It’s a match made in heaven when two Carolina fans get together, and with Roy Williams and the nationals champions at the wedding it can’t get any better! Amy + Eric’s wedding was full of tradition, from Eric’s proposal at the Davie Poplar tree to the toasting flutes that were used by Amy’s parents. The reception took place and was catered by the {Carolina Club} and the couple and guests loved the cupcakes from {Cakewalk}. Another one of the bride’s favorite things was the flowers by {Fresh Affairs}. This memorable wedding was captured by {Photogen–inc}. The bride wore a dress from {David’s Bridal} and bridesmaid dresses were by {Melissa Sweet}. To see more of Amy + Eric, check out Eliesa’s {blog}.
How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. I had just moved to Chapel Hill for graduate school and Eric was working for the basketball team at Carolina. Eric set up “noon ball” twice a week with people in the athletic department at UNC. Usually, we play basketball but that day, a friend invited me to play ultimate Frisbee with the group. I remember Eric as the guy who talked the most, laughed the most, and never stopped moving. Actually, I don’t think I could think of a better description of him.
Describe the proposal: Eric took me to a very nice dinner and suggested we grab ice cream on Franklin Street following dinner. We had to walk through campus to get there and when we got in front of the Davie Poplar tree, a Chapel Hill landmark, Eric dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him. I don’t remember exactly what he or I said but I remember he couldn’t stop shaking.
What attracted me to my husband was: His energy and passion. He can and will make friends with everyone and anyone he comes into contact with and wants to do everything for everybody. He puts other people’s needs before his own without even thinking and has such a love of life.
Why do you love your husband? He makes me laugh and has a great heart. I know one day he’ll make a great father.
What attracted me to my wife was: The cut-off worn orange t-shirt she was wearing. I remember meeting her playing ultimate Frisbee and saying all day that I was guarding orange because I didn’t know her name. In all seriousness, there were many qualities that attracted me to Amy. She is beautiful, outgoing, fun to be around, athletic, smart, and independent. We always had fun together and always had something to talk about. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with a person that had all of these great qualities.
The weather on our wedding day was: Beautiful and sunny. Hot enough for the bridesmaids to need to take hair dryers to their dresses prior to the ceremony.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? At first, the inspiration was the outdoors and I chose brown and green as our colors (Eric was mad no Carolina blue was included). Since we had intended to get married outdoors, I was going to go with an earthy feel with rocks and grass and fans for programs. Things changed, we got married inside, and I only partially followed that theme.
Favorite design element of your big day: The rock place cards. Several months ago, I made Eric stop at a river on our way home from vacation in the mountains. We took off our shoes, took out our coolers, and went wading for rocks. Eric thought I was crazy (and being cheap) but I had a vision and he was good about complying with all my crazy wedding requests. I laugh when I remember us lugging these rocks back to our car, pretending for the sake of the other picnickers, that we weren’t crazy.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My roommates dragged me out the week I got engaged and it was the quickest and most painless decision I made. I tried on two dresses, liked the first, loved the second.
Describe your wedding flowers: Gorgeous. I gave my florist one inspiration picture but beyond that, I had little involvement. I trusted my florist and he did an amazing job.
Describe your wedding cake: Cupcakes! I loved them and apparently so did everyone else. We realized people had started grabbing the cupcakes before we cut the “cake.” We did an impromptu cake cutting and by the end of the night, there were no cupcakes to be found
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The photo booth was a hit. I have our amazing photographer to thank for that detail. Our photographer, Eliesa, has a wedding giveaway each year and the winning couple in the contest gets free wedding photography. Eliesa is the best in the business and we were SO thankful to win. Since we won the contest, we had a little wiggle room in the budget and I was able to justify splurging on a photo booth.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The guest list. When I say Eric makes friends with every and anyone, I am not kidding. Cutting people from the list was difficult
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? Our toasting flutes were the same ones my parents used at their wedding 35 years ago. Our names and wedding dates are engraved next to theirs. Also, Eric’s father married us. It’s not a tradition but it was special.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Riding around campus in golf carts, taking pictures with our wedding party. We had a blast and it was great to be able to hang out with each other and our friends before the ceremony.
Scariest moment? None really. Except when the coordinator at the reception site came up to us and told us there were two guests who didn’t have a spot at a table. We had not invited these people, but we knew who they were and they knew many of our guests, which made for an uncomfortable situation. We debated between pulling up a chair somewhere vs. telling the guests they were not invited. It dawned on me that there was a reception at the Carolina Inn, a reception site very close to our own, and it appeared they were at the wrong venue. About that same time in dawned on them that we were a different bride and groom.
Funniest moment? Eric golfed that day with his groomsmen and on the first tee, he swung his driver, made contact, and let go of the club. It is still hanging on the trees at the first hole of the Finley Golf Course. For me, as I was struggling to get into my wedding dress, I commented how graceful my entrance was and at that same moment, I elbowed one of my bridesmaids right on the side of the face. It was fitting that what is such a magical moment for most girls was full of bloopers and laughter for me.
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: Eric stepped on my dress on our way out to our first dance and then the DJ played the wrong first dance song. The DJ realized his mistake and transitioned from the slower Elton John song to our song, Jason Mraz “I’m Yours.” Everyone I talked to later said they thought we planned it that way.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Joyful, exhilarating, unforgettable
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Don’t get roped into what the industry says you need to make your wedding great. Keep your guests in mind, keep it personal, and if it doesn’t bring you joy, don’t do it.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: Prior to the wedding, someone told us to take a night the week of the wedding and go on a date, just the two of us, with no wedding talk. We didn’t actually take this advice but we did go to the beach the weekend prior with some friends to relax.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We are looking forward to gaining a sense of normalcy and being able to spend time with each other without talking about guest lists or registries or timelines.
Any DIY items? Eric thinks a better question would be what I didn’t do myself. I made the Save the Dates, invitations, programs, place cards, table numbers, half the centerpieces, charity cards, and photo booth reminder cards. My competitive pe
rsonality took over…I thought I could do most things as well as anyone else and for cheaper
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