I don’t know about y’all, but it has felt positively springlike here the last few days! In fact, our office even moved out to the front porch one day last week – it doesn’t get more Southern than that!!

Because we’re ready for chirping birds and brilliant green grass and everything else that comes with a Southern spring, we wanted to kick off a new series: Southern Stems! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be exploring several of the blooms particularly prized below the Mason-Dixon Line. Let’s begin with the camellia!

Camellia image by yocca; overlay by SW

Gorgeous, no? The camellia is such a soft, romantic flower, and it just seems quintessentially Southern to me. It’s also the state flower of Alabama. Lucky ‘Bama gals! Here are two botanical prints to give you a close-up look at those ruffly petals:

The botanical print on the left is available for purchase here, and the print on the right is available for free download here!

My research turned up various “floriography” meanings for the camellia, including graciousness, steadfastness, honesty, excellence, and “my destiny is in your hands.” All lovely, and perfect for a wedding!

Both images from Southern Living

Camellias are known for their big, luscious blooms. Because they’re heavy flowers, they like a little support, so floating them in shallow bowls or propping them up in short vases or pitchers is best. Loosely grouped vases of these blooms would be perfect as a long, low centerpiece down a reception table – nothing to block conversation!

Photo on left from Better Homes & Gardens; photo on right from Martha Stewart Living

Camellias bloom in all shades of pink, red, white, making them perfect for almost every color palette.

Adeline Country Cottage

Possibly my favorite characteristic of camellias is that they bloom in winter and early spring, when not too many other flowers dare to show their faces!

Browne Photography via Style Me Pretty

For those who would like to see camellias up close and personal, now is the perfect time! Descanso Gardens in Flintridge, CA, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, NC, and Middleton Place just outside of Charleston, SC, all have great collections. Middleton, in particular, boasts hundreds of different camellia specimens, as the first camellia in America was reportedly presented to Henry Middleton in 1786!

Photo on left from Better Homes & Gardens, and on right, by Amy Neunsinger from House Beautiful

Finally, if you’re marrying in a season when camellias are not in bloom, but would still like to show your Alabama pride in flower form, we love these delicate paper versions from The Green Vase:

Images from The Green Vase

What’s your favorite Southern stem?

Happy Valentine’s Day, dolls! I’m excited to let y’all know that Katie will be back guest blogging with us on a more regular schedule! Some of you long-time readers may remember our friend Katie, from the wonderful and hilarious blog Marriage Confessions, and some of you might just recognize Katie from MC, apart from SW! Katie drops by to share her funny, smart, and poignant perspective on life after the wedding, and we know you’ll love her as much as we do!

I know that Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap, as far as holidays go. I have friends who are violently against Cupid and his plethora of love arrows and conversation candy. “It’s a holiday invented by the card stores to make money!” they say. And I get that. But it’s a holiday that revolves around chocolate and jewelry. It just goes against my being to reject those kinds of themes. Diamonds and chocolates are the way to my heart. But diamonds hidden INSIDE chocolates are pretty much the way to my soul.

I’m shallow. I can’t help it.

As much as I love the candy, gifts, and general lovey-dovey-ness that comes with Valentine’s Day, I am actually a fan of the holiday for more than just those reasons. I think love gets a bad rap, especially in marriage these days, and so any holiday that stops and says, “Hey! Love is important, darn it!” is going to be fine by me.

I remember when Chris and I got married, we were told by so many people, “It takes more than love to make a marriage!” And, foolishly, we thought they were fools. We loved each other. We had each other. We could take on anything else. I’ve learned over the years that love don’t pay no power bill. And love don’t clean up no sick baby in the middle of the night. And love certainly don’t exempt a husband from a good butt whoopin’ when he forgets to call and say he’s going to be working late on your anniversary.

Turns out, there’s a lot of stuff that love won’t do in a marriage.

But there are a lot of things that love does do in a marriage. In my marriage, love is how we forgive. It’s the reason that this morning, after a blow up with my love muffin as I left for work, I couldn’t even get out of the neighborhood before I called him on my cell to tell him I was sorry. And love was the reason he said, “Me, too.”

