Oh heavens, y’all! There are so many details in Lindsay + Jonathon’s Texas wedding that I am so completly smitten with. First, let’s start with the monogram appearances; from Lindsay’s “getting ready” shirt (we love these from our friends at Memento), to her fabulous cowboy boots, and then on to their married monogram runner mixed into the reception. Complete Southern heaven for this monogram-loving gal! And as a fellow non-cake-eater, I love how L + J had bowls of Jonathan’s favorite sweet, Sour Patch Kids, for guests to nibble on in lieu of a groom’s cake! I cannot guarantee a few of those little suckers wouldn’t have ended up in my purse!

Special thanks to Kelly Hornberger for capturing the sweetest moments (and the monogram details)!

Check out Jonathan’s Texas cufflinks! Love the ode to their home state!

My mom and I had a blast finding my dress. We only went to a few places, tried a lot on but definitely knew that the lace dress I picked was the one. My mom was so amazing in helping me. I definitely could not have done it without her! I did make a few alterations – made the neckline a sweetheart and took the back down a bit, into a deeper V shape.

Walking over to the ceremony site with my dad and then turning the corner and seeing Jonathan at the end of the aisle was truly magical.

This may be one of my favorite ceremony images of all time. Such an incredible moment of love and family!

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? Deuteronomy 6:5-9
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

There were so many Southern touches, including my new monogram on custom made cowboy boots, the burlap table runners, the wooden stumps for décor used as our cake stand and under our placement of flowers and candles, our signature drink served out of mason jars, Jonathan’s Texas cufflinks, the wooden benches and tables, and of course our food! Our guest book was a “cookbook” I made from all of our favorite family recipes. I included lots of pictures that involved friends, family and cooking and also left a lot of white space for people to sign. We also had “late night snacks” towards the end of the reception that included fried chicken and waffles and a French fry bar, complete with toppings to choose from!

Describe your wedding cake or dessert: Our wedding cake was five-tiered with a big flower on top and it was on a wooden stump as the cake stand.
For the “groom cake’s,” Jonathan actually doesn’t like sweets except for Sour Patch Kids, so we had little bowls throughout the bar and reception of Sour Patch Kids for people to snack on, complete with heart-shaped spoons, too!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Initially, Jonathan and I met through mutual friends at a party, but we didn’t start dating until about a year and half later, when the timing was right.
Describe the proposal. The proposal was absolutely amazing! Our photographer actually captured that, too (here). Jonathan has played classical piano since he was four, loves to sing and has been playing the guitar since for about 10 years as well. He is so talented! Our first date was at the Hobby Center in Houston where we saw the Phantom of the Opera. On our two year anniversary, Jonathan told me that we were going to see a play at the Hobby Center but that we were getting to meet the cast and see a rehearsal beforehand. When we walked in the theater, I was shocked that besides the people working in the sound booth, we were the ONLY people in the theater. I asked Jonathan where everyone else was and he told me it was a private viewing just for us (massive points!). As we take our seats, the lights start to dim and they call “all cast to stage,” the show is about to start. Jonathan turns to me and says that “they forgot the champagne” and that he will go get it. I think, “champagne, too!?!” As I’m sitting there alone, waiting for Jonathan to come back and the show to start, I hear the first notes of a familiar song on a piano being played. The curtain goes up and there is Jonathan on stage, singing and playing our favorite song! I start tearing up and then basically sobbing and am in absolute shock. Close to the end of the song, a woman comes and gets me and tells me to follow her. She then takes me on stage to join Jonathan. He finishes the song, he stands and takes both of my hands and says the sweetest words, and then he reaches back into the piano and pulls out a small box, gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him! It was SO AMAZING! And that was just the beginning of the night.
In what month did you get married? April
How many guests attended your wedding? 150
Did you decide to do a “first look”? Why or why not? We did not do a first look. Jonathan really wanted to keep the tradition of seeing me for the first time, walking down the aisle. I was perfectly OK with that!
Did you write your own vows? We did! We said the traditional vows but also wrote our own. My favorite line of Jonathan’s vows to me was, “I vow to love you forever with my whole heart and with everything that I have. This will be the easiest of my promises because there is absolutely no other way I could love you.” Jonathan’s favorite line of my vow’s to him was, “The man I thought I would marry absolutely pales in comparison to the man God has given me in you.”
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. Walking down the aisle, walking back up the aisle, first dance? One of our good friend’s, Thad Lang, played all of our ceremony music on his acoustic guitar. He played “I Have Always Loved You” by Third Day while guests arrived, and also some music he wrote himself. “Air in G String” played while the wedding party walked down the aisle and “Cannon in D” when I walked down the aisle. He played Dave Matthews, “Everyday” when we walked back as man and wife – that was so fun. Our first dance was the same song Jonathan played and sang to me on our proposal, Sister Hazel’s “This Kind of Love.”
Describe your wedding flowers: Absolutely gorgeous! Romantic, lots of whites, ivories, garden roses, pops of deep pink and lambs ear for green. We also had all white petals as our aisle.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: There are way too many! My favorite detail about the ceremony was our prayer circle – it was so unique and amazing to feel the love and power of being surrounded by our friends in prayer. For the reception, I have to say our monogrammed, burlap-inspired table runners that my sister-in-law made. Absolutely amazing!
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Food was a big part of our wedding because it is a passion of ours. Other details included the truffle popcorn we served out of paper cones and our signature drink served before the ceremony, Mint Rosemary Lemonade. My brother also designed a logo for us to use on all of our signage. We had koozies with our logo, Styrofoam cups, napkins, rally towels for the end of the night and dancing, framed pictures of the two of us scattered throughout the reception, and my dad made hand painted directional signs, too!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? We are so blessed in that we didn’t have too many! Honestly, I think the biggest scare or challenge was whenever my dress came in and it was too short. They had to do massive alterations and that was pretty dramatic — but it all worked out!
What range did your wedding budget fall into? $25,000 – $50,000
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? Jonathan would say the lighting and I would have to say, of all things, the transportation. We provided buses for everyone and I am so glad we did! I think it really contributed to people staying the entire time and “partying” a little more since they didn’t have to drive. Plus, I heard our friends had a very entertaining bus ride home – singing songs and rapping over the microphone.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The feeling and emotions of it all! I was so calm and so ready – walking over to the ceremony site with my dad and then turning the corner and seeing Jonathan at the end of the aisle was truly magical.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Jonathan put a “moratorium” on any wedding planning/talking for one week when we first got engaged. His intention was for us to enjoy being engaged and to focus on our love and each other and we carried this throughout the planning period. Don’t get caught up in the details of one day and one party. Focus on your love and your marriage to come. Plus, you are only engaged once! Have fun being fiancés while you can!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? To enjoy our first year of marriage to the fullest! We want to do a lot of traveling and “firsts” as a married couple. We certainly are looking forward to building our home together and a family!

