For forever, I dreamed of wearing a lace mermaid wedding dress. I had a modest budget so I found myself going to many stores to find the perfect dress. I tried on about 30 dresses in total. I finally found the dress while shopping with my mom and aunt at Bridalmart in Burlington. Bridalmart is this huge store and they have hundreds of dresses at many price points, but you have to pull them yourself. It can be overwhelming if you don’t know what you want! My aunt pulled and showed me the dress, but I was hesitant because I wanted a strapless dress and the fit was more trumpet than mermaid. I tried it on anyways and it was so beautiful. I was still skeptical, but my mom snapped many pictures. Looking at the pictures the days after our visit, I knew this was my dress!

Describe your wedding flowers. 
I wanted a color palette of cream, pink and peach. We used four types of garden roses, hydrangeas, ranunculus, spray roses, limonium and seeded eucalyptus. I think the funniest part was visiting my parent’s house the day after the wedding and seeing it packed with flowers.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? 
We did! I am so happy we did. Our photographer had us stand back to back and we exchanged a few words before turning around. We hugged and kissed and I was so happy. Like many people say, it was our only time alone that day. Also, it was our only opportunity for outdoor photos. We shot ours at the Raleigh Rose Garden, which was minutes away from the church. I have a large family and after the ceremony, we spent time taking the traditional family photos inside the church.

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
I actually used Southern Weddings for readings inspiration. I would copy and save readings onto my computer that I liked! We ended up choosing Philippians 2:1-5. “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus”

We had very traditional songs during our ceremony because as a little girl I had always dreamed of getting married to these songs. Pachelbel’s Canon in D was the bridal processional, the recessional was Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. During the ceremony, we had two songstresses. Emily, who introduced us, sang Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and the Lord’s Prayer. Andrea, my good college friend, sang “Center of My Joy” by Richard Smallwood. We loved having our friends take part in our wedding ceremony. At the reception, Aaron and I danced to “I Was Made to Love You” by Gerald Levert. We were nervous about the turns in our dance so we whispered to each other before every turn to make sure we were on the same page! My dad picked “I’ll Write A Song for You” by Earth Wind & Fire for our daddy-daughter dance. If you read the lyrics, you’ll want to cry because it’s so sweet. Lastly, Aaron and his mother danced to “Stand by Me” by Ben King.

My grandmother loved collecting glassware, so I used her LE Smith Moon & Stars glasses and her milk glasses for centerpieces. I used her doilies and lace handkerchiefs for decor as well. Our hors d’ouervres were macaroni and cheese and “redneck martinis,” which are pulled pork in a martini glass with a hush puppy on top. However, I think the most Southern thing about my wedding was how much my family helped. My aunt was the coordinator, my godmother handwrote all of my place cards and my mother was responsible for everything else I needed! My dad also let Aaron drive his classic ‘55 Chevy for our transportation to the reception and as the getaway car.

Describe your wedding cake or dessert. 
We did mini cupcakes for our wedding cake! It was fun because you could try multiple flavors. We had pumpkin, lemon, chocolate and vanilla. We had a mini-cake on top to cut that was pumpkin as well. After the cake was cut, we passed chocolate shot glasses filled with Kahlua and Bailey’s Irish Cream.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
All of the dancing. I wanted the wedding to turn into a huge party at the end and it did! We played Motown music during dinner and afterward transitioned to more current music. The dance floor was packed. Everyone was showing off their best dance moves, including some break dancing, a split and Aaron did the worm.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
In 2009, I returned home to Raleigh after graduating from college at Hampton University. I complained to one of my close friends, Emily, that I was bored and would like to meet someone. Emily told me that she worked with a guy who may be a good fit for me. She arranged a double date between herself, her boyfriend, Aaron and myself. Emily and her boyfriend ended up arriving over an hour late to the date so the first hour was just the two of us, complete strangers! We hit it off and the night ended with Aaron buying me Krispy Kreme donuts. The rest is history and Emily sang at our wedding!

Tell us all about the proposal! 
I love Zumba and my dad and I often go together at the YMCA. I would always encourage Aaron to come too, but he’d always decline. Finally on December 30, 2011 he agreed to come to a class with us. Usually it’s hard to find one man in a Zumba class so I had a lot of fun bringing two! After class, Aaron said he would like to continue working out with my dad. I headed home. (I lived with my parents at the time.) Later, Aaron surprised me by showing up at my door. Little did I know, but he had actually stayed at the gym to ask my dad for my hand in marriage! He asked in the locker room, which still think is funny. At my house, Aaron suggested we go for a walk and I agreed. I was so confused, and he was acting slightly different and had brought me huge bouquet of flowers. We sat down in my mother’s garden. Then Aaron got down on one knee and proposed. I was surprised and happy, I said yes! It was a few days after Christmas so my entire family was at home to share the good news with.

When did y’all get married? 
April 13, 2013

How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
270

Did you write your own vows? 
We didn’t! I knew I could never eloquently put my feelings into words so we said the traditional words.

Did you have something borrowed, something blue, and something new? I borrowed my mother’s pearl bracelet (and I still have it, oops). My undergarments were blue and said “Bride” in rhinestones! And my dress was new!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Our budget and the guest list, which go hand in hand. We ended up having a huge guest list and going over budget, but it was definitely worth it. Even with 270 people, I felt like I was surrounded by my closest friends and family.

What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
I love flowers, so I loved picking out the flowers with Dawn McCreary and collecting the centerpieces. The bouquets turned our beautifully and while I felt silly at first asking for a flower crown for the flower girl, it was gorgeous!

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
We have so many memories. My favorite is standing back-to-back with Aaron in the Rose Garden, followed by being surrounded by all of our family and friends on the dance floor.

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
If you can afford a day-of coordinator, consider it. My aunt and mom were wonderful and did all the work, but it would have been nice to have hired someone so they could relax and enjoy the day a little more. Besides that, don’t be afraid to ask friends and family for help. As I said earlier, my godmother wrote my place cards. I had a party to assemble the invitations. A friend from church addressed all of my invitations as a gift. Now that I know how much work goes into a wedding, I will definitely be ready to help my friends when it’s their turn.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We just moved in together, so I’ve been working on blending our possessions and decorating the house. We’re both focused on our relationship and our careers right now. I’ll be starting work as a resident physician in psychiatry at a local hospital in a few weeks and Aaron’s busy as an IT manager at software company.

Lara and Emily returned home from the Engage!13 Conference at Biltmore last week. We love this recap of the Southern welcome party designed by our friends at Pressed Cotton.

We know bridal parties can get quite large in the South, but we loved getting the deets behind the Southern tradition of house parties. Read more about them here!

With Father’s Day this weekend, we wanted to take a moment to share the best advice we’ve gotten from our dads.

I am so thrilled that we’re able to share Jewel + Ben’s engagement session with y’all. Jewel is one of our Southern Bride Bloggers and their love story is so encouraging and a reminder that the real beauty of a wedding is a lifelong partner who will stick with you through thick and thin. See it here.

Real Weddings steal our hearts!

Chatham + Charlie’s bright, bold soiree took weddings at home to another level! We love that an untraditional piece of the big day was inspired by the bride’s grandmother. See it here.

Amy + Bryan took the traditional pink wedding scheme and made it their own with pops of neon and fun marquee signs! See it here.

Lauren + Marshall used the details of the wedding as a way to showcase their personalities and to show Southern hospitality to their guests. See it here.

Before y’all go…

Take a minute to join us in wishing a huge congratulations to all the belles and beaus getting married this weekend!! Big hugs to our Southern Bride Bloggers, Jewel, Allison and Martina who are also saying, “I do!”

Be sure to stop by our Facebook Friday for a little something sweet from Happy Everything Co.

Have an amazing and restful weekend!

Amy + Bryan, Balitmore natives, might have a few Northern tendencies in their blood, but their wedding was full-on Southern. The two decided to tie the knot in Charleston, where Bryan surprised Amy with a getaway and a proposal, so there was plenty of reason to adopt the beautiful city as their own personal sanctuary. I adore that Amy + Bryan decided to go traditional on a few things the ceremony music and the white cake (with stunning flowers!), for instance but added their own twist with hot pink invitations and retro marquee signage. But these are all teeny details compared to the father-daughter dance. Amy’s dad wrote the song for their dance, recorded the vocals with Amy’s mom and played it back at the reception so the two could still dance together. How amazing!!

As Kristin would say, we’re sending Paige Winn a big squeeze for sharing this day with us.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. 
I had a hard time deciding on a wedding dress I had serious love for a few different dresses. Ultimately, my wedding dress had every component that I wanted. It was the prettiest dress that I had ever seen or put on my body. That was such a happy day and I still love it so much.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? We did a little behind-the-door chat. It was actually pretty emotional, and luckily Paige Winn still made our pictures look somewhat attractive! It was so nice to hear Bryan’s voice for a minute prior to our wedding.

Stems created the most gorgeous, beautiful arrangements. There are pictures of me crying when seeing my flowers for the first time! They were pink, girly, romantic, soft, colorful, and playful – just all around gorgeous. All of the bridesmaids had variations of hot pink, white, and light pink flowers with each of the bouquets wrapped in different shades of pink ribbons. My flower girl wore a flower halo that she donned proudly and looked so beautiful in. My bouquet was an amazing display of girly pink wonderfulness, wrapped in a piece of lace ribbon from my mom’s wedding dress. The guys all had white flowers wrapped in pink ribbon, and they looked so handsome wearing them. There were displays of single flower arrangements on the tables in antique containers, and mixes of color blocked arrangements on other tables. It was fab!

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
Possibly my five-year-old niece telling me, “When the wedding comes, the wedding comes.” I’m still trying to dissect that deep advice. Another memorable moment was the look on my future husband’s face as I walked down the aisle. So incredible.

For my walk down the aisle, I chose Canon in D, a song that I had always envisioned myself walking down the aisle to; I think it is the most beautiful classical song. Way to go Bach! We decided on Brad Paisley’s “Then” for our first dance. We were debating some other songs for our first dance, and then this one sort of took me by surprise. I would hear it on the radio, and it would make me cry and think of our wedding day. I love when he talks about taking his fiancé to the place where he first met her to propose. Even though Charleston was not where we met, it was where we got engaged and the place where we were going to say our vows. It just felt right. My dad wrote me a song for our father-daughter dance. My mom and dad sung it and recorded it together so that we could play it at the wedding and my dad and I could still dance together. It was so sentimental, and more special than any other song I would have found.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
We went about as Southern as us Northerners could possibly get, from the all-you-can-eat Sticky Fingers sweet potato casserole and pulled pork at our rehearsal dinner, to the shrimp and grits and hush puppies at our reception. We had stations, farmhouse tables, vintage china, and mint julep containers for flowers. We wanted it to feel like you were in the South, and wanted it to just be really unique and fun.

