Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I knew I wanted to find something unique and couture, but classic at the same time. I made three appointments in Atlanta to try on dresses one weekend. I thought I had found “the one” at the first appointment; however I wanted to go to my second appointment just to be sure (and to not be rude!). When I walked in Bridals by Lori, I was overwhelmed with their selection of beautiful gowns. My maid of honor spotted the Rivini beauty on a mannequin and insisted I try it on. As soon as I put it on, I felt like a bride. It was everything I wanted in my dream dress and more!
Describe your wedding flowers: My favorite flower is the hydrangea. I knew I wanted them showcased throughout the wedding. We used them both as Tyler’s reception boutonniere and in our centerpieces with a combination of pears and limes. Because each of my bridesmaids are extremely different, I chose 10 different white flower bouquets consisting of hydrangeas, lilies, daisies, etc. that would accentuate each of their personalities.  My bouquet was made up of a mixture of each of the ten choices that I used for my bridesmaids and turned out more beautiful than I could have imagined.
Describe your wedding cake: We wanted something simple and elegant. It was a three tier round fondant cake with pearl and black ribbon accents. We adorned it with dark plum flowers.  Tyler, a huge music fan, chose his groom’s cake in the shape of a vintage record player, complete with an edible David Bowie LP and album cover.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Of all the wonderful moments on our special day, the most memorable moment was probably when Tyler and I had our first dance. We danced to “A Girl like You” by The Troggs. Our band, The Grapevine, of Macon, GA, learned the song especially for our wedding. It was very upbeat and so much fun. We put our own spin on the first dance and it was fantastic!
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We did not write our own vows, but since Tyler’s closest childhood friend who is a minister in Athens, GA married us, he sent us separate questions to answer about one another and included some very funny answers in the ceremony. It was extremely intimate and sweet and really gave our guests a glimpse of “who we are” as a couple.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We just purchased our first home and are enjoying decorating and spending time there. We are looking forward to spending some time together as a young married couple traveling and enjoying each other as husband and wife, and eventually having a house full of children! 

Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy marriage, Jenna + Tyler!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. Mutual friends set up Tyler and me on a blind date. After graduating from the University of Georgia, Tyler moved to Tifton, GA to work for his family’s medical equipment company. My roommate at the time, and best friend from college, was dating Tyler’s new roommate in Tifton. After spending a weekend with Tyler, she came home, walked into my bedroom and told me “I’ve just met the man you are going to marry.”  After a lot of persuading and plenty of mutual facebook-stalking, both of our roommates convinced us to at least meet each other and have dinner. From the moment we spent that first night laughing together over dinner, we knew we had something special in each other.    Describe the proposal. We were gearing up for a concert in Athens on a Friday night. Before we left for the trip, Tyler  told me that we had to make a pit stop in Greensboro, GA to pick up a piece of medical equipment. When we arrived at the Ritz Carlton, Tyler told me that they were having a medical device convention there and that one of their manufacturer’s reps was going to meet us with the equipment that we needed to take back with us. We went inside and the whole staff including the girl at the front desk was in on the whole thing. She told us that the rep. was on the way down and to have a seat in the lobby. Tyler insisted we walk around and look at the beautiful hotel.  We came outside to a beautiful illuminated fountain when Tyler turned to me and dropped to his knee.  We both had a very joyful cry together, and finally Tyler filled me in on the whole charade.  There never was any concert in Athens or any convention or person we were meeting at the Ritz.  We spent that night in the executive suite, drinking champagne and calling our friends and family, and the next morning we had a huge breakfast and a full spa day to celebrate our engagement.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Unique, intimate and timeless.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Lots of things! Most importantly, the music! I walked down the aisle to “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles performed with a classical guitar and violin. Our recessional was “Wedding Song” by Bob Dylan performed acoustically by a very close friend of ours. Our band played a great mix of oldies and Motown favorites and kept everyone’s energy up throughout the whole reception. Tyler’s favorite detail was his groomsmen’s shoes, as he bought all of his groomsmen a pair of black Toms to wear with their tuxedoes. We loved the idea that no one was wearing uncomfortable tuxedo shoes, and that we were contributing to a great cause at the same time. We both loved our neon wayfarer style sunglasses that we used as wedding favors. They were a great way to add some color to a formal reception and really upped the “party-level” of our guests.  In lieu of a guest book, Tyler’s grandmother gave us a very old Royal typewriter that we had each of our guests write us a personalized note on.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration?  What was Southern about your wedding? First, the wedding venue was the iconic Pebble Hill plantation in Thomasville, GA, which is a classic example of old-world Southern design, architecture, and charm. We served our signature drink as well as sweet iced tea and lemonade in mason jars with antique lace tied around them. Any southern wedding would not be complete without shrimp and grits, and other modern takes on classic southern foods! Tyler and I left both the ceremony and the reception in a restored antique Chevrolet pickup truck. We arrived at the reception in the old truck with the entire wedding party in the wood paneled truck bed.

