Kathryn Young Stamps Personality, Vintage Chic on Her Real Arkansas Wedding

Kathryn Young & Lance Shingleur
March 16, 2013 • Pottsville Assembly of God, Pottsville
Photos by Melissa McCrotty Photography

Kathryn Young of Atkins and Pottsville native Lance Shingleur first met at church in Pottsville in the summer of 2000—she was 10 and Lance was 9. Through the years, the two remained good friends, but started dating in 2007. Fast-forward four years during a special photo shoot with Melissa McCrotty. As it turned out, the photographer and Lance secretly plotted a special proposal at the end of the couple’s Christmas-themed shoot. Melissa brought Kathryn to a wishing well on site, where Lance showed up, asking Kathryn what her wish was. He proceed to pull out a sign that read “My wish: Will you marry me?” She was shocked. “I was so happy to have him, as well as fantastic pictures of our sweet story,” Kathryn says.

BRIDE’S INSPIRATION
The couple opted for a “vintage chic” look. The color palette was soft coral and light gray. “We thought that soft colors would work best for the time of the year, and coral has been one of my favorite colors,” Kathryn says.

HOW THEY CUSTOMIZED
Kathryn says she put a lot of work into the “first impression—the invitations.” It was truly a team effort to create them. Her graphic designer brother customized the unique invitations adorned with typewriter font and a fun RSVP card for guests to fill out; Lance’s dad printed them at his printing press; and the mothers helped the couple stamp and glue decorations to the craft paper the covered each one. “With 250 invitations, this was no easy task,” she says. Something else that kept things personal was the various personal photos displayed everywhere around the venue. The two had more than 14 years of their lives together captured, giving guests a chance to revisit the couple’s life leading up to the wedding. In fact, they placed several old pictures on each table at the reception with a note that asked our guests to write one memory they had with us on the back of it. “Since Lance and I are pretty crafty, most our wedding décor was made by us, which made the ceremony and reception even more special,” she adds.

DIY DAY
The couple was very involved in every single detail of the wedding, Kathryn says. From cutting out hundreds of squares of confetti to constructing a 5-foot-tall floral-covered initial, they did it all. “We worked tirelessly for almost a year and a half to make our wedding the celebration we wanted it to be,” she adds.