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Y’all know that when it comes to Southern Saturdays in the fall, college football rules! Not many brides with SEC roots plan their wedding without checking the schedule (something we included in our manifesto!), and though this may sound quite strange to our northern counterparts, I can vouch for its truth: yes, I consulted that trusty schedule before picking my wedding date. Better that than no-show family members, including my then soon-to-be MIL! Yes, gameday alliances run deep here in the South, y’all!
Since we’re in the thick of football season, we figured it was high time to celebrate the sweet spot where the sport we love so much intersects with another of our favorite topics – weddings! From groom’s cakes to garters and shakers to socks, I couldn’t be more excited to share this SEC wedding round-up. And we’re even starting with my personal favorite – the University of Alabama! Roll Tide! (I’m convinced Emily put Bama first because she knows how much I love them, not because we’re doing the schools in alphabetical order.)
Top to bottom: The Photography Shoppe via M. Elizabeth Events, next two Spindle Photography via Southern Weddings, unknown, Rob Ingram Photography via M. Elizabeth Events, Spindle Photography via Southern Weddings
University of Alabama
Nickname: The Crimson Tide
Mascot: Big Al, an elephant
Colors: Crimson and white
Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Joined the SEC: Original member (1932)
Any talk of Bama leads right into a discussion of rivalries. I know y’all have seen those “house divided” license plates around, but if alliances run deep here in the South, then rivalries run straight through to China! We love a little friendly competition weaved into wedding day decor.
Stephen DeVries via Southern Weddings and Chelsea Patricia Photography
Next up? Auburn!
Chelsea Patricia Photography, Finch Photography, and Ann Wade Parrish via M. Elizabeth Events
Auburn University
Nickname: The Tigers
Mascot: Aubie the Tiger. Since 1930, Auburn has also kept an actual eagle (whoa!) as a live, flying mascot at athletic events. War Eagle VII, a golden eagle named Nova, along with Spirit, a bald eagle, perform the “War Eagle Flight” before all Auburn home games at Jordan Hare Stadium!
Colors: Burnt orange and navy
Location: Auburn, Alabama
Joined SEC: Original member
Let’s head down to Florida!
Chris Martin via Desiree Dawn Events, Maile Lani via Southern Weddings, Stephen DeVries via Southern Weddings, Anna Kirby via Southern Weddings, Stephen DeVries via Southern Weddings, Daniel Taylor Photography via M. Elizabeth Events
University of Florida
Nickname: The Gators
Mascot: Albert and Alberta (alligators, of course)
Colors: Orange and blue
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Joined the SEC: Original member
Next, slightly north to Georgia!
Scott Hopkins Photography and Melissa Schollaert Photography via Southern Weddings
University of Georgia
Nickname: The Bulldogs
Mascot: Hairy Dawg, a bulldog
Colors: Black and red
Location: Athens, Georgia
Joined the SEC: Original member
Up to Kentucky!
Kristin Vanzant
University of Kentucky
Nickname: The Wildcats
Mascot: The Wildcat, a wildcat, and Scratch, a more child-friendly wildcat :)
Colors: Kentucky blue and white
Location: Lexington, KY
Joined the SEC: Original member
Moving down to LSU!
Ivy Weddings
Lousiana State University
Nickname: The Tigers
Mascot: Mike the Tiger
Colors: Gold and purple
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Joined SEC: Original member
Next up: Ole Miss!
By Shea Photography via M. Elizabeth Events and D Jones Photography
University of Mississippi
Nickname: The Rebels
Mascot: Rebel the black bear
Colors: Crimson and blue
Location: Oxford, Mississippi
Joined SEC: Original member
Next, the University of Tennessee!
KLP Photography, Soli Photography, KLP Photography, JoPhoto, KLP Photography
University of Tennessee
Nickname: The Vols, or Volunteers
Mascot: Smokey IX, a hound (The current Smokey is the ninth since live mascots were adopted in 1953! He is cared for by two student trainers.)
Colors: White and orange
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Joined the SEC: Original member
Fun fact: UT students will recognize “The Rock,” above, from their campus. Thousands of coats of paint have been thrown on its surface since the 1960′s, and we love that this couple used it for their save the date message!
