It has been a little over a week since I returned from WPPI and what a week it has been!  I just wanted to stop and say thank you.  This past week has been jam-packed with new opportunities, new friendships, new inspiration, and I am pretty sure Google thinks I’m nuts for adding so many fresh photographers to my feed reader over the last few days. Thank you all for continuing the fun and inspiring energy long after the lights of Vegas faded!

Here’s a quick pic from WPPI taken by Kyle Barnes (be sure to check out Kyle’s Southern Wedding of the Week Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV).  From left to right: top row- Joel Serrato, Jose Villa, Scott Chester, Fred Egan, Erik Clausen aka Poser, Jory Cordy, Whitney Chamberlin, mystery gentleman, Cameron Ingalls, bottom row- Millie Holloman, Cristen Chester, Jesse Chamberlin, Kirstin, Harmony Walton from the Bridal Bar, me, Kyle Barnes, and Jeff Newsom.

ps… SW is excited to once again sponsor the powerhouse group of photographers known as the Mammoth Men on their upcoming trip to Salt Lake.  Feel like you need a vacation? Stay tuned to the Mammoth Men Blog and follow them on twitter for the cure to your workday blues.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Have a fun weekend y’all!

Congratulations to Alison our {Dewdrop Designs Contest} winner! We were lucky to team up with Gillian Dewberry for this amazing giveaway.  Gillian is the owner of {Dewdrop Designs} and offered to give an SW reader one of her beautiful handmade beach theme journals–perfect for a photo album, journal, wedding guests book and more.  And the winner is…..  Alison

What a wonderful gift!  Alison, email me at {laura_e at iloveswmag dot com} with your contact info and we will get you all set up with the journal and you can begin filling it with special memories.  Thanks to all those that participated in this contest.  Be sure to check out our latest contest with {Susie Coelho} and win her amazing wedding style book.

Have a fun weekend, y’all!

Alright, here we go with more from this Georgia country fabulousness from Jen + Richard.  With Richard being an “overgrown boy scout” with a love for the outdoors and Jen a “sassy, pretty, smart and talented” women with chic style, {The Inn at Serenbe} worked out to be the perfect venue for their wedding.  Jen hired the crew at {Gloriosa} to create the food, cup cakes, cake and the flowers. Didn’t they do a marvelous job on the floral treatment? All favors and paper goods were created by Jen.  Make sure to check out her website, {Miss Pickles Press}.  For entertainment, Jen + Richard looked to {DejaBlue Grass Band}, which was a huge hit for the guests.  Capturing this amazing celebration was Martha Manning of {Missy McLamb Photographers} and {Ashley Blencoe Photographers}.  Happy Friday, y’all!

The weather on our wedding day was: Beautiful! Early October in Georgia can still feel like the summer, and our wedding was outside, so I was praying for cool breezy fall weather. Turns out it was a bit warmer than expected, but not a raindrop in sight and blue skies with clouds out of a storybook. The late afternoon/evening reception weather was perfect.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Being a designer, I am guilty of getting almost too inspired! I just love color and go crazy for the details. The wedding and reception site really helped me focus and set a design tone. We were married on a rural farm property about 45 minutes south of Atlanta, {The Inn at Serenbe}, so it felt appropriate to design things that felt true to the environment. Antique mason jars, brown and white gingham tablecloths, kraft paper goods…these things all felt like a natural tie-in to the surroundings.
Favorite design element of your big day: Impossible to narrow this down. Standouts for me were the “S’mores, Y’all” packets that each guest received. We had an outdoor stone fireplace going and also a open bonfire and also the cutlery envelopes for the BBQ buffet. The envelopes featured graphic sayings like “Good Grub”, “Chow Down” and “Deee-lish”.
Describe your wedding flowers: We were on a budget and had to prioritize what was most important. I love flowers as much as the next girl, but I loved my bluegrass band more. For the reception floral, I got crafty and went into DIY mode. I placed an order at Costco for dozens of orange, rich pink and ivory roses. We also got lime green Kermit Mums and ivory Spider Mums to break up the roses and mixed and matched in Antique mason jars. It was perfectly lovely, and we saved a ton of money. My bridal bouquet (and all ceremony floral) was designed by Gloriosa and was a gorgeous mix of dahlia and ranunculus in oranges, pinks and golds.
Describe your wedding cake: There was never any question – we wanted cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake. But we still wanted something to cut into for a cake cutting. We opted for a mini ivory swiss dot carrot cake with taupe-colored cream cheese icing. I designed and made the cake topper out of a small, lightweight bronzed picture frame with a personal sentiment out of “Alice In Wonderland”. Fresh flowers flanked the frame. It was simple, meaningful and delicious!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Again, just too many to really pick just one. I am all about the details, and there were tons of them!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The wedding industry can sometimes be an inflexible thing, and I became frustrated with how challenging it could be to just do things the way we wanted them done and not get sucked into the crazy potential expense of it all. Being a designer, many of the details that would ordinarily be handled by a vendor were things I wanted to do or supply, and most vendors are used to handling most of the details and aren’t used to DIY brides that want to design everything. We are a pretty laid back couple and didn’t want a fussy, overdone wedding, just something that felt authentic to who we are. So I had to compromise with my event vendor, and they with me. I think we eventually reached an understanding and it turned out to be quite perfect.
Scariest moment? No scary moments! It truly was pretty relaxed, considering it was a wedding!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: I didn’t expect to feel so overwhelmed by all of the love from our family and friends. Of course, we knew they were coming, but actually seeing all of the people from different parts of your life, all in one place at the same time and just for YOU, well, it was humbling and awesome.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Heartfelt, Authentic, Joyous.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Perspective, perspective, perspective! Yes, it’s your wedding, and yes, it is one of the most important days of your lives together, but don’t get carried away with the event and lose sight of the reason behind it. Also, spend your budget wisely and prioritize what’s most important – there are so many things you can do DIY that look like a million bucks with just a little creativity and time to get them done!
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: We had a few folks mention to us that our wedding was the best/most fun wedding they had ever been to. That was a huge compliment, and we were so happy that everyone was having as much fun as we were.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We are moving back to Atlanta (my hometown; we are currently in Richmond, VA) in mid-February, where I will continue to grow {Miss Pickles Press} by leaps and bounds. We also just purchased a new Airstream (think silver bullet travel trailer from the 50s), and our plan is to travel the country as much as we can. Our love of travel is evenly and well-matched, and we’re always up for new adventures together.

