For Mama from catherine orr on Vimeo.

Have a wonderful weekend celebrating the women in your life! We’ll see you back here on Monday.

From the bride:

Lijay and I live in San Francisco, but with both sides of our families back in Texas, there was no place more perfect to get married than our college town, Austin, TX. Our friends and family thought we were insane to have an outdoor wedding in Texas in the middle of the summer, but we assured them that we would keep the ceremony short and then everyone can retreat back into the hotel.

The one thing we could not plan for was the Texas thunderstorms. The week leading up to our wedding, temperatures averaged 109 degrees, so we planned to have the ceremony as close to sundown as possible. As we were getting ready, I kept looking out my window to watch the trees and the Texas flag blowing violently from the winds of the coming storm.

Our florists, Petal pushers, called my fiance to let him know that they were going to start moving their arrangements indoors. He said to wait as long as possible before doing so and “whatever you do…don’t tell
Shirley!” Our friends from Houston were calling to tell us that the storm had already blown past them and it was headed straight for Austin! My husband made the gutsy call to keep the ceremony outside and it turned out to be a wonderful ceremony. Once we got through the beautiful, picturesque ceremony, everyone moved inside for the cocktail hour. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before it started pouring outside. It was a Texas miracle!

Brenton & Lynae :: Highlights from FocalPoint Cinematic Weddings on Vimeo.

For all the credits and photos, be sure to check out parts one and two!

Wesley & Matt from McKenzie Miller Films on Vimeo.

From the bride:

On January 26, 1957, my grandmother married my grandfather in Moultrie, Georgia. 57 years later to the day, I became Mrs. Matthew Edmonds up in the beautiful mountains of Highlands, NC. We lost my grandfather in September of last year and couldn’t have imagined a better way to remember him on their anniversary. It was the most incredible feeling to be surrounded by our two families and our closest friends for an entire weekend of celebrating what God has blessed the two of us with.

We had only dated for a year when we got engaged but that saying “you know when you know”, well, I believe it! Highlands made the perfect setting for an Atlanta girl and a Birmingham boy to be joined in marriage before God and before our very favorite people. We are so blessed and thankful for such a perfect weekend, icy roads and all, and couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to forever.

Thank you so much for sharing, McKenzie!

Pen Weddings made a perfect song choice and combined it with spot-on editing to create a film that is simply beautiful. Of course, it’s easier to make something heartfelt when you have such good material to work with, and Sarah + Rick definitely did, from the touching words at Elyse + Andre’s ceremony to the sentimental footage from Elyse’s childhood home to the bride’s gorgeous Christos gown (just like me!). And keep an eye out for the father daughter dance it actually made me tear up, something which does NOT happen often! (Sarah admitted that it’s one of just two that have made her cry in her career, too!)

Elyse + Andre | Bayou DeSiard Country Club Wedding Film from Sarah Pendergraft on Vimeo.

From the bride, Elyse:

When I first imagined my wedding, I suppose I though about the classic things most brides do. What dress will I wear? What color flowers do I want? Tux or Suit? Band or DJ? I didn’t want to find myself, a year later, browsing Pinterest and regretting every choice I had made. After all, you only get one shot at this and everything must be PERFECT.

Ultimately, that mindset was only setting me up for a stressful and disappointing day, filled mostly with bridezilla meltdowns and lots of eye rolling from my groom. When the guests had gone home, the flowers had wilted, and the white dress placed on a shelf in the closet – would those things still be what were most important to me? No.

Thankfully, I had a change of heart. Instead of focusing on perfection, I chose to focus on love.

Today, when I remember our wedding, my mind doesn’t race with all of the countless details. Instead, I think about the small, quiet, intimate moments that made that day so special. The laughter of my best friends as we reminisced about our childhood, the nervous smile of my future husband as he waited to see me for the first time, the whisper of a tear in my dad’s eye as he held me on the dance floor. These are the moments I remember when I think about that day.

