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?

Gals, pull that box of tissues a little closer. Bride Casey (you may remember her from here) commissioned Catherine Orr to create a short family documentary video about her relationship with her mom, a stage-four breast cancer survivor who also happens to be her best friend. The two kept the project a secret for months, until Casey gave the final video to her mom the day before her wedding. Please enjoy the beautiful result.

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

Happy Friday, my dear friends! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to do absolutely nothing this weekend. Emily and I traveled to South Carolina for another V6 photo shoot this week and the next four weekends are full of my own personal travel plans. So I intend to just enjoy my apartment for the next two days (and catch up with my momma on Sunday, of course!).

Speaking of travel, we were blissfully (and okay, jealously,) soaking in the photos from Emily’s honeymoon to Nevis, where she and John stayed at the beautiful Montpelier Plantation and Nisbet Plantation.

With two shoots for V6 now finished, we think it’s high time we gave you a proper sneak peek! Last week’s shoot with Katie Stoops was berry exciting!

We’re even giving away two High Cotton bow ties from the shoot to celebrate! Enter here.

We think moms are the backbone of the South and love that weddings and Mother’s Day are both wonderful excuses to publicly honor them. We posted a few of our favorite mom-centered wedding moments.

Real weddings steal our hearts!

Molly Gee + Justin’s Mississippi wedding was full of lovely details, gorgeous flowers and the bride’s own designs! See it here.

Kelly + Corey’s military wedding proved that distance is no obstacle in the face of true love! See it here.

Some happy news for the weekend

Congratulations to all of the winners of our Southern Surcees Giveaway! Olivia won the Butter My Butt and Call Me A Biscuit book, Melissa B. won the pink bow clutch, Cait T. won the engraved iced tea spoons, Holly won the “Bless Your Heart” pendants, Peyton won the Lilly Pulitzer iPhone 4/4S case in Delta Zeta and Kathleen won the state tea towel in North Carolina! Winners, be on the lookout for an email from me!

We just love Sarah’s Stands and are so excited to hear that she’s debuting a new collection on Monday. The Simply Stunning collection is beautiful, durable and affordable. Read all about her new products here and head to her shop to snatch up one of these lovelies before they’re gone!

If you’re local to the Chapel Hill area, save the date for our next yard sale on May 18 from 9 am to 11 am. We’re clearing out our closets and selling general wedding supplies such as books, fabric, candles and votives, vases and glassware. All proceeds will go to charity. Email me at nicole@iloveswmag.com for address information!

Be sure to head over to our Facebook Friday. Dianne Lisette is sharing something pretty with us!

We’re sending out hugs and happy thoughts to all the belles and beaus getting married this weekend, including our Southern Bride Blogger, Elizabeth! Congrats, y’all!

Enjoy the weekend! Do you have any fun plans? Tell me about them in the comments below.

Moms are the backbone of the South, don’t you think? Strong, gracious, graceful, loving, wise, and usually perfectly perfumed, they gave us our best recipes, our first lessons in hospitality, and, if we were lucky, our most deep-seated sense of security and self-worth. One of the most wonderful parts of a wedding day is getting a chance to publicly honor our mothers. Here, in honor of Mother’s Day, a few of our favorite photographs to remember these moments by.

Cyn Kain, Tanja Lippert, Live View Studios, Bamber Photography

Bamber Photography, Sarah McKenzie, Jo Photo, Graham Terhune

Bamber Photography, Aaron Snow via Christina Leigh Events, Elaine Palladino, Loft Photographie, Elaine Palladino

Amalie Orrange, Renee Sprink, Loft Photographie, Renee Sprink, Paige Jones

Loft Photographie

Go hug your mama today, belles! And happy Mother’s Day to all of our mamas reading — we know you’re out there! :)

Amalie Orrange, Bamber Photography, Christina Leigh Events, Cyn Kain, Elaine Palladino, Graham Terhune, Jo Photo, Live View Studios, Loft Photographie, Paige Jones, Renee Sprink, and Sarah McKenzie are delightful members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!