If you love all things Southern as much as we do, it’s hard not to love this Florida garden wedding from Genya Garrett of Vue Photography. Natalie + Kevin’s outdoor-inspired wedding, planned by Victoria Volpone, takes us back to sprawling plantations and wide,white front porches with the groomsmen’s light-colored seersucker suits, the bridemaids’ ladylike bouquets from Nouveau Flowers and tall glasses of sweet tea. While the crystal chandelier hanging in the reception tent at The Meeting House and Village Green in Carillon Beach and the ultra-elegant Confections on the Coast cake have a perfectly vintage feel to them, the bridesmaids’ shimmery Priscilla of Boston frocks gives this sweet Southern affair just the right hint of modern flair. I just love when Old South meets New South, don’t you?
How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Kevin and I are the definition of high school sweethearts! We met as freshmen, started dating as sophomores and dated all the way through college.
Describe the proposal: Kevin and I are very bad at keeping secrets from each other. So bad, in fact, that we always end up telling each other about our Christmas gifts before Christmas! Because we’re so bad at surprising one another, I told Kevin that the only thing I wanted was to be surprised by his proposal. I came home from college for the weekend to celebrate his birthday and he definitely surprised me! He took me out to a beautiful lunch and proposed on the beach. The best part was that everyone was surprised. No one knew he was going to ask me except for my father. We told our families that night and Kevin’s birthday party quickly became a joint birthday/engagement celebration!
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: I am six months older than Kevin so I don’t think either of us will ever forget that I had to drive him to our first date when he was only fifteen and I was newly sixteen!
Favorite design element of your big day: I adored the solid oak cross that we covered in white and pink hydrangeas. It was hanging right over us as we said our vows.
Describe your wedding flowers: We used pale pink and white dahlias, white and pink hydrangeas, pale pink and white garden roses, white cataleya orchids, sweat peas, jasmine and lilies of the valley. I loved the mixture of pale-colored and white flowers. The bridesmaids carried bundles of different colored sweat peas. My favorite part of my bouquet was the ribbon that held it all together. I saw it in a magazine and my maid of honor hunted it down from a wedding in Santa Barbara, CA, to a ribbon store in New York! It fit in perfectly and was my “something blue.”
Describe your wedding cake: I wanted our wedding cake to look very traditional. But while the cake was very classic and beautiful on the outside, the inside was unique because each tier was a different flavor. I also loved that we got to use the same cake topper my grandparents and parents used.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: We loved our special version of the traditional guest book. Instead of having guests sign a book, we had them sign pieces of linen we are going to have made into a quilt.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? My “something borrowed” was a handkerchief that my grandmother and my cousins carried. I also wore the same handmade garter my mother wore on her wedding day. The best family tradition we incorporated into our wedding, though, was a part of our rehearsal dinner. For my dress that evening, I wore an altered and shortened version of the wedding gown my mother and grandmother wore. Everyone adored the dress and thought it was special the dress was used for three generations of family weddings.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? I remember sneaking away from the tent and dancing with Kevin under the lights. I just wanted to remember everything I could about that moment!
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: My favorite quotes from our quilt: ” Congratulations to the band nerd and the cheerleader,” “May the best of your past be the worst of your future,” “Today is the first day of the rest of your lives,” and lastly, “In the fairy tale of life, may this be your happily-ever-after.”
What’s next for you as a couple? We are loving life as newlyweds! We are working on perfecting our first home with our puppy, Harley. We have some dream vacations in mind before starting a family.
Congratulations, Natalie + Kevin! Enjoy your new home and new puppy!
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Jeana, August 15, 2009 12:02 am Yeehaw! Love this:
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Looks like a fun party :) Congrats to the couple!
cathy, August 21, 2009 12:02 am Yeehaw! Love this:
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ok, looks even more wonderful. really so one-of-a kind. and so personal. great karma.