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
Stay calm and be patient and polite. Also, know that it is all going to be worth it, and that the day will be better than you could have ever imagined. Have FUN. Lastly, if  at all possible, hire a wedding planner.

Our wedding cake was a four-tier cake with cascading ombre flowers ranging from hot pink to white. Each layer had a different kind of frosting. On the top of our cake were two little hand crafted clay birds. It was almost too beautiful to eat!

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
I think it would have to be our sparkler exit. We couldn’t believe our wedding was ending, but all of our friends and family were lined up with sparklers waiting for us to leave. As we were leaving, fireworks were going off for the RiverDogs baseball team. It was magical. We could feel the love from everyone, and loved exiting into an old fashioned London black cab. We would probably pay good money to be in that moment one more time.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
We met in the huge Baltimore blizzard of 2010 after a few too many drinks. We randomly met each other in the street and had an instant connection, sort of a “right place at the right time” situation. We then went sledding at 3 a.m.! Our first official date came a few days later at my favorite Mexican Restaurant. The rest is history.

Tell us all about the proposal! 
The proposal took place in Charleston. I thought that we were taking a little trip to Connecticut to visit Bryan’s family. Literally at the gate for Charleston, Bryan jokingly asked me if I wanted to go there instead. I said that I did, and he told me to look at my boarding pass. After realizing that he had planned a surprise trip, I asked him if he was going to propose (sorry Bryan!). He told me that he wasn’t, and the next thing I knew we were on our way. After a brief shopping trip on King’s Street for shoes that were not Uggs and clothes that were not sweaters, we made our way to our hotel room. Bryan had a big “Will you marry me?” sign hung on the wall and had flowers all around our hotel room. Then he was down on one knee! I was so shocked!

When did y’all get married? April 12, 2013

How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
120

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
E.E. Cummings- I carry your heart. 1 Corinthians 13. Each read by our aunts.

Did you have something borrowed, something blue, and something new? My something blue was my “I Do” stickers on the bottom of my shoes – a must have! My something new was my wedding dress, and something borrowed was the lace from my mom’s wedding dress.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? 
The distance and the travel. Thank goodness for the amazing Lizz Akerman at Southern Protocol. She made the process easy, but it was still challenging being so many miles away and communicating via phone and email.

What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
Lizz Akerman at Southern Protocol. She gets the job done and is so amazing and talented at what she does. We could not have done any of it without her. We are also a little bit obsessed with Paige Winn, and happen to adore Anne Bowen at Stems, Scotti Kline, and Sarah Murdoch at 428 Main.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We are looking forward to buying our first house at some point in time and having children, and maybe getting a golden doodle. We’re also going to continue to have more adventures that begin with an idea as crazy as two kids from Baltimore getting married at a plantation in the South. Lastly, we are looking forward to just spending time with our amazing families and with each other.

Paige Winn is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

1. Emily and I traveled down to the Hilton Head area of South Carolina for a photo shoot. The location was so beautiful, I never wanted to leave!

2. In doing some cleanup at my dad’s house, I found a ton of his old Kodachrome slides with scenes from Virginia in the 80s.

3. Emily traveled to Virginia for an SWV6 shoot, with her azalea co-pilot traveling safely in the passenger seat.

4. Kristin celebrated Memorial Day with an impromptu supper at her aunt and uncle’s house, which was properly dressed for the holiday!

5. We released brand new prints in Lara’s shop!

6. Marissa did her very best not to take this cute little guy home from the shelter. Even though it almost killed her.

7. I traveled down to Atlanta for my sister’s bachelorette weekend and was dying for some peaches as we passed Gaffney’s peach water tower.

8. Since Marissa couldn’t be home on Mother’s Day, she wore her grandmother’s locket with her mama’s photo inside as a sweet reminder of them both.

9. Emily snapped a scene from her and John’s recent day trip to Saxapahaw.

10. Emily spotted this wild clematis on an evening walk.

11. Our sweet tea office chalk art by our very own Emily! It’s so cute, we’re considering turning it into a piece for our shop.

12. Kristin spent the weekend at the South Carolina coast getting sun kissed and eating her weight in hush puppies

13. Lara and Ari brought Grace to Fridays on the Front Porch at the Carolina Inn for some dancin’ and bluegrass!

14. Marissa about died when she saw these adorable tiny cowboy boots her friend has for her baby.

15. Katie Stoops arrived for our shoot in Chapel Hill and snapped this adorable photo of Gracie afterward.

16. This is what happens when Kristin and Marissa have way-too-long Google Hangout meetings. They get silly!

17. Kristin planted her very first baby herb garden!

18. I traveled to the National Stationery Show in New York and loved meeting Natalie Chang in the Kate Spade booth!

What did y’all do in May? What were the highlights of your month?

We may be taking a short break from V6 shoots in June, but that doesn’t mean we’re not prepping for a few in July! Want to be a part of our features? We hope to see you join us in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, as a reader model! See this post for details.

I’m back from the National Stationery Show and I have so much to show you, belles and beaus! Check out my recap of the cutest new designs from stationers across the country. (Part 1 here, Part 2 here.)

Of course, there were way too many fun paper goodies to share in one way. Yesterday, I was back with the final posts in my NSS recap! (Part 3 here, Part 4 here.)

Real Weddings are sweeter than pie!

Audrey + Zane said “I do” in her grandfather’s chicken house. We love the farm details galore! See it here.

For Kelly + Sang, it was love at first sight! We adore their pink Virginia wedding and the wine box ceremony they included. See it here.

Before you go…

Reserve a space on your calendar for the LulaKate sample sale! Bridesmaid dresses, the Little White Dress collection, bridal gowns and ready to wear pieces will be available at the LulaKate store in Charleston from June 20-22. Prices will start at $75!

Be sure to stop by our Facebook Friday for a little somethin’ sweet from Happy Everything Co.!

Enjoy the weekend, my dears!

I spotted Avie Design the day before with Whitney and was drawn in by their peachy stripes. The booth boasted gorgeous laser-cut invitation suites and hand folded stationery with some of the prettiest envelopes I’ve seen!

Kitchen Papers was a favorite of mine. Whitney and I must have spent a long time in their booth flipping through their placemat designs and discussing the many dinner parties we must immediately have. I adore how easy they make entertaining and just about died when I saw they had a new collegiate collection! Too perfect for parties and tailgates, no?

These little coasters spouting the new rules of etiquette were a fun find at the Grey Moggie Press booth. How fun for dinner parties at your new married digs!

(Cardtorial and Iron Curtain Press images by me)

Cardtorial’s booth was a simple beauty. Her fun sayings are laser-cut into real wood you can even still smell the cedar! I also loved Iron Curtain Press’s Southern greetings. How fun would it be receive one of these in the mail?

(Rigel Stuhmiller image taken by me)

I was on my way to find a designer I wanted to meet when I spied Rigel Stuhmiller and had to turn around! Rigel is a talented artist and all of her products are block prints or reproductions of block prints. Though I squealed inside when I saw that she had a pug card, it was her chicken tea towels that sealed the deal.

I could not resist the adorable lemonade card from Hello!Lucky. Their booth was full of bright and retro designs. Of course, we have to pair lemonade with some delicious biscuits! This card from Paisley Tree Press was a spin off of our favorite Southern phrase.

I adored the minimalist designs and darling illustrations at Penelope’s Press. Debbie and Elaine were brilliant enough to come up with vendor thank you cards. They’re adorable and act as another reason to stop and appreciate your vendors in the middle of the wedding planning chaos.

The mint walls and cute bunting get me again! Pistachio Press had an adorable booth, but I especially loved their cross stitch cards. They remind me of the designs I used to do with my mom! (Side note: the washi tape that Pistachio used to hang their cards is my favorite!)

We wandered over to the Smarty Pants Paper Co. and got a kick out of seeing an adorable blue ribbon card. At Smudge Ink, we loved the Southern style in their bow tie and chicken cards.

The Social Type’s booth was full of vibrant colors, from their bright yellow pineapple thank you notes to their hot pink “Pleased as Punch” cards. Too cute, I say!

Emily spotted Wednesday at last year’s NSS, but I was blow away by them in person. All of their beautiful scripts are hand-lettered by Garett and so unique! Even better, Jessica and Garett are the nicest.

Doesn’t Tabletop Made’s booth make you feel like you’re on vacation? I love that Karis and Sarah brought a little bit of Santa Barbara with them to NSS with their cactus plants! Their cards are purposefully “sweet, colorful, yet simple” and that’s just the way I like them.

The Great Lakes had another blue ribbon card that we enjoyed. Theirs, however, was blank. We love the idea of filling in the ribbon with an “award” of your choice!

Don’t forget to take a look at Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

All photos by Whitney Porter unless otherwise noted.

(Bottom right image snagged from my iPhone)

Ladyfingers Letterpress hand draws all of their designs, and they sure are cute! My favorite part of the day was getting to witness Arley Rose’s hand lettering in person. She wrote out the first half of Southern Wedding’s favorite phrase!

Mr. Boddington’s Studio was dressed up in stuffed fabric kites and sweet designs. Their signature illustrated style was most adorable on their recipe cards, in my opinion!

One of my favorite new exhibitors was 9th Letter Press. Isabel, the creative brain behind it all, has been hard at work for the past year creating the most adorable cards and prints. Whitney and I had a great time getting to know her and joking about this card in particular. One of my favorites was the measuring chart above. It would be adorable framed in a newlywed kitchen!

Paper Lovely and Fat Bunny Press may have had one of my favorite booths at NSS this year. The pretty garland and mint colored walls kill me! In addition, Paper Lovely had a few darling mason jar and herbs cards that I’d love to add to my paper collection for everyday notes.

Checkerboard’s booth was crowded every time we passed it, and for good reason. Their new line of wedding invitations is inspired by classic romances like the Great Gatsby and Gone with the Wind. Their envelope shapes were positively gorgeous, y’all. They also started making custom wedding plates! Perfect for cutting that first piece of cake, no?

