Our amazingly-talented Blue Ribbon Vendors are cropping up faster than spring blooms! We love to hear when y’all are able to work together, so if you’ve hired any of these fine folk, be sure to let us know in the comments!

At JoPhoto, the experience you have taking your photos — fun and natural — is the same as the aesthetic of your final images — fun and natural. They are based in Knoxville, TN.

To me, Merari Photography means crisp, colorful images filled with gorgeous light — but that don’t take themselves too seriously. She is based in Miami, Florida.

The ladies of Morgan Gallo Events have a flexible style that allows them to create weddings that are unique celebrations of their couples’ individual love stories and styles. They are based in Savannah.

Having met Valerie of Sapphire Events in person, I can attest that New Orleans brides are lucky to have her! With a background in law, she would be a calm, thoughtful partner throughout the wedding planning process.

Sarah, of Sarah Tucker Events, is the sweetest gal, and that quality seeps into her work, too — sweet, personal affairs that reflect her couples. She is based in Bradenton, Florida.

Susan Graham and her clients have a classic style marked by grace and hospitality and grace — perfect for Southern brides. Susan Graham Events is located in Atlanta.

Sweet Tea Photography incorporates elements of fine art, editorial, and journalistic techniques while capturing the excitement of a couple on their wedding day. She is based in Washington, DC.

Watson Studios describes their style as “beautiful, spirited, and candid,” and I couldn’t agree more! They are based in Knoxville, TN.

Vinewood Plantation, in Newnan, GA, truly seems like the best of both worlds — a historic property with heritage and Southern charm, but one that’s been renovated to accommodate modern amenities and conveniences. Win-win!

Still on the hunt for your perfect Southern wedding vendors? Check out our whole crop here! Vendors, if you’re interested in applying, please fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!

It stinks that at the time you most want to be connecting meaningfully with family + friends (your engagement!), it can sometime seem like all you’re doing instead is chasing people down, repeating information, and sending nagging reminders about tiny details. At Southern Weddings we are ALL about increasing meaningful time and decreasing annoying time, and fans of anything that can help shift that balance. Enter Appy Couple.

Appy Couple is an all-in-one solution. They believe that technology should make life easier, not create more accounts/services for you to manage (hallelujah!), which is why they’ve rolled everything into one platform: your wedding app, website, emails, photo sharing/taking, and even paper invites, if you’d like.

Appy Couple describes what they do as “stylish and magical,” and I really have to agree. When you’re ready to begin, start at appycouple.com and pick from hundreds of couture designs (which you can change as many times as you want!). If you don’t see the perfect design for your wedding, their designers can work with you to make something completely custom!

Next, curate all the details you’d like guests to have at their fingertips, and when you’re ready, allow guests to view all the details through your app and website. Everything will be available in one place: your photos, guest photos, RSVPs, meal preferences, registries, maps and directions, and photo filters and frames.

One of the best things about Appy Couple is that when you build your app, a gorgeous wedding website is created automatically! You’ll look like a creative genius, no technical skills required :)

Good news! The kind folks at Appy Couple have a few sweet treats for y’all. First, they’re giving you lovely ladies a promo code to get the full Appy Couple service for $20 (regular $28), including unlimited guests, RSVPs, and photos for an unlimited time. The code is APPYLOVESW. It will be valid for 48 hours, so hop on it quick!

In addition, they’re giving away two entire custom-designed suites (app + website!). The winners will be featured on their site, and the apps named after them in the Appy store. How fun is that?? To enter, pin one of the images in this post, and then leave a link in the comments to your pin. The winners will be the top two pinners who get the most re-pins on their pins! (I know that’s a lot of “pins” in a row, so let me know if you have any questions!)

Be sure to check out the Appy video, above, and explore all that they do at their website! Happy planning, belles!

We love our Blue Ribbon Vendors to the moon and back, and we hope y’all use our Directory to find like-minded professionals that are a perfect fit for your big days! We’re always adding new friends, so be sure to check back often. Here, a few of our recent favorite additions…

A. Caldwell Events is based in Charleston and specializes in saving their clients time, money, and stress!

Astrid Photography captures “dreamy and whimsical” images that reflect who you are as a couple. She is based in Virginia.

Having met Christina of Christina Leigh Events in person, I can attest that she is a sweetheart, and it does not surprise me that she “loves calling her brides her friends.” Christina works out of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Houston, Texas.

I love that Gracie of Gracie Blue Photography considers her work not a job, but a gift — a chance to capture moments that are personal, emotional, and real. She is based in Georgia but happy to travel.