Describe your wedding flowers: A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Random, colorful, unpredictable flowers everywhere! Every single detail was exactly what I wanted. It was like the florist read my mind. And all the 180 vases we collected were worth the effort!
Describe your wedding cake: Not traditional at all. We didn’t even want a cake until we saw the tree stump cake in the window at Edgewood Bakery. We got 3 tree stump cakes. One stump was “Dylan’s cake” and it was chocolate with red raspberry filling. The other was “Lauren’s cake” and it was red velvet with cream cheese filling. The last stump was a traditional white wedding pound cake. They were delicious and fit into the theme perfectly.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  The biggest challenge was finding time to plan the wedding. I was working full-time and in school full-time. Trying to plan a wedding on top of that was hard. Thank goodness Dylan and our families were a huge help!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Calling my grandma who was not able to make it to the wedding. It was a very special moment. I will never forget our conversation or that moment I was standing outside watching the sunset and talking to her. I also loved the ceremony. It was created by one of my dad’s best friends from childhood. It incorporated elements from several different cultures and religions. It was very special. 

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We met eight years ago on a punk rock community website.  We chatted online, met in person over university spring break and hung out as friends off and on for several months.  We finally started dating in June of 2002 after attending a Piebald concert where Greg interviewed the band for his zine. The rest is history. We usually just tell people we met at a punk rock show!
Describe your Proposal:  Greg’s proposal was very unique. We knew we would get married since the first summer of punk rock love in 2002, but several significant life events pushed us off the wedding path. In addition to a cross-country move from our beloved North Carolina to blustery Wisconsin for graduate school, Greg battled cancer twice in five years.  (We’re cautiously optimistic we’ll continue to see our favorite words, “All clear,” from here on out).  Needless to say, it felt like tempting fate to plan something so joyous in the face of such difficult times.  Still, on our anniversary, 7 years into a great relationship, we had an amazing discussion about moving our relationship forward and finally making the scary but exciting decision to get married!  We researched and chose the ring together, and I asked for no surprises with its delivery.  We’d had enough surprises in the past four years!  When it arrived a week later, I signed for it and waited patiently until Greg arrived home from work to open it.  After we called our families, we celebrated with friends at a Decemberists concert – our musical courtship come full circle – and found ourselves laughing hysterically at the irony of our first post-engagement date being chock full of songs about love-gone-wrong. Strangely enough, it was a perfect proposal for us.
Three adjectives that describe the day are:
From Greg: Appropriate, specific and relevant.
From Mary: Creative, local and love-filled.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The cohesiveness. Our planning was somewhat fractured due to distance, and we were nervous about our ideas and projects working cohesively when finally put together at our venue, which we’d only seen once, by the way!  Seeing the paper goods, fabric, attire, food and décor come together on the wedding day proved very emotional and rewarding for us.
What was Southern about your wedding?  What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? From the local bluegrass band to the favors containing Cheerwine, Moon Pies, and Texas Pete, our wedding was an homage to our Southern heritage. Being recent transplants to the Midwest, we missed our home state of North Carolina a great deal. Our wedding was a chance to celebrate the cuisine, arts and traditions of the South with our guests who had traveled from fourteen different states.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: As a bride on a budget, I decided to explore alternative bridal options. While visiting Charlotte over the holidays, my mom and I scheduled an appointment at Bella Bridesmaids – they’re phenomenal, by the way.  The shop had a “bridal alternative” version of Lula Kate’s Christy dress in the shop for another potential bride.  I tried it on, and everyone in the shop agreed that it was perfect.  We added a perfect pale pink sash, and the look was complete. I adored my dress!