In my marriage, love is how we learn patience. The first week that we brought our sweet, perfect son home from the hospital, we were giddy with excitement. But by 3:00am on the third day, I remember standing next to Chris at the crib, both of us just about in tears from exhaustion and frustration, and every fiber of my being wanted to turn and whack him in the knees with a hairbrush. HOW COULD HE HAVE JUST TURNED THE LIGHT ON IN THE HALLWAY?!?!? DIDN’T HE KNOW THAT WOULD WAKE THE BABY?!?!?! And yet, I let him live. Because when you love someone, you’re patient as they learn things. Like how to change diapers in the middle of the night without turning a light on.

In my marriage, love is how we make decisions. Love is that binding force that draws every decision we make back to our family. Should I take that job? Should we make that big move? Should I take a half day at work so that I can attend my two-year-old son’s Valentine’s Day party at his daycare? Love is at the center of all of those things. Because we love each other and we love the family that we have made together, everything else is done within the context of that love.

In my marriage, love is even how we fight. Isn’t that weird? It’s true, though. Love is what makes us so darn frustrated with each other sometimes. It would be so much easier to be married to Chris if I wasn’t in love with him. But that silly love thing means that I simply can’t live without him. And sometimes, that’s so inconvenient! I wish it didn’t make me mad when he worked late, or when we haven’t had a date night in a while, or when the weekend classes for my teaching certificate take up all my time. I wish we didn’t fight about those things, but we do. And when the dust settles, we find that at the very base of those little fights is the fact that we just love each other so much that we get irritated when other things get in the way.

No, love don’t pay no bills. And, yes, it takes more than love to make a marriage work. But at the root of everything that exists in a marriage, there is love. So, I celebrate Valentine’s Day. I buy the cards and eat the candy and make those slice-and-bake cookies with the little red hearts in the center. I’m a sucker for it all because I believe that there should be a day that makes us stop and say, “I love you.” Because as important as everything else is in marriage, love is how it all started and how we keep it going.

(A note to my husband: While love is important, so is that beautiful necklace I showed you last weekend at the jewelry store…)

Isn’t Katie awesome?! Check out her past columns for Southern Weddings:
Change is the Name of the (Newlywed) Game
My Wedding Registry Changed My Life
Working it Out With the In-Laws
Managing Your Money
Come on Baby, Light My Fire
On Moving

All photos by one of the most romantic photographers we know, Elizabeth Messina

P.S. Congratulations to Katie for being nominated for the 2012 Bloggies awards! This is a huge honor, so be sure to give her some love and vote for her here!

Did you know that, not counting today’s post, there are only 16 “Emily Plans a Wedding” posts between now and, well, when Emily Gets Married? That may seem like a lot to some, but yikes!! Our big day is going to sneak up faster than we can believe, I just know it.

It only makes sense to chat about dates in today’s post introduction, because this week’s post is all about our save the date! For those who might not know, a save the date is typically a simple card that gives your guests a heads up on the date and location of your wedding. They can be sent six to twelve months in advance, unlike a formal invitation, which is traditionally sent just six to eight weeks before the wedding. Save the dates are by no means necessary, but they’re definitely useful if your wedding is on a holiday weekend or you know the majority of your guests will be traveling. Of course, they also serve to get guests excited about the upcoming celebration, too! For instance, I’d be pretty excited if I got this lovely in the mail:

One of my favorite save the date designs, a collaboration between Love*Jenna and Swiss Cottage Designs

As many of you probably know, I am an inveterate paper lover. I attend the National Stationery Show every year, and almost nothing makes me happier than collaborating with designers and calligraphers to develop stationery suites for editorial shoots. Great paper details are usually one of my favorite things about wedding submissions, too. So of course I was excited about the first paper-related detail of our wedding!

Knowing my love for paper and my general craftiness, I think some of my friends and family members were surprised I didn’t DIY our save the date. It certainly was a possibility that crossed my mind, but I pretty quickly decided that with my busy schedule and busy Etsy shop (where I design things for other brides – ha!), this was one wedding project that I didn’t need to take on. I am a little sad about not having gone “all out,” but I’ve come to terms with it :)

My decision was made much easier by the abundance of chic save the date designs available today. My personal favorite source? That would be Minted, and I know I’m not alone in this. Their crowd-sourced designs are the cream of the crop, and their prices are quite reasonable for the quality and customer service you receive in return. Plus, they often offer 10-15% off discount codes, so sign up for their emails and be ready to pounce once you’ve picked your preferred design!