We always swoon over samples that Smock sends us in the mail, so seeing their booth was a great treat! They are masters of gorgeous letterpressed invitation suites and letterpress packages. My favorites were the cream and black script invitations and the nautical cheery red suite.

Printerette’s designs are just as darling as their name. Their single-color letterpressed invitation at the top left caught my eye first. The heart is a fluorescent and beautiful in person. Whitney and I also squealed a bit when we saw their summer calendar print. It reminds me a bit of our Blue Ribbon Bounty feature from V5.

Rifle Paper Co. had a stunning booth hand painted by Anna Rifle Bond herself the night before the show and decorated in beautiful floral arrangements! I wanted to walk away with their new tin recipe boxes, but I managed to practice some self control.

See Part 1 here and stay tuned for more from NSS tomorrow!

All photos by Whitney Porter unless otherwise noted.

Incredibly Charming Paper and Gifts was one of the first booths we stopped at. Y’all, tell me you don’t need these adorable cocktail napkins! ICPG had a slew of customizable home goods (even doggie bowls!), but these napkins were made for summer cookouts and bridesmaids gifts.

Fine Day Press drew us in with their happy bunting, but kept us snapping away when we saw their bright fun cards!

Stopping by the Lifeguard Press booth to visit Jonathan Adler, Lilly Pulitzer and ban.do was pure fun. I loved seeing the patterned tumblers from Jonathan and Lilly and thoroughly enjoyed the idea of playing dress up at ban.do!

I was dying to get over to the Belle & Union booth! Ever since Emily met Meg last year at NSS, we’ve been happily emailing back and forth. We thought her cute sayings and designs were the perfect compliment to Southern Weddings that we started stocking her products in our shop! This year, Meg’s released the most adorable recipe tea towels, calendars and new cards.

Sideshow Press was right across from Belle & Union, and they gave us another reason to stop and get camera-happy. Their camping-themed booth was thoughtful and thorough. I loved everything from the muslin crumb bags to the notecards (how cute is that felt pennant birthday card?) and the mini message booklets. They’re perfect for mini love notes!

I was excited to meet Kristen from Thimblepress. I’ve actually had my eye on her Etsy store for months! Her shop is based in Mississippi and we loved seeing a bit of Southern flair in her designs.

Y’all, I kind of died over the Farm to Table collection from One Canoe Two. These little notecards are perfect for everyday notes and contain some of my favorite parts of the South.

That’s all for Part 1, y’all! I’ll be back soon with even more from NSS.

All photos by Whitney Porter unless otherwise noted.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. 
I already knew what I wanted. LACE! It was really important to me that I found a dress that I loved and worked well with the overall look/style of the wedding. We already had our venue booked so I knew I wanted something that had a vintage look but was also on the search for something unique. I tried on about 15 lace dresses. None of the dresses I found were exactly what I was looking for. On my fourth bridal store visit, I was about to call it quits when I walked by a lace dress that didn’t really meet the description of what I wanted. It caught my eye and I asked if I could try it on. As soon as I had it on, I knew it was the one. It fit me like a glove and it was so unique! The lace was gorgeous and I loved that there was a nude under layer. It wasn’t a traditional white dress and I loved it. When I topped it off with a butterscotch veil and embellished belt, I knew the search was over! I wish I could wear it again!

I wanted the bouquets for my bridesmaids to contrast since their dresses were pink, so a small bouquet of white roses and peonies was perfect. For my bouquet, my florist did a similar bouquet of roses and peonies in variations of whites. It was exactly what I wanted! I really wanted a vintage/romantic look and because I’m a “less is more” person, the monochromatic flowers were exactly my style and didn’t take away from the details of my dress.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
I think there were two elements that really brought out the Southern feel. One was the location. There is a Civil War battlefield that you pass when approaching the venue. This is where the Battle of Bristoe Station took place on October 14, 1863. The other Southern detail was our venue. The manor house was built in the early 1900s and acquired by Bristow Manor Golf Club. The house just has so much Southern charm and really represents Virginia!

The best part of our ceremony was the wine box ceremony. Rather than writing our own vows that everyone would hear, this allowed us to be more private with our feelings and write a note that would remind each other on our anniversary how much we love one another and bring us back to our special day. It will become a great tradition we can have with each other year after year. Our reading explained it all: “The wine box contains their favorite bottle of wine. Into the box, they will place two love letters they have written to one another. On their first anniversary, they’ll open up the box, share the wine and read their love letters to each other. Sang and Kelly, on that first anniversary as you drink the wine, may that little bitter bite of the wine symbolize the challenges you have faced. Let the sweetness of the wine symbolize the joy and happiness, hope, love, and goodness of your marriage. At the end of your one-year celebration, write a new love letter to each other and close it in the box with a new bottle of wine. And on the happy occasion of each anniversary, open the box, read your love letters, drink the wine, and add new letters to the box. As time passes, let the letters give you and your children a record of your years together and serve as a living document of the growth and depth of your ever evolving relationship. As you now seal you box with the wine and letters, so shall your lives now be one. From now on your thoughts will always be for each other rather than just your individual selves. Your plans will be mutual, your joys and sorrows both will be shared alike. Let this moment strengthen your marriage now and forever more.”

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. I think the hardest decisions I made were about the songs! Unfortunately the music Sang and I like doesn’t make for good wedding music. I walked down the aisle to the traditional Pachelbel’s Canon in D. I used to love playing that song on my violin when I was younger. I don’t feel like we had an extremely traditional ceremony, but I think that song really made me feel like a bride. For our first dance song, we chose Jason Mrax’s “I Won’t Give Up.” A lot of people think it’s a negative first dance song, but Sang and I had a few challenges during the year and a half we were engaged that really tested our relationship. It was very appropriate for us. Our DJ selected our recessional song, which was “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder. I loved it!

I wanted other features of the wedding to be the focus, so I wanted to keep the flowers simple for the reception. I choose give or six white or light pink hydrangeas and put them in vases that I purchased from Ikea and added my own touch of lace and ribbon at the base of the vase.

We decided early on that a wedding cake wasn’t our style. At every wedding we have been to, people didn’t each much of the cake. A friend of mine loves to bake and makes the most amazing desserts! I asked her if she would be interested in baking the desserts and doing a spread of different options. I showed her other elements of the wedding so she had an idea of how things were going to look and then I let her have complete creative freedom! She did an amazing job!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? I had a great time planning our wedding; I am very decisive and knew what I wanted. The biggest challenge was getting over what I couldn’t control: the weather. The entire week leading up to the wedding, they were calling for rain the entire day. However, on the day of, we just barely missed the rain. It made for beautiful pictures once it did start raining. It’s good luck, so they say!
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
I was really laid back throughout the process. I let my bridesmaids wear their hair how they wanted and wear whatever jewelry they wanted. I did not even care if Sang didn’t want to wear a tie! It made the process really enjoyable for myself and for everyone involved. Don’t be a control freak let your vendors do their jobs and trust their knowledge and ability!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
We met while working at my first job out of college at an architecture firm in Old Town Alexandria. Sang worked in the IT department and I was working as an interior designer. On my first day while Sang was setting up my computer, we chatted about his last night’s plans. Apparently it was love at first sight for me! I thought he was so attractive and wanted any reason to talk to him. I even faked computer problems so I had an excuse to message him on our inter-office messenger. He eventually asked me out for a drink after work one day and we’ve been inseparable ever since!
Tell us all about the proposal! 
He proposed in October of 2011. We had discussed getting married and even went and looked at rings a few times. I felt like I was patiently waiting for the proposal, but when it actually happened I didn’t believe it! We went out on a Saturday night in DC to a restaurant called Acadiana’s. We got really dressed up but I had assumed we were just going to go out after our dinner. One of our friends who worked at the restaurant was our waitress that night, so we got special treatment. She brought us champagne and appetizers we didn’t even order! I thought we were just VIPs for the night. Little did I know the two had it all planned out! Shortly after we finished our appetizers, Sang started to tell me how much he loved me and how happy he was. It was sweet but seemed standard for a romantic evening out. He started to fumble through his pockets and that was when I felt my heart racing! I knew this was it! I knew what he was looking for! He pulled out the little velvet box and opened it. That’s when he asked me to marry him! I was in such shock that the first words I said were, “Is this a joke?” as tears rolled down my face! Of course I followed that up with a big “YES”!
When did y’all get married? 
May 11, 2013
How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
125
Did you decide to do a “first look”? 
I actually would have liked to, but time just didn’t allow us.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
It’s hard to choose just one element! I really would say the 1800s style manor house was our favorite detail! It really drove the overall look and style of the evening, from the dress down to the table linens and the vintage skeleton key escort cards.
What range did your wedding budget fall into? 
$25,000-$50,000
What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
There are a lot of important elements to a wedding and everyone that day played a special role in making that day memorable. I’m happy we had Sam Stroud Photography there. The photos are the memories that we will have years down the road and I think he is very talented and such a pleasure to work with! I think he got every shot I wanted!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
When I was walking down the aisle, I could see the tears welling up in my soon-to-be-husband’s eyes. He’s such a tough guy I would have never thought I would see him tear up. It was the best moment ever to know that our special day would have that effect on him. It melted my heart!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We want to enjoy life as a married couple for a few years! We plan on playing lots of golf and traveling to Korea before starting our family!

Yeehaw! We added some sparkly new prints to our shop! We think they’d fit right in at a wedding, but we love envisioning them hanging on the walls of a newlywed’s home.

For many lucky Southerners, inheriting silver is in the cards. But whether you’re inheriting it or registering for it, here are some handy tips about these pretties.

Real weddings are like sunshine to our souls!

Lauren + Devin’s Alabama wedding was full of sparkly details and Montgomery pride. See it here.

Sunny + Chris’s wedding was an alternative celebration that brought life to a rainy day. See it here.

Megan + Joe’s wedding took a bright spin on Virginia fall colors. We love seeing the many details created by loved ones! See it here.

Y’all might be itchin’ to start the weekend, but be sure to stop by our Facebook Friday for a look at a sweet session from By Shea.

Have a happy weekend, friends!

