When we saw how beautiful and inspiring Carlie's wedding was, we knew we needed to share it with our brides! Here Carlie tells about her personal shopping experience, her favorite wedding moments, and tells about her own personal touches in her wedding.

When I went into gown shopping, I had a fairly clear idea of what I was looking for. I probably tried on around ten dresses, pre “the one” at three different boutiques. I knew that I wanted sleeves and Rebecca’s was the only place that had exactly what I was looking for. My experience at Rebecca’s was great, and I felt as though everyone went out of their way to make sure I had what I needed when I was in town, seeing as I live in NYC. Chris was with me the entire way and I felt like I was able to get to know her and develop a more personal relationship with her through my shopping experience.

I brought only my mother and my sister with me, because while I think every bride is different, purchasing a dress can be very overwhelming, so for me keeping it small was the way to go. Ultimately, it should be about how you feel in your dress, not about ten different peoples’ opinions of what you look like in your dress.

My dress was exactly what I had envisioned. I put the dress on, walked out of the dressing room and said, “Okay, this is the one!” I looked over to my mother, and saw the tears in her eyes. I looked back at myself and felt like a bride. My favorite thing about my dress is that not only did I feel beautiful in it, but my dress is timeless and everything I wanted.

The highlight of choosing Rebecca’s Wedding Boutique for me was that I was able to get my dress, the bridesmaids’ dresses, and the men’s suits all at one place. It made the shopping experience super easy and much more convenient!

My favorite part of my wedding day was walking down the aisle to Matt. Even though we saw each other before the ceremony, there was something so magical about that moment. It felt like we were the only people in the church, and it still is my favorite part. When Matt saw me in my wedding dress, he told me I looked beautiful and took in every detail. I believe that was the moment it hit me. I had been so calm all day and as soon as we saw each other, it became so real.

We got married on January 24th of this year, and while we didn’t have any specific themes, I wanted to be able to look back at my wedding photos in twenty years and still find them beautiful and classic. I’m not huge on flowers and we worked with Andrea Glass at Boston’s Floral Couture to create a really one of kind look and feel to our reception. We had fresh moss from the Smokey Mountains and beautiful gold lanterns and candle light. I wanted everyone to feel warm and cozy even though it was January.

We decided to have our wedding and reception at The Pointe. Matt and I live in New York and the Pointe was the closest venue we could find that reminded us of the loft venues in New York. It was our way of bringing a little of New York to our wedding in Kentucky.

If I had to give advice to brides currently looking for gowns, I would say firstly, keep your mind and options open. Take into account your venue, time of year, and overall feel of your party. And when you are going to try on dresses, BRING UNDERGARMENTS! Every place is different, but it can’t hurt to have a good strapless bra with you when you are trying on dresses.

Wedding Gown: KERRY BY WATTERS, AVAILABLE AT REBECCA'S WEDDING BOUTIQUE

Bridesmaids: ALFRED SUNG, AVAILABLE AT REBECCA'S WEDDING BOUTIQUE

Suits: REBECCA'S BLACK TIE

Venue(s): THE BUTCHER TOWN POINTE

Photographer: STEWART HUNTER

Flora Design: BOSTON'S FLORAL COUTURE