Southern Weddings

Our new photographer friend from Engage08, {Mary Beth Tyson}, sent this beautiful wedding our way. We were instant fans of this pristine Tallahassee wedding at Ted’s family’s horse farm. Big thanks to Mary Beth for sharing this with us! Check out more on Mary Beth’s {Blog}. 

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story…Ted and I first met in the fall of 2004.  I was in my senior year at Florida State University and Ted had just moved up from Miami with his job to be back home in Tallahassee, where he is from.  I was working for one of his best friends at the time as an Assistant and Ted came into our office one day and my boss, Chad Henderson, introduced us.  Ever since that first meeting, I saw Ted much more frequently!  He found many reasons to drop by the office even when Chad wasn’t there.  We become good friends and it wasn’t until months later when he finally had the courage to ask me out.  Although, this wasn’t a typical first date.  He knew how much my friends meant to me and knew that he would have to win them over before he could get to me.  So, he invited three of my best friends to go to dinner with us!  He took us all to a local family Steakhouse and we just had the best time.  Needless to say, my friends feel in love with him and were huge “Ted fans” from that point on.  We have been together ever since.  Even after I graduated that following Spring from college and moved back to Atlanta, where I am from, and we kept in touch and dated long-distance until Ted moved up to Atlanta to be with me a year later.  We lived in Atlanta for about a year, and then Ted’s job moved him back down to Tallahassee, where this time I followed him!  
Describe the proposal: The proposal was the best day of my life, besides the wedding day!  Ted has always been extremely creative and clever when trying to surprise me.  I thought for sure that I would have known when this one was coming, but I truly had no clue!  He told me months in advance that we would be going to Highlands, NC the first weekend in June (2007) to visit his family and also so he could play with his dad in a Father-Son Golf Tournament.  I agreed and didn’t think anything of it.  He also had his parents in on this because his mother called the club and had them send her paper with their letterhead on it, and she typed up events that they had for the weekend with what to wear to each luncheon and golf tournament party and had Ted showed me this to ensure that he really had me fooled and that this is the reason we were going.  He got up to highlands a day earlier than me to get everything ready.  I drove from Atlanta on a Friday and as soon as I got to Highlands and pulled into the driveway, Ted came outside to greet me and carry my bags upstairs.  He was rushing and seemed panicked at first but told me it was because we had to hurry to go and meet his parents but couldn’t find his keys (which was typical because anyone that knows Ted knows that his keys, wallet and cell phone are always missing!)  He asked me to help him and said that he thinks they might be outside on the porch where he was laying before I arrived.  I agreed to go outside and help him look for them – he told me to check the couch and he would check the hammock.  I go to the couch and started looking.  I reached and picked up the first pillow and behind it was a beautiful ring!  I was so shocked and by the time I turned around, Ted was already on one knee behind me and that is how he proposed!  I said yes immediately and we celebrated with champagne and called all of our family and friends.  However, this was not the end of the weekend surprises!  The next morning we woke up and Ted had already made Spa appointments for us in town at the Old Edwards Inn.  Little did I know that he had not only had his parents in on this weekend but all of our best friends as well!  After our Spa morning, we had lunch in town and then went back up to the house.  We pulled in the garage, I walked in the door and our black Lab was there to greet us.  Wondering how in the world he got there, I walked further into the house then all of the sudden heard “Surprise!” and all of my best friends and future bridesmaids were there, along with all of Ted’s friends and future groomsmen.  I was so shocked and stunned that they were all there, because a few of were from long distances away – New York, DC, and Orlando. Later I learned that Ted had contacted them months in advance to get their help with this weekend and flew them in to celebrate with us!  Needless to say, we had a big party that day and celebrated our engagement.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember:  It was our last date in Tallahassee before I moved up to Atlanta.  Ted is always creative and thinking of fun stuff for us to do.  We had a “Progressive dinner” at 3 of our favorite restaurants in Tallahassee.  We had appetizers at one, Dinner at another, and then dessert at the last place.  It was so much fun and something that neither of us had done before.  We then went back to his house and slow danced in his living room to our favorite Jack Johnson songs.  
The weather on our wedding day was: Perfect!  It was a little warmer than we expected, but as long as it wasn’t raining I had no problem with the heat!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding?  Our wedding was outdoors, at Ted’s family’s Farm where he grew up.  The ceremony took place right on the front porch.  We picked this place because wanted it to be special and somewhere that had meaning to us.  So, there was no other place that we wanted to get married.  Since it was on the front porch overlooking the horse pastures, we went for a more natural outdoors look and feel.  Our colors were very earth-toned: green, cream, and chocolate brown.
Favorite design element of your big day: I loved the flowers and the lace on my dress.  It was all very romantic and natural looking.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: This was one of my favorite parts of planning the entire wedding!  I drove up to Atlanta and meet 3 of my best friends there and we made a day of dress shopping.  I think we managed to go to 5 stores that day and by the last one we were exhausted!  It was that day that I found my dress, with the help of my bridesmaids, at {Pricilla of Boston}.  I had no clue what I wanted when we first started looking, but was able to narrow it down pretty quickly when we got started.  The fuller dresses just didn’t look right on me and I wanted a more romantic, fitted dress because of the outdoor setting.  As soon as I tried on the lace dress at Pricilla of Boston I knew it was the one.  I walked out of the fitting room and saw heads turn and the girls faces light up, and knew that was it!  There was really no point in going to the rest of the stores after that because I couldn’t get that dress out of my head during the rest of the fittings.
Describe your wedding flowers:  They were beautiful. Our florist really did a great job.  They were green hydrangeas, ivory roses and golden yellow roses that brightened up the bouquets and gave it more of a natural and outdoors feel.
Describe your wedding cake:  Our wedding cake was a delicious 4-tier vanilla and strawberry cake.  It was square shaped with a green ribbon going around the bottom of each tier.  The ribbon matched the groomsmen ties and the flowers that we had in the wedding.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  When my father walked me down the
isle.  It was a very surreal and beautiful moment that I will never forget.  To have him there by my side and to see Ted’s face when we walked down the isle was very comforting and just perfect.  I also loved seeing all of our friends and family that came there to share in the special day with us. I will never forget that feeling, it is so great and touching to know that they are all there for you and they all love you.
Scariest moment?  We honestly never had a scary moment!  Well, we did find out later that one of our groomsmen almost fainted during the ceremony because of the heat!  That definitely would have been scary.  We are happy that he didn’t and was able to make it through!
Funniest moment?  The funniest moment all day was when we got to the reception, just after our first dance, we turned around and all of our parents friends were standing on the chairs so that they could see us dance…. But they never got off!  They stayed up there for the next song so Ted and I joined them and we were all dancing on the chairs at the reception!  It was a great way to kick off the celebration.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding?  Enjoy it while you can.  Take in every moment and have fun!  It can be stressful and overwhelming at times, but try not to let it get to you.  When it’s all over, you’ll miss it!  I know I do.  Ted and I never wanted the weekend to be over.  And try to stay as organized as possible, with so many different vendors and details that you have to worry about, being organized definitely helps keeps things in order.  I was lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law to help me with this!
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 home together this year and starting a family in a few years.

Congratulations to Hayley + Ted. We wish you a lifetime of joy and happiness!