Describe your wedding flowers: I started out knowing that I wanted to use my favorite flowers, peonies and hydrangeas, in a range of pinks. For the bouquets we used hydrangeas, peonies, ranunculus, sweet peas, dahlias, astilbe, and garden roses. My bouquet used lots of pale pinks and creams while the bridesmaids’ bouquets had the same flowers, but in medium to bright pinks. The boutonnieres were made with pink sweet peas and navy berries. The alter flowers and centerpieces were set in large silver footed bowls and silver mint julep cups and were made up of pink hydrangeas, peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, dahlias, sweet peas, and dusty miller.
Describe your wedding cake: We chose to have a pie station instead of a wedding cake. We had buttermilk pie, pecan pie, and blueberry pie. We also had a groom’s cake shaped like a bowtie to match the tie that Joe was wearing that day.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Trying to plan our Charleston wedding while living eight hours away posed a slight challenge because we couldn’t always be down there to do things in person. We relied on email a lot and I put a lot of trust in my vendors and the staff at McCrady’s. Everything turned out just the way I wanted it. I will really miss heading down to Charleston for wedding planning weekends!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The most memorable moment for Joe and I was when our brothers gave toasts towards the end of the reception. Weeks later we are still laughing about what they had to say!
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We did not write our own vows but we did create our entire ceremony using several examples of past ceremonies that we had seen performed. Our favorite part was a reading from our favorite book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and was read by one of our friends.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We just returned from a wonderful honeymoon in Sea Island, GA and are now settled into our new home in Ann Arbor, MI. Our future plans include lots of traveling, Joe finishing law school, and starting a family.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Joe and I began working for the same consulting company right after college. Although I lived in Connecticut and he lived in Washington D.C., we were both in training for work in Chicago at the same time. After sitting next to each other during long days of training classes we became good friends and then started dating soon after that. A few months later, I moved down to D.C. and the rest is history!
Describe the proposal.  Joe surprised me by proposing during a picnic lunch in Middleburg, VA.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Intimate, classic and preppy.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The location was by far our favorite detail. We love Charleston and were so happy to have our wedding in such a beautiful, historic city. We were so happy to have our wedding at McCrady’s and feel that it was a perfect venue for us. We loved the character of McCrady’s so much that we felt we only needed minimal decorations. The room where we held our ceremony had beautiful chandeliers, fireplaces, and pale yellow damask wallpaper. It was elegant and traditional and felt very southern. In complete contrast was the room where our reception was held. That room had exposed brick walls and large exposed wooden beams. The room felt very rustic, yet sophisticated.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I had found a wedding dress back in October, but when it came in March I was unhappy with it. I tried the dress on and just didn’t feel like a bride. After several days of worry, I was flipping through the spring issue of Martha Stewart Weddings magazine and saw a dress that I fell in love with. I did some searching online and found that there was one in stock at a store about 30 minutes from me. I went to try it on and bought the dress right off the rack since it was impossible for me to order it with less than 8 weeks to go until my wedding day. Thanks to a wonderful seamstress I would up having a dress that fit perfectly and made me feel like a bride. My favorite details of the dress were the cutout back and the pockets!
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration?  What was Southern about your wedding? (It’s okay if not much was!) We served our favorite Southern foods including shrimp and grits, pork tenderloin with chutney, johnny cakes, fried green tomatoes, ham biscuits with peach preserves, crab cakes, and fried mac n’ cheese. The location itself was also southern since it was a destination for everyone. We had guests fly in from all over the country to be there for our big day, as well as to explore all the history and charm that Charleston has to offer.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  It was the summer of 2006.   Ryan and I were working in different design firms in Cambridge, MA. One afternoon, my friend, Iliya, asked if I wanted to go to an architecture league softball game after work.  I had never been to a league softball game, but decided to go.  The team met at their local pub, “The Cellar” for a beer before heading to the field, where I was briefly introduced to Ryan.  A few minutes later, Ryan left to bring the bats and balls to the field. As he left, I looked down and noticed that he had on black dress socks with his baseball uniform, which I found rather unusual, but charming.  Later, at the game, we started talking, but both thought the other was dating the friend we came with.  It wasn’t until a week later that we met again at an Industry Party held at the Fish Pier in Boston’s Seaport District.  The party was packed with people, but somehow Ryan found me in the crowd, and we’ve been together ever since…
Describe the proposal. Ryan proposed while vacationing with our families at the Atlantis in the Bahamas.  On Friday, the whole family went out for dinner together.  Afterwards, Ryan asked me if I wanted to go for a walk on the beach.  As we made our way to the beach, I could sense that Ryan was nervous, but I figured it was because a storm was brewing on the horizon.  As we walked along together in the sand, I broke hands from Ryan for a second to brush the hair from my face.  When I went back for his hand, I turned to find him on one knee with the ring in his fingers.  I was so surprised I could barely breathe. He told me all the reasons he loved me and ended with a simple, “Will you Marry Me?” I said, “Yes!” and started to cry.  We kissed and shortly after made our way to the Sea Glass Bar at the Cove to celebrate with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. 
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Elegant, light and natural. 
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The table cards.  I had Val Cole hand calligraph them here in Nashville.  Each card had a design from our invitation, which indicated what they ordered.  (Beef, Fish, Chicken, Vegetable) They were a beautiful final touch to the tables.  She also did some hand-calligraphed table numbers, which were beautiful as well.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Over my birthday in September, I flew to New York for the long weekend.  My best friend (and bridesmaid), Karen, and I visited a couple high-end bridal salons and found several contenders.  The second day of dress shopping, we woke up early for the first appointment of the day at the Bridal Garden.  We found a beautiful silk taffeta dress with a crinkle chiffon empire waist.  Around the empire waist was a silk taffeta sash that tied in a bow in the back.  The dress was light-weight, which was key for a beach wedding, and simply elegant.  The dress was perfect!

