Southern Weddings

My fiance and I got engaged at the Pineapple Fountain in Charleston, SC. A perfect southern wedding for us would be held outside, on a family estate in Charleston, with the entire town invited. There would be local foods (nothing from more than a 100-mile radius), the drinks would be stiff, banjos would be played. It would be a weekend gathering of friends and family, warm weather, cool drinks and fantastic music.

My heart is in Louisiana so my perfect dream southern wedding would involve traditional Louisiana cuisine. It would be on a plantation setting with with moss hanging from the huge oak trees. The wedding on the front porch and the reception in the court yard. There would be jazz, blues, and zydeco music played all night, with lots of dancing and laughter all night long.

My fiance and I are both from New Orleans and are in the process of planning our wedding. Unfortunately, his family lost EVERYTHING in Katrina, so we see our wedding as an opportunity to both gather the entire family together again (as we’re all spread out now) and celebrate this amazing city that we’re so fond of. That is our idea of a perfect Southern Wedding, and we plan to include a venue that is characteristic of New Orleans, and special touches such as Roman Candy, fresh hot beignets (donuts) and Sazaracs (New Orleans’ official cocktail).

My Southern Wedding would be at a beautiful estate strung with clear twinkling lights and full of fireflies. We’d drink mint juleps and iced tea from mason jars and take photos on the porch swing. We would gather all of our family together for a slow, relaxed weekend of socialization full of Southern comfort and hospitality.

When I think of southern weddings, I think of my South Carolina and Louisiana background. I think of white tents on green lawns that back up to the bayou. Large oak trees with hanging moss in front of a big white plantation. Fireflies dancing in the night and mason jars and candles providing the slightest flicker of light as it turns dark. Camellias and cotton in the centerpieces. I think of gospel choirs and soul food with a twist. Crawfish etouffee, shrimp and grits, peach cobbler, pecan pie, and beignets. The jazz music would play during the cocktail hour before leading into the huge band that provides hours of entertainment and shag dancing and zydeco. I think of having a little bit of SEC football featured with the groom’s cake and lots of debate around the whiskey bar about who will have the best football season. The bride and groom don’t leave the party because the southern hospitality embedded deep down inside them knows that they need to stay because they’re gracious hosts and because they’re having the time of their lives.

Charities to feature:I am on the organizing committee (in charge of gown collection) for Brides Against Breast Cancer in Orlando.you can find more info here: http://bridesagainstbreastcancer.org/I know there is a lot out there for breast cancer, but here too you do not have to spend a penny: anyone can donate their wedding dress to be sold on our tour around the country.. Some brides-to-be find their dream gowns at our sale!! All the proceeds are used to grant wishes of terminally ill patients.If you hear anyone who wants to "trash the dress"… please refer them to me!!!!

I wanted Texas to be represented for Southern Weddings! Our wedding will be placed in Dallas, Texas at Marie-Gabrielle gardens. We’re Asian-American but we love to the beauty of the family-oriented and the all-get out nature of the Southern wedding. We’re going for a "Modern Vintage Garden Party" full of nature/lovebirds/butterflies with a little bit of bling. We’ll be getting married in a grove of trees under a chandelier surrounded by all of our close family and friends. Our colors with be robin’s egg blue, rose, and champagne. We love the lushness of pink peonies, garden roses, ranunculas and hydrangreas. We’ll have a cocktail hour with a spanish classical guitarist where we’ll hang floral fabric for a photo center… b/c oh do we love pictures! The indoor/outdoor reception will have a combination of southern and asian food. We’re going to have a beautiful cake with flowers and butterflies and the groom’s cake will be chocalate cupcakes. Our favors with a be tea/book of our favorite love poems. Our dance floor will be outside where we’ll be dance the night away. I have always love Hello Lucky’s L’Oiseau invitation suite… the feeling and whimsy is perfect for our southern wedding!

The perfect Southern Wedding…Beautiful, antique lace dress. Pitchers of sweet tea and lemonade, spiked with springs of fresh mint. Julep cup-style vases overflowing with magnolia blossoms and peonies. Soft candlelight pouring from hurricane lanterns. Massive, ancient oak trees providing the backdrop, sun sinking into the ocean behind. Dapper groomsmen in simple black suits. Bridesmaids carrying soft white paper parasols. A ceremony path strewn with white gardenia petals. Gold Chivari chairs adorned with garlands of greenery, tied with ivory ribbon bows. Passed tapas-style Southern food – mini pulled-pork sandwiches, biscuits with country ham, single-size pecan pies. A barefoot bluesgrass band. A Red Velvet groom’s cake. Dancing until the moonlight streams between the trees. A vintage getaway car.

