This beautiful wedding day was sent in to us by the bride, Brooke. Filled with beautiful details, and captured with lovely images from The White Rose Company, Brooke and Matthew’s day was an elegant and elevated celebration of their love for each other. Brooke has written quite a bit about their story, so let’s dive in …
How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another?
Matthew and Brooke met on January 2nd, 2017 at Tres and Kate Copeland’s wedding in St. Petersburg FL. Matthew & Tres played FSU football together and were roommates in college at Florida State University, and Kate was Brooke’s ZTA sorority “big” at Florida State University. When Tres & Kate started matching up their groomsmen and bridesmaids for their wedding, they immediately decided that Matthew and Brooke would be a great match to walk down the aisle together. The picture first picture we took was at their wedding day under a sign that said “LOVE”.
Matthew and Brooke hit it off immediately at the wedding. They both went to Florida State, but Matthew was living in Charleston, SC at the time. Back at FSU, the Zeta’s held an annual flag football tournament that everyone (who was anyone) participated in. The promise of seeing Brooke just a few weeks after the wedding made Matthew’s trip from SC to Tallahassee much easier.
From there, Brooke visited Charleston, South Carolina with a few of her friends where Matthew was living and they got to hang out again, but this time in Matthew’s city!
Shortly after they met, Brooke graduated from FSU, and decided to move to New York City. Matthew and Brooke decided they would stay together, and see how this whole “long distance” thing would work. For 2 years Matthew and Brooke would see each other every 3 weeks. They were constantly booking flights which was exciting, but also exhausting. The price of round trip flights were much cheaper out of Charleston, which meant the majority of the time Matthew was going back and forth to Manhattan, lol. Brooke decided after a year in the city that she was willing to move to be with Matthew.
After much consideration, planning, and job interviewing they almost ended up in Austin, TX, but instead they landed in Boca Raton, FL. Matthew got a great job as an outside sales rep, and Brooke was a Chief Brand Officer for a Jewelry Brand. They moved in together, and invested a bunch into their new home. Painting, carpets, baseboards, appliances…the house looked like a war zone, but they made it happen baby! They got their new puppy Bentley and really started to make Boca Raton, FL their home.
Like any long-distance relationship they had to adjust their dynamic going from living hundreds of miles away from each other to living under the same roof! They’ve had their challenges, and triumphs along the way, BUT in the splendid year of 2020 Matthew decided to put a ring on it.
Brooke had no idea that Matthew bought a ring, and was planning a proposal with Julie (Brooke’s Mom). Matthew always envisioned for his proposal to be a true surprise for his bride-to- be, so he and Julie decided the only way to pull off a surprise this big was to take Brooke out of her element, and head to the mountains.
Brooke, her sister Jenna, and Julie already had a “girls trip” planned to visit Vail, Colorado in October. Now, anyone that knows Brooke knows she loves to be organized, and she loves an itinerary ahead of time, so she can plan her outfits accordingly. The weeks leading up to their girls trip Brooke made several reservations that Matthew & Julie were cancelling behind Brooke’s back, and making new reservations of their own.
Long story short, Brooke and the girls flew out to Colorado on Wednesday morning, then Matthew & Harry (Brooke’s Dad) flew out Wednesday night. Matthew & Harry were like ninjas as they stayed at the same hotel as the girls in Vail, CO. The next morning Matthew woke up early, met the photographer at the “spot” and then waited for the girls to bring an unexpecting Brooke up the trail to meet Matthew. There he asked for her hand in marriage, and they officially became the future Mr. and Mrs. McNulty.
The spent the year celebrating starting with their engagement party at vintage car museum. From there Brooke went to Tulum and Matthew went to Costa Rica for their bachelor and bachelorette trips!
Then came November 2021! The weekend began with the “Dang Son Invitational” at the Palm Beach Par 3 golf course with about 40 of our golfing guests! To follow we had a welcome party instead of a rehearsal dinner at Delray Yacht Cruises in Delray Beach FL! Unlimited wine and beer for a 2 hour sunset cruise down the intracoastal ! The party didn’t stop there! We headed to The Blue Anchor and celebrated with live music, Jell-O shots and dancing!
