Emily « Southern Weddings Magazine

Say Hello to Our Newest Blue Ribbon Vendors!

May 17, 2013 by Emily in Main,Sponsor Love | 0 comments

We love our Blue Ribbon Vendors! They are some of the best in the best in the South, and we hope you’ll take a minute to check out their portfolios! Here, a few of our favorite new additions…

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I love the name A Delightful Day, because when you hire Mary Alice and her team, you’re almost guaranteed a delightful wedding day! They are based in Nashville.

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I kind of love that Catherine Ann is a former Disney World cast member — meaning, as she puts it, that she excels in “making dreams come true and capturing memories that will last a lifetime.” She is based in Tampa, FL.

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Five Dot Design loves good stories, so it’s no surprise that Kristen fell in love with wedding stationery: the beginning to every big day’s story! She is based in Kentucky but works with clients from all over.

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Heba Salama lives around the corner from our office, and we can testify that her personality is as warm as her photos! I love that she can capture color and joy as easily as quiet, sweet moments. She is based in Chapel Hill, NC.

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Heirloom for Hire rents out their cherished collection of antique china, silver, glassware, and flatware for weddings, showers, and other happy events that need vintage flair! They’re based in Wilmington, NC, and their prices are wonderfully competitive. I love their sentiment: “We would love to add your event to the stories our dishes tell!”

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I love the story of ivory sparrow: a mother in law created a set of wraps and robes for her daughter in law’s wedding, and their collection took off from there! These beauties make great personalized bridesmaid gifts.

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Kim Starr Wise Floral Events is based in New Orleans and creates designs known for their lovely combination of heavenly blooms, textural elements, and organic elegance.

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Roberts & Co is based in Washington, DC, and has all the efficiency you’d expect from a group used to working with busy professionals, but I love that their designs are fun and colorful, too!

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If Teresa of Simply Couture Weddings is half as enthusiastic about her clients’ weddings as she was in our emails, I know y’all are in good hands! She and her team love your love and details, and it shows. They are based in Palm Beach.

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Tres Chic Southern Weddings is based in Orlando, and specializes in creating an overall wedding design that brings old family traditions to life!

Still on the hunt for your perfect Southern vendors? Check out our whole crop here! Vendors, if you’re interested in applying, please fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!

xo Emily May 17, 2013 | view Emily's blog

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post. And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads. We love hearing your sweet thoughts!

Southern Stems: Jasmine

May 14, 2013 by Emily in Inspirations,Main | 0 comments

It’s the middle of May in North Carolina, which means the jasmine is in full bloom! And oh boy, with this Southern stem, you can smell it before you can see it!

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First, though, a little lesson about dainty flowers on vines that smell amazing, because we enjoy several of them in the South! The beauty above is honeysuckle — its blooms are a little more trumpet shaped, and turn from pink before blossoming into flowers tinged with orange, yellow, and white.

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This gal is jessamine, also known as Carolina jessamine. It has extremely prolific golden yellow blooms that blossom at the end of winter.

The Southern Stem we’re chatting about today, however, is jasmine. The version we most often see down here is Confederate or star jasmine, which has very delicate creamy white blooms. These ambitious vines can grow to be 10-15 feet tall, at a rate of 12 to 24 inches per year!

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Jasmine front door via Design Mom

The jasmine that’s most common in weddings, though, is a bit different — pinker and wispier.

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Tanja Lippert (bouquet by Blush Floral Design)

I love it so much I used it in my own wedding bouquet!

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Stephanie Williams, from Martha Stewart, Sean Money and Elizabeth Fay via Southern Weddings (bouquet by Tiger Lily Florist), Jesse Ryan via Southern Weddings (bouquet by Pollen Floral Art), and Jose Villa via Southern Weddings (bouquet by Flowerwild)

I’m certainly not the only one, though! I think brides love jasmine because its tendrils add an airy garden vibe to an otherwise formal bouquet — just the right note of “hand-picked.”

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Martha Stewart, Landon Jacob via Southern Weddings, Christian Oth via Southern Weddings

I love when jasmine is included in centerpieces, because it seems to make the arrangements live larger than they are, since the dainty tendrils stretch out across the table.

