Have you taken our 2013 survey yet? Thanks, y’all!

Oh my, this post makes me so happy! It’s been my pleasure to work with some amazing women during my time at Southern Weddings. I know they’ve worked their way into all of y’all’s hearts, too, so we thought it would be fun to check in with our “SW alums” on the occasion of our five-year anniversary!

This girl! Katharine and I started working at SW just days apart, and for our first two years, we were inseparable. I know her witty writing, timeless style, and love of candy have not been forgotten among the SW faithful! A little update from Ms KTW herself:

My handsome groom and I have navigated a few big changes and celebrated a number of milestones (most notably our first and second wedding anniversaries!) over the past couple years. Kyle and I loved being classmates so much in college that we decided to brave business school together. Our biggest lesson so far? If a marriage can survive graduate school, it can survive anything! We finish our MBA program this May, and I’m especially grateful to share another graduation with my best friend. In June, I’m making my first big move since 2009 to work as an internal consultant for Bank of America at company headquarters in Charlotte. Kyle will graduate from medical school in 2014, then plans to join me in the Queen City as a healthcare consultant for McKinsey & Co. In our free time, we enjoy blazing through our Netflix queue (me), performing at karaoke bars (him), and running the Duke trail (us).

P.S. For those of you who remember my candy addiction, my current favorites include gummy frogs, fruit runts, bottle caps, and Germany raspberries. Yum!

You know we love us some redheads around here! Happily, as you’ll see, we still have a healthy dose of Whitney in our lives!

So much has happened since my last day at SW! As many of you know, after four years at Southern Weddings, I decided to make the big move to New York City. Sometimes, though, the world has different plans. After 8 months in the city, I made my way back down to North Carolina to be close to my loved ones after a family emergency. My time in New York made me realize how very lucky I was to have grown up in the South, and if I had to move away to make that discovery, that’s okay! Now, I’m working as an event planner with A Southern Soiree and also handling the social media for Making Things Happen. I live in a pretty little yellow house in Raleigh with a cute new puppy, and I’ve never been more content.

Our office’s average style quotient definitely went down a few notches when we said goodbye to Sierra, and I think our sweetness levels did, too. We miss our favorite sorority girl, but are so proud of the life she’s made in Tennessee!

The week after graduation, I moved to Nashville and have been working as a news and features designer at Gannett’s Design Studio (small world – I put Lara’s mom, Celia’s column in the Pensacola paper!). In my off time, I shadow at Sony RED Entertainment, a promotions/distribution division of Sony Music (ran into former Bachelor contestant, Kacie B., at one of Jason Aldean’s #1 parties!) and work as an extra in for ABC’s Nashville (any of y’all watch??). Living in Music City, I go to plenty of shows (The Black Keys and Band of Horses are next on my list) and have been training for my first half marathon at the end of April.

Now, onto the gals that are still here!

On April 1, 2008, I was launching the SW blog and magazine at our very first launch party! Looking back at these images, it’s surreal to me. To go from that day 5 years ago, to this is just… it leaves me speechless.

On April 1, 2008, I was a junior in college. I had already been accepted to my summer internship at The Knot, and was probably nervously searching for housing in the city! John and I had been dating for a few years, and though I had my Martha Stewart subscription, I was just starting to discover wedding blogs…

In April of 2008, I was engaged to my now darling husband, and happily planning my very own Southern wedding. I was working as a corporate Account Executive for a cluster of radio stations in the Miami Market (and wearing all black suits, pearls and high-heels everyday!). I actually have the attached photo framed in our home, as it’s one of my favorites! This is BDK and I headed out for St. Patrick’s Day in 2008. As you can see by his outfit, it’s one of his favorite holidays! ;)

In April 2008, I was in Charlotte, attending my senior year of high school. I had just finished up a theatre show called “General Gorgeous,” where I played a superhero’s wife (ha!) and was managing our annual musical, “Cinderella” in addition to working on the senior issue of our school newspaper. I was also probably shopping for prom dresses :)

On April 1, 2008 I was weeks away from a milestone birthday and Kyle and I had just purchased plane tickets to fly to San Antonio for the NCAA Final Four. Our sweet Tar Heels were set to play that upcoming weekend and we decided to drop everything and travel to Texas. Unfortunately the games didn’t go as planned, but I was able to cross two things off my forever goal list – visit Texas and see the Tar Heels play in a Final Four.