I love how consistent Jessica Lorren’s work is — soft, filled with light, and capturing the smallest, most beautiful moments. She is based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Julia Rohde Designs is also based in Florida (Miami), and her floral work is colorful, textural, and filled with unique blooms.

Katelyn James’ photography is warm, colorful, and full of life. She is based in Richmond, Virginia.

Kimberly Chau shoots natural, quiet, and lovely images from her homebase of Houston, Texas. She also travels widely for weddings!

Alabama brides are lucky to have Leslie Hollingsworth, whose timeless, photojournalistic images are destined to become heirlooms.

Last but certainly not least, Milky Way Farm is an extensive venue in middle Tennessee that houses gorgeous barns, a manor house, and a magnolia plantation!

Still on the hunt for your perfect Southern vendors? Check out our whole crop here! Vendors, if you’re interested in applying, please fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!

Y’all, John and I are exactly 35 days out from our honeymoon, and I. Can’t. WAIT! Almost nothing gets me more excited than planning for and anticipating a trip, and we’ve been dreaming of our seven-night stay on the island of Nevis (as in St. Kitts & Nevis) for months! Vacation lover that I am, it’s no surprise that I am a huge fan of today’s sponsor, Wanderable.

Wanderable helps couples make beautiful and unique free honeymoon registries. If you have all the household goods you could ever want, registering for experiences instead of just accumulating more stuff is a fantastic option. A honeymoon registry works just like a traditional registry, except guests can gift you a horseback ride in the Texas backcountry, a fly fishing lesson in the mountains of North Carolina, or a pair of airplane tickets to Bali… instead of more plates. Yes, please!

As I was preparing this post, I read this interview with the founders (two women!), and came to appreciate Wanderable even more. In fact, I’m considering them honorary members of the Sweet Tea Society, if only for this:

We wanted to bring back the “why” into gifting, where both the giver and the receiver are sharing the possibility of new memories. When you ask someone what is truly important to them, they talk about their family and friends. And when you give your friends and family gifts, you want to give them something meaningful that they’ll appreciate and remember… Wanderable makes gifts meaningful again by transforming them to be about experiences and the memories that they provide. We want gifting to feel not like a chore, but something you want to do because it’s exciting to provide new experiences to your family and friends — the kind of experiences they’ll think fondly of for years to come.

I adore that. I also love that Wanderable combines the best of technology without forgetting the beauty of personal touch — for example, after purchasing an experience, wedding guests can opt to send a handmade gift box to the couple that lists the details of what they are gifting with a note to the bride and groom for opening with other wedding gifts.

If you’re ready to sign up for a honeymoon registry, head over to Wanderable and choose between 28 designer themes — all free, and ad-free, too. They have a template to fit every style, and each one is easily customizable. Wanderable does charge a 2.5% credit card fee, and a 2.5% service fee to keep the site running, both of which you can absorb for your guests is you choose. (Though, we like to think of them as similar to shipping and handling or taxes for a traditional registry gift!)

Tell me: If you were registering for a honeymoon on Wanderable, what would you register for? I’m dying to stay at Blackberry Farm or Little Palm Island, so one of those would be at the top of my list :)

Top photo is by me, second photo is from Little Palm Island, and next two photos are by Tec Petaja

Our mission at Southern Weddings is twofold: to inspire y’all to live full lives, and then to draw from those rich wells to create meaningful beginnings to married life. That’s why we love details — not because they’re “pretty,” but because they say something about who you and your fiance are, and what matters most to you as a couple. We LOVE learning about new resources to help y’all do just that, and we especially love sharing them with you!

That’s just one reason we’re so excited to be partnering with our friends at Midori to unveil their brand new offering: custom printed ribbons!

Midori Custom Printing is the first of its kind – a totally interactive site that allows users to see their custom-printed ribbons as they’re being created, ensuring each customer receives exactly what inspires her. So neat!

There are over 100 ribbon colors, over 100 symbols and sayings, and 13 ink colors to choose from — so, something for everyone! They also have MONOGRAMS, which y’all know we love!

Custom ribbon printing isn’t an entirely new idea, but the way Midori does it is. In a word, quality. They print on their regular high-quality, luxury ribbons (double faced satin, rayon trimming and herringbone, oh my!), and everything is hand-printed by their in house design and production team. The ribbons are also heat stamped instead of ink-pressed, which allows for intricate patterns and fonts to be precisely placed on the ribbon in great detail. Absolutely no compromising on quality here!

Once you get these pretties in your hot little hand, the options, of course, are endless: to wrap invitations and save the dates, to tie off favors, to finish off ceremony bells like mine, to tie together sparklers for the end of the night…

Midori’s new site should be up and running on Monday, but in the meantime, be sure to check out their main site here! Happy creating!