If I could run off and marry a wedding, it would be this one. Margaret + Marty planned their New Orleans nuptials themselves, with a beautiful venue to springboard off of and a desire to vivaciously celebrate their new life together — one read-through of their interview tells us that M + M love to dance! I’m absolutely smitten with how their wedding seems to have organically sprung up from the bricks at Race and Religious, but the Southern Weddings gals have agreed — it must be Margaret’s radiant personality and lovely smile that top this wedding off beautifully.

Thank you, Heirloom Collective for sharing this day with us!

Two things: How amazing are Margaret’s shoes? I love that they’re a modest nude color with a spark of red! Next, how cool do these gals look below? I am impressed that Margaret’s ‘maids were able to find matching dresses from various stores like Asos, Modcloth and BCBG.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. 
I knew I needed something I’d be able to dance in. I didn’t want anything too trendy, or anything to looked to era-specific. I admired BHLDN dresses from afar until I found out I’d be going to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend, so I booked an appointment with them immediately! After trying on a few options, I put on my dress and never looked back. It was the first dress I did a twirl in, and that’s how I knew.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? We did decide to do a first look. Our ceremony and reception were at the same place, so we knew we would have limited time to admire each other’s looks and have some alone time.

I love this photo below! Heirloom Collective did a wonderful job capturing a calm and intimate moment before the ceremony. The colors are gorgeous, and I can only imagine the exciting things these gals are talking about while sipping on sodas and fixing each other’s hair.

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
Song of Solomon 2:10-13, 8:6-7 and Colassians 3:12-17

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. We hired a traditional New Orleans brass band to play before, during and after the ceremony. Our original brass band fell through a week before the wedding, but thankfully our friends helped us pull together a band, and they were wonderful. The entire wedding party walked down the aisle to Trumpet Voluntary, and the recessional was “When the Saints Go Marching In!” We told the band to play whatever they wanted, and that was what they settled on. It was perfect. Our first dance, mother-son and father-daughter dances somehow ended up being disco themed: “Boogie On Reggae Woman” by Stevie Wonder, “Late in the Evening” by Paul Simon and “More than a Woman” by the BeeGees, respectively. It was awesome!

Y’all!! I just want to cry when I see this photo below. There is so much joy!

What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? 
The venue! Our venue was a big chunk of our budget, but we couldn’t imagine NOT getting married there. And, having splurged on such a perfectly curated, eclectic place, we didn’t have to worry about decorating it too much. Our wedding would have a very distinct look (one we wanted) without a lot of work on our part!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
The most Southern detail — and part our Northern guests loved the most — was the reception-style dinner! I loved that everyone could mingle while noshing, and we didn’t have to worry about whom to seat where or whether there were exactly as many chairs as there were guests (there weren’t, and it was totally fine). Of course, our food was Southern. We served collard greens, black eyed pea salsa, pickled shrimp salad, cornbread, brisket, pulled pork, the works.

Describe your wedding cake or dessert. 
Marty hates cake, so we went with pies for our dessert (and then Marty ended up being too busy dancing to try any! Sorry, Mart!). Our caterer created a bunch of different Southern-influenced pies, including sweet potato pie, an apple galette, and pecan pie, for guests to choose from.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
Definitely the dance party. I found our DJ, Otto Orellana, while at a bar with co-workers. We could not stop dancing! So, I asked him for his business card. The next day I emailed him (introducing myself as the girl who could not stop dancing) and asked him to DJ our wedding. He responded with, “Well, I don’t normally do weddings anymore but you and your friends seemed really fun, so sure!” And did he deliver! The dance portion of our wedding was the most fun we’ve ever had.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. 
We met in college. During our freshman year, we lived three floors apart and were introduced by mutual friends. We soon learned that we’d gone to brother and sister high schools, had some of the same friends, and had never met! Marty pretended that he needed help with his homework in order to get me to hang out with him. Soon I realized that he didn’t need homework help as much as he needed a dance partner.

