Does anyone else want to throw their hands in the air and wiggle ‘em around because it’s Friday? I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for awhile. The boyfriend and I are headed to the beach for the first time this year! Hooray summer! What are all y’all doing?

We took Monday off for Memorial Day, but we knew some of y’all would appreciate a little round-up of our favorite military weddings. Take a look right here.

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!

Sunny + Chris had quite the untraditional wedding weekend. When days of downpour surrounded their plans, they embraced it. You’ll see from these photos from Leah Bullard that they made for a few beautiful photos, but the rain also brought out the chemistry that S + C share. Quite appropriate for two botanists who wanted to keep things simple and all about family. Though the bride’s side and the groom’s side had never met before the nuptial weekend, a reception the day before the ceremony brought together the family and acted as the perfect start to Sunny + Chris’s marital union.

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.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, y’all! We thought we’d start off this day with a special film from Nathan Willis. Sarah + Nathan are self described “old souls and hopeless romantics,” and we think their sweet wedding film is just the perfect representation of that. Be sure to keep an eye out for my favorite clip! Hint: it involves two adorable kiddos at the reception!

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.

Hello my dear friends! Earlier this week, I ventured north to New York City for my very first National Stationery Show! I’m in awe of some great new designers and swimming in amazing paper samples. There will be plenty of posts soon, but I’m happy to report that I’m back on Southern soil.

Earlier this week, our reader Karen wrote to us about maids and matrons of honor. With such large bridal parties in the South, it can be difficult to figure out who does what! We weighed in here.

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!