Southern Weddings

Now this is a theme wedding done right – really right!  After their outdoor I-do’s, the new Mr. and Mrs. celebrated with family and friends at a derby-worthy fete.  The best part?  Guests, thinking they were joining the couple at a low-key Derby Party, did not know they would be witnessing Mary + Brian tie the knot between races!  (Did you notice the authentic Kentucky Derby post draw?)  Want a repeat of this fun wedding?  Check out Olivia Griffin’s blog post here and here!

Describe your wedding cake: When we first got engaged I went to one cake tasting and the woman held me hostage for two hours.  Everything she let me try had fondant icing.  I’m into how a cake tastes, not how it looks.  It was not a positive experience.  Brian’s mom volunteered to take charge of the cake.  She is a fabulous baker, so I trusted her completely.  She hired a lady in Kingstree, and I never saw the cake or tasted it until it was time to cut.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Keeping it a secret!  460 invited guests and only ten knew that we were actually going to exchange vows at our “engagement party.”  Even the people who helped with food and decorations didn’t know.  We didn’t tell the best man andmaid and matron of honor until the day before.  When I think about how many people pitched in without knowing they were helping prepare for a wedding it is really overwhelming.  It was an honest example of just how loyal and giving our family and friends are.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?

The ceremony.  So often you ask someone about a recent wedding they attended and they start describing the reception.  Our ceremony was so unexpected that it became the highlight of the day.  The weather was perfect.  We only set up a few chairs for family, so everyone else was standing.  How often do you get to drink liquor and eat friend chicken during a wedding ceremony?  We rolled out a red carpet and the band’s trumpet and saxophone players played processional music.  The horses in the adjoining pasture gathered around and hung their heads over the fence to take-in the event.  It was all unrehearsed and very natural
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I actually didn’t try on any traditional wedding gowns.  Annabelle LaRoque designed a white silk sundress for me.  I wore a blue sash during the party and changed into a white sash monogrammed with my new initials before the ceremony.  Of course, I also wore a hat!
Describe your wedding flowers: My godfather’s wife took the lead on all the flowers.  They were beautiful.  One of the only things I requested was a bouquet of red roses; it was the day of the Kentucky Derby after all!  She used hydrangea and greenery in silver loving cups for the table centerpieces.  Three small arrangements sat on the table at the end of the receiving line beside the guest book.  No one ever suspected those would later become our bouquets.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  Right now, we’re trying to figure out where we are going to live.  Brian’s house and job are in Greenville and my house and job are in Columbia.  Once we live under the same roof, we will start thinking about starting a family.  One thing is for certain: we will have a South Carolina address!

Congratulations, Mary + Brian!  You two win the award for most surprising and fun wedding – ever.

Attending your first derby is a right of passage here in the South, so imagine our excitement when we saw that Mary + Brian modeled their surprise nuptials (guests thought they were attending a Kentucky Derby Party!) after the famous horse race.   Not only did the bride wear an ultra-chic knee-length frock from LaRoque for her walk down the red carpet at the Fair Springs Stables, but a real life jockey was also on-hand to celebrate the happy couple!  In accordance with true derby fashion, ladies donned wide-brimmed hats for the event, while gents showed off their best seersucker and linen suits.  Beth Huggins designed the subtle red and white bouquets.  We’re kind of loving South Carolina photographer, Olivia Griffin, for sharing these photos with us, and can hardly wait for M + B’s equine-themed reception.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Brian and I have been friends for over ten years.  We met when I was a senior at Clemson and he had just started working for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.  I took a job with Pfizer the fall after graduation, and he was one of the few people I knew when I started.  We were really friends from the get-go.  Although he lived in Greenville and I was in Columbia, we hung out at work meetings and often talked on the phone.  In the beginning, we had more of a big brother/little sister-type relationship, as there is a ten year age difference.  We often discussed the people we were dating.  He didn’t care for my boyfriends and I didn’t like his girlfriends – we were pretty vocal about that.  I don’t think we ever thought of dating one another until we bumped into each other in the spring of 2009.  I had recently broken up with someone and he had too.  Neither of us was working for Pfizer and we hadn’t kept up with each other over the previous year.  He asked if he could take me on a date the next week and I told him not to call me.  (I had three dates that week and told him I didn’t have time for him.)  The following Thursday he sent me a text saying, “This is me not calling you.”  I was immediately intrigued.  We knew within two weeks of dating that we would get married.

Describe the proposal. Brian proposed Christmas afternoon.  It sounds predictable, but I was completely caught off-guard.  We had spent Christmas Eve with his family in Kingstree and Christmas morning with my family in Summerville.  That afternoon we opened gifts with my brothers, sister-in-law and parents.  After all the gifts had been given out and we were cleaning up, Brian pretended to have a surprise gift for my mom.  Everyone gathered around and he handed the box to me.  I thought it was a joke gift, but when I opened the box I was completely surprised.  My first comment was, “Is this real?”  I hyperventilated.  It was a good thing I was sitting down or I probably would have fainted.  It was extra special because it was also my grandmother’s 90^th birthday.  The best part of getting engaged at home on Christmas is that all my friends and family were around to help us celebrate.  It really couldn’t have been more fitting.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Understated sophistication, spirited, lowcountry ease.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The surprise!  All of the guests thought they were coming to a Derby Party. The party started at 4pm and we received guests until the band started at 5.  When they took their first break, my dad got on stage, thanked everyone for coming and announced that we would be getting married right then.  There was an audible gasp and then cheers of excitement from the crowd.  It was a really special moment.