Bridal Bliss: You're Gonna Love Roderick and Erica's Chapel Hill Wedding Photos

Bride: Erica P. Stringfellow, 35, Software QA Engineer Groom: Roderick L. Boyles, 37, Assistant Principal The Big Day: 11/12/17 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Style/Theme: Industrial Chic/Romantic Vendors Venue: Great Room at Top of the Hill http://www.thetopofthehill.com/great-room2/ Real Florals: Whole Foods Durham https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/durham Faux Florals: Kremer Faux Florals https://www.kremerfauxflorals.com/ Photography: Tory Bass Photography http://www.torybass.com/ Video Sarah and Brandon Talley https://www.facebook.com/talleyphotographync/ Wedding Cake(s): Nantucket Grill http://www.nantucketgrill.com/locations/durham Entertainment: Newton Entertainment Photo Booth: Smile and Style Photo Booths http://www.smileandstylephotobooths.com/ Favors: Carolina Popcorn Shop https://www.carolinapopcorn.com/ Rentals: CE Rental https://cerental.com/ Table of Contents http://tableofcontentsnc.com/ Hair: Janae Brown, Hair Therapy By Janae https://www.hairtherapybyjanae.com/ Makeup: Tinisha Wharton

“I knew I’d get married but never really gave a lot of thought to being a bride,” said Erica of how she felt on her big day. “It was hard to let it be all about me (I think I kept asking everyone if they were having a good time and enjoying the food!) but I really did feel the love from everyone and I appreciated my bride tribe for making me feel loved and beautiful all day.”

“My something old actually was my dress,” admitted the bride. “I was browsing a website called OnceWed, and I saw a dress that caught my eye. I contacted the bride and found out she got it at David’s Bridal. She had already had some alterations done and had these lovely straps added so I ordered it from her and it came within a couple days. It came in the box it was preserved in and was in great condition. I tried it on and was immediately obsessed with it. I had a couple more alterations done and decided to wear it off the shoulder.”

“He’s smart, funny, kind, and he genuinely cares about people. He loves working with kids and I love that he has such a big heart. He’s attentive and supportive and he’s always looking out for me and making sure I’m okay.”

“I found my Badgley Mischka shoes for the ceremony at DSW,” the bride shared. “I wanted something not-too-high but something really pretty for photos. I changed into a pair of sparkly heels for the reception. I only wore a pair of rose gold earrings and a rose gold hairpiece that I found online. My veil was a simple ivory fingertip veil, my something new was my earrings, and I borrowed a rose gold bracelet from my sister.”

Erica and her mother share a special bond and on her big day, the bride had some help from​ the lady in her life as she got dressed.

“We were driving from NC to my parents’ house in Louisiana for Christmas and decided to stop over in SC to visit his family and get some sleep. Well, we were bunkering down for the night when suddenly, he asks me to bring him a soda he had earlier that I put in the mini-fridge. I bring him the soda and he tells me it’s not cold enough and asks me if I can get some ice. I’m tired an annoyed so I tell him I’m not walking down the hall to get ice. He tells me there’s ice in the fridge and I’m like “umm…no it’s not, it’s a refrigerator, not a freezer.” Now we’re arguing about there being ice in a fridge when he finally says “Just open the fridge!” and now I’m even more annoyed b/c he yelled at me. LOL. So I just open the fridge and there was a wonderful box is my engagement ring! Ice in the fridge, get it?”

“For my bouquet, I wanted something not so structured. I asked for a lot of greenery, an asymmetrical arrangement with the English roses and succulents. I don’t think they could have been more perfect.”

“My daddy walked me down the aisle,” said the bride. “I am a daddy’s girl through and through and I was glad he was able to be there for one of the most important moments in my life. I hope he knows how much I appreciate him and that I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I actually got lost in her eyes at the altar,” said the groom. “I saw the happiness in her soul which made me happy. I knew then if we stayed on the path that God set for us that we would be fine.”

“I chose to make her my wife because we were on the same page when it came to how we wanted to build together,” Rod shared. “She complimented my weaknesses and made plans to help me improve. She made me want to change. Our first date helped me decide because it stuck in my head when my card got declined she still offered to take me out on our second date.”

“We loved the photos of us praying together, before and during the ceremony,” said the bride. “When we first started dating, one of the things we talked about early on was growing spiritually and now one of my favorite parts of our day is our prayer and devotional time.”

They did it!

“No, I did think I’d ever find true love,” said the groom. “I was hoping that I’d find someone decent enough to date with the online dating because I didn’t really know how it worked. I met a couple of women but they didn’t sync with me. When I met her it felt special; it didn’t feel like the other dates.”

“I chose to make her my wife because we were on the same page when it came to how we wanted to build together,” the groom admitted. “She complimented my weaknesses and made plans to help me improve. She made me want to change. Our first date helped me decide because it stuck in my head when my card got declined she still offered to take me out on our second date.”

“I would describe my wife as a caring, loving, and selfless woman who wants to make me happy! She is the balance between a working independent woman and a housewife.”

“I love his sense of humor,” said the bride of her groom. “From the very beginning, he has always made me laugh. Like hysterically. Also, I have always said that I’ve never had to be anything around him but myself. In past relationships, I think I’ve molded myself to be what I thought the man wanted me to be, but I can be 100% me and he loves me through my flaws and all.”

“We met on Tinder. We had matched back in May 2015 but never spoke. I thought he was so cute because I love a man in a bowtie. I noticed he had that he was an Assistant Principal on his page and I remember thinking “At least he’s not crazy; they don’t let crazy people work at schools, do they?” I followed him on Instagram to get a feel for his personality. I loved that he had so many pics/videos of his niece and nephews. Then I was telling a friend of mine about Tinder while visiting her at the beach over 4th of July weekend and was going through some old matches and came across him again. I was actually getting ready to delete the app after not much luck ​but decided to say hi. He said hi back and we talked on the phone, and the rest is, as they say, history.”

“Our wedding cake was a simple white two-tier cake with some texturing and some succulents from the florist,” said the couple. “We wanted something simple but beautiful. We chose red velvet since it’s the groom’s second favorite and we also served a sheet cake of the strawberry shortcake.”

On her big day, the bride got major love from her sorority sisters during her wedding reception.

“I knew she was the one when she met each one of my closest friends and I got the same response from them and their wives,” said Rod. “They all told me that I looked so much happier than I have in the past and I better not mess this up! I love how attentive she is to me the most. She picks up on little things that I do, she makes sure that I’m feeling well, my needs are met, and I’m happy.”