NWA Wedding Ideas - April 2023

on the cover

Samantha Mountjoy and Nick Bertoncino were married September 18, 2021 at Rockford Grange at Bear Hollow Ranch (page 7). Catering by Cowboy Catering (page 5), bridal gown from Couture Bridal (page 3), and photography by Whit Photography.

*For a full vendor list, visit our website!

NWA Wedding Ideas

Missy Elzey, Publisher

Layout & Design: Brent Ellis www.nashvillegraphicdesign.com

Distribution team: Judy Evans, Monty Muehlebach, Advertising Helpers, Michelle McGuire, Cheryl Nida, and Bonnie Sutton

Samantha Mountjoy & Nick Bertoncino

September 18, 2021

Nick and I went to rival high schools in Joplin, MO, and as cliché as it might sound, we noticed each other from across the room at his prom. Shortly after, we became friends but the timing was never quite right to start dating. At one point, Nick said, "I don't want to date you in high school. I will screw things up, and you are the kind of girl I want to marry someday." I thought this was his way of saying “I'm just not that into you”. We remained friends, and time passed until college, and I moved 1,500 miles away to Orange County, California. By October, our interest in each other grew, and by November, we had officially started dating. Cue my mom saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder." Touché mom.

We dated long distance for four years and traveled back and forth on breaks, summers, and long weekends. After graduation, I was ready to move back closer to home. We decided Northwest Arkansas would become our new beginning. We moved in together and started our next adventure. Three years later, we were on vacation with my family in Colorado. By our last day of skiing, I had horrible shin splints. I wasn't sure if I would be able to ski at all that day. I went down one run and stopped towards the bottom of the mountain. Nick skied over to check on me. He took off his

skis and offered to loosen my boots to see if it would help with the pain. Nick got down to adjust my boots and happened to be down on one knee…as he knelt down, he unzipped his pocket. I thought he was reaching for his phone. In my mind, I was aggravated that he wasn't helping me. Needless to say, I was caught entirely off guard..so much so that I could not speak. A proposal was the last thing on my mind. I went from aggravated to elated and happy crying. My pain immediately went away and we skied the rest of the day. I guess his way of "letting me down easy" almost 8 years ago really was the truth.

We wanted a short engagement so I planned a wedding in 6 months. Thankfully we worked with incredible vendors that made the process easy. We loved that our family and friends were able to stay in the cabins at Rockford Grange all weekend. Cowboy Catering did such a great job that we actually had people requesting their recipes.

Our day was everything we could have hoped for. The ceremony was blissful, the sun was shining, and right when we went inside for the reception it started raining! They say it is good luck to have rain on your wedding day. We took advantage of that moment thanks to our photographer. Whitney captured the most amazing photos of us playing in the rain on what was a perfect day.

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Venue // Rockford Grange at Bear Hollow Ranch

Photographer // Whit Photography

Wedding Dress // Couture Bridal

Caterer // Cowboy Catering

*For a full vendor list, visit our website!

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Photo by Marsha Lane Foster

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