Describe your wedding flowers: I used a combination of white orchids, white gardenias and pale yellow and white peonies for my bridal bouquet. The bridesmaids carried white peonies, purple picasso calla lilies and purple viburnum, and the groomsmen wore Picasso calla lilies for boutonnieres. There were flowers galore and most all were local to Virginia. That is a great benefit of an early June wedding. So much is in bloom!
Describe your wedding cake: We served a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. Our florist decorated the cake with white gardenias and white and yellow garden roses with rose petals around the base.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Managing our guest list because our historic country church had a capacity of 225 max and we invited almost 350. While we were very tight in the church during the ceremony, it was cozy and felt very intimate being surrounded by so many friends and family.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Jeff sent a bouquet of gorgeous flowers with the most sincere, sweet note to my suite where I was getting ready with the bridesmaids.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We followed the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer for our vows, but we did write the final prayer.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  Jeff will graduate from business school in May 2011, and will be starting a new job. We should know what city we’ll be in by this fall. While the future is a bit of an unknown for us right now, we both agree wherever life takes us, we trust it will bring us back to Virginia. It’s where we both grew up, went to college, fell in love and have lived for the first year as a married couple. Virginia really is for lovers!

Congratulations, Erin + Jeff!  Enjoy your new lives together – and the beautiful Commonwealth!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Jeff and I met as undergrads at the College of William & Mary.   We took a modern European history class together, and were paired up by the professor for a presentation. The rest is history.
Describe the proposal. Jeff proposed a few days before Christmas in Washington, DC at the National Tree. He pulled me to the middle of the National Mall by the tree and got down on one knee. He surprised me with a beautiful cushion cut diamond he had designed himself. I was so surprised I started crying and people around us started clapped when Jeff and I hugged. A limo then picked us up with champagne, and took us on a tour of DC to see the holiday lights while we called family and friends. We ended the night at a candlelight dinner at Kincaid’s restaurant in the city.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: One of our favorites was our signature drink during the cocktail reception. We served Lemoncello martinis. Not only were they delicious and yellow (one of our wedding colors), they were a nod to my Italian heritage.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My sister was married two years before me, and she insisted I, too, would be a “Vera bride.” I didn’t think she was right, but after a few excursions in Richmond, D.C., and New York, I found my dream dress at the Vera Wang Madison Avenue boutique. My mom and sister were with me, and when I came out of the dressing room all three of us knew it was the one. The two sales clerks started clapping and opened champagne to toast.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? Both Steve and I were born and raised in the South, and knew we wanted a farm wedding here in Georgia. All the cotton used for the wedding was hand-picked by my younger sister, Amy, from a cotton farm in South Georgia. Burlap was the fabric of choice. My father made home-made Spiked Sweet Tea for the signature drink and served it in Mason jars. The food was traditional Southern fare: ried chicken, beef tenderloin, shrimp and grits, mashed potatoes, butter beans, sweet potato biscuits and corn bread muffins.
Describe your wedding flowers: The hand-picked cotton centerpieces were arranged in large Mason jars. The groomsmen wore cotton boutonnieres with a hint of green hypericum berries. My bouquet was made with cream Amelia roses, cotton blooms, green hypericum berries, dark centered white daisies and white freesia with the stems wrapped in burlap. The bridesmaids’ and mothers’ bouquets were similar  to mine, and had a touch of orange tea roses to give them a pop of color.