A bright spin on Virginia fall colors make Megan + Joe’s wedding stand out on a computer screen, but what’s special about this wedding is how much of the details were brought to life with the creativity of the bride and the helping hands of dear friends. Little hints of family and that good ole Southern charm were planted all over M + J’s wedding in the handmade signage (made by the bride’s grandfather!), the monogrammed flower girl sashes and the burlap details. I love that Megan’s gown was a custom creation designed and sewn by the same woman who made all of her homecoming and prom dresses! Big hugs to Kate Triano for sharing this day with us!

My dress was designed and made by a family friend (Kim Trombly) who also made my homecoming and prom dresses when I was growing up. When I got engaged, I knew she had to make my wedding gown! We spent about three months trying on dresses and getting an idea of what I liked. She sketched an endless amount of dress designs and once we were happy with it, we set out looking for fabric. We traveled to New York City in August 2011 in search of lace and fabric. We found both at the very first store we walked into! Kim worked on my gown for a little over 100 hours total and it was worth every bit of that. The lace was all hand sewn and cutout, so there were no gaps of empty space and she even had my wedding date embroidered in blue on the inside of my train! She also made my headpiece, which was a flower made from my dress fabric with my lace cutout and placed around the flower! I absolutely loved it! Throughout the whole process, I had total faith in Kim and knew the end result was going to be perfect!

Describe your wedding flowers. 
They were absolutely amazing! I wanted our wedding to have a rustic feel with slightly modern details all brought together by Virginia fall colors. I had the hardest time finding linens that I liked and I happened to stumble upon the yellow chevron fabric and napkin fabric while at the fabric store. I immediately texted Kim and asked, “What if we make table linens?!” With arms wide open, she dove headfirst into my crazy idea no matter if it meant sitting at her sewing machine for additional hours. The florist fell in love with the colors and patterns of our linens and did a fabulous job with my flowers. I wanted flowers that were loaded in texture and had unique elements. We used dahlias, red James story orchids, orange and green coxcomb, yellow billy balls, succulents, ranunculus, amaranthus, scabiosa pods, celosia tips, gerbera daisies and fiddle head ferns. My bouquet featured burlap ribbon that Holly found in Holland! All of the flowers were so full and luscious and completely embodied the theme of the wedding!

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Yes. After debating back and forth, we did decide to do a first look. We wanted those special first look photos between the bride and groom without an audience, even though we had an audience watching us from inside the estate!

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
Colossians 3: 12-17 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, 13

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. 
We had a local string quartet during the ceremony and cocktail hour. Since our ceremony was traditional, we had them play very traditional ceremony wedding music. Cannon in D played during the seating of the parents and the bridal procession. Bridal Chorus played during my entrance, and the Wedding March during our recessional. We had a nine-piece band for the reception that was awesome! They played everything! We sent them a CD of our first dance, father-daughter and mother-son dances and they learned the music in a month for our wedding! Our first dance was to “God Gave Me You.” From the moment I first heard this song, I always told Joe that it would be our wedding song. It has the most perfect lyrics! The father-daughter song was to “I Loved Her First.” I told my dad the day this song came out years ago that we would dance to it at my wedding. He absolutely loved it. He even used it at the end of his speech, telling Joe, “as the song says, always remember I loved her first!” For the mother-son dance, we played “A Mother’s Song.” Joe’s mom had searched forever for a song because she wanted it to be special and finally found this one. So cute!

Did you have something borrowed, something blue, and something new? Yes! My something borrowed was Joe’s grandmothers’ wedding ring that I wore on my right hand. She passed away seven years ago and left it to him. It was supposed to be my engagement ring, but Joe decided that he didn’t want to alter the ring at all, so he got me something different. To this day, I wear his grandmothers’ ring on my right hand—it fits perfectly! I also had a borrowed pearl bracelet to wear, too. My something blue was a pair of earrings as well as the wedding date embroidered on the inside of my train. My something new was a pair of Jimmy Choos! They had the perfect amount of sparkle and made me feel like a princess the minute I put them on!

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
The burlap and chevron runners along with the napkins were our favorite detail. With the Kim’s help, we cut, frayed and sewed all the runners and table napkins for the wedding. Even though it was a fairly simple part of the wedding, it’s something we were able to do together that completely changed the look of the otherwise plain white tablecloth and white dish setting for the table. The napkin fabric was so unique we were sure no one would have a table setting quite like it!

We had SO many Southern details! We had lots of burlap draped in the barn, on the tables, on the candy bar, on the lounge area and in the burlap balls! We included our signature drinks served in mason jars with red stripe straws. To tie in with our rustic feel, my dad brought in old fence boards that had fallen down on our farm. My 86-year-old grandpa is very artistic and he actually hand painted all of our signs for the wedding. I LOVED this detail. In addition, Kim put monograms on my flower girls’ dress sashes and she made bowties and suspenders for the ring bearers out of the bridesmaid dress fabric! Our wedding was very Southern as it was held at an old stone estate on the bluffs of the Potomac River. In addition, the reception was in a barn draped with burlap and Edison lights! It made for a Southern, yet intimate venue. The menu was truly Southern, as we did not want a traditional chicken/steak dinner option. We decided we wanted to do something different and ended up doing a Southern barbeque. Our guests absolutely LOVED it. Everyone raved about the food. To this day, we still have people say to us that they have never had barbeque that tasted as good as it did at our wedding. Lastly, we had a cigar bar that was revealed about two hours into the reception. They were hand rolled on-site and everyone loved being able to enjoy them outside the barn, while still enjoying the band. Kim and I created a hay bale lounge area for people to sit and enjoy their cigars and drinks. It was a huge hit!

We wanted to do something different than a traditional wedding cake. Since we both love cupcakes, I thought it might be a fun and unique idea to have a giant cupcake as our cutting cake! I found a local baker who, with my help, came up with the perfect design for our cupcake! We had a giant cupcake placed on top of a small square cake that featured a yellow chevron pattern. She then made a burlap pennant banner that read “Mr. & Mrs.” and hung from two sticks above the cupcake. We actually cut the square cake and saved the giant cupcake for our one-year anniversary! For guests, we had four different flavors of Georgetown Cupcake — our favorite cupcake bakery!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
We met through mutual friends at a local restaurant called Magnolia’s at the Mill. We both had moved back home from college. Joe was studying for the CPA exam and I was back in school for nursing. Despite having gone to rival high schools within 10 miles of each other, we had never met. Joe had told our mutual friend he had a crush on someone and I actually got mad until I found out it was me! The rest is history from there!

Tell us all about the proposal! 
Joe planned to propose outside at our favorite Loudoun County vineyard, Sunset Hills. Unfortunately, while we were inside tasting it started raining outside and his plans for an outdoor vineyard proposal were ruined! After enjoying some wine, we planned to head to Joe’s parents for dinner. He had already let his parents and mine know his plans, so when we arrived they would all be there, expecting us to be engaged. Joe ended up pulling the car over on a country road on the way to his parents and asking me to get out to look at something, he got down on his knee outside in the rain to propose!

When did y’all get married? 
September 22, 2012

How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
175

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Letting vendors take over and trust that they would design something that matched my vision.

What range did your wedding budget fall into? 
$50,000-$75,000

What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
If you ask Joe, the band. If you ask me, I’ll say Kim and the florist. Without Kim, I wouldn’t have had a wedding gown or headpiece, table linens, flower girl dresses, ring bearer outfits, burlap balls, and so many other small details! Without Holly, I wouldn’t have had the beautiful flowers that tied the wedding together.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
The moment when Joe and I were standing at the alter saying our vows to each other. We were making a commitment of a lifetime and nothing made it more special than being surrounded by our closest family and friends on a beautiful day in a beautiful setting.

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can always make it. Never give up. It’ll all be worth it in the end.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We just bought a house and are finally starting to settle into it. We look forward to traveling different places in the world before we have kids. We’re going to Italy for our first anniversary! Within the next five years, we hope to start a family and have them baptized in outfits made by Kim! We have extra fabric and lace from my gown left over and she said she would make me baptism outfits when we have little ones!

Atrendy Wedding and Holly Chapple are delightful members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
We’re both botanists. As you might imagine, there’s not a lot of us, so we’re a pretty tight-knit group. I first met Chris when I started studying botany in 2008. My adviser at the time had dragged me along on a trip to study some privately owned woods in Nashville. He had also invited Chris out. We were intrigued by each other even then, but always kept it to ourselves because we were in relationships at the time. Throughout the years, we would run into each other at meetings and seminars and correspond about various work-related things, but never hung out. It wasn’t until last year that we REALLY got together. I had been a student on a field school in Madagascar. In May, I had spent a month and a half camping in the highland rainforests of Madagascar to study lemur feeding ecology (they eat a lot of plants.) I was so overwhelmed by the experience that upon my return home, I was dying to spend some time in a familiar place. I knew Chris had a map to an unmarked area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so I emailed him to inquire about sending me a copy. I was surprised when he offered to just take me personally instead! Since we were both botanists, I didn’t want to read into it too much, so I tried not to let on how nervous I was to meet up with him. The first night we hung out, it didn’t take us very long to find out that we were finally single. In fact, it turned out that we had been interested in each other for years. He immediately booked the rest of our weekend at Dancing Bear Lodge. We spent the rest of the weekend exploring the mountains and hiking together. Our last trip that weekend was to Cades Cove, and on our way out I remember distinctly looking over at him while he was driving and I was just struck with happiness and the overwhelming feeling that I would be with him the rest of my life. A little later, I found out he was also thinking the same thing then. We married less than a year later!

Our whole wedding was extremely non-traditional. Since it was a semi-destination wedding, we wanted our friends and family to be able to get back home in time to get ready for their real lives. Therefore, we had the reception on Saturday night and got married at noon on Sunday. My dad had been hassling us about schedules so much that weekend that by Sunday, I was just over it and wiped out! My dad was about to have a heart attack when he walked into our cabin and saw me in my pajamas and my hair in a towel! Instead of stressing out, I think we woke up and I got ready in 30 minutes while Chris made breakfast. We drove to the church together in his pickup in the pouring rain. My parents were early and already there, and we walked in together under an umbrella.

Did you have something borrowed, something blue, and something new? Borrowed: Our umbrella! My mom happened to bring a clear umbrella because of the storm. We ended up using it as a major prop in our photos. Blue: My shoes and earrings were blue and set the theme for the rest of the wedding. Chris and my father coordinated blue punches of color in their ties, and my flowers were tied together with blue ribbons. The wedding favors that my mom created were sunflower seeds and chocolate in brown envelopes tied together with blue ribbons. Something new: Our outfits! Of course, my dress was new, and Chris’ suit was all new.