The next day came the wedding!! The best day of our lives! We went with a black and white modern theme with clouds of babies breath and reflexes roses! Everything was customized! From the 50 welcome baskets, to the “do not disturb” door hangers, to the wine bottles everything was custom with our wedding calligraphy. Every guest received a welcome basket upon arrival to the hotel which included all of the wedding details and some local treats!
(The) day of it was time to get ready! Make up was a breeze and everyone felt so beautiful! Stephanie from Kiss and makeup by Steph worked so quickly and she truly uses the best products and techniques in the make up industry! Styled by Britt did our hair and it turned out absolutely perfect. She specializes in a perfectly tousled look, which was exactly what I was going for!
Pictures and first look started at The Seagate Hotel and Beach Club in Delray Beach FL and we moved pictures to the venue half way through using Molly’s Trolleys of Palm Beach for transportation for the day. They brought my family bridesmaids groomsmen and guests to and from the venue and hotel. We loved their white trolley! It went perfect with our theme!
Tell us a funny story relating to your wedding day or relationship!
We hired an undercover magician for our cocktail hour who pretended to be a guest and would walk around & talk to people and perform magic. My wedding planner was freaking out and came to tell me she couldn’t find the magician anywhere and she didn’t think he was there and was blowing him up! Little did she know he was undercover and had been there the whole time!!! We ended up finding him and laughing!
Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning.
Long distance was the hardest obstacle because after 2 years we had to make a decision to make it work and push forward in our relationship or part ways. We ended up moving from Charleston and New York to south Florida together after 2 years of long distance and have lived together ever since! Now it’s been 5 years!
Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day?
Matthews grandpa is from Ireland and isn’t big on public speaking to honor his Irish heritage and incorporate it in our day we asked him for an Irish blessing for the back of the menus. We signed the blessing from the grooms grandfather and everyone thought it was so special. His grandparents were so honored we asked for our wedding gift they had it engraved into a plaque for us to hang in our home! So special!
What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you?
So Matthew always would ask me to tell him reasons why I loved him over the 5 years of us dating. It was always kind of a joke and I would say your eyes, or hair, or your outfit lol. Never really being able to think on my feet and give him a good reason. So for my vows I decided I was finally going to give Matthew a few reasons why I fell in love with him over 5 years. The look on his face when I started was priceless and Im so happy I was able to tell him in front of our closest friends and family
What is the best thing you’ve learned from one another?
We’ve learned how to communicate, trust each-other and to always be honest. 2 years of long distance really taught us how important it is to communicate. No matter how hard it is to talk about it’s worth the conversation always and you always end up on the same page!
What is your favorite thing about each other?
Loyalty!
What was your favorite part about planning your wedding?
The night of our wedding we surprised all of our guests at 10pm with Hora Loca dancers! This included a LED robot on stilts, 2 LED winged gogo dancers, and 1 LED robot drummer! No one attending the wedding, not even my family knew that I planned the hora loca! So to see the look on their faces was epic! We ended up renting a sequin suit jacket for my husband and I changed into a more dramatic party dress for the special entrance! Of course we walked out to Pepas! The current hype song haha
If you had one piece of advice for other couples, what would it be?
Have as many events before the ceremony and reception so you don’t waste your entire wedding meeting and greeting guests! I truly could enjoy my wedding because I had already seen all of our guests at the engagement party, golf outing, welcome party etc. plus all of our guests were able to meet before the big day! It was awesome.
What is the most honest thing you can say about love?
Love is hard. There are so many temptations but if you have your core values of communication, trust and honesty. Your love can last a lifetime.
Photographer: The White Rose Company
Venue: The Seagate Hotel
Second Venue: Benvenuto
Stylist / Planner / Designer: Simply Couture Weddings
Floral Designer: Le Stem Floral
Dress Boutique: Something New Bridal Boutique
Dress Designer: Isabella Tayla
Cake Designer: Earth & Sugar Allison Goldsmith
Makeup Artist: Kiss and Make Up by Steph
Hair Stylist: Styled by Britt
Men’s Formalwear: Mens Warehouse
Rentals: Wedding Transportation Mollys Trolleys
Accessories / Decor: Jewelry Made for Love
Band/DJ -DJ Cardi
Ceremony Musicians Master Musicians
Stationery Paper & Lace
Publisher at The White Wren and Bajan Wed, Award Winning Photography + Videographer at Live View Studios, Dad, 80s music lover, crunchy health advocate
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