Southern Weddings

It’s a match made in heaven when two Carolina fans get together, and with Roy Williams and the nationals champions at the wedding it can’t get any better! Amy + Eric’s wedding was full of tradition, from Eric’s proposal at the Davie Poplar tree to the toasting flutes that were used by Amy’s parents. The reception took place and was catered by the {Carolina Club} and the couple and guests loved the cupcakes from {Cakewalk}. Another one of the bride’s favorite things was the flowers by {Fresh Affairs}. This memorable wedding was captured by {Photogen–inc}. The bride wore a dress from {David’s Bridal} and bridesmaid dresses were by {Melissa Sweet}. To see more of Amy + Eric, check out Eliesa’s {blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.  I had just moved to Chapel Hill for graduate school and Eric was working for the basketball team at Carolina.  Eric set up “noon ball” twice a week with people in the athletic department at UNC. Usually, we play basketball but that day, a friend invited me to play ultimate Frisbee with the group.  I remember Eric as the guy who talked the most, laughed the most, and never stopped moving. Actually, I don’t think I could think of a better description of him.
Describe the proposal: Eric took me to a very nice dinner and suggested we grab ice cream on Franklin Street following dinner. We had to walk through campus to get there and when we got in front of the Davie Poplar tree, a Chapel Hill landmark, Eric dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him. I don’t remember exactly what he or I said but I remember he couldn’t stop shaking.
What attracted me to my husband was: His energy and passion.  He can and will make friends with everyone and anyone he comes into contact with and wants to do everything for everybody. He puts other people’s needs before his own without even thinking and has such a love of life.
Why do you love your husband?  He makes me laugh and has a great heart. I know one day he’ll make a great father.
What attracted me to my wife was: The cut-off worn orange t-shirt she was wearing.  I remember meeting her playing ultimate Frisbee and saying all day that I was guarding orange because I didn’t know her name.  In all seriousness, there were many qualities that attracted me to Amy.  She is beautiful, outgoing, fun to be around, athletic, smart, and independent.  We always had fun together and always had something to talk about.  I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with a person that had all of these great qualities.
The weather on our wedding day was: Beautiful and sunny. Hot enough for the bridesmaids to need to take hair dryers to their dresses prior to the ceremony.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? At first, the inspiration was the outdoors and I chose brown and green as our colors (Eric was mad no Carolina blue was included).  Since we had intended to get married outdoors, I was going to go with an earthy feel with rocks and grass and fans for programs.  Things changed, we got married inside, and I only partially followed that theme.
Favorite design element of your big day:  The rock place cards.  Several months ago, I made Eric stop at a river on our way home from vacation in the mountains.  We took off our shoes, took out our coolers, and went wading for rocks.  Eric thought I was crazy (and being cheap) but I had a vision and he was good about complying with all my crazy wedding requests. I laugh when I remember us lugging these rocks back to our car, pretending for the sake of the other picnickers, that we weren’t crazy.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My roommates dragged me out the week I got engaged and it was the quickest and most painless decision I made. I tried on two dresses, liked the first, loved the second.
Describe your wedding flowers:  Gorgeous. I gave my florist one inspiration picture but beyond that, I had little involvement. I trusted my florist and he did an amazing job.
Describe your wedding cake: Cupcakes!  I loved them and apparently so did everyone else.  We realized people had started grabbing the cupcakes before we cut the “cake.”  We did an impromptu cake cutting and by the end of the night, there were no cupcakes to be found
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The photo booth was a hit.  I have our amazing photographer to thank for that detail. Our photographer, Eliesa, has a wedding giveaway each year and the winning couple in the contest gets free wedding photography. Eliesa is the best in the business and we were SO thankful to win.  Since we won the contest, we had a little wiggle room in the budget and I was able to justify splurging on a photo booth.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  The guest list. When I say Eric makes friends with every and anyone, I am not kidding. Cutting people from the list was difficult
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding?  Our toasting flutes were the same ones my parents used at their wedding 35 years ago.  Our names and wedding dates are engraved next to theirs.  Also, Eric’s father married us. It’s not a tradition but it was special.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  Riding around campus in golf carts, taking pictures with our wedding party.  We had a blast and it was great to be able to hang out with each other and our friends before the ceremony.
Scariest moment?  None really.  Except when the coordinator at the reception site came up to us and told us there were two guests who didn’t have a spot at a table.  We had not invited these people, but we knew who they were and they knew many of our guests, which made for an uncomfortable situation.   We debated between pulling up a chair somewhere vs. telling the guests they were not invited.  It dawned on me that there was a reception at the Carolina Inn, a reception site very close to our own, and it appeared they were at the wrong venue.  About that same time in dawned on them that we were a different bride and groom.
Funniest moment? Eric golfed that day with his groomsmen and on the first tee, he swung his driver, made contact, and let go of the club.  It is still hanging on the trees at the first hole of the Finley Golf Course.  For me, as I was struggling to get into my wedding dress, I commented how graceful my entrance was and at that same moment, I elbowed one of my bridesmaids right on the side of the face. It was fitting that what is such a magical moment for most girls was full of bloopers and laughter for me.
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was:  Eric stepped on my dress on our way out to our first dance and then the DJ played the wrong first dance song.  The DJ realized his mistake and transitioned from the slower Elton John song to our song, Jason Mraz “I’m Yours.” Everyone I talked to later said they thought we planned it that way.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Joyful, exhilarating, unforgettable
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding?  Don’t get roped into what the industry says you need to make your wedding great.  Keep your guests in mind, keep it personal, and if it doesn’t bring you joy, don’t do it.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration:  Prior to the wedding, someone told us to take a night the week of the wedding and go on a date, just the two of us, with no wedding talk.  We didn’t actually take this advice but we did go to the beach the weekend prior with some friends to relax.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?  We are looking forward to gaining a sense of normalcy and being able to spend time with each other without talking about guest lists or registries or timelines.
Any DIY items?  Eric thinks a better question would be what I didn’t do myself.  I made the Save the Dates, invitations, programs, place cards, table numbers, half the centerpieces, charity cards, and photo booth reminder cards.  My competitive pe
rsonality took over…I thought I could do most things as well as anyone else and for cheaper

