Southern Weddings

Amy + Bryan, Balitmore natives, might have a few Northern tendencies in their blood, but their wedding was full-on Southern. The two decided to tie the knot in Charleston, where Bryan surprised Amy with a getaway and a proposal, so there was plenty of reason to adopt the beautiful city as their own personal sanctuary. I adore that Amy + Bryan decided to go traditional on a few things — the ceremony music and the white cake (with stunning flowers!), for instance — but added their own twist with hot pink invitations and retro marquee signage. But these are all teeny details compared to the father-daughter dance. Amy’s dad wrote the song for their dance, recorded the vocals with Amy’s mom and played it back at the reception so the two could still dance together. How amazing!!

As Kristin would say, we’re sending Paige Winn a big squeeze for sharing this day with us.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. 
I had a hard time deciding on a wedding dress — I had serious love for a few different dresses. Ultimately, my wedding dress had every component that I wanted. It was the prettiest dress that I had ever seen or put on my body. That was such a happy day and I still love it so much.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? We did a little behind-the-door chat. It was actually pretty emotional, and luckily Paige Winn still made our pictures look somewhat attractive! It was so nice to hear Bryan’s voice for a minute prior to our wedding.

Stems created the most gorgeous, beautiful arrangements. There are pictures of me crying when seeing my flowers for the first time! They were pink, girly, romantic, soft, colorful, and playful – just all around gorgeous. All of the bridesmaids had variations of hot pink, white, and light pink flowers with each of the bouquets wrapped in different shades of pink ribbons. My flower girl wore a flower halo that she donned proudly and looked so beautiful in. My bouquet was an amazing display of girly pink wonderfulness, wrapped in a piece of lace ribbon from my mom’s wedding dress. The guys all had white flowers wrapped in pink ribbon, and they looked so handsome wearing them. There were displays of single flower arrangements on the tables in antique containers, and mixes of color blocked arrangements on other tables. It was fab!

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? 
Possibly my five-year-old niece telling me, “When the wedding comes, the wedding comes.” I’m still trying to dissect that deep advice. Another memorable moment was the look on my future husband’s face as I walked down the aisle. So incredible.

For my walk down the aisle, I chose Canon in D, a song that I had always envisioned myself walking down the aisle to; I think it is the most beautiful classical song. Way to go Bach! We decided on Brad Paisley’s “Then” for our first dance. We were debating some other songs for our first dance, and then this one sort of took me by surprise. I would hear it on the radio, and it would make me cry and think of our wedding day. I love when he talks about taking his fiancé to the place where he first met her to propose. Even though Charleston was not where we met, it was where we got engaged and the place where we were going to say our vows. It just felt right. My dad wrote me a song for our father-daughter dance. My mom and dad sung it and recorded it together so that we could play it at the wedding and my dad and I could still dance together. It was so sentimental, and more special than any other song I would have found.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? 
We went about as Southern as us Northerners could possibly get, from the all-you-can-eat Sticky Fingers sweet potato casserole and pulled pork at our rehearsal dinner, to the shrimp and grits and hush puppies at our reception. We had stations, farmhouse tables, vintage china, and mint julep containers for flowers. We wanted it to feel like you were in the South, and wanted it to just be really unique and fun.

What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? 
Stay calm and be patient and polite. Also, know that it is all going to be worth it, and that the day will be better than you could have ever imagined. Have FUN. Lastly, if  at all possible, hire a wedding planner.

Our wedding cake was a four-tier cake with cascading ombre flowers ranging from hot pink to white. Each layer had a different kind of frosting. On the top of our cake were two little hand crafted clay birds. It was almost too beautiful to eat!

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: 
I think it would have to be our sparkler exit. We couldn’t believe our wedding was ending, but all of our friends and family were lined up with sparklers waiting for us to leave. As we were leaving, fireworks were going off for the RiverDogs baseball team. It was magical. We could feel the love from everyone, and loved exiting into an old fashioned London black cab. We would probably pay good money to be in that moment one more time.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. 
We met in the huge Baltimore blizzard of 2010 after a few too many drinks. We randomly met each other in the street and had an instant connection, sort of a “right place at the right time” situation. We then went sledding at 3 a.m.! Our first official date came a few days later at my favorite Mexican Restaurant. The rest is history.

Tell us all about the proposal! 
The proposal took place in Charleston. I thought that we were taking a little trip to Connecticut to visit Bryan’s family. Literally at the gate for Charleston, Bryan jokingly asked me if I wanted to go there instead. I said that I did, and he told me to look at my boarding pass. After realizing that he had planned a surprise trip, I asked him if he was going to propose (sorry Bryan!). He told me that he wasn’t, and the next thing I knew we were on our way. After a brief shopping trip on King’s Street for shoes that were not Uggs and clothes that were not sweaters, we made our way to our hotel room. Bryan had a big “Will you marry me?” sign hung on the wall and had flowers all around our hotel room. Then he was down on one knee! I was so shocked!

When did y’all get married? April 12, 2013

How many friends, family, and loved ones attended your wedding? 
120

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 
E.E. Cummings- I carry your heart. 1 Corinthians 13. Each read by our aunts.

Did you have something borrowed, something blue, and something new? My something blue was my “I Do” stickers on the bottom of my shoes – a must have! My something new was my wedding dress, and something borrowed was the lace from my mom’s wedding dress.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? 
The distance and the travel. Thank goodness for the amazing Lizz Akerman at Southern Protocol. She made the process easy, but it was still challenging being so many miles away and communicating via phone and email.

What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? 
Lizz Akerman at Southern Protocol. She gets the job done and is so amazing and talented at what she does. We could not have done any of it without her. We are also a little bit obsessed with Paige Winn, and happen to adore Anne Bowen at Stems, Scotti Kline, and Sarah Murdoch at 428 Main.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? 
We are looking forward to buying our first house at some point in time and having children, and maybe getting a golden doodle. We’re also going to continue to have more adventures that begin with an idea as crazy as two kids from Baltimore getting married at a plantation in the South. Lastly, we are looking forward to just spending time with our amazing families and with each other.

Photographer: Paige Winn | Videographer: Hart to Hart Media  | Planner: Lizz Akerman | Invitations + Custom Fabric: Scotti Cline Designs | Ceremony Venue: Lowndes Grove Plantation, | Reception Venue: Lowndes Grove Plantation | Florist: Anne Bowen, Stems | Wedding Cake: FISH | Caterer: FISH | Rentals: Sarah Murdoch | Bride’s Gown: La Sposa, Style: Sala | Hair Stylist: Hunter Johnson | Makeup Artist: Jennifer Fernandez | Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Ivy and Aster | Groom’s Attire: J.Crew | Groomsmen Attire: Mens Warehouse

Paige Winn is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory

Written with love by Nicole