Describe your wedding cake: Our wedding cake was a simple, yet elegant square design that had stripes matching the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses with pearl drop icing lining the edges. The groom’s cake was a surprise from me. Steve is an avid turkey hunter, and our wedding was on the opening day of turkey season. I gave the bakery a picture of one of Steve’s stuffed turkeys and they make a 3D chocolate cake with chocolate icing.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The band! The farm had never had such a big band before, so we had to make sure that ten-man troupe would fit in the venue and have enough electricity. We also had to reserve the venue for extra so that the band could set up and do sound checks. It was well worth it, because the band was awesome!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? After the ceremony, we were walking in the fields while the photographer was taking pictures of just the two of us. It was a quiet moment that we enjoyed together as husband and wife. We were surrounded by such beautiful scenery and the sun was just about to set. It was perfect. 
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?  We now live in a small rural town in Kentucky where Steve practices as a mixed animal veterinarian. I am continuing my work as a photographer and graphic designer, and also enjoying decorating our new home. We are looking forward to finding a good church and starting a family in the next couple years.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. We were introduced by one of Steve’s close friends, Casey Neary.  Casey and Steve were classmates in the College of Veterinary Medicine at UGA and spent a great deal of time together studying, hunting, and of course looking for the right woman. Casey and Jenny decided we would make a great match, and began to plan when they could introduce us. On August 24, 2007, my younger sister, Amy, had a birthday party in Athens.  It was this birthday celebration that served as the place of our first formal introduction. The rest is history, folks!  
Describe the proposal. After his graduation from vet school, Steve moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to work in a dairy practice. Steve is all about the outdoors, and we were both very excited that his relocation would afford us various mountain activities that were unavailable to us in Dixie. He decided to plan a 4^th of July camping trip in Steamboat Springs so we could get a chance to enjoy the beauty of the Rockies and get a good wilderness experience together. Steve warned me that the weather was supposed to get bad and mentioned that we would most likely be camping under a few thunder storms. Once we arrived in Steamboat, Steve surprised me with a weekend suite reservation at the Highmark resort!  Our camping trip got a tad more comfy at that point! That evening, I overheard Steve on the phone preparing a reservation for 6:30am. He told me it was going to be a great surprise and said that I should dress warmly. The next morning, we woke up really early and went down to the lobby to prepare for our surprise adventure.  A few minutes later, a Pegasus tours van pulled up with a balloon mural painted on the side.  We were going for a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the mountains of Steamboat Springs!  At 10,000 feet, Steve asked me to spend the rest of my life with him, and I joyfully said yes!            
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Warm, Southern and joyous.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Hand-picked cotton.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, and after trying a few other places I booked an appointment at Bridals by Lori. That Saturday morning, one of my best friends and I went through all the rooms of the salon looking for dresses that were ivory, A-line and lace. We found the perfect Rivini strapless gown with delicate lace on the bodice and flowing sheer ribbon across the top. There was matching lace and ribbon around the bottom of the skirt that brought it all together. The most delicate detail was the buttons that lined the back of the dress all the way down to the tip of the train.

