By Briana Stewart, photography by Jessie Alexis Photography
Mothers really do know best. Just ask Orem’s Hailey Kern.
Not only did Hailey’s mom set her up with her future Mr., she even offered her own stunningly sentimental wedding dress for Hailey to wear.
“Something borrowed” doesn’t get better than that.
“It was an amazing feeling to wear my mom’s wedding dress,” Hailey says. “It was fun to have a part of her with me the whole day.”
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves (wedding gowns tend to do that). After all, first comes love.
When Hailey went on a blind date with Jordan Mabey to Zupas, there were no maybes about it.
“It was crazy how much we had in common,” Hailey says. “We talked the entire time, and it just felt really easy. By the time he dropped me off, he’d already asked me out for a second date.”
A second date turned into numberless dates, and by June 2011, the couple got engaged at Orem Summerfest on a Ferris Wheel flirting with fireworks.
“He was super calm, and so was I,” Hailey says. “The whole thing was really pretty magical.”
The fairy tale-like proposal carried on into seriously charmed wedding planning.
Hailey instantly knew her wedding colors would be light blue and a peachy pink (“I’ve always loved pastels”), she knew her wedding would have a vintage feel (“I’m a lover of all things old — it adds meaning”), she knew her photographer would be Jessie Alexis Photography (“I love her — she knows exactly how to get the images you want”), and she knew her reception would be at The Bungalow in Pleasant Grove (“I’ve wanted to have my reception there since I was a little girl — and oh, it was perfect”).
You know what else was perfect? The marriage.
“I’ll never forget coming out of the Salt Lake Temple with Jordan and knowing he’s my forever — realizing that no matter what he’s always going to be mine,” Hailey says. “It’s the happiest thing that ever could have happened to me.”
Hailey found a picture of her dream cake online, but she turned the red velvet wonder into a peachy pink delight.
Having a reception at The Bungalow was Hailey’s childhood dream come true.