind of expected or what you see at weddings wasn't really the case back then. I don't think there was anything that was really stressful about it. The biggest thing for us, or for me, after we made the decision to get married away, was that I chose not to have my family there. -Jaime
"I wouldn't really say the same thing for me because I'm a guy and it's more about her and her day. I would say her not having her parents there made it a lot harder. For my parents, it would have been a stretch for them to be able to afford to make it all the way out there for that amount of time so it was a little different. -Chris
"My parents gave us the option to either have a reception or fly his parents out there for the wedding and we chose the reception so that we could include everyone." -Jaime
What was your best memory?
"Probably about an hour or so before we were going to get married we had a major blowout. I'm walking there and I'm just thinking 'I'm not even sure she's going to be there'. She was pretty mad so seeing her walking down the aisle made me feel good and just seeing all the time and effort I had put into the relationship wasn’t a waste and we were finally there." -Chris
"I think the best memory was after our vows were said and we were going to dinner. The resort had done a special dinner for us and I just remember thinking 'I'm going to get to go to dinner with him for the rest of my life.' This isn't a 'wishy-washy' thing. I'll get to sit next to him for dinner every day for the rest of my life; if I want to (laughing)" -Jaime
What was your worst memory?
"I guess just knowing how much it meant for her to have her parents there and them not being there. That was really the biggest hurdle of everything. She was fine until we were there. Right before it was time to actually walk down the aisle she starting saying 'My mom isn't here and there's nobody here' and that was toughest part." -Chris
"It would make sense to say the argument, but I couldn't even tell you what we argued about. I guess the biggest thing was just not having my family there. Just seeing my sister get married, and not having my mom there to help me get ready was a big thing. I think what was even bigger than that was not having that father daughter dance or him walk me down the aisle and that was hard." -Jaime
If you had the opportunity to do it all over again, would you get married again? If so, would you do it the same or would you change it?
"I would definitely do it different. Looking back, after nine years, I've found that back then I had a lot of friends and now I have a lot of acquaintances. With my true friends, I can count them easily on one hand because when you're going through something in your marriage; you'll find that there are only a couple of people that actually know who you are and you can actually tell them what truly happened and you can actually vent to. Those people would be the ones that I would have said 'I want you to be at my wedding. I want you to be standing beside me" and have this a big thing where all my family could be there to celebrate. I think I would still have a destination wedding, but I would do it in South Carolina, somewhere that means more to us as a couple." -Jaime
"That's a tough one. For me; I'm not all about the glitz and glamour and I don't deal with being in the spotlight and being the center of attention very well. I think the St. Lucia thing was probably the best choice for me because I don't think I would like being in front of all those people." -Chris
Do you want or plan to renew your vows?
"I think we've talked about it at different points but as we've gotten older I just feel and have realized that you're having a wedding as a celebration for everyone there, but when you say your vows it's between you two and God. Just like you only need to accept God into your heart once; you only need to say your vows once. I would say no, but as we reach those milestone years I would like us to create memories for just the two of us."
-Jaime
Was your wedding day everything you expected?
"I didn't really have any expectations because I hadn't really been to a lot of weddings and again they didn't have Pinterest so things weren't so over-the-top. I think that expectation-wise, I think it was met. I think the resort did a really good job of making us feel special" -Jaime
What is the best advice you would give to someone else planning their wedding?
"Don't think about anybody but yourselves. If people really want to be there then they will be there. Think about you and your partner and what's going to make you two the happiest and create the best memories for you. Also going back to the Pinterest thing; we didn't have that and we didn’t need it because it was still a really memorable event. Don't get caught up in all those little extras because it's really only about the two of you." -Jaime
"Take your time. You have your whole life to be together so make it memorable. For me as a guy it was more about giving her everything she wants. At the end of the day it's her day so just make her happy." –Chris
I remember seeing this couple date when my husband and I first started dating in high school. It’s awesome to still see them together with a beautiful family and also sit down and talk with them about their wedding experience. I was off to college and my husband and I, boyfriend at the time, were no longer dating so I missed a big chunk of time so this experience was enlightening to me. I hope you enjoyed reading about Mr. & Mrs. Franklin’s wedding experience and I hope you tune in next week for another great #WeddingCrushWednesday couple!
Happy Planning Folks!