My dream southern wedding involves family, friends and lots of kids. Sweet tea is a necessity and BBQ is required at some point during the wedding weekend. Fall is the perfect time for a southern wedding because it’s warm enough that all of your northern friends are jealous but your hair should stay under 3 feet across because the humidity has improved since August. You need at least one aunt or grandmother to be scandalized because you’re serving beer and wine. Someone at some point needs to tell the bride that she’s "as pretty as a picture". A dream southern wedding needs at least one mother asking the newlyweds when they’re going to finally give her some grandchildren. After choosing the date that conflicts least with most of your guests favored football team, you still hear plenty of discussion that this year could be the year if only the coach was replaced. A southern wedding wouldn’t be complete without someone telling the groom they remember when he was knee high to a grasshopper. A dream southern wedding means wearing your Mom’s pearls and wrapping your MaMaw’s handkerchief wrapped around your bouquet. Most importantly, a dream southern wedding needs lots of love, tears, laughter and joy.

The ceremony would take place in a small chapel with a floral wreath hanging on the door. Afterwards, guests would make the short walk from the chapel to a historic mansion with ivy growing up the side. The reception would be outdoors, in a garden underneath the magnolia trees. Beautiful urns containing flowers will be positioned throughout the lawn. Music would be provided by a four-piece jazz band and everyone would dance under the stars.

My idea of the perfect Southern wedding is an event where guests feel transported to another time and place…truly, a “destination” wedding. We are having our wedding in Charleston, South Carolina, “where there’s a little bit of grace and charm left in the world” (Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind), next May. None of the close friends and family that we have invited reside in the South, and we can’t wait to show them all of the whimsical wonders of the city and surrounding environs. We are planning a leisurely weekend of activities, all designed for guests to relax, experience the hospitality of the city and soak up the historic setting. From a welcome reception featuring a Lowcountry boil on the lawn of a carriage house on the Battery, to the horse drawn carriages that will transport guests from the ceremony at the 18th century church through the city streets to the reception at dusk, and on to the shrimp and grits and biscuits with honey butter at the brunch the next day in a secret garden, we hope that our guests will feel the same sense of romantic wonder that we felt on our first trip to Charleston nearly six months ago. It was as if we’d stumbled on a secret city made just for us, and we hope our guests will feel the same way. The perfect Southern wedding will be timeless and classic, and most of all unfurl at a luxuriously slow pace.

My dream wedding would be almost exactly what I’m having. A beach sunset ceremony, a beautiful reception and lots of laughter, dancing and celebrating into the night. Oh and since I’m dreaming big, I’d also love a Kristie Kelly wedding dress

My fiancé and I relocated from New York City to Nashville, Tennessee just over six months ago. When we became engaged in March, we immediately knew that we wanted to celebrate our wedding in this beautiful city so that we could share with all of our family and friends that southern charm that drew us here. When our guests arrive in Nashville for our June 2009 wedding, we will welcome them on Friday evening with a picnic of southern barbecue and outdoor yard games. Since my fiancé is a dedicated runner, the morning of our wedding we will be holding a one-mile walk/run around Nashville’s landmark Parthenon. Our afternoon ceremony—for us, the very heart of the weekend—will be at a beautiful, historic chapel, and immediately following the ceremony we will invite our guests to join us for fruit-flavored lemonade on the lush grounds surrounding the chapel. Our dream reception would be at a fabulous restaurant in a Civil War era home—front porch swing included—that overlooks the lights of downtown Nashville. The choices we have made for our wedding reflect our understanding of the perfect southern wedding: a wedding weekend that takes its time to unfold, that welcomes its guests with graciousness and hospitality, and that imbues each moment with the feelings of love, intimacy, and joy that a wedding celebrates.

Charities to feature: The Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and research for Women based cancers. Their main slogan is "RUN LIKE A GIRL" 20,000 people run this every year in which 95% of the runners are women. On top of that 90% of the runners take part in this event with team in training and raise $2500-3000 minimum for the cause. Since the run is based around women. Tiffany & Co not only donates a lot of money but they also give every finisher a custom Tiffany necklace and they have lots of cool stops a long the way. It is a fun way to do your part in the fight against Leukemia, women cancers (breast, ovarian, etc) and surrounding yourself with great women including amazing SURVIVORS! I took part in this marathon last year and was so touched by the survivors, family members, and ladies still fighting that I know I will take part every year until I can’t run any more! It was an amazing experience and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is an amazing organization to be a part of! http://www.teamintraining.org/firsttimehere/sportprograms/destinations/joinusatthenikewomensmarathon/?OTC-08NikeFall&attr=NationalRedirect