Southern Weddings

There are three things in this North Carolina celebration giving me a more-than-mild case of wedding envy: the bride’s flirty turquoise pumps, her ultra-feminine pink and white rose bouquet and her dress… her lovely lace-embellished, illusion-strapped Pronovias dress.  (Pronovias happens to be one of my very favorite designers, and I knew before I asked that this beauty had to be from their collection.)  Christian Louboutin gets the credit for Kilbi’s hot heels (natch) and A Beautiful Event created the bride’s romantic + sweetly understated bouquet.  Of course, we can’t forget to brag a little about Kellie Kano for capturing this serene seaside wedding on Bald Head Island!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. Boy meets girl walking into the hotel. Boy is girl’s boss. Boy drinks lots of coffee and is a pretty funny dude. They are fast friends. Life is full of surprises and they realize they are more than friends. Boy and girl go on dates. They drink wine and laugh. Alot. Girl sees boy combing little girl’s hair. Girl melts. Girl and boy realize they are meant for each other. Boy proposes in the dead of winter at the beach and girl spends next 10 months planning (and driving him crazy!). They say ‘I do’ on a magical day and dance the night away. Boy and girl honeymoon Down Under and have the time of their lives. Boy and girl start on their journey of ‘happily ever after,’ loving every second…
Describe the proposal (As told by the Groom) Originally, I had planned to propose to Kilbi at Lake Tahoe on an upcoming ski trip. I hadn’t quite figured out the time and location, but thought that it would be a beautiful setting to ask her to marry me. However, a series of events and my suspicion that Kilbi was catching on to my plan called for a change of plans.

We had visited Bald Head Island over New Year’s and had really fell in love with the island. Over the previous couple of months, we had looked at somewhere very similar to get married, called Palmetto Bluff. So when we visited Bald Head, the unique feel and layout of the island was perfect for a smaller and more special wedding, which was exactly we wanted. After returning from the island, we made inquires as to what dates were available for a wedding at Bald Head Island. Fortunately, there were still a few dates left in the Fall, which was exactly when we wanted to get married!  We planned to go to BHI to look at the chapel and other wedding locations the following weekend. She had discussed visiting BHI with her mother, wanting her to go, but her mom wanted to see some “hardware” prior to making wedding plans. If momma is not happy, then nobody is happy :). I knew I had to act smoothly and swiftly because I wanted to make sure that we would be able to get our date at BHI for this year. I wanted this special day to be perfect for Kilbi, just as she had always wanted. My mind was set and I did not want to wait a moment longer to marry her.

With her parents’ help, we devised a plan for Kilby and I to head to the beach for the weekend and for her parents to join us later that night. (My parents, who were already down at the beach, were also part of the plan.)  I had my mother make dinner reservations for Kilby and me at a quaint restaurant on the water. After a nice dinner and some conversation over a bottle of wine, I tried try to throw her off track with discussion of the ideas to visit BHI to make plans for our wedding. At this point, there still was no ring so that plan had been put on the back burner and was a bit of a sore subject. However, little did she know I was about to change that very quickly!

Out of nowhere I pulled the ring from my pocket and asked Kilbi if she would marry me. I think my quick change of direction threw her off-guard.  She was in total shock!  All I remember is her crying and freaking out from sheer excitement. Her reaction, which we both laugh about now, was better than I could have ever imagined. All of our plans and thoughts of spending our lives together had now become a reality. We were getting married on November 21, 2009 and the rest is history…

Kellie Kano is a Southern Weddings sponsor.

Written with love by Lara Casey