Southern Weddings

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!

Written with love by Emily