My dress was by Maggy London from the Nordstrom Wedding Suite. At the time, I was in classes and it was midterms. I was flustered and feeling the crunch to find a dress, but between studying and work I hadn’t had time to go try dresses on. Browsing the websites of local boutiques wasn’t helping and I was increasingly frustrated and sad with the whole process. Chris simply Google searched “Simple Wedding Dresses” and after about a 30 second browse on Nordstrom’s website he asked, “How about this one?” It was a simple Maggy London dress that came just above the knee and had a halter neckline. It was gorgeous and I immediately knew it was the right one. My mom ordered it the next day. Unbeknownst to me, they only had one in my size left and somehow it got LOST IN THE MAIL! It was during midterms, so my mom didn’t tell me for fear of stressing me out. It was found and when it finally got to the house, my mom called to let me know. I called Chris and his response was “Oh, so they found it?” To which I replied, “What do you mean THEY FOUND IT?!” The cat was out of the bag, but at that point, it was just funny.

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We’re horrible with sentiment, so we left the writing up to the Reverend. Early on, Reverend Cahelo interviewed us and asked for some direction. About a week after, she sent us some options to pick and choose from, kind of like a “mix and match.” She did a wonderful job!

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
We kept the ceremony extremely short and sweet. Rev. Cahelo said a few words at the beginning, but they were entirely her own. We asked mostly that our friends and family be honored during the introduction, since they are such an important part to our lives.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was getting our friends and family together. When we first were planning the wedding, we thought travel would be too difficult for some of our friends and family, but closer to the very end we were surprised to find out that many could attend! Before that, because I’m in school in Chattanooga and Chris lives in Nashville, our friends and family had never met. It could have been awkward and horrible, but they all got along splendidly and had a great time talking to each other! Since we had the dinner before our wedding, everyone had a chance to get to know each other on a meaningful level. On the day of our wedding there was no segregation of the “bride’s side’ or “groom’s side.” I think it was a perfect start to bringing our lives together as husband and wife.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
Most obviously, we’re both Southern. I’m a Tennessee native and he was born in Kentucky and lives in Tennessee. We got married at Cades Cove in the Primitive Baptist Church. It plays a very important role in Southern History as an early settlement for pilgrims looking for prime agricultural land.  Lastly, the wedding was simple. The South is torn between a beautiful dichotomy of being over-the-top, but also keeping it to the point. We kept it to the point and we kept it relaxed. The rain was over the top!

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
There’s so many, but what stands out as the overall zeitgeist of our wedding is possibly the rain. It was a downpour and had been raining for two days. It was no matter though it made everything just that much more fun and beautiful. One of the last photos we took was outside while the storm was at its worst. Chris and I are standing on a log and we’re face-to-face and smiling at each other and I have my hands over his head and he has his arms around my waist. We’re soaked, we’re surrounded by flooding rain, but we’re totally in love and we don’t even notice. Every time I see that picture it evokes a deep sense of happiness and love, and that chemistry between us is the reason we’re together in the first place.

Tell us all about the proposal! 
It was the most genuine event! I was on break from classes and we decided to spend a few days taking a road trip to St. Louis, MO to visit the botanical garden (a mecca for botanists.) Chris had found this beautiful restored apartment to rent for the weekend in a historical house. I don’t recall exactly which night it was, but we had been spending the day at the gardens and were just lying around that night reading and watching TV. He suddenly became very emotional and asked me to be his wife. It was lovely! He hadn’t planned on it, so we didn’t have a ring. Just our words. We couldn’t have been happier.

When did y’all get married? 
Sunday, April 28th, 2013.

How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
20

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. 
We went sans-music for the wedding ceremony itself. However, at our wedding dinner the night before, we let our friends and family be the DJ’s by using Spotify hooked up to a nice sound system. We’re all music geeks, so we had a blast coming up with playlists! There was everything from Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel. It was so much fun!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? I’m still finishing up school in Chattanooga and Chris works in Nashville. Neither of us could really focus a lot of attention to actually planning a wedding, and furthermore, when we did have the time, it often wasn’t at the SAME time. Communication was difficult during the process and we were lucky that my parents really took over and helped us out. My mom was great at thinking of things we needed (wedding favors that she created herself!) and my dad was great at managing the events.

What range did your wedding budget fall into? 
Less than $10,000

What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
Leah, our photographer. We looked at many photographers and they were all in about the same price range, but her quality was incredible. She isn’t a wedding photographer; she’s an artist. Chris and I are scientists (awkward scientists). We don’t spend time in front of a camera, but we definitely appreciate good photography. She worked with us and made us feel comfortable, but more than that, she took the photos to the next level. She captured not only us, but everything that made that day so amazing. She’s stealthy, too! There are moments she captured that I wouldn’t even remember, and we didn’t even know she was there!

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
Parsimony! Keep it simple. It was beautiful and fun and we didn’t drown in the details of it. It allowed us to focus on what mattered ourselves and our friends and family. Before you plan, sit down and make a list of your priorities surrounding the wedding itself and the reason you’re there together in the first place. We love good food and drink and we wanted lasting memories, so we prioritized spending on catering and our photographer. Then, bringing our friends together was a priority, so the next big thing to deal with was finding great cabin rentals. Dogwood Cabins was perfect and we would recommend them again! Everything else consisted of small details, but what matters is the big picture.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
I’m finishing up school. Now that we’re married, it just makes it that much more emotionally taxing to be separate from each other. I’m on track to graduate in December, at which point we look forward to enjoying the simple things that are often taken for granted. Sipping our morning coffee together, being there when he gets home, cooking dinner together. Even if we’re silent, our presence in each other’s lives is key and it’s extraordinarily difficult for us to be separated right now. We could have waited, but we don’t regret it. We belong to each other forever and we couldn’t wait any longer.

From the bride:

When we first met, it was not love at first sight. The fact that Nathan was three years old and I was two months old when our eyes first locked may have had something to do with that. Over 20 years later, we became better acquainted. Our mothers had grown up close friends, which resulted in two very pleased families when we announced we would be married on February 23, 2013. Due to our families’ combined knack for planning and decorating, sorting out wedding details proved to be a pleasurable experience!

I envisioned a simple wedding with a vintage flair that not only complimented our style, but also our personalities (we are two old souls who happen to also be hopeless romantics). The Venue in downtown Hattiesburg exemplified just that. The building had the perfect vintage vibe for our ceremony and reception due to its history of housing a bakery warehouse in the early 1900s. To continue with the vintage theme, our families pulled together to decorate this beautiful building with family heirlooms, antiques, and lots of lace. Guests were seated at tables as a beautiful harp was played. With our loved ones watching and our attendants by our side, we vowed a life of love to one another. It was truly the sweetest moment of my life.

The reception had a carefree atmosphere with the help of the soulful sounds from the Cowboy Blues Band. Guests enjoyed wonderful food, dancing, and even a homemade photo booth. The guests were given a take-home bag to fill at a candy bar tiered with chocolate candies and pralines. Our beautiful cake was embellished with a silk broach and topped with wooden love birds reading, “We Do.” The groom’s table was a tribute to Nathan’s fishing hobby, complete with a vintage tackle box, lures, and a fishing net. Three wooden tree stumps served a variety of miniature cheesecakes.
At the end of the night, guests lined up outside The Venue for our sparkler send off. It was such a lovely party! This day was made special thanks to the efforts of so many people. We are so thankful for the memories of this wonderful moment in time which started our life together.

May’s Southern Bride of the Month is planning her Southern nuptials with a clean and crisp color palette. We love what she’s put together! Read more about Lauren here.

You don’t have to be a Nicholas Sparks fan to love the romantic and nautical inspiration shoot that Faith Teasley sent us! (Though you’ll get an extra kick out of it if you are!) We loved the sweet details in this post inspired by the novel Safe Haven.

Real Weddings are the sugar in our tea!

Mary Simms + Alex’s South Carolina wedding had us swooning from beginning to end! Handmade details, traditions and monograms were abundant. See it here.

Rachel + Chad’s Georgia wedding was full of sparkle and family-made details. We love that these two decided to tie the knot on family property! See it here.

Before y’all head out, make sure you take a look at the lovely photos by Lynnesy Catron on our Facebook Friday!

What are y’all doing this Memorial Day weekend? I hope it’s a ton of fun!

My flowers were incredible! Kent Duffie of Designs by Kent did all of my florals (he was the florist for Carrie
Underwood’s wedding!). The girls had beautiful deep purple bouquets full of all kinds of different flowers, including roses, ranunculus, succulents, and so much more. I gave Kent full control to do whatever he wanted within my chosen colors and he blew me away. My bouquet had more white in it to set it apart. Our wedding planner, Chad’s Aunt Kaye of The Proposal, had these awesome frame collages made, and Kent put flowers in the corners of all the frames. Everyone was obsessed with them. We had flowers in mismatched containers (brass, crystal, milk glass, etc.) for centerpieces at the reception.

I just love Rachel’s gold belt! It’s a little hint of what’s to come at the reception.

I got my dress at Formally Yours in Lilburn, Ga. My sister got her dress there and had a wonderful experience, so it was the first place I went the day we went shopping. Me, my mom, and my sister made a day of it. We started at Formally Yours and I was debating between a couple of dresses, but couldn’t make up my mind. The owner was so sweet and told me to get some lunch and think about and call her if I made a decision. We went to another boutique and I found a dress that was beautiful, but just didn’t feel like “me.” We decided to go back to Formally Yours and try on the other dresses again. I had been torn between two beautiful lace dresses, but they felt too traditional. I ended up choosing a dress that was so different, but was absolutely perfect. We had a short engagement (five months) so I had to buy a sample off the rack. I honestly think it made it easier because I didn’t have to wait for my dress to come in the mail.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? 
I often second-shoot weddings with Anna, so I have been able to see firsthand how much easier wedding days can be if you get photos done before the ceremony. It was so nice to see each other and get excited about our wedding day. We were able to have plenty of time for portraits and were even able to leave our venue and drive down the road to have extra variety in our photos.