Overall, Andre and I really just wanted our wedding to be about love – the love the Lord has for us, the love we share with each other, the love of our friends and family, and all of the moments during our special day where love still dwells.

Pen Weddings is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Kit + David | Married | Short Film from Wirken Films on Vimeo.

From the bride:

The conversion of close friends and family in my hometown of St. Joseph, Missouri produced a magical moment, and thanks to Wirken Films, it is a moment that we will cherish forever. Our family cannot thank Brandon and Tyler enough. Every time I watch this video, I am transported back to the day, and I feel every moment, emotion and tear all over again. They captured the essence of our families’ joy and celebration, and for that we are most grateful.

A big thank you to Wirken Films for sharing!

{Jason and Melissa} A South Carolina Sunset Wedding from Life Stage Films on Vimeo.

From the bride:

There were butterflies everywhere the day of our wedding it was just fascinating to see them fluttering around the grounds. Jason’s mother had died when he was very young, and I knew he was missing her very much that day. We had placed her favorite flowers (daisies) on her chair for the ceremony, and right after Jason and I said I do, a butterfly flew between us. Jason had trouble catching his breath for a moment, because he knew it was his mother watching down on us and sending her love and blessings through the gorgeous butterflies. Makes me cry every time I think of that special and unforgettable moment.

If you love this wedding, be sure to check out Jennifer Bearden’s photos from the day here! Big thanks to Life Stage Films for sending this beauty our way!

Life Stage Films is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

John & Emily : wedding highlights from Inkspot Crow Films on Vimeo.

For those of you still struggling over the videographer question, I’d encourage you to read this post I wrote about our decision-making process. You can also check out this post that I wrote with my videography thoughts after our wedding.

P.S. You can see all of our vendors listed in this post!

Inkspot Crow Films is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Carly and Allen | Chapel Hill, NC from Caravan on Vimeo.

From the bride, Carly:

There is something about video that brings a day to life even more than photographs can themselves. For this, we are grateful that Jon and Jacob at Caravan Cinema Co. captured our day so we could hang on to it a little tighter for years to come. My dad said this short film was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and that he could watch it 1000 times over again and we feel the exact same way. Caravan captured every Southern, rustic detail and each meaningful moment that happened in between frames in a way that would not otherwise have been captured. And, it is so “Carolina,” which is special to us, as Chapel Hill is where our unexpected love story all began.

Thank you so much, Caravan! Have a wonderful weekend, belles!

From Casey, the bride:

It seems a bit cliché to say our wedding day was the day of our dreams, but that’s the best way we can describe it. From the middle of August 2011, our days were filled with planning, venues, food, flowers, dresses, suits and cake! On top of all that, there was a request from me, the bride, to write our own vows. So much work and heart were put into every single minute of the ceremony and reception.

We set out to create a modern, but still old European vintage look, to our wedding. The ceremony took place in a little old chapel built in the 1800’s in downtown Raleigh. I picked 6pm as the time, because in July at 6pm the sun is beginning to lower in the sky, which allows the antique stained glass windows to take in the most light. The chapel was adorned with very few flowers, with only a few lining the aisle. The main focus was candlelight: over 100 glass tubes with floating candles were placed around the alter and down the aisle. Twig trees framed the alter with rice lights that were hand-strung by us.

The reception brought us back to a more modern era. There were pink flowers on every table, and again, candlelight was a focus. There were scrapbooks of old childhood pictures to embarrass us, and we even set out the email that my husband, then boyfriend, wrote to my mother when he was planning the engagement! Pink sequin table clothes adorned the cocktail tables and ivory table clothes with floral ruffles were on the rest of the tables that we set up for our 200 guests. Being Italian, food was important to my husband, so the food was incredible, from the mashed potato bar to the pasta station, to the five-tier, four-flavor cake. We danced the night away and had the absolute time of our lives.

Thank you so much for sharing, Catherine!

P.S. More wedding films.

P.S. More wedding films for your viewing pleasure.

