It’s a season of change in the Southern Weddings office, as it is for many of you! Like many changes, these ones are bittersweet, but overall so good, and so exciting for everyone!

As many of you know, Lara, Marissa, and I were bursting with pride last week as Sierra, Nicole, and our two interns from this semester, Anna and Caitlin, all graduated from the University of North Carolina’s journalism school. We even held a little Tarheel blue graduation party in their honor :)

Graduation means they’re ready for new adventures, of course! We are super proud of Anna, who is heading South to Charleston to work at Charleston Weddings for the summer. We are OVERJOYED that Nicole will be in the Southern Weddings office full time from now on, continuing to bring you the best wedding goodness the South has to offer!

Finally, we are incredibly proud of Sierra, who is moving to one of her favorite Southern cities – Nashville! She’ll be starting a new job as a bonafide graphic designer, and we just can’t wait to see where it takes her! (We’re also placing bets on how soon her first Taylor Swift sighting will be.) We asked her to write up a little something about her time at Southern Weddings, and this is what she said:

My conclusion after writing this post was simply this — golly, I am SUCH a lucky gal!! In just two years, I gained more experience than I EVER thought possible in one job. I was able to travel – for photo shoots, to work at weddings, and to review a Honey List destination. I was able to be involved in a brand that is SO me and SO fun! (80% of my clothes are even SW colors!) I was able to learn about a smaller company, one who values their readers immensely. I designed hundreds of graphics and image boards, wrote posts, shipped hundreds (perhaps thousands) of magazines, and was so involved with the making of V4, a fabulous publication that I still pick up every few weeks and reread.

From our Paper, Cotton, and Flour photo shoot

Besides the professional experience I’ve gained, being a part of the SW family was something I’ll always take with me. I remember when I first started working at SW, I would be shaking at the weekly office meetings I was so nervous, but all along I was encouraged to be myself, contribute my opinions fully, and be a confident, strong woman. And boy, did we have fun over the last few years! From tying bow ties and steaming wedding gowns with Nicole, to chocolate tasting contests, throwing poms and paper airplanes and watching The Bachelor/Bachelorette with Emily, to running around DC and having Lara and Marissa do my makeup for our SW staff shoot, to memories of working with Katharine and Whitney, I have had SO many good times! I want to thank Lara, Emily, Nicole and Marissa for being the best coworkers imaginable, to Lara for making it a possibility to even work at SW and to Nicole for being literally my “twin” and good, good friend throughout college. While I am sad to be leaving such a fabulous magazine, and I will miss you all tremendously, I know this not a real goodbye, and I am excited to be living up more Southern goodness over yonder in Nashville! As we like to say around here, may your tea always be sweet!

We love that Sierra, yes indeed we do. We couldn’t resist the opportunity to write her a few notes ourselves, interspersed with photos from her goodbye party earlier this week.

Sierra,

Biggest congratulations on graduating!! It’s been amazing to know you over the past two years and to see you work tirelessly on countless projects. I look up to you so much! I’ll always remember the first time we met, the awkward conversations we had when were first getting to know each other, and the long drives to photo shoots and weddings when you schooled me on country music. I know that the future is going to be incredibly rewarding for you and I can’t wait to hear about it!

xoxo, Nic

Dear sweet Sierra,

You are so incredibly talented, and I am so excited for you! I wish you all the best on your adventure in Nashville, but I am going to miss not being able to hear you on our calls, and your fabulous style! I know that you have amazing things ahead of you, and I cannot wait to come visit you in Nashvegas!

So much love,
Marissa

Sierra! I am SO excited for you to take over Nashville! Everyone you meet will be so blessed by your humor and heart and dedication. Over the last years, you have truly blown us all away and helped us take things to the next level in a million ways. We wouldn’t be where we are without you! Personally, I will also miss your kindness and thoughtful conversation. You are a treasure, Sierra. Things won’t be the same around here without you. But, the great thing is that I know your sweet parents will expect lots of visits… and we will too! Don’t be a stranger. You will always be a part of the SW family! Love, Lara

Dear Sierra,

I will always be thankful to you for introducing me to country music! And I know that as long as the Bachelor/Bachelorette is on air, we will have a reason to get together and discuss :) I know you’re going to do amazing things in Nashville and beyond, and I can’t wait to watch!

Much love,
Emily

You can see more from our yummy goodbye party right here! We would love for you to leave well wishes for all of our ladies in the comment section, as well as Nashville tips for Sierra! :)

Welcome back to our current “Sit a Spell” series, where the Southern Weddings gals have been taking turns designing bridal showers for each other! As I’m sure you already know, Marissa‘s already married to her college sweetheart, but I couldn’t resist creating a second dream bridal shower for her to invite all those baseball wives to!

One thing you should know about Marissa is she is one fashionable Southern gal from Alabama! While I almost went with a full out Lilly Pulitzer themed shower (did any of y’all have one?), I chose a “Lazy Afternoon” theme, inspired by a sorority event we have each semester in which you don your best sundress and cowboy boots to shag dance the whole afternoon. It really is a lot of fun!

Marissa’s preppy outdoor party is complete with pink (her favorite color), bows, doilies, mason jars, monograms and yummy biscuits!