Emily is officially in Connecticut getting ready for her big day! With her out of the office, the cooler temperatures and V5 about to explode with gorgeousness, there’s definitely a celebratory feeling in the air. Want to take a walk through the last year of Em’s planning? Check out her sign-off post here.

Our Southern Delicacies column turned its head toward NOLA and their famous beignets. We think these pillowy sweets would make a delicious wedding snack!

Emily’s Southern Spotting shows us how styling the elements of your wedding can really make an impact. Take this mason jar wall, for instance — we’re in love!

When we saw this county-fair inspired shoot, we couldn’t help but adore it. Good eats, fun games and prize-winning all take the spotlight here.

Real Weddings make our hearts happy

Amber + Jon’s vineyard wedding in North Carolina was full of deep jewel tones and heirloom decor. See it here.

Maconda + Sacha’s classic and understated wedding was “Southern easiness” done right. See it here.

Erin + Fitzlee’s pecan grove wedding was a stylish Southern soiree. We just loved their warm family atmosphere. See it here.

Rachel + Stephen carefully weaved in pieces from their family into their wedding, creating a meaningful celebration. See it here.

With Em getting married this weekend, we had to celebrate with an ad deal!! There are just a few hours left to take advantage of this one, so email Marissa at iloveswmag.com for details.

A giant hug goes out to all of you belles and beaus getting married this weekend, including our Southern Bride Blogger, Elizabeth and our own Miss Emily Ayer!

Have an amazing weekend, friends!

When John and I were setting up our wedding registry, we ultimately decided on three stores for our guests to choose from: Macy’s, Crate & Barrel, and Amazon. Macy’s has been the most popular with our guests, but if I had to choose, I’d say Amazon is my personal favorite :) I love that with their “universal registry” tool, you can add items from any store online — genius!

All of this to say, if I had the choice to go back and add a few more items to our registry, I would definitely include a few select pieces from Uncommon Goods!

Aren’t these pieces so fun? I love the quirky cool mix of unique home pieces at Uncommon Goods. The selection is both large and delightfully curated — perfect for selecting a wedding gift for those hard to shop for friends!

I pulled out a few of my favorite travel and adventure themed picks for this post. I’ve always loved the intricately-embroidered state pillows from Cat Studio (1). The scratch-off state map (2) is INGENIOUS and probably my favorite thing in the Uncommon Goods shop! I love the idea of recording your married-life travels in this way. The sweet felt state pillows (3) would look perfect on a neutral bed – maybe buy one to represent each of your home states? The Heart Strings art (4) is sadly out of stock right now, but I love that you can choose the location of the heart. I’d put it on the location of our wedding ceremony! Hand-select three favorite wines and pop them into this beautiful wooden box (5) before handing it over to the newlyweds. For a final art option, I adore this custom fingerprint print (6) – you actually fingerprint yourself with a kit the artist sends you!