Describe your wedding cake: We went for a cake buffet. Josh and I bought the wood for the cake stands in New Mexico. He sawed each slice by hand, and packed them up and brought them with us in our luggage to New Mexico.  We served seven cakes, some reflecting the Southern food theme, and others that are personal favorites. My mom and I baked four of them (Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Cake, Orange Amaretto Cake, Chocolate Flan), Josh’s mom baked two (Apple Pie and Banana Pudding) and Josh’s grandmother made the bread pudding. I think if our guests had planned the wedding we would have had the dessert before the ceremony!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Packing! Living 1400 miles away and being a big DIY crafter, we ended up checking 4 50-pound suitcases, and carrying on 2 suitcases and 2 personal items. Luckily, I had taken my dress to Atlanta in a previous trip.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Walking back down the aisle as a married couple to the Zelda theme song while our friends gave us a thumbs-up for the song choice. Josh says his favorite part was watching me walk down the aisle.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We did write our own vows, much to Josh’s dismay. I wrote mine first, and he based his off of mine, so they were similar but different. Our last 3 lines were the same, though: “I will be open and honest with you. Where you go, I will go, and we will have an adventure together. I will love you with all my heart.” Josh:
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We didn’t go on a honeymoon right away, so we are looking forward to spending 12 days in Costa Rica this summer!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. We met at Georgia Tech in the Music Listening Room where Josh was working. I thought Josh was cute, and asked his name, but he wouldn’t tell me! He claims he didn’t know I was talking to him. Some of the other employees just gave me hints – like his name starts with J – and made me guess. The next semester, I got a job at the MLR, too, and arranged my schedule to be almost the same as Josh’s. It took a few months, but we finally went on our first date in March of 2003.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Fun, relaxed and perfect.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Josh’s favorite part was the food and, of course, our guests.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I was a two-dress bride. Since our engagement lasted just under four months, I had to find a dress fast. I tried on about 11 dresses with my mom around Christmas, and had to make a decision that day. I ended up buying a beautiful dress that just wasn’t me. So in late February, after much debate, Josh offered to buy the dress I really wanted from Alfred Angelo. He was willing to drive to any of the surrounding states looking for a store with my size in-stock! It turns out my local store had a NEW sample in my size and was willing to sell it to me. Even with slight alterations, the dress was ready with two weeks to spare. I LOVED my dress. The pockets were the main feature I just knew I had to have. If I could wear the dress everyday, I would.
Describe your wedding flowers: Wild, simple and perfect. We used a lot of daisies and spray flowers in yellows and whites. The bouquets were loose and natural. Laurens Floral Art gave me everything I wanted, including peonies in my bouquet! We never met in person before the wedding, but he really picked up on my vision and pulled it together while staying within my budget.

Describe your wedding cake: Our wedding cake was a three-tiered grey cake with white lace floral appliqué.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Definitely walking down the aisle. It was a big moment. Having my dad give me away, seeing my husband-to-be waiting at the end for me and, of course, the musician Adam hired as a surprise to sing my favorite Rufus Wainwright song! It was something I’ll never forget for as long as I live!
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We did! My romantic husband planned a picnic on Valentines Day in the garden where we would be married six months later. We had our picnic and wrote our vows. The thing I loved most about our vows was that they were so real. Most traditional vows promise to love, honor and cherish, which is very sweet and a lovely promise, but what about the times when you are not loving? What about the times were you are struggling or have heartache? We vowed to love each other even when the other is cranky or not able to love back.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Since the wedding I quit my full-time job and am enjoying working part-time designing wedding invitations, stationery and, most recently, interior design, and am just loving it. Adam is still working in medical sales. Outside of work, we’ve been traveling and spending time with our amazing friends and family and our puppy. We are incredibly blessed and really enjoy living life together!

Congratulations, Erin + Adam!  Love and hugs from your friends at Southern Weddings!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Adam and I met at a non-profit charity event for diabetes in Nashville the third week I moved to Nashville.
Describe the proposal. Adam took me to the hotel where we met for Christmas dinner. After dinner we wanted to walk around the hotel and reminisce about the night that we met. I especially wanted to see the rooftop again since the view is amazing and as it was where we shared our first dance. When we got up to the roof, there was a table with roses, candles, champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries…. I knew something was up. Adam got down on one knee and asked me to spend my life with him.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The gorgeous setting. There is nothing like it. The garden was so beautiful!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Being in the wedding industry for so long, I always knew exactly what I wanted. Finding that in Nashville was another thing entirely! I had a photo on my desktop of Melissa Sweet’s “Fern.”  It was the perfect dress!  After a bit of hunting around the internet, I found that a local Nashville boutique carried the line. It was meant to be!
Describe your wedding flowers: We used beautiful white ranunculus, gorgeous mums, large garden roses and peonies and green berries.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Before going to try on dresses, I had my heart set on a silky satin. I tried on multiple styles before trying on the dress I knew was the one. It was so elegant and simple, and was a perfect complement to the atmosphere I was trying to create for my reception.  My favorite part was the bubble hem at the bottom.

Describe your wedding flowers: GORGEOUS. Other than actually getting married, the flowers were the most important part of the wedding! The simplicity of having white, ivory, and pink flowers really was breathtaking. We used these beautiful silver candelabras with strands of crystals hanging from the flowers

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? My dad means the world to me, and I wanted to express my love and gratitude for all he has done for me. I knew I would never be able to tell him in person, so I wrote him a long letter. I gave it to him a couple hours before I walked down the aisle. After he read it he came over a little teary eyed (which is unusual for him) to give me a hug and a kiss, and I just lost it. I should have planned it a little better because I just finished getting my make up done and could not stop crying.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? Hopefully my sister and I will be opening up our own wedding and event planning business in the near future. Jeff and I hope to spend as much time together, and to start a family within the next couple of years. We will see what God has in store for us!