Have you met our office mascot, Henrietta? Since she came to us in 2012, she was probably pre-egg in 2008. (Which would be… chicken?)

Wherever y’all were in 2008, we’re glad you’re here now! And this seems as appropriate a time as any to remind you that if you have some sweet graphic design skills, we think you should apply to join our team!

We’ve produced many an editorial shoot for our print editions over the years. (Y’all, we can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up for V6!) Though there are significantly less editorials to choose from than our 500+ real weddings, it’s still difficult for us to choose just a couple features from the many that have stolen our hearts. However, we prevailed! And we bring you some of the most darling photos from our favorites.

Carolina On My Mind, photographed by Joey + Jessica‘s for the V3 Cover!

Kristin: Hands down my favorite. I have been a loyal SW reader since sometime before V3 hit shelves. I remember when I saw the V3 cover for the first time and fell head over heels. It just shouts ‘Southern goodness’ to me. The images radiate freshness and simplicity and joy and of course I LOVED the peaches. The fact that this shoot was called “Carolina on My Mind’ probably didn’t hurt either. This shoot inspired a few details of my own wedding. The texture in her bouquet was the inspiration for my bridesmaids bouquets. The freshness and comfort of the setting played a big role in my decision to make our wedding reflect our favorite things.

Lara: I will never forget seeing the V3 shoot from Joey and Jessica for the first time. It was love at first sight! The bride’s casual sweet braid combined with the beautiful blooms and her relaxed joy made for a magical cover!

Sweet Love, photographed by Amelia Lyon.

Marissa: For some reason this shoot has always stuck with me. It’s different than our traditional aesthetic (and different than what I personally always fall for), and the BIG image of the model with the red lips is absolutely stunning!

Up, Up and Away (The Hot Air Balloon Shoot), photographed by Jose Villa.

Emily: There was definitely something magical about the hot air balloon shoot we put together for V3. Even though I am NOT an early bird and would almost never say anything positive about getting up at 3am (seriously, I am not kidding – 3am), I will admit it was absolutely mesmerizing to see the sun rise over the Blue Ridge Mountains while I stood in the middle of an empty field wet with dew and a hot air balloon inflated next to me. Plus, the shoot was over by 9am, which is a much shorter shoot day than I’m used to!!

South Carolina Polo Prep, photographed by A Bryan Photo.

Emily: Despite horrible red ants and blazing heat, I have such fond memories of the polo shoot because for me, it was a rare chance to step into another world for a day. We were embraced by the family who runs the polo farm where we were shooting, and it was so neat to see the daily pattern of their life from the inside out. Plus, one of my favorite things about shoot days is getting to work alongside talented and inspiring vendors, and this shoot had some of the best of the best! It doesn’t hurt that the final images are some of our most enduring.

Kristin: Preppy green goodness from the Polo Prep shoot. The gingham, the stripes, the simplicity of the flowers – I loved every detail and there were so many amazing things to take in. I loved the monogrammed linens and the miniature food. The bride’s capped-sleeved gown was so elegant and dainty! If I could get married again, I think the fresh and clean green/white/cream color palette might be the winner.

Paper, Cotton, Flour, photographed by Joey + Jessica.

Marissa: While this shoot is stunningly gorgeous, the memories from this shoot are by far some of my favorite SW memories to date. Must have been something about that Southern heat!

Yellow Rose of Texas, photographed by Ryan Ray.

Kristin: I left off the Yellow Rose of Texas shoot at first because I know it is a favorite of many. I fell in love with all the little children and loved the bright yellow against the Texas rolling hills and big blue sky. Oh my, those children and those bright yellow roses.

