Mackenzie and Connors Wedding

Mackenzie and Connors wedding was timeless & elegant, creating a welcoming atmosphere for their friends & family they celebrated at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club that Mackenzie knew would be her wedding venue since she was 12! A natural color palette, simple details & neutral flowers with pops of greenery supported the classic wedding design. Having a clear vision of the day & incorporating sweet first looks this couple’s day was designed in such a way that was unapologetically themselves!

Mackenzie & Connor shared a vision of creating a wedding day that was classy, fun, and welcoming to their friends and family. Fun fact: Mackenzie knew that she was going to have a wedding at Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club since she was 12 years old! She attended a wedding there with her family and this venue has held a special place in her heart ever since! Golden Ocala is a gorgeous estate tucked back in the gorgeous green hills of Florida’s horse country.
It was important to Mackenzie & Connor that their wedding day be timelessly elegant. They wanted to look back on their wedding day and not regret the design choices they made. This approach led them to choose neutral colors and design the space in a way that highlighted the natural elegance of Golden Ocala. Mackenzie had three non-negotiables, a tented reception, a black and white checkered dance floor, and a ring of greenery that hung above the reception space (it was beyond STUNNING!).

Mackenzie’s taste was impeccable—from her Miss Hayley Paige dress with embroidered floral pattern paired with her classic Steve Madden pumps to the long cathedral veil she borrowed from a dear friend and bridesmaid. Elegant floral arrangements were designed by The Graceful Gardener complemented and added to the natural beauty of the ceremony and tented reception.
My favorite memory from this day was watching Mackenzie with her dad during their reveal. I will always be a fan of a daddy/daughter reveal. You can tell he’s a girl dad, so full of pride over his daughters. It was really sweet to see him get so emotional with Mackenzie, as she chose to do a first look with the first man that ever loved her just moments before she saw her groom for the first time. We truly could not have envisioned a more perfect day for Mackenzie & Connor to pledge their lives to one another. What a joy and honor to be a part of this day! – Molliner Photography

How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another?
We met in college at Florida State! We shared a lot of the same friends there, but it wasn’t until senior year that we hit it off! A few football games and sorority date functions later, and the rest is history 🙂
Mackenzie: “My first impression of Connor was that he was easy-going and personable. He’s a very calm and supportive presence in any environment he’s in which makes people naturally drawn to him, and I love that about him.”
Connor: “Mackenzie was the prettiest girl in the room, so of course she caught my eye right off the bat. I loved how Mackenzie and I felt so compatible together from the very beginning. She’s super easy to talk to and I’ve always felt extremely comfortable around her.”

What was your favorite part about planning your wedding?
I think just seeing everything I imagined and planned come to life! I would joke sometimes that besides me and my mom, I didn’t know if anyone else could even really picture what the day would look like, so when it all come together before my eyes it was SO rewarding and special to share that with everyone else.

Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship!
One of the funny parts about marriage is learning all the things you didn’t even realize you were particular about! We disagree on how to make spaghetti (I grew up in a house that mixed the sauce in with the noodles before serving, and Connor likes to serve them separately) so that’s a funny, recent debate of ours!

If you had one piece of advice for other couples, what would it be?
My biggest piece of wedding planning advice would be choosing vendors early on that you love and relate to for both their work and their heart. All of our vendors were so kind and really took the time to get to know us as a couple, and we even gained some new friends from it in the process! We had the very best vendor team we could have ever asked for, and that’s really how it all comes together in the end!

Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning.
I think this is to be expected, but the hardest part was definitely just planning our wedding in COVID times.There were moments we weren’t even sure the wedding we had hoped and dreamed of would be able to happen the way we were envisioning it, so that fact that we were still able to celebrate with our family and friends meant even more to us than we could have imagined when the day was finally here.

Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day?
I had my grandmother’s wedding ring that she left to me tied into my bouquet, which was my “something old.” That was really special to me. We also had a memory table with pictures of our grandparents who were celebrating with us from Heaven, and we used my parent’s bride and groom champagne flutes they used at their wedding in 1995. Additionally, we left our wedding reception in my great grandpa’s old truck that my dad fixed up, so that was really fun and special!

What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you?
Given the year that 2020 was, I think the most important part of our wedding day for both of us was just having all of our family and friends there to celebrate with us. We felt SO loved all weekend long- we still aren’t over it!
What is the best thing you’ve learned from one another?
Mackenzie: “Connor has taught me the value of slowing down, doing things well, and being thoughtful in everything you say and do.”
Connor: “Mackenzie teaches me to be a better person in so many ways.”

What is your favorite thing about each other?
Mackenzie: “What I love most about Connor is his kind heart and strong work ethic. He works hard at everything he does and makes me feel so loved, protected, and secure.”
Connor: “I love how Mackenzie lights up every room she walks into. Everyone loves her, and I feel lucky to call her mine.”

What is the most honest thing you can say about love?
Love is a choice. Our wedding day was the most special and sentimental day of our lives, but true love is continuing to choose each other every day after that. Every day together isn’t “glamorous,” but each day is a choice to cherish and pursue each other like we promised to do in our wedding vows.