Drunk in Love | Southern Illinois Wedding

The Couple

Alex Baine from Carbondale.
Jessica (Stearns) Baine from Marion.

How They Met

I always say that Alex and I knew each other from the womb. His dad and my dad were actually best friends growing up. His dad was a groomsman in my parents’ wedding. Alex and I have baby pictures together. We had family ski trips together and have always been friends.

After living in Texas for a while, I moved back home. Alex was texting me every day the week before. We always hung out when I came home to visit. He invited me over to his house and cooked me dinner. It was so natural to be together that we didn’t even realize it was a date. We became an official couple when we were hanging out at Pinch Penny Pub. Alex was flirting with me, but we hadn’t told anyone what was going on between us. His best friend saw us talking and laughing. He asked us if we were dating. We had not had that conversation yet, but in that moment we decided it was a yes. We dated about a year and half before we got engaged. And the rest is history!

The Proposal

Poor Alex. I begged him to propose for months. I tried every angle to figure out the when and where and to make it happen sooner. He finally told me that the more I asked it about it, the more he would postpone it.

I went to Europe for 10 days in October 2016 and met up with my mom there. She refused to let me use her phone to call Alex and even offered to pay the international fees for me to use my own phone. I didn’t think anything about this at the time.

After traveling through hostels across Europe, all I really wanted when I got home was to relax and get my nails done. We had a Halloween party to go to that Friday, and I got my nails done earlier in the day. I said over and over that it was the worst manicure of my life, but the manicure I got three days before my wedding actually ended up even worse. At the party that night, my mom apparently had too much to drink and was telling all her friends that we were getting engaged the next day. I had no idea all of our friends were secretly in town for something bigger than the Halloween party.

The next day, Alex took me to lunch at Midland Inn, and then our friend Travis met up with us because we had a winery outing planned with my parents and some friends. Travis knew that Alex was going to be proposing, and it was mildly awkward for him showing up with just the two of us there. We all met up and went to a couple of wineries, but our good friend Jessica randomly said that she wanted to go to Bald Knob Cross that day because she had never been. Not knowing what Alex had planned, I thought this was a terrible idea because we were day drinking and just having fun.

We had all planned to meet for dinner that night at Trails End Lodge, and later in the afternoon our friend James also said we should all go to Bald Knob Cross before dinner. Alex and I were in our Jeep, and it takes us a little longer to get places, so he suggested we leave early to meet them.

On our way there, I was stressing about the fact that we had a lot of people joining us for dinner and didn’t have reservations. I called the restaurant, and they told me they were booked for the night. I was so stressed out over it, but then we got to Bald Knob Cross and no one else was there yet.

Alex suggested we go ahead and walk up to the cross. I noticed a cute little girl getting her pictures taken by a photographer. I never realized she was actually taking our pictures the whole time! When we got to the top of the hill, Alex said something along the lines of “spend the rest of our lives,” and I think I said yes before he could even finish the sentence. I bawled like a baby, but the whole thing was like a fairy tale.

Everything after that was a blur because we immediately did a photo shoot. I wanted to call my mom, my best friends and everyone I could think of, but Alex made me put my phone down and enjoy the moment. When we finally got to the Lodge, I recognized all the cars in the parking lot. Alex had rented out our favorite restaurant so we could celebrate with our loved ones. As we walked into the Lodge, all my best friends from across the country were there to surprise me. The day kept getting more and more amazing.

Wedding Venue

When you invite more than 400 people to your wedding in this area, you are limited on vendors. We knew we wanted to get married in a church and loved the stained glass of the Methodist Church in Carbondale.

The reception was held at the Carbondale Civic Center. This venue was a blank canvas for us to decorate however we wanted. Oh, and it holds up to 400 people!

Wedding Inspiration

My only inspiration was that I wanted it to be a big party. I just wanted our wedding to be fun and stress-free. I ensured no one had to do anything they didn’t want to do when it came to the actual day.

Favorite Part

My favorite part of our wedding was:
A) Marrying the love of my life.
B) Taco Bell delivery and frosé.

Memorable Moment

Being surrounded by our friends and family made our wedding the most fun. We are blessed with some of the most amazing friends, siblings and cousins! Luckily, they all love to have a good time and ensured we had fun as well. We included all the things we think are awesome, including the party bus, CO2 Cannons, a photo booth, and the awesome frosé machine. All of these elements just added to our amazing celebration with family and friends.

Advice

Hire a wedding planner and coordinator! BEST DECISION EVER! They made the day stress-free so I could focus on the important things.

Wedding Vendors

Wedding Planner and Coordinator: KFS EVENTS (flowers, decorations, planning, coordinator – ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING) // Photographer: Blue Garnet Weddings // Videographer: Martin’s Moments // Makeup Artist: Whitney Peuterbaugh // Hair Stylist: Jennifer Sweat at Genesis Salon & Spa // Linen Rental: BBJ Linens // Caterer: Great Boars of Fire // Bar: Southern Illinois Liquor Mart // DJ. Photo booth, Jack Fire camera: DJ JDUB // Wedding Dress: Clarice’s Bridal (Maggie Sottero Designs) // Suits: Men’s Wearhouse // Groomsman Gift: Daniel Wellington Watches // Bridesmaid Gift: Dogeared Bracelets from Eccentrics Boutique // Invitations, Wedding Suite, Paper Products: Polished Prints by Leah Longueville // Transportation: VIP Services