I had lots of special borrowed things for the wedding. I wore silk flowers in my hair that my mama wore in her hair at her wedding. I wore my sister’s veil during the ceremony and my grandmother’s jewelry.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
Walking down the aisle was so memorable. We had already seen each other, but in the moment I couldn’t help but to be overwhelmed with emotion. I started crying and my dad kept telling me jokes and to think of everyone in their underwear. I was just so excited to see Chad standing there waiting on me. We also thoroughly enjoyed our dance party, thanks to our DJ, Ali Fici!

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. 
Some of our very dear and talented friends played and sang during our ceremony. Seth and Claire Rice sang “lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat as the wedding party walked in. Jimi Bell sang the Jude Moses cover of “Book of Love” as my dad walked me down the aisle. At one point in our ceremony, Chad and I tied a square knot while Jimi sang “How Great the Father’s love.” When everyone was exiting, Claire sang “Let’s get Rich” by Ingrid Michaelson. It was the perfect happy song to end the ceremony

What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
Our wedding would not have happened without Chad’s Aunt Kaye. We got married at her farm, and she just so happens to be a wedding planner and interior decorator. I couldn’t have lucked out any better if I tried. She was so great at coordinating vendors and making everything look just right. Anna, our photographer was INCREDIBLE. She is a dear friend and made our day so special. She and Lynnsey, her second shooter, were the best!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
Our wedding was on a big Southern farm. We got married at Chad’s aunt and uncle’s farm and it was the perfect Southern backdrop. Our reception was under a big old oak tree all strung up with lights and lanterns. Our favors were honey that Chad’s uncle harvested from the bees he keeps on the farm. We had peach cobbler and Blue Bell ice cream. Of course, there were all those Southern accents mingling in the air too.

Our entire reception was dessert-themed. We decided to get married late in the evening, after suppertime, so we just did desserts and drinks, and it was perfect. We had everything you could think of: parfaits, cookies, s’mores, cupcakes, peach and blackberry cobbler, ice cream and more.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
Chad and I met in a sculpture class during our senior year of college. We were both Art majors; I’m an Art teacher and he’s a graphic designer. The first day of class, I was sitting with my dear friend Anna (of Anna K Photography) and leaned over and asked if she knew who the outdoorsy guy with the moustache was. Chad was wearing these Merrell hiking shoes and had a serious-looking carabineer on his belt loop, but he had this goofy moustache and silly hat that made me think he had a good sense of humor. Apparently, he went home that day and told his roommates there was a cute girl in his sculpture class. It took me about a week to figure out his name, so in the mean time I started calling him “sculpture boy” to my friends and my mom. As I learned more about him, I realized that we had tons of mutual friends but had somehow never managed to meet. We kept up the secret mutual crush for a couple of weeks until he finally asked me out. The first time we ever hung out, we went to a party at a mutual friend’s house and danced the whole night. Once I got a glimpse of his dance moves, I was sold. I think he liked me because I made him laugh. Chad is a good egg, a true Southern gentleman. My family (who still calls him “Sculpture Boy”) was smitten as much as I was. The rest is history. We were made for each other.

Tell us all about the proposal! 
The proposal was a total surprise. I knew it was coming, but was caught so off guard when it did. Chad is from Eatonton, which is about a three-hour drive from where we live. We had just been up there the weekend before for a family function of his, and then he said he wanted to go up the next weekend for his best friend’s birthday. We left after work late Friday evening and arrived in Eatonton after 9. When we arrived, we went straight to his best friend Josh’s house. Josh and his brother were there, but Josh’s wife and his brother’s fiancé were gone “shopping.” I was bummed out to be alone with the boys (and feeling tired and yucky after a long workday). Josh suggested that we take his German Shepard, Jed for a walk, so the four of us set out. Josh and his wife, Bailey, live in downtown Eatonton, so we were walking around all the historic sites. As we walked down the sidewalk, I pointed out the Methodist church that Chad grew up in. Their original sanctuary is over a hundred years old and has beautiful stained glass. I was going on and on about how beautiful it was and that I wanted to see the inside because I never had. At this point, it was about 10pm, but when Chad suggested that we see if the door was unlocked, I hopped right up the steps. When we opened the door, I heard music playing and told Chad that we needed to go because we were interrupting something. He insisted that it was ok and kept trying to pull me inside. When I peeked around the corner, I noticed candles on the floor. I freaked out and told Chad that we had to leave “NOW! Because someone is getting engaged and we’re going to ruin it!” Remember how I said I wasn’t expecting it? Chad said, “Yeah babe, someone is getting engaged, now come inside!” He dragged me into the building and there were candles EVERYWHERE all down the aisles and across the altar. It was beautiful. Our friend John was in the corner playing guitar and singing a song. It was all a blur. The girls who I thought were out shopping had really been at the church lighting all the candles. Chad got down on one knee and told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. It was perfect.

When did y’all get married? 
April 6, 2013

How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
About 130

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
Having everyone we love with us all day. How often do you get to have all of your favorite people in one place?!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The hardest part was controlling the guest list. We knew we wanted a smaller wedding, but it’s hard to cut people off when the time comes.

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
RELAX! Before my wedding, everyone told me I was going to be so stressed out and that it would all be a blur. Having a great planner helped tremendously with the stress, but I also tried to remind myself to let the little things go. The only person who won’t notice if things aren’t exactly the way they’re supposed to be is you, so don’t worry about it. I had an incredible day and enjoyed every minute of it. If I had been stressed out over someone’s hair or shoes, I would have missed the joy of the day.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Right now, we’re just enjoying being newlyweds. We don’t want kids for a while, so we’re enjoying each other and have plans to travel as often as we can.

Anna K is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

It’s hot, y’all. Somehow we went from April showers to full-on summertime. I’m not complaining just wishing computers were waterproof so I could work from my pool. :)

Lara, Emily and I also spent some time yesterday going through our prop closet and office attic, pulling things out for our yard sale tomorrow! If you’re interested in coming, be sure to scroll down for details.

We stared off the week with a wedding addition that was new to us: a pickle bar! Lola + Stephen’s favorite food was a hit at their wedding.

Even more twists came our way when we featured a gorgeous inspiration shoot full of Southern sophistication. The real-life couple featured in this shoot brought their love story to life.

Our Southern Stems column this week was all about my favorite Southern bloom, jasmine. Emily also provided some helpful tips in distinguishing between honeysuckle, jessamine and jasmine all of which we love and enjoy in the South.

April was good to us (the pollen was not). Take a look at what we’ve been up to inside and outside the office in our Instagram recap!

Real Weddings make us swoon!

Margaret + Marty’s New Orleans wedding was abundant in joy and color. We love seeing the radiant bride and handsome groom celebrate with their friends and family. See it here.

We’re convinced that Callee + Calan’s wedding would have done Steel Magnolias proud! Their modernized take on pink and monograms is bright and romantic. See it here.

Good News for the weekend!

Come to our yard sale tomorrow! We’ve got tons of wedding goodies ready for you. All proceeds go to charity.

Happy wedding weekend to all our belles and beaus saying “I do,” including our Southern Bride Blogger, Victoria. We’re sending out virtual hugs to all of you!

Before y’all head out for the weekend, be sure to check out the super adorable one-year anniversary session by Kayci Lee on our Facebook Friday!

Have a fun weekend, my friends!

If I could run off and marry a wedding, it would be this one. Margaret + Marty planned their New Orleans nuptials themselves, with a beautiful venue to springboard off of and a desire to vivaciously celebrate their new life together one read-through of their interview tells us that M + M love to dance! I’m absolutely smitten with how their wedding seems to have organically sprung up from the bricks at Race and Religious, but the Southern Weddings gals have agreed it must be Margaret’s radiant personality and lovely smile that top this wedding off beautifully.

Thank you, Heirloom Collective for sharing this day with us!

Two things: How amazing are Margaret’s shoes? I love that they’re a modest nude color with a spark of red! Next, how cool do these gals look below? I am impressed that Margaret’s ‘maids were able to find matching dresses from various stores like Asos, Modcloth and BCBG.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. 
I knew I needed something I’d be able to dance in. I didn’t want anything too trendy, or anything to looked to era-specific. I admired BHLDN dresses from afar until I found out I’d be going to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, so I booked an appointment with them immediately! After trying on a few options, I put on my dress and never looked back. It was the first dress I did a twirl in, and that’s how I knew.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? We did decide to do a first look. Our ceremony and reception were at the same place, so we knew we would have limited time to admire each other’s looks and have some alone time.

I love this photo below! Heirloom Collective did a wonderful job capturing a calm and intimate moment before the ceremony. The colors are gorgeous, and I can only imagine the exciting things these gals are talking about while sipping on sodas and fixing each other’s hair.

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
Song of Solomon 2:10-13, 8:6-7 and Colassians 3:12-17

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. We hired a traditional New Orleans brass band to play before, during and after the ceremony. Our original brass band fell through a week before the wedding, but thankfully our friends helped us pull together a band, and they were wonderful. The entire wedding party walked down the aisle to Trumpet Voluntary, and the recessional was “When the Saints Go Marching In!” We told the band to play whatever they wanted, and that was what they settled on. It was perfect. Our first dance, mother-son and father-daughter dances somehow ended up being disco themed: “Boogie On Reggae Woman” by Stevie Wonder, “Late in the Evening” by Paul Simon and “More than a Woman” by the BeeGees, respectively. It was awesome!

Y’all!! I just want to cry when I see this photo below. There is so much joy!

What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? 
The venue! Our venue was a big chunk of our budget, but we couldn’t imagine NOT getting married there. And, having splurged on such a perfectly curated, eclectic place, we didn’t have to worry about decorating it too much. Our wedding would have a very distinct look (one we wanted) without a lot of work on our part!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
The most Southern detail and part our Northern guests loved the most was the reception-style dinner! I loved that everyone could mingle while noshing, and we didn’t have to worry about whom to seat where or whether there were exactly as many chairs as there were guests (there weren’t, and it was totally fine). Of course, our food was Southern. We served collard greens, black eyed pea salsa, pickled shrimp salad, cornbread, brisket, pulled pork, the works.