We are back with more great details from Danielle + Jay’s Spring wedding in Jacksonville, Florida.  The reception was held at the {Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens}.  We can’t get enough of the lighting by {Jax Stage Lighting} and the rented lounge furniture by {Unique-Option}.  To see more hop on over to photographer, Scarlette Lillian’s {Blog} and check out Danielle’s {Just Dandy} blog.

Describe your wedding flowers: Jay and I had to be all white, {Click here to see}. For my Bridesmaids I knew I wanted them to have all green, and all the decor the same. Since I was having my whole reception around flowers in a garden i wanted the flowers I was adding to blend, so I chose green tropical flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: It was yummy! It had the best taste! Each layer was a different flavor: chocolate cake with New York cheesecake and gnash in the middle, yellow cake with fresh cut strawberries, and swirl cake with Reese’s Cups on top!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The full moon we rented! I wanted to bring in some awesome light and I found this great moon at a local rental company. It was windy, so it could not float in the air with Helium like intended, so I had to tripod it but it still looked awesome!!!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Walking down the aisle. We did a first look and he had already seen me, but it was a completely different moment. It does not take away from that moment at all to do a first look. We made eye contact with each other and we both cried as I walked all the way down the aisle!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Perfect, Fabulous, and Joyous.
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/or line? We used standard vows but what was different about our ceremony was that our ministers were our family members! We had my uncle, Jay’s father, and his grandfather as our three ministers. My uncle did our vows and we exchanged rings in a very special way, it was just perfect. Jay’s dad did our Unity Sand and did a special blessing over his son and I. He took the story from the Bible when Esau was prayed for and his father gave him his blessing! It was very special and touching and he had the crowd all extend a hand to us! And Jay’s grandfather did our Communion, our first meal together as husband and wife. The husband feeds the wife the first meal. It was so special and so sweet, many guests had never seen this. We got many hugs after our compassionate ceremony.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Get a wedding planner! Cassandra at Flaire Weddings did a fabulous job helping me construct and guide me through all of my details! She was my backbone and rock through it all!
Who was your most honored guest at the wedding? We had many family members come far for us. Jay is Canadian so all of his family and close relatives flew into town for our wedding weekend. We were so honored by all of the friends and family who made it!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Marriage is a blast! We enjoy every moment together. We have based our relationship on our faith and have built our foundation on Christ. We are three in one with Him as our core. We are thrilled to have been made for each other and found each other, Jesus is our Savior!
Any DIY items? Lots, and I blogged all about them! The most DIY that I did was all my small details that I graphic designed myself! Check out my blog for all of them! {Just Dandy}.

