Southern Weddings

Abby + Justin sure know how to keep a wedding meaningful and filled with family traditions. I love that Abby + Justin combined stones from Abby’s grandmother’s wedding rings to make her own unique and one of a kind wedding ring.  Also, Abby’s wedding dress was hand made by her mother! Catering and wedding cake by {Simply You Cafe}. To see more images of Abby + Justin’s wedding check out Suki’s {Blog}.

Favorite design element of your big day?  I loved all the details of our wedding because they were simple and we did so much of it ourselves.  I especially enjoyed designing our save-the-dates, invitations, and programs.  We also created grapevine wreaths with pearl accents for the chapel doors that doubled as reception decorations.  On the reception tables, we used antique crochet doilies under boxes of green apples and silk flowers that were handmade from my wedding dress fabric.  My mom also made homemade candy for guests to take home.
Describe your wedding flowers:  We used a monochromatic ivory palette and a variety of flowers for a relaxed, “cut from the garden” look.  My bouquet and my bridesmaid’s bouquets used garden roses, tulips, ranunculus, freesia, and sweet peas.  The groom’s boutonnieres were tulips.  My bouquet was wrapped in a piece of lace from my mother’s wedding dress.
Describe your wedding cake:  Instead of a traditional tiered cake, we designed a more modern look with foursquare cakes, each topped with bouquets of roses, tulips, and ranunculus.  Two cakes were lemon cake with vanilla butter cream filling and two were chocolate cake with chocolate filling.  Justin loves cheesecake, so instead of the traditional groom’s cake, we had cheesecakes topped with chocolate sauce and strawberries.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  Time!  We were both studying for and taking a series of 9 architectural registration exams, buying a house, and working while planning the wedding.  Sometimes I felt like I wasn’t spending enough time on the wedding and at other times I felt that I was spending too much time on the wedding and neglecting other aspects of life.  Time management was always an issue, but it was an enjoyable challenge.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding?  Though not really traditions, there were some important elements of the wedding that honored our families.  My wedding and engagement rings used stones from both my grandmother’s wedding rings.  My parents graciously gave the rings to Justin and we had a jeweler incorporate the stones into the rings’ designs.  I used lace from my mother’s wedding dress to wrap my bouquet, and wore a gold and sapphire necklace that was a gift from my grandmother to my mother.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  The wedding ceremony was most memorable to me.  Our pastor made each part of the ceremony meaningful and personal to us as a couple.  Our families were part of the ceremony, vowing to support our marriage, and our best friends were involved in readings, communion, and music. 
Funniest moment?  We spent most the reception taking pictures and talking with our guests, so we did not get anything to eat or drink.  We were so thirsty as we left the reception that we stopped at Chick-fil-A on our way home.  Who knows what the drive-thru attendant thought when she saw us dressed up in our wedding clothes ordering iced teas!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was:  How neither of us had any wedding day jitters.  There were so many last minute details and events leading up to the day, that we were pleasantly surprised to be completely worry-free and above all – happy – the entire day of the wedding.  We could not stop smiling.
Three adjectives that describe the day are:  Wonderful, joyous, relaxed.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding?  Make the decision to enjoy the time you have to prepare for the wedding.  No matter how much time you have, the weeks, months, or years will be over before you know it.  You don’t want to look back and see that you missed out on life or let all the details stress you out during that time.  Instead, focus only on what is important to you and your fiancé and have fun with it!  
What’s next for you as a couple? We completed our architectural registration exams soon after the wedding, so we are enjoying some free time!  Next, we are looking forward to remodeling our house.

Congrats to Abby + Justin!  We wish you a lifetime of joy and happiness!

This Texas couple is so chic. Together, the two chose to have their ceremony and reception at the {Clark Gardens}, a botanical masterpiece that has been consistently named one of the nation’s top gardens. With Clark Gardens set as the venue, Abby (who acted as a wedding planner as well as bride) decided to use the colors of the Clark Gardens to inspire her decor. The end result was absolutely perfection for the couple. Thanks to {Photos by Suki} for sharing these dazzling images with us.

How did the two of you meet? We met in graduate school as we were both getting our Masters in Architecture.  We had several classes together, but we really got to know each other in the last semester before Justin graduated as we spent a lot of late nights at school working on projects.  We found that we both loved baseball, so our first date was to a Texas Rangers baseball game.  On our one year anniversary we went to visit my parents and Justin asked them for their blessing to ask me to marry him.  Justin proposed a few months later, and we were married almost exactly two years after our first date.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: After we were engaged, we took a trip to Alaska to visit two of our good friends.  We spent a week enjoying time with our friends and exploring the incredible environment around Anchorage. 
The weather on our wedding day was: It was sunny but cool – perfect for an afternoon reception outdoors.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  I did not have to go on a
wedding dress search – my mom made my dress!  It was simple and
comfortable, but absolutely beautiful.  We used raw silk in the palest
off-white.  My mom created a simple pleated detail along the neckline
and a matching silk chiffon sash.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding?  The garden setting at our venue, Clark Gardens, inspired our color palette of soft greens, browns, and ivory, the natural, informal details, and the light afternoon tea menu.  We did not need to use a lot of extra decoration when the setting itself was such a beautiful backdrop.

Check back later from more on Abby + Justin!