Southern Weddings

We’re back with a fun wedding from Maile Lani! I absolutely love that Lane decided to include floral elements that had sentimental meaning to her. The succulents that dressed the reception tables were a nod to the summer she met Dan and the raw cotton that appeared interspersed throughout the wedding was a little tribute to her family, who farmed the crop for generations. Lane and her dream team of friends and family pulled all the flowers together themselves (and even pulled some from their neighbor’s yard!) and filled the wedding with their succulent creations. The newlyweds served up some Cajun delectables and then danced the night away to a soulful brass band. That’s how they do it in the Big Easy!

See all the photos from Lane + Dan’s wedding in their Real Wedding Gallery!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My wedding dress was by Pronovias. The material was point d’esprit lace with a ruched upper body, asymmetrical dropped waste and a full-skirt with hundreds of layers of the point-esprit edged in ruffled Spanish lace.
Describe your wedding flowers: The wedding flowers and décor were a true labor of love as we did all of it ourselves from start to finish. I started with two main elements that had sentimental meaning: succulents, which I discovered and fell in love with the summer I met Dan in Santa Monica, and raw cotton, which my family farmed in Alabama for generations. A lot of the stuff we used was just gathered from the surrounding community in the days before the weddings. We used ball moss on branches that had fallen around the LSU campus and gathered branches, leaves and wild plants from my parents and neighbor’s yards. My cousin and I were literally pulling magnolia leaves from the neighbor’s tree for our bouquets. To fill in the rest, I just used anything I loved and could find at local stores such as artichokes, kale, seeded eucalyptus, cymbidium orchids, Queen Ann’s lace and dusty miller.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? On a frenzied day full of questions, long-awaited greetings and congratulations, the most memorable moment for me was taking the long walk with my dad down the oak tree-lined aisle to the front porch where Dan was waiting. The walk was longer than a normal church aisle would be and for a while it was just my dad and me walking through the grass. Thankfully, that time allowed me to become centered and focus on the moment, my vows and our immediate family coming together right after the ceremony. I will remember and treasure those moments forever.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We’re looking forward to a long happy life together with our wonderful puppy Jax and eventually a few little Whipples.

Photographer: Maile Lani Photography // Venue: Houmas House Plantation // Florist: bride and friends // Wedding Cake Baker: Ambrosia // Paper Products: bride // Bride’s Dress: Pronovias // Bride’s Hair Accessories/Veil: Family heirlooms // Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka // Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J. Crew

Written with love by Nicole