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Slideshow Saturday – Valerie and Brian

Posted: February 2, 2013 in Slideshow Saturdays, The Oaks Somersworth NH, Weddings
Tags: slideshow saturdays, Wedding

Wedding Spotlight: A Real APM Couple ~ Brian and Valerie

Posted: January 23, 2013 in 0-100, 10k-20k, Blue, Military, Portsmouth Navy ShipYard Portsmouth NH, Purple, Spring, The Oaks Somersworth NH, Wedding Wednesdays, Weddings, White
Tags: military, Spring, Wedding Wednesdays, Weddings

Bride: Valerie Ayer

Groom: Brian-William Sloan

Engagement Date: 1/25/2010

Wedding Date: 9/4/10 (Private ceremony before his deployment to Afghanistan)

3/31/2012 (Big ceremony with APM)

How did you meet your future wife or Husband? We met at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Portsmouth, NH. I had gone to dinner with my family for my birthday and he was our waiter. My sister and I noticed that he seemed interested because he kept coming over to our table just to chat with me about what I was going to school for and how I decided to major in Music. I worked up enough courage to give him my phone number, shoved the piece of paper in his hand while walking out of the restaurant with Dad in tow.

How did he/she propose? One night when I got home late from work Brian asked me if I wanted to go for a walk with him just to talk about how I was handling his younger brother temporarily moving in with us. As we were walking around our apartment complex we arrived in the middle of a four-way intersection where he spun me twice. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because he and I are goofy and do corny things a lot, but when he finished spinning me that second time he was down on one knee and started to say that we had come to a crossroad in our lives and he would be honored and the happiest man if I would walk down the path with him at his side. I was so excited I cut him off and had to ask him to finish what he was going to say.

What was your initial impression of APM? When we first saw or heard of APM we were extremely impressed. We liked their representative Katie as she was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and personable. Their wedding albums were just amazing.

What made you choose APM? The wedding album, hands down. We had only seen one or two other photographers’ work, which we thought were good, but as soon as we saw what APM could do we were sold. The album as soon as you see it is just beautiful, from the ¼ inch crystal cover to the images on each page. We knew that the only thing that we would really be able to have and keep after our wedding would be the photographs and album so we wanted to make sure that we got the best; APM is the best.

How large is your Bridal Party? (How Many BM, GM, FG and/or RB) There was 1 Bridesmaid (Katie Joy), 1 Groomsman (Sam Chidester), 1 Maid of Honor (My sister Marissa Ayer) and 1 Best Person (Brian’s Aunt Victoria Salinas)

How many guests at your wedding? 80

Indoor or Outdoor Wedding? Indoor

What is your Total budget? Our total budget was $11,000

What are/where the colors and/or themes for your Wedding Day? Our colors were Navy Blue, White and Purple. Our table names were U.S. Navy Ships with sailboat favors. Our overall feel was classic and elegant

How would you rate our overall quality (customer service, experiences, photographers, etc)? No complaints whatsoever with APM. Katie who we originally spoke with at the wedding fair was wonderful; she always returned my phone calls or emails in a timely fashion. We had originally booked APM for a May wedding but after finding out that Brian was getting deployed they were extremely accommodating and allowed us to change our original date to a later one without any problems.

What was your inspiration behind your wedding? Can be anything from a color palette to a location, from a memory to a dress/bouquet/shoes…anything! What motivated you and most influenced your decisions? We were going for a classic and elegant feel while adding a touch of Navy into it. We had wanted to incorporate the Navy in a small way, but not as a focal point as I was marrying Brian and not the Navy. We decided that the chapel on the Naval Base and the table names and favors would be a great way to incorporate this aspect into the theme. I had always wanted a classic Cape Cod style wedding with rich navy blue, white and a touch of purple as the colors.

What made your event UNIQUE? We were married at a location with lots of history; it being the oldest continuously operating shipyard in the US Navy from its old prison dating back to the early 1900’s. The location is just spectacular and not many are able to experience the beauty of it due to it being a Military Base.

Finish this sentence: “One thing I learned from my wedding planning…” Was to go to a variety of wedding fairs with an idea of what you may want for your wedding. We learned so much from ways to cut costs by not doing “the package deal” but by booking the same vendors separately or printing our own invitations rather than going through another vendor. We also learned that ideas that we thought might be good, weren’t

What was your favorite moment or aspect of the day? Getting to have the wedding that I had wanted since we became engaged. Brian and I had a quick last minute wedding when we found out that he was getting deployed to Afghanistan so I didn’t get to have the wedding that I always envisioned and had already started to plan and pay for. It was really great to have our cake vendor, the dj, our reception hall, the church, the photographer, everyone be able to change our original date to a later one to make this happen.