Describe the proposal. 
We currently live in New Orleans, but we both grew up near Oak Park, Illinois. Every holiday season, we escape our family parties and go see a movie at Lake Theater, a classic art deco movie theater in Oak Park. On the day before Christmas Eve in 2011, Marty invited me to go see Mission: Impossible 4 (how holiday-appropriate!), but instead of going into the theater, he proposed. Afterward we headed to a bar on Madison Street to celebrate with friends and family.

In what month did you get married? 
March 2013

How many guests attended your wedding? 
115

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Our venue was pretty much a blank slate. We could choose the caterer, the bartender, the flowers, everything. While I loved that everything was completely customizable, it was also a challenge to cover all of our bases without a wedding planner (having tents on standby for rain, ordering compostable dinnerware, renting linens!). We did everything ourselves, down to making sure we had enough ice! But, the upside was that we could do everything our own way, to our taste.

What range did your wedding budget fall into? 
$10,000-$25,000

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
Go with your gut when making decisions and customize your wedding to how you want it.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We went on a fantastic honeymoon to Paris, Croatia (the Dalmatian Coast) and Istanbul. Now that we’re back, Marty is graduating from Tulane School of Medicine and starting his residency at Tulane; I am continuing to work as a public interest attorney in New Orleans.

We experienced our fair share of April showers and pollen season, but last month was surely a beautiful one for the Southern Weddings ladies. Aside from many #SouthernDoin‘s, we prepped for our first V6 shoots and did plenty of celebrating. Here’s what we’ve been up to in and out of the office.

1. Marissa’s sock bun got fancy! Yes, she #putabowonit!

2. My little strawberry plant is doing well and sprouting out teeny berries!

3. Emily adored this punny mailing all the way from Owlabama.

4. Lara spent her April writing her first book proposal!

5. “It SNOWED! In April. IN the South,” said Kristin. “I made the most of it and put on my boots and put out a bowl to catch snow to make snow cream”

6. April was Southern Weddings’ birthday month. My desk was filled with all five volumes and lots of math while we calculated stats for our birthday graphics (here and here).

7. NC exploded into bloom in April, and we didn’t have to go farther than our office front door to find pretty flowers! This snap was taken on Emily’s midday walk.

8. Lara is changing her name! Deciding on her middle name has proven to be one of the hardest decisions.

9. Marissa about died when she received her monogram bracelet from Stacy Brown Designs! It’s monogram heaven!

10. For Emily, much of April was taken up by her honeymoon to Nevis — one of her favorite snaps!

11. Marissa sent many handwritten notes this month with her adorable new notecards! (Lettered by our own Emily Thomas!)

12. Kristin celebrated a very big birthday with sweet friends and a delicious cookie cake (her favorite).

13. Kristin indulged in a midnight snack in the form of a yummy Krispy Kreme doughnut!

14. Emily and John planted their balcony veggie/herb garden.

15. Lara and Ari told the story of their marriage and how love never fails during the Amazing Life Together webinar.

16. Lara and Grace took a trip down the road to visit some farm friends!

17. I hosted friends at my house for a weekend and played hostess by whipping up brunch!

18. Marissa officially became a Lululemon convert. She especially loves their manifesto on what’s most important.

What did y’all do in April? What were the highlights of your month?

It’s the middle of May in North Carolina, which means the jasmine is in full bloom! And oh boy, with this Southern stem, you can smell it before you can see it!

First, though, a little lesson about dainty flowers on vines that smell amazing, because we enjoy several of them in the South! The beauty above is honeysuckle — its blooms are a little more trumpet shaped, and turn from pink before blossoming into flowers tinged with orange, yellow, and white.

This gal is jessamine, also known as Carolina jessamine. It has extremely prolific golden yellow blooms that blossom at the end of winter.