Image credits Row 1: Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love via Southern Weddings, via Suzie Beezie, via Carolina Prep, Row 2: Untamed Heart Photography via Elizabeth Anne Designs, Engraved Key Chain via Lime Tree Gifts, Row 3: Armen Atoyan via Buzznet, via A Cup of Mai, Jose Villa via Southern Weddings

While eating brunch and sipping on delicious drinks, guests would play “Bridal Bingo,” where you either had spots on the board with phrases like “elementary school friend” or “college roommate” that give you more information about how each person knows Marissa (which could prompt fun stories), or you could just have a board with wedding terms like “bouquet.” The winner would get a Lilly Pulitzer gift such as pencils or a mug.

We would collect recipes from each guest to put on cards and then turn into a little recipe book (my friends did this at a recent shower, and it was adorable!). No lazy afternoon would be complete without music, so there would be music playing, and we’ll play a few rounds of “name that tune” with an iTunes gift card for the winner. You could even have each guest submit a song for Marissa and put a CD together to give her.

Guests will take home these monogramed engraved keychains (a friend gave me one with a Carolina blue bow, and I love it!) and a boxed cupcake for the road.

Get to know more about Marissa here and here!

If you’ve already had a bridal shower, what was it like? What would your dream bridal shower look like?

View past Sit a Spell’s:
A Dreamy Garden Soiree for Whitney as imagined by Nicole
A Romantic Florida Shower for Lara as imagined by Whitney
A Nautical Shower for Emily as imagined by Lara
A Sparkly Emerald Shower for Sierra as imagined by Emily

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for the next post in our shower series, where Marissa will dream up a bridal shower for Nicole!

Welcome back to our current “Sit a Spell” series, where the Southern Weddings gals have been taking turns designing bridal showers for each other! Yep, I’m still the only one that’s currently engaged, but it’s fun to dream :)

After Lara put together a gorgeous nautical shower for me, it was my turn to create something for Sierra! Sierra is one of the most stylish and put together people I know (she’s probably shaking her head right now, but it’s true!). There’s a particular emerald green blouse she wears that I completely adore (she’s wearing it in this photo!), and so I decided to model her shower color scheme around that shade. I also couldn’t help but add in a little sparkle, because she’s just that kind of gal.

I’d start by sending crisp green and white invitations, inspired by the ones below. I’d definitely glue on a few gold sequins to mine, though!

Calligraphy invitations by Love*Jenna via Martha Stewart Weddings, spring green invitations from Minted, green and white striped invitations from Martha Stewart Weddings

We’d travel down to Charleston for the shower, because it’s one of Sierra’s favorite Southern locations, and where some of her family is based.

Virgil Bunao via SW and Veil & Bow via SW

Of course, my favorite part of this little exercise was dreaming up the decor. I’m picturing black and white striped linens for a sharp base, layered with green and white flowers, and tons of texture – gold glitter mason jars, green satin ribbon, raffia on the centerpieces, kraft bags filled with grits for take home favors.

Black and white striped linen and menu photos by Katie Stoops via Inspired By This (design by Amber Karson Events), green and white centerpiece photo by Clary Photo via SW, gold glitter mason jar photo by Paige Newton via The Sweetest Occasion, pom pom stirrer photo by Odessa May Society via Somewhere Splendid, kraft paper favor bags from A Magazine Moment

All the SW gals love to eat, so a variety of Southern bites would be just the ticket. Mini fried green tomatoes, pulled pork on tiny biscuits, and individual servings of chicken and waffles – yum!

Return to Sunday Supper, Martha Stewart Weddings, Ingalls Photo via Martha Stewart Weddings

Now for a few final details: Since this is a dream shower, I have no trouble whipping together a monogrammed mason jar to send home with each guest (in addition to their bag of grits!). We’ll hire a bluegrass or country band to play, since Sierra loves country music. I’d also ask each guest to bring a mixed CD of their country favorites for the guest of honor. Finally, I’d for sure arrange to have these glittery heels for Miss Sierra to wear — with her green blouse, of course!

Vue Photography via SW, Jose Villa via Style Me Pretty, Tec Petaja via SW

What would your dream bridal shower look like? Comment + let me know!

It’s time for some peach pie and a sweet tea toast, ladies and gents, because yesterday was our fourth birthday! On April 1, 2008 the first post was published on this here blog, and we like to think that weddings in the South have never been the same :) Shall we take a walk down (the wisteria-draped) memory lane?

When Lara started the Southern Weddings blog four years ago, her goal was to share the amazing, fresh things going on in the wedding world with Southern brides. Wedding blogs were just beginning to gain ground, and no one was focusing on celebrations beneath the Mason-Dixon Line. Interestingly, I feel that our mission has now flipped, with us focusing on sharing all of the amazing things happening beneath the Mason-Dixon Line with the rest of the world! What do you think?