Congratulations to Danielle and Jay. We wish you a lifetime of love!

This wedding is very special to our SW team because it is of Danielle, one of our Southern Bride bloggers and perhaps one of our biggest fans and supporters over the past year!  Congrats to Danielle and if you want to learn all about Danielle’s bridal life be sure to check out her blog, {Just Dandy}, which she still updates about her now newly wed life.  But back to the wedding of Danielle + Jay…the two were married at {Riverside Baptist Church} and held their reception at Jacksonville, Florida’s {The Cummer Museum of Arts and Garden}.  Capturing it all was {Scarlett Lillian} and she made sure to get great shots of the flowers by {Flowers by Pat}, lighting by {Jax’s Stage Lighting}, furniture rental by {Unique-Options}, food by {Chef’s Garden}, music by {Spike at the Beach} band, rentals provided by {Riverside Flowers and Events}.  This wedding was planned by the team at {Flaire Weddings and Events} and they did a fabulous job with the event design as well.

How did the two of you meet? We met in a one week class at Liberty University where we both went to college. We met with four days left until we would have to spend a whole summer apart. It was the best thing that could have ever happened. We built a friendship to stand upon our attraction with God as the center of it all. From ear to ear, California to Florida, we talked 24/7.
Describe the proposal: We spent all day at the beach and I never knew it was coming. We had just finished a home cooked meal and after dinner, Jay decided that we should take a stroll on the beach with our beach cruisers. We biked about 25 minutes down the beach, turned around, and then decided to head back. I complained that the wind was really hard pedaling against it and I said I wanted to ride on the beach, Jay said no! We kept on pedaling and then to our luck, the chain on Jay’s bike broke. So, I started to complain more! After walking the rest of the way home with the bikes, we arrived back at our condo. When we started getting closer, I started to see what was going on. A blanket with candles, flowers, and a bottle of sparkling wine… It was completely and utterly romantic. Jay poured his heart out to me for 15 minutes and then he got down on one knee and asked… “Will you marry me?” I had a tear drop down my face, started shaking, hugged him, and then let him put a to-die-for ring on my left finger. I love how I knew what was going to happen and that I got so dressed up, put on makeup, did my hair, and looked so fabulous… not!
What attracted me to my husband was: His funny, outgoing personality! When we met and became friends, we would walk around campus together. I thought he knew everyone on campus and had the most friends ever. So one day I asked him, “How do you know everyone?” He laughed at me and explained that he was just being friendly and saying Hi to everyone that walked by, that’s all!
The Weather on our day was: Perfect, It was bright sunshine with a little cool spring breeze in Florida! I loved the temperature, and there wasn’t any Florida humidity! The Lord blessed us with an awesome day!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Modern, Chic, Garden wedding.
Favorite design element of your big day: It was my “lounge”. As soon as I got the chance, I plopped myself and my big dress right down on our VIP Bride and Groom section!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I was treated like royalty! I had the designer of my dress all the way from Australia with me. The designer, Luanne, was there with me the whole time. She went way above and beyond, I could not even tell you who worked at the store or who my bridal consultant was, sad I know! But Luanne had flown in from Austrailia for the weekend to be at the boutique and she was heaven-sent! She put the gown on me, dressed me, buttoned me up, put a veil so I could get the whole “feel”. She told me about every piece of the gown, every feature, about the fabric and the special color. She even designed to put pockets on the gown… how perfect! It was the best! She and I swapped e-mails and we were instant friends! I just had to take a picture with her so that you could all see her! {Click here to read more}

More to come from Danielle + Jay!