Before the wedding weekend at The Broadmoor, before the dress fittings and the final alterations, there was a single Instagram entry, submitted on a whim, that changed the entire trajectory of MaryMichael’’s wedding planning.
The Giveaway That Changed Everything
MaryMichael entered the Mother’s Day Instagram giveaway hosted by John Cain Photography and Nardos, originally intended to provide wedding photography and a Mother of the Bride dress. She had actually entered before she and Austin were even engaged. Once they got engaged, she re-entered with all of her new wedding details.
Then, one morning, John Cain Photography followed her on Instagram.
She immediately took notice.
“I walked into my friend Maddie’s house and was like, ‘Guys, something’s happening.'”
That day, MaryMichael and her Mom were spending the day at her best friend Maddie’s house with Maddie’s Mom. While they were sitting around the pool, MaryMichael received a phone call. It was John Cain.
Her Mom immediately called her Dad. Soon, both parents were on speakerphone, and MaryMichael was jumping up and down in the middle of Maddie’s house.
She had won!
A Gift That Became Two Gifts
The prize also included a Nardos dress credit, which had originally been intended for her Mother. Her Mom, however, had already found her Mother of the Bride dress within two weeks of the engagement and loved it so much that she insisted MaryMichael use the credit herself.
That decision became one of the biggest gifts of the wedding planning process. Photography had been one of MaryMichael’s top priorities, and having it covered allowed the couple to put more of their budget toward other parts of the weekend, including a welcome party they had really wanted to host.
“It allowed us to really have the welcome party we dreamed of,” she says. “And that was the best kickoff to the weekend.”
Finding the Dress
When the Nardos opportunity became hers, MaryMichael still didn’t have a clear vision for her wedding dress. So she did what any good planner would do: research.
She visited Neiman Marcus and other bridal salons, trying on different silhouettes and paying attention to what she liked, and perhaps more importantly, what she didn’t. She began collecting details from different dresses: the silhouette of one, the back of another, the fabric of another.
That research ultimately gave her a clear direction when she began working with Nardos. The finished dress was a strapless gown with a fuller skirt and fabric that felt perfectly suited to a Colorado wedding.
A Second Look, By Design
MaryMichael knew from the beginning that she wanted a second look. Her wedding gown was beautiful, but it was on the heavier side. She knew she would be on the dance floor all night so she planned ahead.
Her second look offered a chance to relax while still feeling appropriately dressed for a black-tie celebration. Rather than switching into the traditional mini dress, she chose a long, high-necked party dress with embellishment that felt completely different from her ceremony gown.
“I didn’t want to do something that everyone had seen,” she says.
The contrast was intentional: strapless and classic for the ceremony, high-necked and embellished for the party. And, thankfully, the dress worked out, despite MaryMichael discovering after purchasing it that it was final sale, she laughed.
A Win That Set the Tone
Looking back, MaryMichael’s giveaway win wasn’t just a stroke of luck, it was the first domino in a wedding planning process that let her focus her time, budget, and energy on the parts of the weekend that mattered most to her and Austin. From a dress she designed with intention to a welcome party made possible by one unexpected win, it was the perfect beginning to a wedding weekend built entirely around bringing people together.
