Beth + Robert’s interview reveals how they infused family into their celebration and how the bridesmaids dealt with a rip in a dress! Check out all the shots on W. Scott Chester Photography’s {Blog}. Happy Black Friday ya’ll!

The weather on our wedding day was: More than perfect. Georgia in August is not known for pleasant temperatures but the temps dropped a few degrees just for our special day.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Nature
Favorite design element of your big day: The vineyard itself created the best backdrop you could ever produce.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I wanted something that looked as natural as the surroundings; I didn’t want the glitz of the dress to distract from the beauty of the mountains and trees around. The English netting was a perfect fabric that moved so nicely in the breeze.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The vineyard, which was not really a detail but defined everything else in the wedding.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? There weren’t any huge hurdles. Robert is in law school and didn’t have a lot of time to plan. That got frustrating at times but in the end it all worked out.
Funniest moment? One of my bridesmaid’s dresses split right up the side. Luckily another maid is handy with a needle and thread, fixed it up perfectly and they hid it from me until the reception. At that point I couldn’t have cared less if she were wearing a trash bag.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Don’t stress out about any details, in the end you will just be happy to be married.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration. “There wasn’t an ugly one up there.” – family friend when talking about my beautiful bridesmaids.
What’s next for you as a couple? Robert will finish law school and we will be off to a location TBD.
What are you looking forward to in the future? Everything. We have so many dreams and plans its going to be exciting to see what comes next.

Congratulations to Beth + Robert!  We wish you a lifetime of happiness wherever life takes you!

Scott and Cristen from {W. Scott Chester Photography} bring us this gorgeous wedding today… two weeks in a row as the SW of the Week for the Chesters! We were immediately in love with the wedding as soon as we saw the bridal portraits. Beth looks absolutely stunning and so happy. In addition, Robert is so handsome in his tuxedo and fun green mum boutonniere. This wedding took place in the North Georgia mountains at the {Wolf Mountains Vineyards}. Read on to hear about how these two beautiful people met and about some very special elements in Beth’s bouquet…

How did the two of you meet? We met our freshman year at University of Georgia and began dating our sophomore year. My roommate, who had gone on a few dates with Robert, introduced us. Coincidentally she is now engaged to Robert’s college roommate.
What attracted me to my husband was: Robert has a contagious sense of adventure. He was always looking for new places to go and he was willing to do just about anything. He pushed me to set new goals and explore myself. Plus he’s really good looking.
What do you love most about your wife? Because she, more than anyone I know, has the courage and drive to make her and our dreams reality, and because she inspires me to never be content with life as it is, to relentlessly experiment with all of life’s opportunity.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: On one of our first dates Robert took me out to an old rail road bridge to watch a meteor shower. The entire scene was perfect. Water below us and stars falling above. We had our first kiss that night.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? My mother passed when I was 16, before she died she gave me a cameo pendant that my father made. She asked me to wear it on my wedding day. I put it in the stem of my bouquet.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Robert: I’ll never forget you turning the corner and starting down the isle. Beth: It would be too hard to pick a favorite intimate moment between Robert and me. I think one of my favorite moments was dancing to the song Wagon Wheel with all of our friends.

Check back later for more from Beth + Robert…

For all of you non-morning people who can’t be bothered to fight the lines and the crowds for Black Friday we would like to introduce you Red Envelope. This online store has tons of great gift items for everyone on your Christmas list and you can shop from the comfort of your very own home. As an added bonus the lovely people at Red Envelope have offered our readers a special promo. {Click Here} and receive the special Southern Weddings promotion and get free shipping on all orders of $75 or more! So put on your best jammys, sit down and get comfy because you’ll be spending hours on this fabulous site!

AND…. Red Envelope is supplying our fabulous SECRET THANKSGIVING PHOTO CONTEST PRIZES!  Stay tuned for the winners announcement and to learn what they have won!

Happy Shopping!

Janie, the founder of {The Bride’s Cafe} and {JM Flora}, emailed us today to let us know about a FABULOUS giveaway she is taking part in.  Janie has teamed up with the AMAZING Maria Cooke of {Ritzy Bee} and the PHENOMENAL Eleise of {Eleise Theuer Photography} to bring you one very exciting contest. {The Ultimate Wedding Giveaway}: the winner will receive free floral design services from Janie, wedding planning from Maria and photography from Eleise.  OK, seriously though, I need a fiance right about now so I can enter!  The details: the couple must be tying the knot between April – December of 2009 and answer the following by this December 31, 2008. Oh, and be getting married in the Richmond, VA area or DC Metro area.

1. Couple’s Name.
2. Wedding Date.
3. Venue (are ceremony and reception at the same location).
4. Number of attendees in your bridal party.
5. Number of guests.
6. “Wedding Theme”.
7. Tell us in 75 words or less why you think you should be chosen and please include a “couple photo” that we can feature when we announce our winner.

Email these to {Janie at jmfloral dot com}. What are you Virginia area and Maryland brides waiting for?  Email Janie today and win! How fun!

Happy Thanksgiving ya’ll!  In honor of a week devoted to giving thanks, we bring you the SW Secret Photo Contest.  We posted about it last week and have already recieved some amazing entries.  Here’s the deal: you either send us a pic of yourself having fun or what you are thankful for (or both!) for a secret fabulous prize.  (Yes, we like surprises here at SW!)  So what are you waiting for?  Get on your computer and shift through your files (or get “old school” and open a photo album and scan in a photo)!  Creativity will be rewarded.  Official Contest Rules below:

Photo contest 1: Send us a pic of you having fun, happy, joyous, bubbling over with laughter… whatever floats your boat.

Photo contest 2: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, send us a pic of what you are thankful for… could be anything… person, place, thing. Get creative.

Rules: These must be your pics. Don’t steal someone else’s unless you have express permission to do so. Extra points for iPhone pics, camera phone pics and anything that isn’t edited. But, feel free to get creative and do whatever you want to the pics.

Contest ends on Thanksgiving Day at midnight. Email {win at swsmag dot com} with your entries. Max of 5 per person. Try not to send us too high res files. Our mailboxes don’t like it.  Gobble gobble!