Southern Weddings

If their second date story was any indication of what Megan + David’s wedding would be like, a good sense of humor was what we expected. The newlyweds delivered with a ceremony and reception that was full of witty signage, fun bridesmaids and wide grins. Of course, honoring heritage and home are not far behind in things you’ll notice about their wedding. From the theme (cotton, a nod to Megan’s grandparents who grew it in Texas) to the sweets (cookies shaped in home states), Southern charm abounds. We’re giving out big hugs to Color and Dust who shared this wedding with us!

One of our wedding themes was cotton. My grandparents were cotton farmers in west Texas and my uncle still farms there today. When we started contemplating flower arrangements cotton, just seemed like a special way to pay tribute to my heritage. Much of the cotton used in our wedding came from my uncle’s farm, which was such a sweet gift, especially since there was a drought and a lot of the cotton did not make it that year. Our sweet photographer, Kelsey, introduced us to her friend Tristian from Gracy Lu Originals who made all of our bouquets, boutonnières, corsages, my hairpiece and garter, and our flower girl’s headband. For our table arrangements, the drought really worked in our favor. My friend Kalli had the great idea to go out to my parent’s property, a place that holds a lot of special childhood memories, and cut dried wild flowers and plants to place on the tables.

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. David’s uncle and cousin gifted us with their violin and viola musical talents and played our pre-wedding music selections and the hymns we sang during the ceremony. Our processional was “All of My Days” by Alexi Murdoch, my entrance was the end of “Sigh No More” by Mumford and Sons, our recessional was “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Our first dance was to “In My Life” by Johnny Cash and the father-daughter dance was to “Waltz Across Texas” by Ernest Tubb. During our cake cutting, we played “When I’m Sixty Four” by The Beatles and during the bouquet toss, “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry. The Grand March was a 10-15 minute montage of Frankie Yankovic Polkas, my favorite being The Pennsylvania Polka.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? My family is Czech and anyone who has ever been to a Texas-Czech wedding knows that the party doesn’t get started until the dance floor is opened up with the Grand March, a traditional Czech wedding dance that my sweet aunts and uncles led all of our guests in. Only the people leading the dance have to know the steps and everyone else just follows hand in hand through all the twists and turns. It was so much fun and all our guests were laughing as they got tangled up in knots. With the help of Randy’s Bar-B-Que, our guests were served a fine Texas spread with all of the fixin’s. Our caterer even incorporated a traditional Czech sausage from grandparent’s hometown in West Texas. Guests were encouraged to BYOB (bring your own bib) for dinner and vintage hankies were provided for those that forgot. My dad and David painted all of the signs for our wedding with favorite Southern phrases and put together a ceremony backdrop out of old wooden fence panels. Our wedding was held in my hometown at the Chautauqua where I grew up performing community theatre with my mom, sister, and bridesmaid Jennifer.

Megan + David’s wedding was BYOB — Bring your own bib! Southern fare sure does get messy, luckily the newlyweds provided some vintage hankies for those guests who forgot to bring their own.

We had several vintage-style cakes made with different flavors and icings by 4 Goodness Cakes in Ennis, Texas, so everyone could find something they liked. Our cake stands and the wood for our centerpieces were made from wood that David’s dad cut down from their family cabin on the lake. David’s mom and dad lugged it all the way across the country for us. The rest of our wedding desserts were made by my sweet aunts and grandma who really gifted us with a labor of love making Kolaches (a traditional Czech dessert), pecan pies (a Texas favorite), mini pecan tarts, and icing cookies in the shapes of Texas, Minnesota (David’s home state), cotton, and loons (Minnesota’s state bird and a favorite visitor at David’s family cabin).

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. David and I met at a training we both attended for work. On our first date, we ate dinner and talked for few hours and then went for a walk and talked some more. I was intrigued but it was really our second date that had me hooked. We live in DC so David picked me up and drove me to the National Mall where all the monuments are, handed me a camera (he had another for himself) and told me there were only three rules: we could only take pictures of things that were awkward, inappropriate, or amazing. Whoever had the best picture at the end of the night would win. We spent the next hours running around the mall snapping pictures in what became a wonderful game of truth or dare involving unwitting tourists and some tricky acrobatics. Following the game, we ate dinner at a Lebanese hole-in-the-wall that has since become one of our favorites and ended the night smoking cigars and dangling our feet off the edge of a dock overlooking the Potomac River. That was the night that I decided I wasn’t going to date anyone else until I saw where things went with David. We never really looked back. David ended up proposing just steps away from that same dock less than a year later.
In what month did you get married? October
How many guests attended your wedding? Approximately 200
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Because we were planning our wedding long-distance I was not sure if I would be able to fly home before the wedding to go dress shopping with my mom. A couple months after we got engaged, David and my friends surprised me by flying my mom up to DC to go dress shopping with me. We didn’t find “the one” on that shopping trip, but it was still such a special memory. Ultimately, it was my mom who located the dress shop I ended buying my dress from. She called the shop owner and told her about the dress I was looking for and explained that I was having to do this part without my mom. When I showed up to the shop, the owner, Surki, gave me a hug and said “I told your mom I’d take care of you like she would,” and she really did take care of me every step of the way.
Did you decide to do a “first look”? We did. Leading up to our wedding, David and I knew we would be really busy on that day. Before we shared our union with all of our guests, we wanted to share an intimate moment with just the two of us and the first look was really such a special way to do that.
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? Romans 5:1-11 (ESV) and Romans 8:38-39 (ESV).
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Planning a DIY wedding long-distance. David and I flew into town one week before the wedding so we absolutely could not have planned this wedding long-distance if my parents had not played such a big role in helping us by running around taking pictures of different wedding venues, tasting cakes and catering, etc. The week leading up to our wedding and our wedding day was one of the most loving experiences David and I have had. We had such a sweet group of family (on both sides) and friends that helped bring all the moving parts together. The greatest wedding gift we received was that special day they all gave us.
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? Less than $10,000
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Ask your loved ones to be a part of your day. We were showered with so much love through gifts of people’s service.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Marriage is a life-long lesson in selflessness. I look at the couple we are today and how much we have grown together in the Lord in this short time and I cannot wait to see where we will be five years from now, let alone twenty-five years from now.

Written with love by Nicole