Last but certainly not least, one of the newest SEC members – Texas A&M!
Ivy Weddings
Texas A&M
Nickname: The Aggies
Mascot: Reveille, a collie
Colors: Maroon and white
Location: College Station, Texas
Joined SEC: July 1, 2012
Fun fact: The photos above are from a wedding where the couple handed out “12th man” towels for their getaway! In 1922, the Texas A&M team was so depleted by injuries in the first half of the Dixie Classic that the coach called a reserve, E. King Gill, out of the stands and onto the sidelines. He donned an injured player’s jersey, and though he was not called into the game, he was the only player left standing on the sidelines at the end of the game — hence the 12th man. Current Texas A&M students still call themselves the 12th Man, and to symbolize their “readiness, desire, and enthusiasm,” the entire student body stands throughout the game, usually waving white 12th Man Towels. Texas A&M trademarked the term 12th man in 1990!
Tell me: Where does your alliance lie? Have you been to or will you be representing your alma mater at your wedding? We’ll be covering the ACC next week, so be sure to send in any good photos you might have to share!
M. Elizabeth Events, Spindle Photography, Ivy Weddings, Desiree Dawn Events, Anna Kirby, Scott Hopkins, Melissa Schollaert, and KLP Photography are fabulous members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!
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Emily Alice, October 10, 2012 12:17 pm reply As a proud Gamecock (whose team just beat Georgia *cough cough*) I will ABSOLUTELY be having Cocky come to my wedding! This is an awesome post!
M.R., October 10, 2012 12:54 pm reply You left out Vanderbilt. :(
Marissa, October 10, 2012 2:14 pm reply M.R! We would have loved to include Vandy, but sadly we were unable to find any awesome photos with the school's inclusion.
Jessica, October 10, 2012 1:27 pm reply All of these look great, however, as a resident of the state of Alabama, and an Auburn grad (I am in a divided relationship), I would like to clarify for all the non-SEC fans that Bama's rivals are Auburn, and Tennessee, not Florida!
Emily, October 10, 2012 2:01 pm reply Hi Jessica! And this is why I never write anything about football! I'm sure Marissa, as a true Bama fan, knows better - I actually added in that line while I was placing the photos :) I've switched it just for you!!
Marissa, October 10, 2012 2:04 pm reply Ha! Yes, since Emily edits my posts after I write them, sometimes I don't see the edits until they're live. Of course, as a true Bama fan I would know that their rivals are Auburn and Ten! If you knew my hatred for orange, you'd know why! : )
Desiree, October 11, 2012 1:01 pm reply Emily: I totally resent Marissa's hate for orange! LOL Looks like some teams are a little afraid to rival with my Gators...ahem...xo
Marissa, October 11, 2012 1:48 pm reply Ha! You know that I love you dearly to not delete this comment! ; )
Madelynne Moulton, October 10, 2012 1:42 pm reply WAR EAGLE! :)
Meghan Peevely, October 10, 2012 1:52 pm reply Loving all of the VOLS ideas in this post! Go Big Orange!
Megan, October 10, 2012 3:50 pm reply Sad that I don't see South Carolina on this post. :( BUT we will be having garnet & orange pom poms for our send off (fiance is a Clemson grad - yuck). I originally wanted to hire both Cocky and the Tiger to come to the reception but I didn't want the whole thing about how we disagree when it comes to football. haha
Victoria, October 10, 2012 3:56 pm reply My wedding is in December, and as a current student at Texas A&M I am SO excited that yall included the Aggies. Their move to the SEC the same year as our wedding just made the Southern feel that much more attainable. Nice timing. ;) We are actually really considering using game day towels too.. maybe personalized as well!
Amy, October 10, 2012 4:12 pm reply How about an ACC wedding round-up next? GO PACK!
Emily, October 10, 2012 5:08 pm reply Look for an ACC round-up next week!
Lauren, October 10, 2012 8:35 pm reply Yayyyyyyyyy!!! My relationship is divided too. I'm a grad student at UNC and my fiancé graduated from NC State! He's so much more passionate then I am about this sort of thing, I will definitely get him a NC State grooms cake :-)
Birmingham Wedding Photographer, October 10, 2012 6:45 pm reply I love these weddings! My last one had a cake that was half Mississippi Sate and half Auburn. One of the best ones I've seen.