Describe your wedding cake or dessert. 
Marty hates cake, so we went with pies for our dessert (and then Marty ended up being too busy dancing to try any! Sorry, Mart!). Our caterer created a bunch of different Southern-influenced pies, including sweet potato pie, an apple galette, and pecan pie, for guests to choose from.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
Definitely the dance party. I found our DJ, Otto Orellana, while at a bar with co-workers. We could not stop dancing! So, I asked him for his business card. The next day I emailed him (introducing myself as the girl who could not stop dancing) and asked him to DJ our wedding. He responded with, “Well, I don’t normally do weddings anymore but you and your friends seemed really fun, so sure!” And did he deliver! The dance portion of our wedding was the most fun we’ve ever had.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. 
We met in college. During our freshman year, we lived three floors apart and were introduced by mutual friends. We soon learned that we’d gone to brother and sister high schools, had some of the same friends, and had never met! Marty pretended that he needed help with his homework in order to get me to hang out with him. Soon I realized that he didn’t need homework help as much as he needed a dance partner.

Describe the proposal. 
We currently live in New Orleans, but we both grew up near Oak Park, Illinois. Every holiday season, we escape our family parties and go see a movie at Lake Theater, a classic art deco movie theater in Oak Park. On the day before Christmas Eve in 2011, Marty invited me to go see Mission: Impossible 4 (how holiday-appropriate!), but instead of going into the theater, he proposed. Afterward we headed to a bar on Madison Street to celebrate with friends and family.

In what month did you get married? 
March 2013

How many guests attended your wedding? 
115

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Our venue was pretty much a blank slate. We could choose the caterer, the bartender, the flowers, everything. While I loved that everything was completely customizable, it was also a challenge to cover all of our bases without a wedding planner (having tents on standby for rain, ordering compostable dinnerware, renting linens!). We did everything ourselves, down to making sure we had enough ice! But, the upside was that we could do everything our own way, to our taste.

What range did your wedding budget fall into? 
$10,000-$25,000

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
Go with your gut when making decisions and customize your wedding to how you want it.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We went on a fantastic honeymoon to Paris, Croatia (the Dalmatian Coast) and Istanbul. Now that we’re back, Marty is graduating from Tulane School of Medicine and starting his residency at Tulane; I am continuing to work as a public interest attorney in New Orleans.

1. Marissa’s sock bun got fancy! Yes, she #putabowonit!

2. My little strawberry plant is doing well and sprouting out teeny berries!

3. Emily adored this punny mailing all the way from Owlabama.

4. Lara spent her April writing her first book proposal!

5. “It SNOWED! In April. IN the South,” said Kristin. “I made the most of it and put on my boots and put out a bowl to catch snow to make snow cream”

6. April was Southern Weddings’ birthday month. My desk was filled with all five volumes and lots of math while we calculated stats for our birthday graphics (here and here).

7. NC exploded into bloom in April, and we didn’t have to go farther than our office front door to find pretty flowers! This snap was taken on Emily’s midday walk.

8. Lara is changing her name! Deciding on her middle name has proven to be one of the hardest decisions.

9. Marissa about died when she received her monogram bracelet from Stacy Brown Designs! It’s monogram heaven!

10. For Emily, much of April was taken up by her honeymoon to Nevis one of her favorite snaps!

11. Marissa sent many handwritten notes this month with her adorable new notecards! (Lettered by our own Emily Thomas!)

12. Kristin celebrated a very big birthday with sweet friends and a delicious cookie cake (her favorite).

13. Kristin indulged in a midnight snack in the form of a yummy Krispy Kreme doughnut!

14. Emily and John planted their balcony veggie/herb garden.

15. Lara and Ari told the story of their marriage and how love never fails during the Amazing Life Together webinar.

16. Lara and Grace took a trip down the road to visit some farm friends!

17. I hosted friends at my house for a weekend and played hostess by whipping up brunch!

18. Marissa officially became a Lululemon convert. She especially loves their manifesto on what’s most important.

What did y’all do in April? What were the highlights of your month?

“This fresh Spring day started at Lilly Belle’s in the upstairs bed and breakfast,” said Rachel. “The light was bright and soft. Meredith, our bride, wore a stunning laced BHLDN dress and her golden hair was crowned with fresh flowers. Cody, our groom, is pictured in his navy suit with a German Shorthaired Pointer.”

Oh, how I love this photo! True Southern grace always come with an infectious smile, don’t you think?

“We then proceed to Carnton Plantation and feature the historic estate and manicured gardens. The intimate reception table is set between a row of trees, features a mixture of brown and white china, homemade pecan pies, wooden dog placards, beautiful earthy flowers, vintage playing cards, whiskey decanters, deer antlers and champagne with blackberries.”

Y’all know how much we love real love stories! Meredith graciously told us about how she and Cody met. After scrolling through the next few photos, we were so thrilled to get the deets behind their five-year romance and how it fatefully led them to this shoot!

“Cody and I met our freshman year in college. We had the same math teacher, but our classes were back to back. Naturally, we would pass each other every day and catch the other’s eye from time to time. Cody and I go in your “opposites attract” category. I came from a small school in Nashville, was a perfectionist, and I was social but an introvert at heart. Cody, on the other hand, was always the life of the party, smart without every trying, never forgot a name, and was incredibly charming. I went to Knoxville devastatingly homesick for Nashville, catching rides home every weekend. Finally, a few weeks into the semester, I had to face my biggest fear: staying the weekend on campus. Somehow I ended up hanging out with Cody, and it changed everything. For the first time, I got to see Cody in his element: his city, his family, and abundant excitement for life. After that I never could quite shake him. There was something about being around him that brought the light-hearted and ridiculous side out of me in the best way possible. I learned that grades didn’t have to come at the expense of my college memories, and I learned that getting an A+ is not always worth the adventures missed out on.

That’s right! He proposed!! I’ll let Cody tell you all the juicy details:

I can tell you right now that I’ve always known I was going to marry Meredith. One of the first things I told her was, “You remind me of my mom.” (Romantic, right?) It sounds weird, but I am a huge momma’s boy. Meredith may not have known it at the time, but that was the best compliment she could have received. Anyway, fast forward a few years down the road. We graduated from UT, I started working, Meredith went to Vanderbilt, and we entered in to dating long distance. It wasn’t easy, and we knew that if we could survive a long distance relationship, we were in it for the long haul. Mere said, “I don’t think I want to be engaged during school.” Naturally, I proposed the day after she graduated.

We were at a wedding in December when Rachel unknowingly kicked my plan to propose in high gear. She asked Meredith’s friend, Tori (the bride) who we were and if we would be models for a styled shoot. Sure, we weren’t married yet, but I am a photographer myself and we jumped at the opportunity! As details for the shoot started unfolding, I picked up the phone and called Rachel. She LOVED the idea of a proposal during the shoot.

I talked to Mere’s parents, got the ring, and coordinated with Rachel (all under Meredith’s nose). Finally, the big day was finally here. I couldn’t sleep for three days before, but I wasn’t nervous. The best way I can describe it is that feeling you get before Christmas when you know you’re getting an awesome bike. You can’t sleep because you’re so excited and I wasn’t getting a bike, I was getting a wife!

I hid the ring all day and we had so much fun at the shoot. There were numerous “marriage” comments but Meredith still had no idea what was about to happen. At the end of the day, Mere had changed into her getaway dress, and Rachel set up the shot for us to be “leaving the reception” so I could pop the question. Now, the whole reason we waited til the end of the shoot was so if Meredith cried, her makeup wouldn’t be messed up and ruin the entire shoot. Before I could get all of my words out, the waterworks were in full effect. Mere still didn’t believe it was happening (as her face shows in the pictures) until I pulled out the ring. Then, she said yes! After that, Rachel had brought us a bottle of champagne and captured the whole thing on photo and video. In the end, I’d say it worked out perfectly.

Giant hugs to Rachel and her team for sharing a shoot with us that’s full of beautiful ideas and truly amazing love stories!

From the groom:

Who doesn’t love Pickles? When it came to our Southern vintage wedding with a twist, we knew we just had to have a Pickle Bar! What’s more refreshing on a hot summer day then biting into a cool, juicy, full-sour pickle? Our guests loved them! When I was little, my father took me on a trip to the Big Apple, where I fell in love with the cucumber’s cranky cousin, the pickle. Ever since then, I couldn’t get enough of them. I eat them with everything, including ice cream! When it came to our wedding, my soon-to-be wife, Lola knew to surprise me with a pickle bar made up of our favorite crunchy sticks from around the U.S.

We featured pickles from The Stage Deli in New York with their Full-Sour Power Pickles, Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market Pickles from Florida, and finally, our favorite, Britt’s Pickles from Seattle. They are 100% organic and come in flavors such as Pepper and Ginger and Hot and Sour!

Should you have a Pickle Bar? Darn tootin! My only advice is that you can never have too many within an hour, our guests had gobbled up every last crunchy cuc.

What do y’all think of the pickle bar? Would you have one at your wedding?

With two shoots for V6 now finished, we think it’s high time we gave you a proper sneak peek! Last week’s shoot with Katie Stoops was berry exciting!

We’re even giving away two High Cotton bow ties from the shoot to celebrate! Enter here.

We think moms are the backbone of the South and love that weddings and Mother’s Day are both wonderful excuses to publicly honor them. We posted a few of our favorite mom-centered wedding moments.

Real weddings steal our hearts!

Molly Gee + Justin’s Mississippi wedding was full of lovely details, gorgeous flowers and the bride’s own designs! See it here.

Kelly + Corey’s military wedding proved that distance is no obstacle in the face of true love! See it here.

Some happy news for the weekend

Congratulations to all of the winners of our Southern Surcees Giveaway! Olivia won the Butter My Butt and Call Me A Biscuit book, Melissa B. won the pink bow clutch, Cait T. won the engraved iced tea spoons, Holly won the “Bless Your Heart” pendants, Peyton won the Lilly Pulitzer iPhone 4/4S case in Delta Zeta and Kathleen won the state tea towel in North Carolina! Winners, be on the lookout for an email from me!

We just love Sarah’s Stands and are so excited to hear that she’s debuting a new collection on Monday. The Simply Stunning collection is beautiful, durable and affordable. Read all about her new products here and head to her shop to snatch up one of these lovelies before they’re gone!

If you’re local to the Chapel Hill area, save the date for our next yard sale on May 18 from 9 am to 11 am. We’re clearing out our closets and selling general wedding supplies such as books, fabric, candles and votives, vases and glassware. All proceeds will go to charity. Email me at nicole@iloveswmag.com for address information!

