Southern Weddings

Merrie + Simon’s wedding may have been a union of American (the bride’s a Texas gal, y’all!) and British (Simon’s a Londoner), but we think it’s all-around awesome – and ridiculously cute.  I think Kari Crowe’s clever ring shot sums up this merger pretty well, don’t you think?  Of course, the newlyweds’ first order of business at their downtown Fort Worth reception was cutting into that fun Billy Bob-topped cake from Creative Memories.  For more, mosey on over to Miss Kari’s blog and check out her post from the big day!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration?  What was Southern about your wedding? Compared to English weddings, everything about our wedding was Southern!  We had a groom’s cake, which is a completely foreign idea in England.  We had iced tea at the reception, too.
Describe your wedding flowers: I loved our flowers.  I wanted something really romantic for my bouquet and something very different for my girls.  I had a bouquet of white peonies and ranunculus, and Simon’s boutonniere was white ranunculus.  The bridesmaids had bouquets of billy balls to match the groomsmen’s boutonnieres.  We had very little decoration at the church because it was beautiful enough by itself. At the reception, we had vases of loose yellow and white flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: My wedding cake was a simple three-tiered white cake with tiny Swiss dots and billy balls on each tier.  I didn’t have a cake topper, but instead had a pile of billy balls on top.  The cake was pina colado!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  The Atlantic Ocean.  It was really hard to plan a wedding with my other half 4,000 miles away.  Also, in October, half way through our planning, we realized we had a massive scheduling issue for our original date in July and had to reschedule everything.  We lost 3 months of planning and had to start from scratch.  This ended up working out amazingly, but it was quite a hassle when it came up.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line?  We did write our own vows, which was one of our best wedding decisions.  My favorite line was “I promise to honor you, uphold you, respect you, and cherish you above all others for the rest of my life.  From this moment on, I am fully yours and only death with separate us.”
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  Since the wedding, I have packed up my bags and made the big move to England to be with Simon.  We are looking forward to settling down and starting our careers.  We are also looking forward to our honeymoon in June when we are going back to Italy.  We thought it only appropriatem as it was the place where we fell in love and knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.

Congratulations, Merrie + Simon!  Enjoy your time across the pond!

It took us a few (okay, more than a few) minutes to get over how ridiculously cute the groomsmen’s socks (in contrasting American and British flag patterns) are, but once we did, we saw there was a heck of a lot we loved about Merrie + Simon’s cross-cultural wedding – photographed by Kari Crowe.  The bridesmaids wore rich navy frocks from Stardust Celebrations and carried sunny yellow Billy button bouquets from Branching Out Events.  The bride, in a drop-waist Pronovias gown, married her groom at the Robert Carr Chapel before slipping into a pair of yellow topsiders.  Two points for you, Miss Down-to-Earth Bride!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Simon and I met while I was doing a study abroad program my senior year of college.  I originally wanted to study in Ireland, but it wasn’t an option, so I chose a school in England for it’s proximity to London.  Simon and I met at that school a little over a month after I had moved.  I had always wondered what people meant when they said, “When you know, you know”, but after I met Simon, I understood.  And I knew.  We took a trip to Rome in April, and that’s when we knew we would be together forever.
Describe the proposal. Simon proposed in July of 2009 when he was visiting Texas.  He was very creative and had planned an Italian-themed night inspired by our recent trip to Rome.  He took me to Trevi’s Restaurant at the Omni Mandalay Hotel by the canals in Las Colinas.  He had planned a gondola ride at sunset after dinner, but halfway through our meal, there was a terrential downpour, so the gondola ride was postponed.  After the rain let up, we decided to go for a walk by the canal.  He got down on one knee, and pulled out a ring box.  Obviously, I thought this was my ring, but instead he opened it and asked if I would have the key to his heart.  Out of his other pocket, he pulled out a lock which had, “Will you marry me?” written on it.  In Rome, there is a church across from the Trevi Fountain where lovers lock locks on the gates.  Simon and I did this and threw the key into the Trevi Fountain.  My ring was attached to the lock, so I had to use the key to unlock the lock and get my ring.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Casual, elegant and fun.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: At the end of the ceremony, our granddads (all!) stood up and spoke a blessing over us.  It was a really amazing and touching moment. 
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  Finding my wedding dress was quite an ordeal.  After thinking I had found “the one,” my mom and I ordered it from a store online since it was cheaper.  This turned out to be a horrific knockoff from China.  The day we got it in the mail, we headed straight back to the dress shop where I had originally tried my dress on.  I wanted to try the real one on again, as well as my second choice dress.  After I put the second dress on again, I knew I had made a mistake with the original dress and immediately bought the second one.  I was so happy with it, and it fit me like a glove!