Describe your wedding flowers: They were gorgeous! My bouquet was extremely full – very lush blooms filled with white and green flowers. For my bridesmaids, I wanted a monochromatic bright green look. Their dresses were navy blue, and I wanted the green to pop against their dresses. My florist did a beautiful job arrangements with lime green button mums. They looked great in our pictures.
Describe your wedding cake: Our wedding cake was very classic, clean and preppy. It was an all-white cake with white ribbon and white gardenias. My favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie, so we chose a Key Lime flavored wedding cake! It was as delicious as it was pretty.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? There are so many special memories from our wedding weekend. I’ve actually started a journal so I can remember all of them years from now. Of all the memories, the most special was seeing Clayton’s face for the first time when I came down the aisle with my dad. We hadn’t talked to each other the whole day, and I couldn’t wait to see him and talk to him. He looked so handsome and happy! He had the biggest grin on his face – he was so cute! What’s next for you as a couple?
What are you looking forward to in the future?  We are so excited that we no longer have to do long-distance! We appreciate coming home together and waking up with each other every day. We are really looking forward to purchasing our first house together this summer, and I can’t wait to make a beautiful home for our future family.

Congratulations to the happy couple!  We wish you all the best in your new life together, Amy + Clayton!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We love sharing the story of how we met! We had both recently moved to Atlanta after college.  I met a friend through Bible study who had been good friends with Clayton in college.  For months, she tried to set us up on a blind date, but we were both hesitant. One Friday night, both Clayton and I were out with friends at one our favorite bars, Five Paces, and Emily finally had the opportunity to introduce us! I thought Clayton was so cute, and was kicking myself for not going on that blind date! Luckily, he asked for my phone number that night and the rest if history!
Describe the proposal.  Clayton proposed to me on the morning of July 4^th in 2009. The morning of the proposal was no different than the other 4^th we’d spent together:  we woke up, drank our coffee on the balcony and headed to the beach for a walk. We were casually walking by the ocean when Clayton stopped me. He looked at me and told me how much he loved me and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me – then he dropped to one knee!  I had no clue this was coming! I immediately started crying, and we both hugged and kissed! Then we went back to our beach condo to share the good news with everyone.  We walked back up the boardwalk, only to be greeted by our whole family – in their pajamas – shouting and screaming with excitement from the balcony! We cooked a big breakfast, had a champagne toast and spent the day at the beach calling family and friends! That day ended with fireworks over the harbor.  It was a day we’ll never forget!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Beautiful, cheerful and fun!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: God was so in the details and so many neat things happened over the weekend! We were blessed to have such amazing weather. We also loved the overarching theme of our wedding: we went with a preppy, nautical, J.Crew-like look. Our colors were navy and green, and they looked so crisp against the Eastern Green!  Clayton’s favorites included the oysters and the band! We hired the 24/7 Band out of Nashville, and they literally kept everyone on the dance floor the whole night!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My mom, sister and I started the wedding dress hunt last fall. I thought I wanted a simple lace dress, but when I tried on my Modern Trousseau dress at Kelly’s Closet in Atlanta, I fell in love. It was the first “big” dress that I tried on and I loved it! When do you ever get to wear a dress like this again? My sister knew this was the one, because I just kept looking at it from all different angles in all of their mirrors. I didn’t want to take it off! After trying it on, I knew I’d have to call my father and discuss the “budget,” but I ended up being able to purchase it right off the rack for half the price. It was meant to be!

Describe your wedding flowers: White!  I did not want the flowers to distract from any of the lovely details, and since it was winter, I wanted all of the flowers to be light and fluffy, like snow.  My favorite pieces had to be the very simple, but elegant silver trumpet vases with baby’s breath.
Describe your wedding cake:  The cake was incredible… it was an ice cake carved in the shape of a cake with a zebra pattern carved into the bottom layers and our sillhouetes carved into the top.  I didn’t see the cake until the doors were opened and the cake was unveiled to all our guests.  I could not have imagined anything more perfect.  It was exactly what I wanted: non-traditional, breathtaking and oh-so unique.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  I am not a good decision maker, and I’m sure my poor wedding designer wanted to kill me about a million times.  I wanted every detail to be perfect, and wanted to make sure was selecting the right item for me.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? Ten days after we got home from our honeymoon, I started nursing school.  The next two years are going to be very busy!  I am looking forward to graduating from nursing school and having a quiet, calm and relaxing little life with my husband.