Lara: This shoot embodies what our core is — true love and joy!

Blue Ribbon Bounty, photographed by Joey + Jessica.

Nicole: For a lover of all things pie-related, this was a no-brainer. It was the gorgeous family-style table setup and the addition of beautiful china patterns that took this concept over the top for me.

Freshly Squeezed, photographed by KT Merry.

Nicole: Citrus and bright colors? How could I not love this shoot? With punchy patterns and a sweets table straight from heaven, I find inspiration in this shoot daily.

Family Heirlooms, photographed by Eric Kelley.

Lara: This is definitely my favorite shoot of all time for a billion reasons. Read the article in V5 for more on why this shoot carries my heart!

Now that’s a lot of gorgeous editorials! Be sure to pick up your copies of the magazine here to see more.

Five years of blogging under our belts is a big deal! So much has changed for Southern Weddings over the years, from the weddings we covered to the readers we’ve become friends with. We started looking at what the past five years looked like from a numbers point of view and had so much fun marveling over the stats. It’s shown us that y’all value the same things we value and that growing like kudzu is amazing and humbling.

Oh, the blog + online! My, it has grown. We’ve been around for the beginnings of Twitter, the launch of Pinterest and the introduction of Instagram. Five years worth of content also means a lot of counting backward (and reading old posts — so fun!). I have to give a huge high five to our intern, Emily 5.0, who helped us gather these giant numbers!

Here’s a little more about you, our readers, based on last year’s survey that y’all graciously helped us with. I love seeing all of this information come together and getting to know everyone a bit better!

We’re just getting started, my dears! We’re always looking to get to you know y’all better, as well as make the Southern Weddings experience greater and more helpful. We’d love for y’all to help us again with our 2013 survey! Brides, vendors, friends, family and general wedding-lovers can all pitch in!

Click here to get started. The survey should only take about five minutes to complete. Thank you so much in advance!

As you’ll see this afternoon, we’ve featured 546 real weddings over the past five years. Unsurprisingly, it was quite a challenge to narrow all of those down to get our top ten favorites of all time!! There are SO many beauties we had to leave off our list, and we definitely admit that many of our favorites were chosen for sentimental or personal reasons, as you’ll see below! Speaking of personal weddings, there are three that will always hold a special place at Southern Weddings — the three staffer weddings we’ve featured over the years: Katharine’s (here, here, and here), mine (here and here), and Kristin’s (here).

From oldest to newest, our ten all-time favorites:

Chelsea + Tec were a natural, unanimous pick, as they graced the front of our very first issue. Our cover couple will always have a special place in our hearts! We love that they showed us weddings could be relaxed and beautiful at the same time. You can see more of Chelsea + Tec’s wedding on Jose’s blog here.

Says Lara, “Hands down, Catherine + Ben’s celebration from V1 is my favorite. It’s still as stunningly beautiful today as it was years ago, and Catherine is now a dear friend!” While I was researching for this feature, I stumbled across a post written by Bryan Johnson when we featured Catherine + Ben’s wedding on the SW blog, and it was neat and funny to see early impressions of SW! You can also see our original posts on C + B’s big day here and here.

Nicole chose Victoria + Nishan’s wedding because it contained the VERY FIRST wedding image she can ever remember saving to her computer, long before Pinterest existed. She loved how the bride described their style as “refined elegance with a focus on nature,” and their vined tent installation stole her heart immediately. You can see our original posts on V + N’s big day here and here.

Ceara + Nate’s wedding was my first pick, as I remember very clearly how much it captivated me. In fact, I even wrote a post about it on my personal blog back before I worked for SW! I was captivated then by the juxtaposition of tuxedo elegance and a country environment – something more common now, but the first time I had ever seen it! I actually re-built C + N’s posts with larger images just for this occasion, so be sure to go take a peek here and here!

Says Nicole, “Kristin + Kincaid’s wedding is so very “Texas” with the perfect punch of yellow. I still think about this wedding all the time and how it’s fun, relaxed, celebratory and beautiful all at the same time — just how I like my weddings. You can see their celebration online here and here.