We’re giving away an adorable gingham ring bearer’s pillow from The Happy Couple, a boy’s bow tie from The Happy Couple, white 1-inch wide suspenders from The Suspender Store, the snappy Yellow Canary pocket square from Pierrepont Hicks, a sweet boy’s bow tie from xoelle and the lovely yellow rose tablecloth from House 8810 that we used for the kid’s table.

To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us what your favorite part of this feature is and which item you’d love to win.

Win: Six lucky people will win the item of their choosing!

Now that’s better than Black Friday mobs, isn’t it? Good luck, y’all!

Our first stop of the morning was at PieBird in Raleigh to pick up two dozen delicious pies. Packing them into Emily’s car safely was a feat, but they made it to our office in Chapel Hill in one piece!

Setting the table for this shoot was like preparing for Thanksgiving, y’all! It felt like Thanksgiving, too, when we all sat down to eat. Yummm.

Are y’all seeing these angles? Joey and Jessica were shooting in Lara’s living room, letting us get a little creative with the space.

We were so lucky that Toni and Chris at Heart Stone Films could join us to capture some behind-the-scenes action and that Heidi and Melissa from the Carolina Inn were on hand to do some amazing food styling.

A food shoot ain’t complete without the SW ladies donning aprons!

Are y’all ready for more? Check out this adorable video from Heart Stone Films!



Cyn Kain is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Ready to order your copy? Be sure to place your order here before noon if you’d like to receive your copy this week!

We can’t wait to find new homes for these Freshly Squeezed items! The Tear Drop earrings from Pink Pineapple, the Fleur Drop earrings form Bridier Baubles and the aptly named Sunny Days bracelet from Francesca’s were among our favorites from V5.

To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us what you love about this feature and which of the pieces above is your favorite.

Win: Four winners will win the jewelry piece of your choosing!

Good luck, y’all!

Happy Saturday, guys + gals! The Southern Weddings crew is happily enjoying the weekend after a whirlwind few days of magazine launch, magazine shipping (like crazy more on that next week), and magazine launch party! We couldn’t resist popping in and following up on Thursday’s gorgeous Kentucky Rose shoot by sharing the behind the scenes film, however. McKenzie Miller did a beautiful job capturing the day and all the work that went into it, despite the less-than-ideal weather!

Southern Weddings V5 from McKenzie Miller Films on Vimeo.

McKenzie is actually a Southern gal herself, so we were so happy to find her in upstate New York (she actually lives in the city, but traveled for the shoot!). Big hugs again to everyone who brought this shoot to life!

If you haven’t got your paws on a copy yet, be sure to pick one up here or check your nearest Walgreens, Barnes & Noble, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Walmart, and/or Target!

And if you missed it, don’t forget the behind the scenes photos we shared here!

Blueberry Fusion is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Kaitlyn & Tim | When You Know, You Know from Hampton Road Studios on Vimeo.

A little from Kaitlyn, the bride:

For our color scheme, we wanted everything to look really fresh and neutral. The bridesmaids wore cocktail length dresses made of champagne dupioni silk. The groomsmen wore navy blazers, khakis, and navy gingham ties. Tim wore a navy gingham dress shirt to stand out. My lovely dress was designed by Augusta Jones, my veil and sash were handmade by my mom, and I opted for beautiful (yet comfortable) flat sandals from Banana Republic.

We opted for a station themed dining plan. The carving station and potato bar were both big hits with our guests. Along with other heavy hor d’oeuvres, our guests also enjoyed delicious cupcakes and homemade cookies from our cookie bar. Initially intended to be our favors, most guests chose to snack on them throughout the reception.

My mom and I are both scrapbook lovers. You might say we have a paper obsession, as we both have a special “Scrapbook Room” in each of our homes. So taking on the task of hand making each paper component of the wedding was not something we thought twice about. The invitation suite included a hand stamped invitation, a hand stamped rsvp, a hand drawn map of Birmingham showing the various locations of wedding weekend events, and a handmade tag with information about our wedding website. Each component was created on kraft paper, an idea that we came up with early on and ran with throughout our wedding. Each suite was bundled in twine and sent off with my mom’s handwritten addressing on the front. It was truly a labor of love.

