We are back with another Wedding VUE we can’t wait to share this interview with bride-to-be Erica Luczakowsky discussing her upcoming September 2022 wedding. Erica and her fiancé, Shane live in Philadelphia, PA and met while attending West Virginia University in 2013. You can just feel the love they have for one another.
Please introduce yourself and tell us more about you and your fiancé?
Hi There! I am Erica, the voice and creator of Simply ELL. I am so excited to officially be a part of the bride-to-be club! My fiancé, Shane, and I met in 2013 while we both were attending West Virginia University (Let’s Go, Mountaineers!). Shane and I were both involved in Greek Life – I was/am a sister of Sigma Kappa, and Shane was/is a brother of Kappa Alpha Order. The first time I ever met Shane, it was while I was campaigning for Kappa Alpha’s Sweetheart, and I introduced myself to him at a KA BBQ. After I was titled Sweetheart, I was always at the KA house, and Shane and I grew to become very close friends, and over time — inseparable! He officially asked me to be his girlfriend a few months later, and the rest is history!
Flash forward to March 13th, 2020 - believe it or not ladies, this incredible man asked me to marry him! Shane and I are so stinking excited for all the adventures to come, and I personally could not think of a better person I would want to tackle those adventures with than him.
Tell us about your wedding. Have you started planning? And if so, how would you describe your wedding style?
Eeek! Do you have a few hours, haha? I swear I could talk about the planning process all day - especially since quarantining for 6+ months allowed for ample Pinterest pinning time! I am also a type-A by trade, so planning and spreadsheeting are my favorite pastimes. Yes, we have started planning and daydreaming for our big day! Given that our area is just starting to allow us to travel again, we have not yet gotten to tour venues, but, we do have our first tour scheduled for October 2020 :) With that said, Shane and I have been brainstorming wedding dates (we're thinking September 2022), drafting up our guest list (like 175-200ish), and plotting how we will get our 20+ wedding party in one place at one time to ask them to be a part of our big day (yep...still stumped on this one)! I love romantic, beigey/blushy tones, so right now, that's the direction we are headed in for the color scheme. Both Shane and I want the day to be super fun and easy going, so "rustic elegance" would be a good way to describe our vision. We also have a "nothing easily breakable" policy, which we joke about, given us Mountaineers know how to get down and celebrate!
What elements will you add to ensure that the wedding is authentically true to yourself and your relationship?
One thing that Shane and I have always seen eye-to-eye on in regards to the wedding is how important our friends and family are that day. We feel so lucky to have such a huge support system surrounding us, and want to be sure to incorporate things throughout the wedding that remind them how much we love and appreciate them. While the wedding is of course about Shane and I, we also want to make sure our family and friends know how special they are to us.
Similarly, we definitely want the WVU Mountaineer spirit to be a big factor in our day. "Country Roads" is something that is always played when our football team has a winning game, and personally (and as cheesy as it sounds)... I cannot wait to sing Country Roads on our wedding day — because for me, that's the biggest win of a lifetime.
Are you doing anything different or out of the ordinary?
Yes..... (tee hee)... but I think it would spoil some surprises if I talk about them just yet :) However, I can tell you that both Shane and I really want to make our wedding as personal, unique, and special as possible. We want our family and friends to be a HUGE part of our big day, we want each touch to be personal to us, and we want everyone to remember our wedding as being a day full of love, laughs, and a heck ton of dancing!
If your proposal was made into a movie, what do you think the name of the movie would be?
To describe our proposal as a dream would be an absolute understatement.... like no joke.... I still scratch my head on how that man honestly planned the entire PERFECT day right under my nose. I literally had no idea what was coming! So, for my Friends-lovers out there... if our engagement was turned into a movie, it would definitely be called "The One Where He Completely Pulled It Off". I honestly can't even try to play it cool - I had NO idea that he was planning any of this. Shane, by trade, is not much of a planner, so I always assumed that when he started planning an engagement, I would be able to sniff it out easily. Well.... NOPE. I was wrong. Shane not only managed to create the most magical and romantic proposal on a boat during sunset, packed full of roses and light-up letters that spelled out "Marry Me," but he also managed to plan an after-party, where all of our dearest friends waited at a nearby Airbnb, ready to surprise the crap out of me for an engagement party! Again... the man REALLY pulled it off! (If you want the full story, head over to my blog post, where I give all the details: https://simplyell.com/the-how-he-asked-story).
Congrats to Erica and Shane on your recent engagement and upcoming wedding, it sounds beautiful and the perfect reflection of your relationship!
Thank you for joining us for this Wedding VUE. You can find Erica on her Instagram: @simplyellstyle or follow her on her blog simplyell.com. Stay tuned for our next Wedding VUE on November 13 and while you’re here, don’t forget to check out our new bridesmaid collection to help celebrate all the great weddings to come.