Kelly, October 11, 2012 10:12 am reply I love the Pom-pom send off idea, but I am having difficulty finding them. Any advice? Looking forward to an ACC round-up - We have a FSU and Wake Forest rivalry going on!
Marissa, October 11, 2012 10:27 am reply Hey Kelly! Of course! The College Football Store has some really fun options for gameday shakers (as I've always called them!). Take a look here: http://www.collegefootballstore.com/search/pom%20poms. Also be sure to check your school's bookstore as we've found them there before. Best of luck! xx
Emily, October 11, 2012 10:58 am reply We've ordered them from cheerleading.com, too, for a past story!
Megan, October 11, 2012 2:34 pm reply Kelly: Also check out orientaltrading.com
Amy Arrington Photography, October 11, 2012 1:19 pm reply ROLL TIDE!
Marissa, October 11, 2012 2:17 pm reply Yay Amy! Roll Tide to you! xx
Featured: Southern Weddings Magazine » KLP Photography | Blog, October 11, 2012 3:16 pm reply [...] My Favorite Magazine, Southern Weddings did a blog post on SEC teams and people who incorporate these teams on their wedding day. They featured three of my pictures and I am so honored! Check out the full article here! [...]
Morgan, October 11, 2012 3:49 pm reply Wow, really disappointed to not find any South Carolina Gamecock weddings on here.
Marissa, October 11, 2012 4:25 pm reply Hi Morgan, we tried our best to include all the schools, but we were unable to find images for some. Wish we could have included your Gamecocks! xx
Kelly D, October 12, 2012 3:04 pm reply Although I went to a small private Christian school that had no football team (BOO!), my allegiance is forever to Tennessee!!!! It causes some pretty major contention with my (fair weather fan, cough) Alabama-loving husband. But GO VOLS!!!!! I'll be rocking my orange all fall long!
Bri @ Posh Purpose, October 12, 2012 4:20 pm reply I love this post! My wedding date is December 1, which is also the SEC Championship this year. When I picked the date, the Gators were in the middle last year's extremely depressing season (that followed an equally depressing one) so I figured there was NO way my Gators would be playing on my wedding day. Come to find out, it isn't totally out of the question! In the (less unlikely) event that Florida goes to the Championship, we will probably set up a screen to watch the game. I'm sure the photographer will catch a few very "flattering" pictures of the bride yelling at the screen and her new Buckeye inlaws pouting because Ohio State can't go to post season games this year. To placate my fiance, I am going to make some buckeyes to set out on the groom's cake table but I can't promise a few die hard wedding guests won't put some gator figurines around the bowls ;)
Elizabeth, October 13, 2012 10:04 pm reply Love this post! I am a northerner who moved south for college and stayed, and I had no clue how important college football was until I got here.
Bethany, October 15, 2012 9:22 am reply Love these photographs, so much fun!
Janna, October 16, 2012 3:12 pm reply I die! This post is amazing! Love how people are so creative when it comes to showing their SEC pride! :) Go Gators!
Shannon, October 23, 2012 12:14 am reply One of my favorite parts of going to an Aggie wedding (I'm a current student) is that almost any bride and groom will have the A&M War Hymn played before the big send-off. It just brings the southern/Aggie spirit out in everyone :)
Rebecca Lord, January 17, 2013 4:04 pm reply I love this story, except for one important detail. While Hairy Dawg is an officially recognized mascot of The University of Georgia, Uga, the live dog, is our primary mascot.
Kick Off Your Marriage With Football Wedding Details | Love Notes from Lover.ly, January 31, 2013 9:11 am reply [...] by: Maile Lani on Southern Weddings via [...]
Tiffany Wise, February 19, 2013 5:55 pm reply Love the Alabama cakes! Who made them? ROLLL TIDEE!!!!!!
Brittany, March 20, 2013 5:51 pm reply LOVE this! And it's true, no Southern, football loving gal would EVER schedule her wedding without consulting a calendar!