Once I had decided we were going with Minted, it was time to pick. John and I considered several options, including these below:

Sources: 1) Fireflies save the date ($1.58 each), 2) Winter Flourish save the date ($1.58 each), 3) Float + Spring Shades save the date ($1.58 each), 4) Midnight Vineyard save the date ($1.58 each), 5) Fling save the date ($1.36 each), 6) Charming Go Lightly save the date ($1.58 each)

We did a little crowd-sourcing on my blog, and happily, public opinion seemed to line up with what we were already thinking: Midnight Vineyard was the winner. To make it our own, however, I knew I wanted to make a few modifications to the standard design. Happily, Minted is totally fine with that! We changed the font, the arrangement of the text, and the color of the text with no difficulty. We also added a solid colored backer, and a fun striped envelope liner. Literally about a week later, we had these beauties in our hands!

It’s a bit hard to tell, but the back is a solid pale blue.

I hand addressed each one with my best script, then stamped on the return address (I made the design in Illustrator, and then we ordered it through Rubberstamps.net.) The stamp was about $16 with shipping, and since I didn’t include our last names, we’ll be able to use it long after the wedding! I also very carefully chose our postage — the Edward Hopper Forever stamp is perfect for our ocean-side reception spot! (Is it weird to feel as strongly about a stamp as I feel about this one? Because I’m slightly obsessed with this design…)

The envelopes, front and back:

And with the pretty striped liner:

Many thanks to Nancy Ray for snapping these lovely photos! Now, ladies, tell me: Did you send save the dates? What did they look like?

In case you missed a post…
The main characters
Where we’re getting married
I go dress shopping
We choose a photographer
I ponder bridesmaid style
Mini food!
The music
We’re renting a tent!
We discuss bouquets + boutonnieres

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another Emily Plans a Wedding post! Yeehaw! :)

I thought I’d use the next two posts to chat about one of my favorite topics: flowers! Today I’ll introduce you to our florist and share some of my favorite personal flower inspiration, and then next time we’ll talk ceremony and reception florals.

First, I’ll come right out and say it: I like some unusual flowers. Oh yes, I love garden roses and peonies as much as the next gal (oh, do I ever love them!). I also adore ranunculus, sweet peas, dahlias, gardenias, and pretty much every other fluffy or ruffly flower known to (wo)man. However, I also have a sweet spot for mock orange blooms. Clematis and dogwood flowers are two of my very favorites. Poppies, camellias, hellebores, and azaleas will also, fingers crossed, be making an appearance at our wedding. Lastly, I can’t get enough of mixing fruit and berries with florals — some of my favorites are crab and lady apples, blackberries, and figs.

Two of my favorite bouquets: on the left, an anemone, ranunculus, garden rose, and peony bouquet by MG Floral (photo by Melissa Schollaert – see more here!), and on the right, an anemone, rose, sweet pea, and jasmine vine bouquet by KLF Floral (photo by Stephanie Williams)

Working with a florist who could source and comfortably incorporate all of these interesting materials was super important to me. Our florist was one of the first vendors we booked (even before photographer, I think!), and we couldn’t be happier with our choice. We found Elisabeth of Blush Floral Design through a recommendation from my planner friend, Candice of Jubilee Events. Elisabeth and I chatted over the phone about my style and some of my ideas, and I could immediately feel that she understood me. After our call, she sent me over some samples of her work which she felt matched what I’d been describing, and she was spot on! Her work is soft and sculptural and a little bit wild, but still refined — just like I like it! Here’s a peek:

All bouquets are by Elisabeth and from her blog. Photo credits: Charlotte Jenks Lewis, Katie Slater, Charlotte Jenks Lewis, and JAG Studios

Of course, I have plenty of inspiration of my own that’s been building in my Pinterest boards (in fact, Elisabeth probably thought I was a little cuckoo when she opened up that email!). Want a peek?

Credits: Poppy and cabbage rose bouquet by Lindy Floral (photo by Ryan Ray via Wedding Chicks); mock orange and garden rose bouquet by La Fleuriste (photo by Lori Paladino via Grey Likes Weddings); white sweet pea bouquet by Salt Harbor Designs (photo by Millie Holloman); dogwood, tulip, peony, and lilac bouquet by Michelle Rago (from Martha Stewart Weddings); dahlia, garden rose, jasmine, and sweet pea bouquet by The Green Vase (from Martha Stewart Weddings); ranunculus, dusty miller, anemone, snow hydrangea, and silk daisy bouquet by Mindy Rice (photo by Elizabeth Messina via Style Me Pretty); garden rose, rose, ranunculus, and dusty miller bouquet by Quatre Coeur (photo by Elisabeth Millay)

LOVE! I’m still trying to decide if I should go all white for my bouquet (with some soft green lambs ear for texture) or mix it up a bit with the palest pinks and peaches. Either way, I plan to tie some sort of pale blue wide ribbon or bow around the stems.