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Karen Mordechai (centerpieces by Ariel Dearie Flowers), Tory Williams (centerpiece by Rachel Mercier via 100 Layer Cake), from Martha Stewart

Speaking of spreading out, if you’re a jasmine fan, you must check out this installation created for a past Sunday Suppers dinner. Magical! Can you even imagine what that room smelled like??

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Ariel Dearie Flowers (photo by Karen Mordechai)

Finally, I couldn’t find any cakes with jasmine vine, but I thought this stephanotis vine confection was great inspiration for what could be! And the wreath with jasmine vine was simply too pretty to leave out.

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Wreath by Garden on the Square via Martha Stewart, cake from Martha Stewart

Tell me: Are you planning to incorporate jasmine vine into your bouquet? Do you have a hard time keeping all of the sweet smelling Southern blooms apart?

xo Emily May 14, 2013 | view Emily's blog

A Southern Wedding Film for Mother’s Day

May 11, 2013 by Emily in Main,Wedding Films | 3 comments

Gals, pull that box of tissues a little closer. Bride Casey (you may remember her from here) commissioned Catherine Orr to create a short family documentary video about her relationship with her mom, a stage-four breast cancer survivor who also happens to be her best friend. The two kept the project a secret for months, until Casey gave the final video to her mom the day before her wedding. Please enjoy the beautiful result.

For Mama from catherine orr on Vimeo.

Have a wonderful weekend celebrating the women in your life! We’ll see you back here on Monday.

xo Emily May 11, 2013 | view Emily's blog

Carly Totten, May 11, 2013 8:53 pm reply Wow. What a wonderful pair. That's exactly how I feel about my mom too.

Erica, May 12, 2013 3:06 pm reply This is so great i love it!

North Carolina Wedding Video Featured on Southern Weddings Magazine for Mother's Day | Catherine Orr Documentary Storytelling, May 14, 2013 11:27 am reply [...] honor of Mother’s Day, Southern Weddings featured the short documentary I produced for bride, Casey Wilson. Casey gave the film to her mom as a wedding gift. Thanks Southern [...]

We Love Southern Mamas!

May 10, 2013 by Emily in Inspirations,Main | 5 comments

Moms are the backbone of the South, don’t you think? Strong, gracious, graceful, loving, wise, and usually perfectly perfumed, they gave us our best recipes, our first lessons in hospitality, and, if we were lucky, our most deep-seated sense of security and self-worth. One of the most wonderful parts of a wedding day is getting a chance to publicly honor our mothers. Here, in honor of Mother’s Day, a few of our favorite photographs to remember these moments by.

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Cyn Kain, Tanja Lippert, Live View Studios, Bamber Photography

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Bamber Photography, Sarah McKenzie, Jo Photo, Graham Terhune

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Bamber Photography, Aaron Snow via Christina Leigh Events, Elaine Palladino, Loft Photographie, Elaine Palladino

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Amalie Orrange, Renee Sprink, Loft Photographie, Renee Sprink, Paige Jones

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Loft Photographie

Go hug your mama today, belles! And happy Mother’s Day to all of our mamas reading — we know you’re out there! :)

Amalie Orrange, Bamber Photography, Christina Leigh Events, Cyn Kain, Elaine Palladino, Graham Terhune, Jo Photo, Live View Studios, Loft Photographie, Paige Jones, Renee Sprink, and Sarah McKenzie are delightful members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

xo Emily May 10, 2013 | view Emily's blog

Lisa, May 10, 2013 11:47 am reply I got my tendency to tear up quickly from my mama, so it isn't much of a surprise that these sweet pictures made me do just that!

Happy [early] Mother’s Day ‹‹ Featured ›› » Paige Jones Photography, May 10, 2013 12:14 pm reply [...] some sweet mom/bride/groom moments, and one of mine got picked up! Go check out their post here to see all the motherly [...]

Amalie Orrange, May 10, 2013 1:03 pm reply Thank you sweet ladies for featuring one of our images! And, happy mama's day to you Lara!

Brent & Anna - Live View Studios, May 10, 2013 2:26 pm reply Thanks for featuring one of our images ... moms are definitely the best! Much love to y'all xoxo

Cyn, May 16, 2013 1:01 pm reply Such a sweet post! Thanks for featuring my adorable bride and her loving mama!