And believe me when I say I’m just scratching the surface with these picks! They’ve also designated special sections just for wedding gifts (here) and anniversary gifts (here), so those are great places to start your search (or registry!).

Tell me: What’s your favorite pick from the pretty items above? I’m DEFINITELY going with the scratch-off map!

It’s true, I love “antiquing.” My mama and I frequently make complete days out of rummaging through the traveling shows looking for unique treasures (one of my best scores is a vintage chandelier for $15!). So when I read that Rachel + Stephen incorporated family heirlooms throughout their decor, I must admit I was a bit jealous! I love how they carefully weaved pieces from relatives into their furniture and centerpieces as well as incorporating meaningful little details throughout their entire wedding. R + S are definitely a couple after my own heart!

Big hugs to Nathan Westerfield for bringing their big day to life!

I love how Rachel used fun details to add personality to her gorgeous classic gown. Those Toms look like they’re made for dancing the night away!

It was about the third place I had gone to look for a dress. It was the only one I found that I liked and it was the only one I tried on. It was too perfect! I knew before I even put it on that I was in love with it.

Yes we did do a “first look.” I never thought I wanted to do that. I wanted to keep with the tradition of not seeing each other, but as the wedding got closer, the more anxious I got and I knew that I would need to see him before the wedding to calm my nerves. It was the best decision ever.

I can’t let BDK see this post or he’ll completly agree with Stephen on the best detail of this wedding!

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: (From the groom) The shotgun that my groomsmen got me, and the knives I got them. Take that for wedding presents! (From the bride) The antique accents that appeared everywhere.

We had homemade apple butter and clover honey in little mason jars for favors. Instead of having a groom’s cake, we had a groom’s table that included three types of homemade cobblers and vanilla ice cream. Old quilts made by relatives were used as the backdrop for the photo booth as well as to drape over the old wooden pew that we used for gifts. Old Southern doors and doorframes were used as the backdrop for the ceremony along with old chandeliers and picture frames.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met in third grade at church right after I, Rachel, moved to the Nashville area. We grew up going to school and church together throughout elementary, middle and high school and even into college.
Describe the proposal. I had just gotten home from school for Christmas break and Stephen said he wanted to take me out on a date. We went to a nice restaurant in downtown Nashville and afterward we went to see The Nutcracker at TPAC. Afterward, we went back to his house. He had built a pergola with lights and flowers strung all through the top, and had hung pictures of special places that meant a lot to us through the history of our relationship. He then got down on one knee and proposed, and I said yes! He had invited all our friends and family to my house to celebrate, which was also a surprise!
In what month did you get married? July
How many guests attended your wedding? 500-600
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. Our prelude was “Beautiful Things” by Gungor and “A Place Only You Can Go” by Needtobreathe. We played “Blower’s Daughter” by Damien Rice as we seated the grandparents. The processional was to “Best/Rest” by Bon Iver, the entrance of the bride was “Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky. We did communion to “Rock of Ages” by Brooks Ritter and recessed to “Hoppipolla” by Sigur Ros. Our first dance was to “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding, the father/daughter dance was to “Tootie Fruitie” and the mother/son dance was to “My Girl.”
Describe your wedding flowers: They were blush pink peonies and cream roses.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert: We had a mixture of yellow cake and almond cake with natural white icing.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? We incorporated antiques from relatives for all the furniture and centerpieces as well as the little details throughout the wedding. We had homemade apple butter and clover honey in little mason jars for favors. Instead of having a groom’s cake, we had a groom’s table that included three types of homemade cobblers and vanilla ice cream. Stephen got a shotgun as the wedding gift from all of his groomsmen and he gave all the groomsmen hunting knives. Old quilts made by relatives were used as the backdrop for the photo booth as well as to drape over the old wooden pew that we used for gifts. Old Southern doors and doorframes were used as the backdrop for the ceremony along with old chandeliers and picture frames.
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? (From the bride) The favors. I’m glad everyone got to take something home with them. (From the groom) The little accents and decorations. They meant a lot to Rachel.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? We both agree that it was seeing each other for the first time.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Try not to stress when you get just a couple of weeks away from the wedding. It will all come together and stressing about it takes away from the joy you’re supposed to have.

With fall making its way into our lives (no complaints there!), we couldn’t help but adore this county fair-inspired shoot from Attention 2 Detail Events and Alixann Loosle Photography. Home recipes, good eats and games abound, accompanied by the celebratory community feel that you can only get from the annual county fair. What better place to replicate the feeling than at a wedding?

Now how’s this for a view? The Wheeler Farm provides a picturesque backdrop for a fun-loving reception theme.

Frilly cakes, baskets of fresh fruit and richly-painted mason jars — this dessert table is prize-winning indeed. The cupcake liner ribbons are the perfect fair-inspired decoration.

I may have chuckled to myself when I saw this adorable signage — a definite nod to Toby Keith’s song. The addition of cute paper bow ties makes a simple plastic cup look oh-so-Southern.