Be sure to head over to our Facebook Friday. Dianne Lisette is sharing something pretty with us!

We’re sending out hugs and happy thoughts to all the belles and beaus getting married this weekend, including our Southern Bride Blogger, Elizabeth! Congrats, y’all!

Enjoy the weekend! Do you have any fun plans? Tell me about them in the comments below.

Kelly + Corey’s wedding blows me away in so many ways. Yes, it’s indeed a lovely affair, but it came together under the sweetest but challenging situations. Kelly is in the Air Force and Corey is in the Army. Though their proposal was a very welcome and loving surprise, it also occurred right before Corey departed for his station in Korea! Despite the distance, K + C put together a wedding that boasts the most meaningful details and traditions (don’t forget to read about Kelly’s dress!) and looks darn fun to boot! We are so grateful for Amy Arrington, who sent this lovely our way.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. 
My wedding dress was one of my favorite parts! My mom wore the same dress that my grandmother wore when she got married in 1960. I grew up saying I would never wear that dress! When it was my turn to get married, I was overcome with sentiment and knew that I was going to wear their dress. It didn’t quite fit me, so I took the dress to TK Designs in Atlanta and had the top of the dress remade. The skirt is still the original, and they used the same type lace from the skirt to create the top. I was so proud to wear my grandmother’s and mother’s 53-year-old dress and wouldn’t have had it any other way!

My bridesmaids were SO wonderful. They made my wedding planning process so easy, and my day-of so peaceful and calm. (They were running around like crazy people dealing with issues left and right! I had no clue!) They actually helped me do my own baby’s breath bouquets. They also decorated everything the morning of, while I was getting my hair done. The only flowers I had done professionally were two large ceremony arrangements and my bridal bouquet. I wanted something simple, green, and white. My florist did exactly what I had in my head and everything was simple, yet beautiful. I also wrapped an old family handkerchief around my bouquet for my “something blue.”

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Yes! At first, Corey and I wanted to do everything very traditionally. However our photographer told us reasons it may be beneficial. We thought about it and realized that it would create an easier transition to the reception by having pictures before. We also wanted to have that one moment alone on our crazy day. I am so glad we decided to have a first look because it truly did calm my nerves for the rest of the day!

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. 
We did the traditional song for the entrance, Canon in D, then the traditional Bridal Chorus when my Dad and I walked in. When we walked out, the traditional Wedding March played! These were all very important to me since I wanted a very traditional church ceremony. However, to make it more personal, we had everyone stand and sing “In Christ Alone” together so that we would be a reminded to live out a Christ-centered marriage. We had our extremely talented friend Marleigh sing “Amazing Grace” to remind us of how powerful the grace that God has given us truly is.

Did you write your own vows? We did! This was probably my favorite part of the ceremony. Corey is a wonderful writer and much better with words than I. His vows were so romantic, poetic, and intentional. Mine were more light hearted and fun. It totally described our relationship and people got to see who we really were by doing this. At the end, Corey said, “You are my moon, my love, my life.” Our big thing has always been the moon since we have always had distance between us. We both know that no matter where in the world we are, if we look at the moon, the other person could be looking at the same moon. We carried this over to the reception and danced to Frank Sinatra’s, “Fly Me to the Moon” for our first dance.
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
We had our good friend Alix read Romans 12 because it is an important reminder of how to love as an action, always! The pastor who married us was my youth pastor in high school. He made the ceremony so light and fun. Everyone was laughing one second, then crying the next. It truly was such a personal ceremony and we received many compliments about how it was so “us.” That’s exactly what we wanted!

I believe that in the South especially, we have such a pride for our military. The fact that we had such a traditional and military wedding is what I believe made it a Southern affair. We had a traditional saber arch that we walked through, and all the military men wore their dress blues. The ceremony was at the oldest Methodist Church in Savannah and the reception was at the Savannah Yacht Club right on the bay. These two venues truly encompassed Southern charm. We also had a trolley bring all of our guests back downtown after the reception to continue the fun! Savannah, Georgia, is one of the most charming and quaint towns you’ll ever visit. There was no way our wedding wouldn’t be a Southern celebration having it there!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? 
Corey is in the Army, and I am in the Air Force. Anyone who knows anything about the military knows this causes for some issues with being able to see each other. I was finishing up nursing school during the planning process and Corey was living in Korea. He saved up enough leave to take a month to come home, get married, and return to finish his tour. I would say my biggest challenge was not having Corey physically there to help with things. He proposed to me and then left for Korea one week later!

Corey and I are not huge fans of cake and pretty much put the task on the bottom of our list. I actually just went to Publix and asked them to create two cakes, one vanilla and one chocolate. We could not have been happier with that decision and we saved a ton of money by doing so! The cakes really turned out beautifully and tasted great, too! No one could believe that they were from Publix! We also included a Korean tradition in our cake toppers. In Korea, when a couple gets married, they receive wedding ducks that resemble peace, fertility, and faithfulness. Apparently ducks are one of the few animals that mate for life and never take a second partner. We loved adding in something from the culture where Corey is currently living.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. 
Corey and I met through the best man at our wedding, Mark. Mark and Corey were roommates in college. Corey visited Mark one summer and I got to know Corey better that week. We decided we liked each other and continued talking. I was quite non-committal but that summer when I went to my ROTC boot camp, Corey pursued me through the most beautiful, eloquent letters and I knew then that there was something different about this guy!
Describe the proposal. 
Corey had just finished flight school and was getting ready to leave for his first assignment in the Army in South Korea. As excited as we both were about this endeavor, it was also very sad since we would be separated. I was convinced we were not going to get engaged before he left, but one week before his departure date, he did it! We were visiting his parents in Savannah, Georgia, and he decided to take me on a walk on the beach. We had our first kiss at a certain lifeguard stand two years prior (almost exactly to the day!) where he got on one knee and pulled out the most beautiful ring! My best friends were hiding in the sand dunes taking pictures and ran out and surprised me afterward! Corey also had a big engagement party planned back at his parents’ house where all my college roommates and friends and my parents were waiting to surprise me again! It was a wonderful day.
In what month did you get married? 
March
How many guests attended your wedding? 
250
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
There were so many things I loved! One thing I loved was surprising Corey with an ice sculpture of the helicopter he flies, the Chinook. Corey is more than obsessed with planes and loved this! Another detail that truly made Corey and I feel like we were a prince and princess was having the Model A driven by my grandparents as our getaway car. My grandparents collect Model A’s, and ever since I saw those cars, I knew I wanted one in my wedding. They hauled the car all the way from Oklahoma to Savannah and made my wedding day complete! It was so wonderful to get in the car after the ceremony and drive around downtown Savannah and have all these people wave at us like we were royalty! It was a dream come true for sure!
What range did your wedding budget fall into? 
$25,000-$50,000
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? 
One of the most important things to Corey and I are people. We love being around people and we both are very social. I knew that having a lot of guests come to the wedding would mean that I couldn’t spend as much on decorations or other things. I really do think that having all our friends and family be invited was more important than anything else I could have spent money on. The other thing that was important to us was the photography. I couldn’t have asked for a better photographer and am so happy to have spent the money on Amy Arrington! (She and her husband are incredibly talented and actually very reasonable for what you receive!)
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
It is so hard to choose just one moment. We had the most unique and hilarious speeches from our bridal party. My maids of honor did a rap that was so funny! Corey’s best man, Mark, had one of the greatest speeches of all time. We really have such talented and funny friends. Corey and I go on and on about how much we loved seeing all of our friends and family enjoying time with one another. The DJ was so great, and the dance floor was covered the whole night! We saw pure happiness in so many people and realized how blessed we are to have such wonderful, supportive people in our life.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
Have fun! I actually miss the planning process because it really can be so fun! Choose things that you really care about and focus on those. Find a cheaper and easier way to handle things that aren’t as important so that you can spend more on the other things! Stay organized and rely on your mom or bridesmaids to help you, especially with day-of events. I was made fun of for this, but actually had schedules for each person with where they needed to be at what time. I didn’t have or need a wedding planner because of the help I got from all my girls and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
Corey and I are mainly excited about living in the same time zone! I am stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX. Corey will be stationed at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs starting in July. People think we’re crazy for getting married when we knew we would be apart, but it’s what was meant to be! We believe we have a love that can conquer anything and if this is the hardest thing we have to deal with then I think we’re doing OK! We look forward to the time we actually get to live under the same roof. Until then, there’s lots of traveling in our future!

Amy Arrington is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

From the bride:

Lijay and I live in San Francisco, but with both sides of our families back in Texas, there was no place more perfect to get married than our college town, Austin, TX. Our friends and family thought we were insane to have an outdoor wedding in Texas in the middle of the summer, but we assured them that we would keep the ceremony short and then everyone can retreat back into the hotel.

The one thing we could not plan for was the Texas thunderstorms. The week leading up to our wedding, temperatures averaged 109 degrees, so we planned to have the ceremony as close to sundown as possible. As we were getting ready, I kept looking out my window to watch the trees and the Texas flag blowing violently from the winds of the coming storm.

Our florists, Petal pushers, called my fiance to let him know that they were going to start moving their arrangements indoors. He said to wait as long as possible before doing so and “whatever you do…don’t tell
Shirley!” Our friends from Houston were calling to tell us that the storm had already blown past them and it was headed straight for Austin! My husband made the gutsy call to keep the ceremony outside and it turned out to be a wonderful ceremony. Once we got through the beautiful, picturesque ceremony, everyone moved inside for the cocktail hour. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before it started pouring outside. It was a Texas miracle!

Mother’s Day is coming up soon and we’re all in need of some gift ideas. We think our South prints, steeped in love and letterpressed on luxurious cotton stock, are perfect! Take a look at all three colors in our shop.

Real weddings make us swoon!

Ashley + David’s “I do’s” were full of lovely details and some killer dance moves, but the one thing that really stands out is their sweet and intimate love. See it here.

Claudia + Brad’s organic and outdoor wedding put a smile on our face and a calmness in our hearts. See it here.

Sophie + Brian’s Kentucky wedding was inspired by their love of their Southern home and the hospitality of Kentucky. See it here.

Vanessa + Jonathan’s Derby-inspired wedding was full of fun Southern touches and traditions. See it here.

Be sure to stop by our Facebook Friday! Michelle Renee Photography shares an engagement session that you’ll feast your eyes on!

Happy weekend, my dears!