The Southern Stem we’re chatting about today, however, is jasmine. The version we most often see down here is Confederate or star jasmine, which has very delicate creamy white blooms. These ambitious vines can grow to be 10-15 feet tall, at a rate of 12 to 24 inches per year!

Jasmine front door via Design Mom

The jasmine that’s most common in weddings, though, is a bit different — pinker and wispier.

Tanja Lippert (bouquet by Blush Floral Design)

I love it so much I used it in my own wedding bouquet!

Stephanie Williams, from Martha Stewart, Sean Money and Elizabeth Fay via Southern Weddings (bouquet by Tiger Lily Florist), Jesse Ryan via Southern Weddings (bouquet by Pollen Floral Art), and Jose Villa via Southern Weddings (bouquet by Flowerwild)

I’m certainly not the only one, though! I think brides love jasmine because its tendrils add an airy garden vibe to an otherwise formal bouquet — just the right note of “hand-picked.”

Martha Stewart, Landon Jacob via Southern Weddings, Christian Oth via Southern Weddings

I love when jasmine is included in centerpieces, because it seems to make the arrangements live larger than they are, since the dainty tendrils stretch out across the table.

Karen Mordechai (centerpieces by Ariel Dearie Flowers), Tory Williams (centerpiece by Rachel Mercier via 100 Layer Cake), from Martha Stewart

Speaking of spreading out, if you’re a jasmine fan, you must check out this installation created for a past Sunday Suppers dinner. Magical! Can you even imagine what that room smelled like??

Ariel Dearie Flowers (photo by Karen Mordechai)

Finally, I couldn’t find any cakes with jasmine vine, but I thought this stephanotis vine confection was great inspiration for what could be! And the wreath with jasmine vine was simply too pretty to leave out.

Wreath by Garden on the Square via Martha Stewart, cake from Martha Stewart

Tell me: Are you planning to incorporate jasmine vine into your bouquet? Do you have a hard time keeping all of the sweet smelling Southern blooms apart?

It brings me so much joy to introduce this inspirational shoot from Rachel Moore to y’all today. Inspired by the Southern charm and sophistication of great Southern names like Garden & Gun and Billy Reid, Rachel and her team got to work creating a shoot that boasts beautiful spring florals, intimate settings and manicured gardens with real-life couple Meredith + Cody. The twist? The love story that Rachel and her team were trying to create came to life! Read on for the romantic details!

“This fresh Spring day started at Lilly Belle’s in the upstairs bed and breakfast,” said Rachel. “The light was bright and soft. Meredith, our bride, wore a stunning laced BHLDN dress and her golden hair was crowned with fresh flowers. Cody, our groom, is pictured in his navy suit with a German Shorthaired Pointer.”

Oh, how I love this photo! True Southern grace always come with an infectious smile, don’t you think?

“We then proceed to Carnton Plantation and feature the historic estate and manicured gardens. The intimate reception table is set between a row of trees, features a mixture of brown and white china, homemade pecan pies, wooden dog placards, beautiful earthy flowers, vintage playing cards, whiskey decanters, deer antlers and champagne with blackberries.”

Y’all know how much we love real love stories! Meredith graciously told us about how she and Cody met. After scrolling through the next few photos, we were so thrilled to get the deets behind their five-year romance and how it fatefully led them to this shoot!

“Cody and I met our freshman year in college. We had the same math teacher, but our classes were back to back. Naturally, we would pass each other every day and catch the other’s eye from time to time. Cody and I go in your “opposites attract” category. I came from a small school in Nashville, was a perfectionist, and I was social but an introvert at heart. Cody, on the other hand, was always the life of the party, smart without every trying, never forgot a name, and was incredibly charming. I went to Knoxville devastatingly homesick for Nashville, catching rides home every weekend. Finally, a few weeks into the semester, I had to face my biggest fear: staying the weekend on campus. Somehow I ended up hanging out with Cody, and it changed everything. For the first time, I got to see Cody in his element: his city, his family, and abundant excitement for life. After that I never could quite shake him. There was something about being around him that brought the light-hearted and ridiculous side out of me in the best way possible. I learned that grades didn’t have to come at the expense of my college memories, and I learned that getting an A+ is not always worth the adventures missed out on.

