Southern Weddings

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Y’all didn’t I say this wedding was amazing? Bright graphic details ruled the night at Katie + Max’s reception and most of them were handmade by the couple! Even their corn hole boards were designed by K + M and then painted by Emily Brown Lacroix at Merriment Events. Standing out from the crowd of plain white cakes is the couple’s three-tiered sweet concoction based on Damien Hirst’s “Albumin, Human, Glycated.” Art-inspired desserts? They’re now a favorite in my book. Biggest hugs to Jodi Miller Photography for sharing this fun day with us!

P.S. Love the details of this wedding? Be sure to check out Courtney’s recent post on Revel — a Shopping Guide based on Katie + Max’s style!

What was the biggest challenge you faced when planning your wedding? (From the groom) Finding an amazing photographer was tough. Katie and I both professionally work with lighting and photography, so you can imagine our expectations were pretty high. Luckily, we knew from the moment we saw the first few pictures from our engagement shoot, that we had found exactly the right photographer.
Favorite design element of your big day: We loved the cornhole boards, and just couldn’t believe how well they turned out. We did the design and Emily Brown Lacroix for Merriment Events painted the boards. They look so professional that I have a hard time believing that they weren’t bought in a store. Emily made large stencils from the design to paint the board. She color-matched the paint using swatches we had sent so that everything matched the colors we had been using for details in the wedding.
What was your reception like? We loved our reception! It was held under a Sperry tent in my parent’s front yard. It almost felt like a circus tent underneath, especially with all of the lights on. We chose to have a Southern comfort food buffet. Everything felt so open, and it was really easy to see everyone. After dinner, the band began to play. We didn’t have a dance floor, so everyone ended up dancing in the mud, which was awesome!
Describe some of the decorations or décor elements you used: We had three long tables that formed a U-shape. We chose to go simple with the white linens, and had many colorful details that popped out against them. Aside from the centerpiece floral arrangements, we made hand embroidered and stuffed muslin hearts for the place settings. Each one had a guest’s name printed on a little hot pink flag that was attached to the heart with a pin. We then made flags of a similar design and color to wrap around our blue striped paper straws. We designed some really colorful table numbers. For the buffet cards, we cut out the name of the dish from kraft paper and glued white paper behind it. We then finished it off by sewing a stitch around the edge of the paper. Toward the end of the evening, we were served mini pies. To embellish them, we made little hot pink flags again and wrapped them around toothpicks that stuck into the pies. One of our favorite parts of the wedding was the untraditional guest book. Instead of having guests sign a book, we thought it would be great if they signed a piece of art that we could display in our home. We bought a blank 18” munny, a vinyl designer ‘toy’, and painted a pattern onto it with our wedding colors. Using a munny also had significance to us because we love and collect vinyl art.
What advice would you give to someone planning his or her wedding? Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to remember to hold on to it. If your wedding doesn’t feel inspired, it runs the risk of being less memorable.
Describe your wedding cake: It was inspired by Damien Hirst’s “Albumin, Human, Glycated”. We substituted our wedding colors for the ones that were in his painting.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Making more movies, and pursuing our lifelong dream of relaxation, good music, good food and amazing friends and family.

Photographer: Jodi Miller Photography // Planner: Merriment Events // Designer: Merriment Events, the bride and groom // Venue: Kilmarnock, Virginia // Florist: Merriment Events // Wedding Cake Baker: The Buttercream Bee // Mini Pies: Sweetest Thing Bakery // Caterer: Mosaic Unique Events // Bride’s Dress: Ouma // Hair Stylist: Avenue 42 Designs // Makeup Artist: Avenue 42 Designs // Bride’s Shoes: Delman Shoes // Bride’s Jewelry: Tiffany & Co. // Groom’s Fashion: Al’s Attire // Paper Goods: designed by the bride and groom, invitations and save the dates printed by Thousand Pound Press // Rentals: Classic Party Rentals, Skyline Tent Company, Festive Fare // Linens: BBJ Linen and Classic Party Rentals // Ceremony Décor: Honeycomb Balls from Devra Party Corp., glassine bags from Garnish // Reception Décor: Table number frames from Ikea, napkins printed by For Your Party, straws from Garnish, cornhole set from Cornhole Worldwide, painted by Merriment Events, munny from Kidrobot // Lighting: Skyline Tent Company // Band: Northridge booked via Sam Hill Entertainment

Jodi Miller Photography and Merriment Events are a part of our fabulous Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Want more awesome details? How about these:
Melissa + Matthew’s DIY wedding chock full of colors here and here
Our Multicolored Wedding Details Pinterest Board

Written with love by Nicole