I kind of had to include Lindsey + Tyson’s wedding as one of my picks, because I can distinctly remember emailing Lara that I would “die” if she didn’t accept this wedding for V3 publication. Considering I staked my life on it, it had better be one of my favorites! I still love all of the refined peachy details and beautiful photography by Kate Headley. You can see all of L + T’s wedding here and here.

Rounding out our V3 picks (a popular issue for favorites!) is the wedding of Ali + Matt. Kristin loved the “house and home” themed reception, complete with a pie bar and quilts sprawled out in the garden, which seemed to her comfortable and subtly romantic. You can see all of Ali + Matt’s wedding here and here.

Says Marissa, “I love the mixture of classic details and a rustic locale in Natalia + Levi’s wedding. It feels warm and home-y with just the right amount of glamour. And of course, Natalie’s Southern bump is perfection!” You can see all of Natalia + Levi’s wedding here and here.

Says Kristin, “I am sure it is no surprise that this bright, preppy V4 wedding is one of my favorites. The fresh and warm colors mixed with a million tiny details stole my heart. I even emailed Calder Clark after seeing this wedding to try to track down the green and white fabric that she used for the table runners. I wanted to make curtains for our house out of that delicious fabric. Seriously – the invitation suite, the cake, the bow ties – I loved it all.” See more from Becky + Cameron’s wedding here and here.

Our final and newest wedding was chosen by Marissa, who said, “I know Whitney + Clarke’s wedding is newer, but it’s by far my favorite we’ve ever featured. I absolutely am obsessed with Whitney’s dress, the location, and the perfectly placed monograms. When I think about a classic Southern wedding, I see this in my dreams! No lie!” With that kind of an endorsement, we had to include it! You can see the rest of W + C’s wedding here and here.

So, what do y’all think? Did we include one (or more?) of your favorites? Like I said, there were so many we had to leave off this list, so I think Ashley + Steve (here + here), Stacey + Adam, Jennifer + Kyle (here + here), Jeni + Nate (here + here), and Natalie + Wade (here + here) should get honorable mentions!

Be sure to leave a comment with your all-time favorite SW wedding, and/or instagram a pic for this week’s contest!

Oh my — now that we have five issues under our belt, it’s time to celebrate our official fifth birthday! The first post on the Southern Weddings blog was published on April 1, 2008, making today the big 5-nil for us. And, if you’ll allow me to say it, we are as happy as goats in a briar patch. Last year we celebrated with a rundown of our history, but this year, we decided to extend things a bit, and have planned a full week of surprises! We’ll be sharing our favorite images, shoots, and weddings from the past five years; offering up a few facts and figures; asking for your input in our annual survey; reminiscing with a few favorite old friends you might remember; and, of course, doling out a few prizes!

Speaking of contests, I’m kicking off the first one right now! This is for all of our “vintage” readers, those who have been with us for quite some time (or, perhaps, have been lucky winners more recently!). We know many of y’all treat your copies of the magazine like collector’s items (which never ceases to amaze and delight us!). So, if you happen to own all FIVE Southern Weddings editions (including the elusive V1), we’d love for you to tweet or instagram a pic for us to see! Be sure to use hashtag #iloveswmag so we can keep track. At the end of the week, we’ll draw one random winner from the group to receive his or her choice of print from our shop.

This next contest is open for everyone — or at least everyone who loves Southern Weddings! Since we’ll be sharing some of our favorites from the past five years this week, we thought it would be fun to see y’all share some of yours! Tweet or instagram a pic of your all-time favorite feature from the blog or magazine, and use hashtag #iloveswmag so we can take a peek! You can either snap a pic of the actual magazine page, or save a pic from the blog. We’ll draw a second random winner from this group, and might even share some of your pics on the blog in the round-up on Friday!

Yahoo! We’re so excited to have the chance to look back, but even more excited about what’s to come. Hugs and biscuits for you all!