This Couple Included Hot Sauce Favors in Their Jewel Tone Wedding at Toledo Country Club in Ohio

For Amanda and Stephen's Ohio wedding at the Toledo Country Club, a rich color palette of jewel tones inspired much of the day. "Our main inspiration was a jewel tone palette! We really wanted the colors to be vibrant, fun, and most of all, look beautiful on our bridesmaids. Each color was picked to suit each girl. We knew that if our friends felt confident in what they were wearing, we would be the happiest! We are so glad that we went with multiple colors because it was so very hard to narrow it down. We wanted our big day to be romantic, fun, and most of all, a day spent with our favorite people," shares Amanda. 

Once the couple settled on their jewel-tone color palette, they got to work making their Toledo wedding feel personalized and unique to the two of them. "One of our most cherished date nights is ordering a charcuterie board from our favorite Italian restaurant. Our planner came up with the idea to use charcuterie boards as our table display. I teach high school, and one of my students is an incredibly talented calligrapher. I was able to hire her to create these signs, which made them all the more special," says Amanda of the couple's seating chart display. "Every aspect of the day was planned with us in mind." In addition to chacuterie, the couple's love of hot sauce and board games also influenced their wedding design plans. "The favor that we gave out was a bottle of our favorite hot sauce! We bottled it ourselves and used personalized stickers to decorate the bottles. Each sticker said 'Thanks for spicing up our day!; We are big-time hot sauce lovers and it was so fun to share that with our guests. We are also big board game fans! Our planner had the incredible idea to do a board game display with a sign that read: 'It's All in the Game of Love!' It was a great touch for our guests to get a glimpse into our everyday life," recalls Amanda. 

While the couple's seating chart and wedding favors reflected details they're innately known for, Amanda and Stephen chose to step a bit outside of their comfort zone for their first dance. "The anticipation for our first dance was HUGE! Stephen and I decided on "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers as our first dance song. With neither of us being gifted in the art of dance, we took top-secret dance lessons from a friend of ours. She helped us to choreograph and execute an entire dance over the course of 5 months. We kept it pretty much completely under wraps until the big moment. I will never forget the look of surprise on my mom's face or the sound of our guests cheering and singing along. This was way outside of our comfort zones, but the most fun I think I have ever had!" 

Looking back on their wedding at Toledo Country Club, Amanda and Stephen have this advice to share with current to-be-weds: "Remember who this day is about! It is about you and the one you love. Whenever you are struggling to make a decision, frustrated with someone or something, or just plain tired, remember that this is YOUR love that you are celebrating. At the end of the day, you marrying the love of your life is the greatest celebration of them all."