Planning her own wedding proved to be a valuable asset in the creation of our latest Delaware/Main Line Bride issue.

Just as brides spend months planning, so do we—preparing for Bride’s publication, that is. For our spring/summer issue, the editorial team actually started bouncing around ideas when holiday shopping season was just kicking into high gear. And there was a special bonus this time around. Our assistant art director, Stephanie Senner, was planning her own wedding—and she’d done her research. It was on Stephanie’s advice that we took some non-traditional approaches to our content. “Hopefully, this issue will be able to help brides incorporate some personality and unique quirks into their wedding day,” she says. “It may be as bold as a colorful gown, or as trendy as a floral crown, or as unique as a doughnut cake.”

That explains some of the choices Stephanie has made for her own wedding this coming October at St. John the Beloved Church in Wilmington, Del. After the ceremony, the games will begin at a reception at Christiana Memorial Hall, which will be decorated in “a lot of purple everywhere, with an enchanted forest kind of vibe.” The theme makes sense when you find out that Stephanie and her husband-to-be, Bill, are big fans of the “Legend of Zelda” video-game series. “It’s not a full-out Zelda wedding,” she adds. “But it will be there.” Stephanie teamed up with art director Gigi Hunt to make Delaware/Main Line Bride look beautiful and captivating, finding just the right gowns, jewelry and flowers for our extensive photo shoot at Sweetwater Farm, a gorgeous B&B and winery in Glen Mills, Pa. Even when the day of the shoot dawned rainy, cold and dismal, they persevered in good spirits. “My favorite part was watching the photographer capture the essence of each model we meticulously put together,” says Gigi. “The fragrance of the floral bouquets in the air made the experience fun and magical.”

Way back when, we also explored different honeymoon options, and we really liked the rather novel idea that a couple could hop in the car and arrive at their destination in a matter of hours. Travel writer Marilyn Odesser-Torpey found 15 such places. And as we considered stories for our “Real Wedding” section, we settled on two very different, yet equally wonderful, ceremonies: a backyard wedding in Millsboro, Del., and an intimate gathering at the historic Merion Cricket Club in Haverford, Pa. More than anything, Stephanie understands the importance of making a celebration your own. “It should be a day to showcase who you are as a couple and what makes you special and different from everyone else,” she says. Here’s to you.