Sneak Peek at Our First V6 Shoot + a Giveaway!

May 9, 2013 by Emily in Contests,InTheOffice,Main | 22 comments

Hello, belles! Nicole and I have spent the last two days in sunny (thank goodness!) South Carolina shooting an editorial for the next issue. It’s been a V6 whirlwind around these parts, actually – we wrapped a shoot in NC last week, we have another scheduled for next week, and are just diving into planning two others for June! You won’t hear a peep of complaint from our lips, though — it makes us positively giddy to piece together beauty we know will eventually make it onto the printed page!

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Before too much time gets behind us we wanted to give y’all a little peek at what we’ve been up to. We were lucky to have Graham Terhune on hand to snap behind-the-scene shots on the actual shoot day, but our instagrams will have to tide you over until V6 debuts!

Like so many of our photoshoots (yesterday’s, too!), this joint was the first stop of the day:

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We were thrilled to have the chance to work with Katie Stoops again, of course. You may recall she photographed our Williamsburg and Richmond features from past issues!

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That’s our intern Jessica up there with Katie, Nicole, and me!

Happily, shoot prep always leaves pretty — and tasty! — extras around the office. Don’t mind if I do…

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I’ll leave you with my favorite snap from the day: This was Ms. Katie taking photos of the pretty we had created, but doesn’t this scene look worthy of capture, too? Such an amazing field of clover — we had never seen anything like it!

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That may be the last sneak peek you get from our first V6 shoot, but we have more surprises for you! Before you get too antsy with anticipation, we have a fun giveaway for y’all! Our good friends at High Cotton happily gave us a couple of boys bow ties to use for some special gents in this shoot. We couldn’t wait to do a V6 giveaway!

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To enter, leave a comment below telling us about the best biscuit you’ve ever tasted and which bow tie you’d love to win. Will it be the Red and White Mini Dot bow tie or the Nantucket Seersucker Stripe bow tie? Tell us before this giveaway closes at midnight on May 22.

If you’re not already, be sure to follow us on Instagram as we spend the summer prepping for V6! We’re here: Southern Weddings, Lara, Emily, Nicole, Marissa, and Kristin.

P.S. Vendors, interested in joining in the fun? We’re working with lots of sponsors already for V6, and would love to have you, too! Email Marissa (marissa at iloveswmag.com) or fill out this form for more info.

Graham Terhune is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

xo Emily May 9, 2013 | view Emily's blog

Maria Barnes, May 9, 2013 1:33 pm reply Where can I get the monagram keepsake?

Emily, May 10, 2013 10:27 am reply Hi Maria! I'm not sure what keepsake you're referring to, as I don't see one in this post. If you can be more specific, I'm happy to help!

Emily Barrois, May 9, 2013 1:40 pm reply The best biscuit I've ever had was honestly made by my dad. He learned how to make his own to avoid the sodium of canned. Now he never uses a recipie but always manages to make a fluffy, flakey on the outside, soft on the inside mound of awesome. Last christmas we had leftover eggnog so the day after he used that instead of milk. It transformed his already yummy biscuit into a holiday tradition we're going to repeat every year! And he was so proud of himself. The polka dot bowtie would be adorable on my dad and make a great addition to his father's day present. I dressed him up in bowties for my wedding and now he loves them!

Jillian, May 9, 2013 2:38 pm reply The best biscuit I've ever tasted actually came from Poppey's Chicken! My fiance loves their chicken and convinced me to try their buscuits! One bite and I was hooked! Now I need to the recipe! I would love to win the Nantucket Seersucker Stripe bow tie!

Lauren, May 9, 2013 3:02 pm reply The best biscuit I have ever had was homemade by my boyfriends mother - I spread it with pepper jelly and it was absolutely amazing. I would love to win the Red and White Mini Dot bow tie.

Elizabeth @ HobbyLobbyist, May 9, 2013 3:56 pm reply I would love to win the polka dot tie, but both are precious!

Elizabeth @ HobbyLobbyist, May 10, 2013 3:27 pm reply Elizabeth @ HobbyLobbyist: Oops, forgot to mention the best biscuit I ever had. It was outside of Houston at an amazing brunch place called Baby Barnaby's. They have the most amazing honey biscuits ever!