Turns out Lara’s posts struck a chord, because the SW blog took off “like a freight train in Georgia,” as she likes to say. Readers clamored for more, so just a few months later, she stepped out with the bold move of publishing a print magazine. Lara is the first to admit she really had no idea what she was doing – and, in fact, laid out the whole thing in Microsoft Publisher (yikes!) – but even so, the first issue of Southern Weddings debuted in the fall of 2008 to much acclaim. We’ve sold out completely of V1 (as this first issue came to be known), but you can still see the whole thing in our Digital Trilogy for old time’s sake.

In November 2008 we also launched the second version of the SW blog. Remember this one?

I turned up in July 2009 (along with Katharine!), and just a few months later, in November 2009, V2 released! V2 was the first issue we produced a cover shoot for, along with four photo shoots in Watercolor, Florida. What a learning experience that was, y’all, for all of us!

Jeremy Cowart

Over the next few months we added several now-familiar faces, including Marissa (in April 2010), Nicole (in May 2010), and Sierra (in September 2010). With their help, we produced V3, which released in October 2010. We loved our gorgeous Veil & Bow cover, and had so much fun with (and were a bit overwhelmed by) our first and only cover contest! V3 was also the first issue in which we included reader models, a clean cover, bigger photos, and staff commentary sprinkled throughout the issue, now all hallmarks of the Southern Weddings style.

Veil & Bow from our editorial galleries

Oh my! In December 2010, we released the brand new SW blog, the blog you’re visiting today. Our new platform also allowed us to launch our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory, Real Wedding galleries, Editorial galleries, and the Honey List!

2011 was a big year for us. We sadly said goodbye to Katharine in April, then spent the next few months traveling around the South producing beauty for V4, which released in October. We also were inspired by Lara’s spring trip to the Engage conference to dig even deeper into our Southern niche, which has brought so many amazing changes to how we do things! It also sparked some awesome blog features, like Southern Traditions, Southern Stems, and Southern Delicacies. Oh yes, and there was much pinning and staff-meeting throughout, and many, many trips to the post office.

Finally, we welcomed our smallest staff member, Miss Grace, into the fold, and our office has never been the same.

Lastly, we owe all of you lovely people a huge, HUGE thank you. It sounds trite, but none of this would be possible – at ALL – without y’all, so please know that we are grateful for you, our readers, sponsors, and friends, from the very bottom of our hearts. We particularly want to recognize our sponsors and Blue Ribbon Vendors (125 strong, and growing!), all of our past Southern Brides of the Month, and our Southern Bride Bloggers.

Thank yous, also, to anyone who’s ever commented, to any vendor who’s ever submitted work to us, every bride and groom who’s ever asked their photographer to submit their wedding to us, and every bride and groom who’s filled out our real wedding interview. Huge hugs, too, to all of the vendors that have contributed to the photo shoots featured in our past four issues. Oh goodness, we could go on and on and on!

We feel so lucky to do what we do, to be a part of your journeys to the altar, and to hopefully inspire you and encourage you along the way. We work hard to be better and better every day, and we do it for you: to make your wedding planning adventures easier, happier, full of all the goodness the South has to offer, more fun, more beautiful, and more clearly focused on what matters. Your comments, emails, tweets, posts, and smiling wedding photos are the best reward we could ask for.

Millie Holloman

So here’s to you, and here’s to four years of wedding magic, and here’s to many more years to come!!

Tis the season for bridal showers, so for the last few weeks, we’ve been dreaming up fabulous soirees for each other! No, we aren’t worrying about particulars like whether or not the guest of honor is not actually engaged (Whitney) or actually already married (Lara) – we’ll take any excuse to plan a party! This week, Lara has whipped together a nautical bridal shower for Emily, the only one of us who actually IS engaged!

Well, Miss Ayer is getting married this year and, since this post is supposed to be her “dream” shower, dream I did!  This was easy as peach pie for me to dream up, y’all! 

Emily loves the ocean.  Nautical theme at a stunning Southern harbor location!  Done!  Emily loves mini food.  Fly in the “Master of Mini Food”, Peter Callahan. Check!  Emily loves pretty paper.  Check!  And most of all, Emily loves her family, so my shower for her would be a family AND friends shower.  First, the ladies would gather for a delicious lunch of mini crab cakes, classic salmon with fresh greens and mini fish tacos.  Then, the gents would join after for a plethora of mini desserts on a sunset cruise!  Quite the shindig.  But, we’re dreaming right!?  The ideal location for said shindig would be either Charleston at the harbor or perhaps in Watercolor, Florida.  The Southern coastal possibilities are endless!  Now, does anyone want to chip in so we can really make this happen!? : )

1. Knot bracelets from Etsy seller, Pardes, as favors for the ladies.  2. A gift for the bride to be!  A nautical necklace with her new last name initial.  3. Beautiful watercolor bunting invites via 100 Layer Cake.  4. Custom sea-inspired cookies from Glorious Treats.  5. Classic nautical decor via Martha.  6. A preppy pretty nautical tote from Ann Taylor for the bride-to-be!  7. A sunset cruise on a beautiful boat with blue pillows. Source unknown.  8.  Nautical knot lapel pins for the gents as they board the ship photographed by Stacey Kane via The Knot.  9. Blue stripe drink stirrers for lemonade on the boat created by Miss Emily herself  10. Mini fish tacos from Peter Callahan via Brides.