Congratulations to Jen + Richard.  We wish you the best and hope you enjoy all the adventures life has to offer!

I was excited when I heard through the grapevine of our office that we were featuring the wedding of the stationery diva behind {Miss Pickles Press}.  I thought to myself, the wedding has got to have awesome paper goods (just like in {Brooke + Nick}).  Wait till you see the fun paper details in the next post! I was thrilled to see not only amazing paper goods, but a beautiful location, birdcage veil (love!) and superb interview.  I’ll tell you what– Jen is a humorous writer and I love it.  Don’t believe me? Check out her answer for how they met through {Match.com}.   The wedding was held at {The Inn at Serenbe}. Jen’s birdcage veil was from {Something Bold}.  Photography by {Missy McLamb Photographers} and {Ashley Blecoe Photographer}.  How fun are Jen’s necklace and dress!?

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story: I was living in Boston at the time, having moved there for work. I decided I would try my hand at Match.com (After all, it was winter and a Southern sister was cold!) After a handful of dates (that were not matches), I was getting weary of the online dating thing. Richard contacted me and we started writing. Writing led to talking. Talking led to dating, and, well, you know the rest. It’s funny. On paper I didn’t necessarily think we would be totally compatible. Boy was I wrong: three years later we were married.
Describe the proposal: My husband is an overgrown Boy Scout, and can’t get enough of outdoor life. So I knew a marriage proposal would most likely happen somewhere in the woods– on a mountain, on a lake, somewhere outside. Sure enough, he took me away for a weekend to beautiful Shenandoah National Park, led me on a short hike to a waterfall and asked me to marry him. (That was the easy part. Getting back up the steep trail – not so much.)
What attracted me to my husband was: Richard is the kindest, most easy-going, affectionate, emotionally generous man I have ever known. He’s very even-keeled. He gets silly with me. I also love his pretty, rich brown eyes and divine foot rubs.
Why do you love your husband? Did I mention the foot rubs? Ladies. For real.
What attracted me to my wife was: There were several things that attracted me to Jen! She’s sassy, pretty, smart and talented. Every bit the art to my science. When I finally got to meet her in person after weeks of talking, it was like a scene from a movie. Her, standing on the top of the staircase of her apartment lobby, looking pretty in her skirt and knee boots. Her blue eyes, her voice, her presence. Everything really.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: I’ll always remember our first date. Cliche, but true. He picked me up for Asian food (my favorite). I could tell he was nervous and it charmed me. After dinner, we went for a nice walk down Commonwealth Avenue – snow on the ground, white lights in the trees. (Yes, freezing cold, but magical). We went for coffee and tiramisu at a local cafe, and talked more. By the time we got back to my apartment and thawed out, I finally asked him if he was going to kiss me. That’s all the encouragement he needed!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I knew I would have a hard time finding a perfect dress. I didn’t want a formal gown, the traditional white or ivory color or something that didn’t feel completely unique. I also wanted it tea-length with peek-a-boo crinoline and slightly fifties in style. I opted to have my dress made by a bridal seamstress. I designed the gown, picked the fabric (champagne dupioni silk) and matched accessories like a birdcage veil with a fascinator I made myself, and a gorgeous vintage necklace. I really wanted to wear nude fishnets but it was too hot for that nonsense!
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? My Mom raised me as a single parent, and I never had any doubt in my mind that she would walk me down the aisle. Not a tradition, per se, but it was a very special moment that I will always treasure.
Funniest moment? Our officiant read a line I was supposed to repeat, and it was just too long to stay in my mind in one piece. I totally had to ask him to break it down. Hysterical? No, but it did provide some comic relief.
Did you write your own vows? Yes, we did. We scoured lots of different resources and just put together what felt right for us. We had family and friends read a few special passages and that was really nice. Our vows were so meaningful and truly authentic – it was an emotionally charged moment!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Looking at my husband, saying our vows under two huge pecan trees swaying in the breeze.

More to come from Jen + Richard…

Here’s another inpiring post from our talented guest blogger, Karen Tran!  If you’ve missed any of her previous posts, check out Part I and Part II of her lovely wedding, and don’t forget her previous posts on romance and floral detailing!

I have been receiving an abundance of requests for peacock weddings lately. Known for its grace and explosive colors, peacock has been a hot trend in today’s wedding themes and colors. The unique color combination in the feathers can be created with gorgeous teal palettes or a multitude of jewel purple shades. Here I have chosen to use deep plum color flowers such as tulips, hydrangeas, lisianthus, roses and schwartzwalder calla lilies with the teal shimmer linens. This combination, reminiscent of the strking colors in peacock feathers, creates a warm yet elegant tone. Of course, these vibrantly-colored feathers were highlighted in the bouquets as well and the guest table centerpieces. You may incorporate them into your napkin treatment or your ceremony programs. They can be more versatile then you think! How about using an organic brown linen with neutral tone flowers and accentuate everything with peacock feathers?

credits: photography by {Jennifer Dery}