Southern Weddings

This reception was a true celebration.  All the guests were treated to a delicious dinner by {Joel} with musical entertainment by {Rockin’ Dopsie Jr.}.  For those that saved room for dessert, Ansley + Carter had a wedding cake and groom’s cake made by {Sucre}. (ps- we love love love Sucre. Our office orders from them all the time!)  To top the evening off, Ansley + Carter left the fabulous reception through a tunnel of sparklers.  Thanks again to A Bryan Photo for sharing this wedding with us.  To see more photos check out the A Bryan website page devoted to {Ansley + Carter}.  Happy Friday, y’all!

Describe your wedding cake: Beautiful and utterly delicious! We had different layers of traditional wedding cake, caramel cake, and lemon raspberry cake.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: We loved the photo booth- people took some really crazy photos in there. Also our band was the absolute best! Rockin Dopsie from New Orleans really got everybody dancing.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? An extremely flakey photographer…thank God we were able to hire A Bryan Photo shortly before the wedding, and they were unbelievable!
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? After we cut the cake, we used the same antique loving cup that my parents used at their wedding to toast with. I also carried a beautiful old handkerchief that my grandmother got for me in Paris the first time we went to Paris together, which was about 10 years ago. Also, we had great old photos of my parents’ wedding, Carter’s parents’ wedding, both of our grandparents’ weddings, even a photo of my great-grandmother’s double-wedding with her sister from the 1920’s.
Funniest moment? All the photos coming out of the photo booth…some hysterical, some pretty racey!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: How much fun we both had! We thought we would spend most of the night having obligatory conversations with our 800 guests…but we ended up having the times of our lives!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Fun, Beautiful, Happy.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Try to take everything in on the day of- I know that sounds cliché, but it really helps to remind yourself to take in all the details.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: I’ve never seen a bride and groom look so happy and in love.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? A baby in June
Other details you want us to know about your wedding: It was so special to be able to have the reception at my parents’ home…it really felt more intimate despite the large number of guests.

Congratulations to Ansley + Carter and we wish you the best with the baby on the way!

Ansley + Carter had Jon Davis of {The Avid Companies} design this wedding.  How stunning is Ansley’s wedding gown?  Read to hear about Ansley’s special trip to {Neiman Marcus} of Dallas to find the dress with her mom and grandmother.  Love the family traditions.  More to come later from the reception.

The weather on our wedding day was: Perfect.
Favorite design element of your big day: Candles hanging from the trees and the amazing flowers by Jon Davis…especially the flowers around the door to my parents’ house and the huge arrangement in the center of the main tent.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I went with my mom and my grandmother to Neiman Marcus in Dallas- my grandmother got her wedding dress there 57 years ago, and we stayed in the same hotel that she stayed in when she went…so it was really special. The only problem was trying to fly to Dallas for my fittings when there always seemed to be a hurricane heading for New Orleans! We had to cancel many trips for fittings, and I ended up having my last fitting about 2 weeks before my wedding with my dress arriving in New Orleans just a few days before the wedding.
Describe your wedding flowers: Amazing. Thanks to Jon Davis and his Avid Companies crew. They were the prettiest flowers I have ever seen at a wedding.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Walking down the aisle of the church. Jon Davis surprised me with amazing flowers and candles everywhere. It seemed so quiet and like time stood still while I was walking down that aisle towards my smiling husband. I made an effort to go slowly, look at everyone and take everything in…and it was worth it. I think we had the shortest ceremony in history, but I didn’t want it to end because it was so special.
Scariest moment? When we couldn’t get the veil on before I was supposed to walk down the aisle. I forgot to ask my hairdresser to put it in for me!

On to the reception… 

Congratulations to our friends at {A Bryan Photo} for another Southern Wedding of the Week. (Be sure to check out these past ABP posts: {Catherine + Ben I}, {Catherine + Ben II}, {Janie + Tony I}, {Janie + Tony II}, and one of our blog’s bigggest hits, {Lily and Jordan I}, {Lily and Jordan II}, and {Lily and Jordan III})  These guys impress us daily with their photography and their classic, elegant spin on documenting a couples’ wedding day.  For Ansley + Carter, the A Bryan’s team captured this New Orleans wedding at Ansley’s parent’s beautiful home.  Ansley + Carter had event planner and decor expert, Jon Davis of {The Avid Companies} (who has also become a regular here on the SW blog!)  design this Southern soiree.  More details to come…

How did the two of you meet? I was a summer clerk at his law firm while I was still in law school. I had a boyfriend at the time. We became friends, and six months later we were together.
Describe the proposal: It was winter in New York City’s Central Park in the morning after a jog through the park. We stopped afterwards. He hid the ring under his gloves, he did it overlooking the water with the New York skyline in the background. We were on vacation in NYC for New Years.
What attracted me to my husband was: His sense of humor and intelligence. He’s one of those people that others are instantly drawn to and want to be around.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: First date to Barnes & Noble. We’re book geeks. Another memorable one was my birthday a couple of years ago- he took me down to his duck hunting camp in the swamps of Southern Louisiana…but instead of hunting duck, we hunted alligator.

More to come from Ansley + Carter.