Congratulations, Deziree + Jon!  Good luck with the big changes in your life!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. We were introduced at a cocktail hour by a mutual friend, but I don’t think she had any idea we would ever end up together. Jon says he noticed me that night, but I had just been laid off from my job and was far from interested in meeting anyone at that time.  Our friend invited us to another happy hour the following week and we talked for a while, but I was oblivious to the fact that Jon was interested in me.  One week later, that same friend had a party and Jon and I both were there.  At the end of the evening, Jon asked for my phone number and I told him that I would give it to him, but only if he was going to call.  He did call and asked me out on an official date for the following week.  We went out on that date, and then a date the next evening, and, well, the rest is history.
Describe the proposal. Jon had been pondering how he was going to propose, and there were some key dates he wanted to either avoid or use as a distraction: my birthday & Christmas.  It just so happened that the weekend we had planned to visit Sonoma was the weekend before my birthday, so he figured I would be thrown off.  Jon had the ring designed by a family jeweler (with a little input) and decided that a private, secluded spot in a vineyard would be a romantic place to propose.  The problem: finding the perfect spot in Sonoma from Dallas.  Jon found the Jack London State Park and picked up some wine and cheese along the way.  We happened upon the perfect spot and, after some food and wine, he decided to make his move.  He got up and walked toward a row of vines, and then acted surprised, as if I had seen a bunny or something – I like bunnies – and got me to stand up and walk towards him.  At that point, he met her halfway, read something he had written over the past few weeks, and got down on one knee.  There were tears and shaky voices and an answer: yes.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Surreal, calm and unbelievable.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: I’m not sure if I can pick just one favorite detail, but if I had to decide on just one, it would be our save-the-date cards and invitations.  Those items were very much a reflection of our personality and style. 
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  I had been looking for a dress for quite a while, but I had not found one that made me feel like I thought I should feel when I found “the one.”  I had been to far too many places and had tried on way too many dresses, and it was becoming more of a chore than anything else.  On a recommendation, I made an appointment at Star Dust Celebrations, but did not have high hopes for finding a dress there, either.  After trying on about 10 dresses, I had narrowed it down to two.  My mom and I decided to take a break for lunch and think about, and I went back and tried on both gowns again, and realized one was much more “me” than the other.

Describe the proposal. Dale surprised me with a trip to Paris. I was so enamored with the hotel and the city. I thought for sure he would propose later that night, but I never could have expected what was to come.  We had a driver waiting to take us to a historic chateau in the French countryside, where we rode in a hot air balloon and Dale proposed – in Hindi! Although we’ve both have been to Paris, the city seemed romantic in a way I’d never experienced. We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating in Paris and going to a fabulous dinner at the Alain Ducasse Restaurant.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Triumphant, passionate and hilarious.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: There really wasn’t just one detail that stood out, but the fact that all our family and friends were there celebrating and mixing cultures is what we appreciated most. Everyone was dancing, whether the DJ was playing Indian music or American music. The party went on well past midnight and we were so happy to see everyone having a great time. 
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My mom, aunt and sister spent a week shopping with me in Mumbai. We had little information and a million stores to visit. Thank god for my friend who worked at India Vogue. She guided me to a few stores and on the very last day of our trip,  I found what I was looking for. It was a custom-made piece that they altered in the color and style I wanted. I was supposed to go back for a fitting several weeks later, but the terrorist attacks in Mumbai disrupted our plans. I had to trust on the designer, but was so happy that it turned out exactly as I had hoped, especially in such a short period of time.

Describe your wedding cake: We served a three-tier red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and buttercream cream frosting. Not only delicious, but this was the aesthetic element that everybody said they loved most.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Figuring out the location was the most stressful part of planning. We wanted a destination wedding but some of our closest family and friends wouldn’t have been able to make it, so we looked for closer destinations.  Deciding to have the wedding at the farm was actually more of a “concession” for us, but it ended up giving us the most beautiful wedding we could have hoped for.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? That feeling of excitement and anticipation right before my dad walked me down the aisle.  Also, the overall feeling of joy and love Derek and I shared for each other and our families throughout the day.  We looked around in awe at everything our families had put together.  The wedding was such a labor of love!
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? We’re looking forward to staying nestled in our new home for the next few years and then picking up and moving out west for new adventures. 

Congratulations, Sierra + Derek!  Sending you lots of love and warm wishes from the SW team.