Rather than choosing the traditional guestbook method, we decided to take the time to create a guestbook/scrapbook. We created several scrapbook pages with photos of Tim and me throughout our relationship. The key components of each page were envelopes and tags for each guest to leave their messages, words of wisdom, and notes of love. We really enjoyed pulling out each tag to read what our guests had to say.

Our day was overflowing with personal touches. My mom and I worked very hard to make every aspect special. From the handmade invitation suite and rustic chic décor, to my wedding day attire, to the homemade cookie bar, my mom had a hand in making everything unique.

Our outdoor ceremony was such a beautiful way to begin an amazing evening. Placed above the fireplace was a beautiful handmade wooden cross that my parents made for the event. Since we weren’t getting married in a church, we wanted to make sure the ceremony still met our desire for a religious ceremony. The bridal party walked down the aisle to “Hallelujah,” my parents walked me down the aisle to, “Canon in D,” and our recessional song was “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).”

We don’t usually share photos at the same time as film features, but once we saw these beauties from Leslie Hollingsworth (assisted by Ginny Au), we couldn’t resist!

You can see more from Kaitlyn + Tim’s big day on Leslie’s blog! Thanks again to Hampton Road Studios for sharing!

Becky and Brian – Kansas City Wedding Video – Highlight Wedding Film from creative films on Vimeo.

P.S. More wedding films here.

Creative Films is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Brandon & Kelsey : wedding highlights from Inkspot Crow Films on Vimeo.

P.S. More wedding films

Inkspot Crow is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Mike + Lisa : Orange Beach Gulf Coast Wedding from The Film Poets on Vimeo.

Eager for more? Check out all of our past wedding films here, and scope some of our favorite cinematographers for hire here!

For more wedding film goodness, check out all of our past features here!

Cru Catering is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

From Sarah, the videographer:

Susanna and Brian are one of the most happy, giddy, in-love couples I have ever seen. It was almost shocking anytime you saw them NOT smiling. This entire wedding– the couple, the family, the wedding party, the guests– was the perfect example of southern charm and hospitality… and let’s not forget the yummy southern cooking. Fried chicken, fried catfish, green beans, rice… so yummy, and so perfect for this wedding. The groom is not a huge “cake person” so he had a pie bar instead, and oh my was it good. And boy did this crowd love to dance. The Regulars Band from Atlanta rocked the night away! The wedding was at Brian’s family’s ranch in the small town of Coushatta, Louisiana and you could tell how much it meant to them to have it there. No only did Brian and Susanna plan much of this wedding online (you should see Susanna’s Pinterest boards), it’s where they met too. Hearing them tell the story of how they became friends on Match.com is so fun, and funny. It was in fact their Southern roots that brought them together, as they were living in Orange County, California at the time and Susanna was excited to find another southerner in the area. Everyone put so much effort into making this the perfect day, and it really was.

Pen Weddings is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Make sure to check out all the images and vendor credits on the original blog post!

P.S. More wedding films for your Saturday morning viewing pleasure.

From the bride:

Our wedding day couldn’t have been more perfect to us! Growing up in Atlanta our whole lives, we wanted to get away from the hustle and the bustle and therefore, picked Neverland Farms as our wedding venue. It is a cozy little vintage farm situated within the wine region of the North Georgia Mountains. Without much surrounding it, the venue allowed us and all of our guests to be completely immersed in the day and all of its lovely details! The horses, pastures, hand-made wooden fences, and windy dirt roads made for the perfect nostalgic, simple, yet chic wedding day that I had always dreamed of. I rode up to the ceremony in a horse and carriage with my dad and then away with my husband as we got a private tour of the grounds- just us as Mr. & Mrs. The reception consisted of some good ole southern cooking- bacon mac & cheese, beef brisket, corn chowder…and a whole LOT of dancing!! We wouldn’t trade our wedding day (or this video) for the world!