Emily, May 9, 2013 4:45 pm reply The best biscuit I've ever had was my Granddaddy's "drop biscuits" which he always smothered in gravy. You basically make a simple biscuit dough and then rather than measuring or cutting the dough precisely, you scoop it out of a spoon and "drop" it onto the baking dish. Rob loves his bow ties and loves his seersucker, so I'd love to win the Nantucket Seersucker Stripe bow tie!

Janna, May 9, 2013 4:50 pm reply Love the sneak peeks! I love the red striped tie! Perfect for my date for a late summer wedding we are going to! My all time favorite biscuit is my grandma's biscuits! With some butter and strawberry jam we make every year- it's the bee's knees! Yum!

Romance, May 9, 2013 5:53 pm reply My grandmother's Cream Cheese Biscuits. She says the trick is to fold them 18 times, to them get nice and flaky, but I know there's more to it, because her's always come out better than mine! The Nantucket Seersucker, please!

Candice, May 9, 2013 5:54 pm reply Best biscuit I have ever had was a maple bacon sweet potato biscuit. Savory and sweet at the same time! Nothing better than a unique southern style biscuit!! As far as the bow tie, I love the red and white mini dot bow tie. My fiance is loves bow ties and this would be a great one for him and our style!

Samantha, May 10, 2013 9:04 am reply The best biscuit that I have tasted BY FAR would have to be my Nannies (great grandmother) family recipe. It was so good it didn't need a topping, but she canned jams as well and her peach jam was To. Die. For. That Nantucket seersucker bow tie is almost as amazing as my Nannie's biscuits!! ;)

Maddie, May 10, 2013 10:50 am reply The best biscuit I've ever had was at The Roanoker in Roanoke, VA--SO amazingly fluffy and light--maybe even better than your grandma's?! I would love, love to win the red-white polka dotted tie. :)

amanda, May 10, 2013 10:53 am reply I have to say the best biscuit I've ever tasted is my mother's gravy biscuit breakfast! I LOOOOVE it! And no where I've been can compare. And my husband loves it too and would LOVE to win the the mini dot bow tie! Especially for all our NCSU pride ;)

Anna, May 10, 2013 11:42 am reply The best biscuit I've ever tasted was at Monell's in Nashville, Tennessee. It was warm, falling apart with butteriness, and smothered in delicious peach preserves!

Katie Haviland, May 10, 2013 2:36 pm reply Best Biscuit ever was from Loveless Cafe in Nashville, TN. So yummy! I would love the Red & White Mini-Dot bow tie!

Peyton Leigh, May 11, 2013 7:32 pm reply Hands down, the best biscuit I've ever had was made by my sweet Grandma Jane. She made them every Easter, and they were always the most anticipated treat of the day! Warm and buttery, and slathered with honey :) And as far as the bow ties go, the seersucker striped oen is just the most darling thing I've ever seen! Beautiful shoots this week, take care!

Lena, May 12, 2013 1:45 pm reply This Yankee and her Texan are headed to Savannah and Charleston this summer, and I can't wait to taste a whole pile of biscuits; John decked out in that red polka dot tie would be the perfect cherry on top!

Marc, May 12, 2013 3:30 pm reply The best biscuit i've ever had was my Momma's. Just amazing. I'd love that polka dot tie.

Louisa, May 13, 2013 1:06 pm reply The best biscuit I've ever tasted was at Shoney's somewhere in Tennessee. It was the first biscuit I ever had. I am from Germany and I didn't know what it was but after the first bite I realized that I loved it! I'd love to win the Nantucket Seersucker Stripe bow tie.

Whitney, May 14, 2013 2:32 pm reply The best biscuit I have ever tasted are the ones I make. I use lard for the fat - they come out so fluffy but with a really good flavor! But I never tell people until after they've tasted, because they are usually grossed out. My fiance is a UGA grad and would love to have either - but I think I like the dots better for him!

Hollie Raulerson, May 15, 2013 9:06 am reply Hands down...the best biscut is in Atlanta, at the Flying Biscut Cafe!! Their tangy cranberry butter is a superb compliment to a slightly sweet biscut!