Bridal Profile: Sarah Palacio

Love. Faith. Comic moments and tender touches. Spring and spring flowers....These are the major themes of the wedding of Sarah Palacio (nee Leonall)) to Steven Palacio in Charlotte, NC in April of 2017. As Sarah told us, "it was perfect in every way!" 

​Sarah was surrounded by her beloved sisters and parents who made the preparations on the wedding day special. This bride gave her father a special tie when he came to see her in her gown - the "first look" moment. The two are very close, so perhaps her gift was a kinder answer to a more comic gesture on his part at the rehearsal. Here's the back story:

"When my parents got married my father came to the rehearsal with a ball and chain attached to his leg. My father joked that he was going to get it and change the date to the date of our wedding and I honestly thought he had forgotten about it until the church doors opened and I saw it attached to my groom’s leg. I burst out laughing!!"

Sarah and Steven met at a college event - Christmas caroling to be specific - when she decided that she wanted to be more active with the Christian groups at school. Even though they were both interested in other people, they became and stayed friends. 

​The "non-couple" (hee!) eventually ended up attending a Christian Conference called "Passion" in December of 2015. At the event, Sarah said she was clueless that Steven was going out of his way to spend time around her but her girlfriend's kept telling her that he liked her. They were right. He called her a month later and asked her out. That was their beginning. They are now planning a life together, with Steven finishing up a degree in athletic training and Sarah completing her ambulatory pharmacy residency at Campbell University. 

We, of course, loved hearing that Sarah was happy with her experience at BT. She was living in Charlotte and made the drive to our shop because she'd heard good things about us from her best friend who'd purchased her gown and the bridesmaids dresses at BT. Our goal is always to be prepared, helpful, and to make clients feel at home. No judgement! We're here to serve, empower and make the experience fun. Brides have enough stress. We LOVED working with Sarah and cracked up A LOT with her. She has a great sense of humor and each time she visited there was plenty of laughter. That show of faith, her making the drive to us, meant so much, so we were ready to help her find the right gown based on her answers to our pre-meeting questions and her short list of musts.

Sarah knew that she wanted a strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline, but didn't have any specific models, dresses or inspirations as guidelines. In the past for proms and big formal occasions, she's purchased more ball gowns with large flowing skirts. She told us that when she saw this dress, tried it on and "felt like a bride" she knew it was the one. It met her must haves, looked amazing on her and was a decisive change-up.

"When picking bridesmaids' dresses for my best friends wedding, I noticed that every time we visited the store, the staff was friendly and helpful. To me that was everything. When I went for my dress I wanted to go to a place that felt that way. So even though I lived in Charlotte at the time, I drove up to Bridal Traditions because I knew I would have a great experience there. 
"I love the beading on my gown, the sweat-heart neckline, the corset, the silhouette, the lace that peeked out at the bottom. I also loved that Bridal Traditions asked me questions about my wedding before my appointment and had dress options waiting for me when I got there. Everyone was so great and made my dress buying experience perfect. It was like buying my dress from a family member instead of a store. I also liked the little signs that they had for my family to vote for the dress they liked. I was also so glad that they were able to fit me in as my little sister was only in town for a few short days."

As with all of our BT brides, we're so happy for her and her husband and so proud to have been a part of their day and look forward to hearing how their lives grow together over the years. Nothing but love to you guys and your families!