For the gents, I’m also undecided. I might just forgo boutonnieres altogether, as I’m not a fan of most designs. Plus, I feel like they start looking kind of sad after the first hug! If we do go with bouts, I think we’ll do a simple small white flower (like a ranunculus or mini garden rose) paired with lambs ear. I also love blackberries in boutonnieres, but worry they might smoosh.

Credits: Blackberry boutonnieres by The Green Vase (photo by Jen Huang); mini garden rose boutonniere by Shea Hopely (photo by Brooke Images via Southern Weddings); lambs ear boutonniere by European Flower Shop (photo by J-Anderson Photography); white boutonnieres by Holly Flora (photo by Steve Steinhardt via Style Me Pretty)

To finish, I thought I’d give you a few of my tips for those of you still looking for the perfect florist:

1. Ask those you trust for recommendations. They could be from a vendor you’ve already booked whose style you love (they’re at weddings every weekend, and they remember the good stuff and the nice people!). They could also be from a curated online vendor resource, like our Blue Ribbon Directory!

2. Don’t try to change them. Just like you wouldn’t hope to fundamentally change your mate, don’t expect a vendor to stray far from her preferred style. If you don’t like the style of the arrangements or bouquets in their portfolio, you probably won’t like what they produce for your wedding. If you’re unsure, ask them to send over some examples of past work that they think fits with your style, like Elisabeth did for us (make sure you have an initial conversation first, of course!).

3. Be realistic about your budget. Many florists post a minimum on their website. If your budget does not come close, don’t expect them to make an exception just for you. If you are pretty close to their minimum, though, it doesn’t hurt to ask (respectfully, of course). We’re going to come in below Elisabeth’s minimum, but she agreed to work with us anyway. Yahoo!

Check back next time for my ceremony and reception floral inspiration! And please, help me out with a question I’ve been pondering: should I go all white for my bouquet, or mix it up with a little bit of color? Let me know what you think in the comments!

In case you missed a post…
The main characters
Where we’re getting married
I go dress shopping
We choose a photographer
I ponder bridesmaid style
Mini food!
The music
We’re renting a tent!

Melissa Schollaert and Brooke Images are fabulous members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

We hope you enjoyed part I of our Southern winter wedding inspiration! Wasn’t Emily’s inspiration board gorgeous? As Emily said, when Madi emailed us, we jumped at the chance to share some Southern winter wedding inspiration. Unsurprisingly, I am especially fond of the fabulous style associated with winter weddings.

(Faux) fur shrugs, stoles, and jackets, long sleeve gowns, boleros, shimmering shawls, and these to-die-for leather gloves top my list of must-have Southern winter wedding style staples. I also love the look of dainty net gloves, though they’re more practical than pretty (though very Southern!). Which leads me to my next point: as gorgeous as these options are, my advice is to think practical. Choose fully-lined pieces that you can layer over your gown for extra warmth. Think used: you can score the best pieces at vintage stores, because they’re made from heaver, higher-quality fabrics and fur. After all, what girl doesn’t want to be warm and look completely stunning at the same time? I know I do!

One other great way to achieve a winter wonderland look is through makeup. As you know, our skin lightens in the winter, since we spend less time sunbathing and more time inside. If you’re doing a trial, try to schedule it when your skin is a similar shade to what it will be in the winter (i.e. not in July!), and make sure your makeup artist knows when you’re getting married and plans for a lighter foundation shade. No one wants to have an icky line where her foundation doesn’t match her skin!

Credits, top to bottom and left to right: Michele M. Waite; Punam Bean via Ruffled; Benj Haisch; Aaron Delesie from Martha Stewart Weddings; Jessica Claire via GWS; Mary Dougherty; Chudleigh Weddings (for more of this lovely winter photoshoot visit here); Love is a Big Deal; Erin Hearts Court via Style Me Pretty; Meredith Perdue via Southern Weddings

Doesn’t this snowy eye candy make you want to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa? And just think: if it snows on your wedding day, all that fluffy snow calls from some extra close snuggling with your beau! You know, in order to stay warm!

Stay tuned, as Nicole will be stepping in soon with some Southern winter wedding Fab Finds that you don’t want to miss!