That’s right! He proposed!! I’ll let Cody tell you all the juicy details:

I can tell you right now that I’ve always known I was going to marry Meredith. One of the first things I told her was, “You remind me of my mom.” (Romantic, right?) It sounds weird, but I am a huge momma’s boy. Meredith may not have known it at the time, but that was the best compliment she could have received. Anyway, fast forward a few years down the road. We graduated from UT, I started working, Meredith went to Vanderbilt, and we entered in to dating long distance. It wasn’t easy, and we knew that if we could survive a long distance relationship, we were in it for the long haul. Mere said, “I don’t think I want to be engaged during school.” Naturally, I proposed the day after she graduated.

We were at a wedding in December when Rachel unknowingly kicked my plan to propose in high gear. She asked Meredith’s friend, Tori (the bride) who we were and if we would be models for a styled shoot. Sure, we weren’t married yet, but I am a photographer myself and we jumped at the opportunity! As details for the shoot started unfolding, I picked up the phone and called Rachel. She LOVED the idea of a proposal during the shoot.

I talked to Mere’s parents, got the ring, and coordinated with Rachel (all under Meredith’s nose). Finally, the big day was finally here. I couldn’t sleep for three days before, but I wasn’t nervous. The best way I can describe it is that feeling you get before Christmas when you know you’re getting an awesome bike. You can’t sleep because you’re so excited — and I wasn’t getting a bike, I was getting a wife!

I hid the ring all day and we had so much fun at the shoot. There were numerous “marriage” comments but Meredith still had no idea what was about to happen. At the end of the day, Mere had changed into her getaway dress, and Rachel set up the shot for us to be “leaving the reception” so I could pop the question. Now, the whole reason we waited til the end of the shoot was so if Meredith cried, her makeup wouldn’t be messed up and ruin the entire shoot. Before I could get all of my words out, the waterworks were in full effect. Mere still didn’t believe it was happening (as her face shows in the pictures) until I pulled out the ring. Then, she said yes! After that, Rachel had brought us a bottle of champagne and captured the whole thing on photo and video. In the end, I’d say it worked out perfectly.

Giant hugs to Rachel and her team for sharing a shoot with us that’s full of beautiful ideas and truly amazing love stories!

We’ve seen our share of delicious food bars at weddings. At first, they’re a fun surprise. Then, they become a welcome part of weddings everywhere. (Hello biscuit bars and bourbon bars of the South!) When we first saw the images from Andi Mans of Lola + Stephen’s wedding, we stopped in our tracks. A pickle bar is definitely something we haven’t seen before, but now we’re smitten with the fun details and whimsical twist!

From the groom:

Who doesn’t love Pickles? When it came to our Southern vintage wedding with a twist, we knew we just had to have a Pickle Bar! What’s more refreshing on a hot summer day then biting into a cool, juicy, full-sour pickle? Our guests loved them! When I was little, my father took me on a trip to the Big Apple, where I fell in love with the cucumber’s cranky cousin, the pickle. Ever since then, I couldn’t get enough of them. I eat them with everything, including ice cream! When it came to our wedding, my soon-to-be wife, Lola knew to surprise me with a pickle bar made up of our favorite crunchy sticks from around the U.S.

We featured pickles from The Stage Deli in New York with their Full-Sour Power Pickles, Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market Pickles from Florida, and finally, our favorite, Britt’s Pickles from Seattle. They are 100% organic and come in flavors such as Pepper and Ginger and Hot and Sour!

Should you have a Pickle Bar? Darn tootin! My only advice is that you can never have too many — within an hour, our guests had gobbled up every last crunchy cuc.

What do y’all think of the pickle bar? Would you have one at your wedding?