Southern Weddings

Emily has quite the eye for exceptional floral arrangements and unique details, so it’s no surprise she fell in love with Susan + Troy’s romantic garden wedding.  I’m in love with the miniature bunches of fresh herbs and slim thistles next to the bride’s ivory and orange wildflower bouquet.  Wearing her mother’s lace-trimmed wedding gown, Susan married Troy at her father’s home in North Carolina.  As a sugar addict, I’ve enjoyed my fair share of great cakes, but the fruit-trimmed and sugar-dusted raspberry marsala confection served at their reception looks unbelievably delicious.  Special thanks to Aregrayline Weddings for sharing their lovely work with us!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We Met at Pearl Art & Craft Supply in Chicago.  Troy used to sneak up on me in the aisles and startle me so I would drop everything I was holding.  On our first date (my birthday), we collected all the old light bulbs in the basement and broke them in the alley behind Pearl.
Describe the proposal:  We were visiting his brother in Brooklyn and had spent a day roaming the city.  As we were crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Troy said, “Wouldn’t this be a romantic place for someone to propose?”  I agreed and he just said, “So?…”
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Busy, happy and beautiful.  
What was the design inspiration for your wedding invitation?  Well, the wedding was at the very top of a mountain in North Carolina.  The location was so beautiful that we really just wanted to work around what was already there.
What was your favorite design element of your big day?  My best friend did all the flower arrangements.  She used a variety of leafy greens and bright orange flowers accented with peacock feathers.  They were so beautiful and unique. 
Our favorite detail of the wedding was:  We are so lucky to have a very talented and generous group of friends.  The most wonderful detail was the participation of all our friends and families.  From the flowers to the cake to photography, everyone was involved.  Troy’s best man even played the wedding march on his accordion.  We were married by one of our close friends.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  It was my Mom’s.  She was married in the 70’s and, while the dress was made of lovely French lace, the style was rather dated.  We had the turtleneck cut out and cap sleeves added.  It was beautiful, and my Mom was so happy.
Describe your wedding cake:  Troy’s good friend, Judy, made the cake.  She baked it in Madison, Wisconsin and had to transport it all the way to North Carolina.  We just asked her to make something great and she did!  Raspberry marsala cake dusted with powdered sugar and dressed with fresh fruit.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Distance was definitely our biggest challenge.  We live in Brooklyn, and the majority of our families is in the Midwest.  The wedding was at my father’s house, so we had to put a lot of responsibility on him.  He did a great job!
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding?  We excluded a lot of the typical wedding traditions:  no garters, no bouquet tosses, no father/daughter, mother/son dances, etc.  I do think we took the record for the most speeches, however: 6 of Troy’s 9 siblings made speeches, to mention a few.  My favorite ”non-tradition” was having our friend marry us.  Jenny is an actress by trade and a very funny girl.  Her ceremony was sweet, funny and far from the norm.  It suited us well.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line?  We did.  I loved having the opportunity to sit down with Troy and talk about what we loved about each other, what we hoped for and what we were looking forward to.  We agreed on a mutual promise to give each other and then individually wrote our own vows around this promise.  
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We’re certainly enjoying married life.  We’ve opened a small gallery and studio space here in Brooklyn and have been busy getting it up and running.  We hope to continue with the enterprise and to build a strong artist community and network here in Brooklyn.   

Congratulations, Susan + Troy!  Best of luck with your new family business!