We’re a little bit gaga over Whitney + Jeff’s modern yet romantic Florida wedding. If their poolside ceremony didn’t rock your socks off, their sleek reception will. The frosty grey color scheme and sparkling crystals were a welcome change to the palm tree-lined venue at The National Hotel. Lush white flowers sat atop silk runners and were draped across the backs of the newlyweds’ chairs. I fell head over heels in love with their simple cake with the single peony perched on the side — even better, it’s made of sugar! I die.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Our wedding wasn’t overtly Southern, but being a girl who was born in Alabama and raised in the South, there were little touches of tradition. My great-great-grandmother’s vintage aquamarine necklace was my something blue – I had it attached to my bouquet. Even though our wedding was small (we had 60 guests), we had a large bridal party of six bridesmaids and six groomsmen.
Describe your wedding flowers: Peonies are my absolute favorite flower, so I chose those for my bouquet and for my bridesmaids. Mine was all white, with lisianthus and stephanotis with crystal centers mixed in. I wanted the texture to mirror that of my dress – very full and soft. Jeff had a boutonniere of stephanotis with crystal centers. For the groomsmen, I wanted something unexpected, so I used pale green succulents. For the reception flowers, I did a mix of styles. For the royal table, I had a charcoal gray silk dupioni runner that had large, lush white arrangements sitting atop sleek mirrored vases. We used peonies, hydrangeas, lisianthus and other full white flowers for these. On the round tables, we had a low, square mirrored vase with the same lush white arrangement, anchoring manzanita branches that were draped with crystals, orchids and hanging candles.
Describe your wedding cake: Originally, we thought we wanted red velvet, but the yellow cake was so delicious we couldn’t resist! It was filled with cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries and was to die for. The cake was iced in white buttercream, with silver fondant bands at the bottom of each layer. A single pink peony made of sugar was perched on the side.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? We planned the wedding in just over six months, all from DC! Knowing which vendors in Miami to use, and trying to coordinate all of the logistics long-distance was definitely stressful! In the end, I was thrilled with the way everything turned out, and the vendors I chose were so easy to work with!
What range did your wedding budget fall into? $25,000-$50,000
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? My dress! I love fashion, and your wedding dress is one of the only chances you have to splurge at that level.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? When Jeff turned around for our first look. It was the only time of the day when I couldn’t hold back tears. The look on his face was just complete elation, and I was hit with the emotion of the day. Also, when Lil Wayne crashed our wedding photos!
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We opted to write our own vows, so that we could make them personal. Our favorite lines were, from me to Jeff, “I love that we can act like kids together and always share a good laugh, no matter what is happening around us.” And from Jeff to me, “The only thing I need in this world is your smile.”
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Eventually, we will have a family, but right now we are focused on our careers! We are looking forward to continuing to share beautiful memories together, and to keep laughing, no matter what life brings us.
Photographer: 13:13 Photography // Day-Of Coordinator: Karla Blanco // Venue: The National Hotel // Florist: Petunia Florist // Wedding Cake Baker: We Take the Cake // Caterer: The National Hotel // Paper Products: Blush Paperie // Bride’s Dress: Vera Wang // Bride’s Hair Accessories/Veil: Bella Bleu Bridal // Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka // Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Amsale
I think the better question is, how would I not use these monograms at my wedding?! Besides for having them hang on the back of our chairs at the reception, they would look amazing in the wreaths on the doors as you enter the church and the reception venue for cocktail hour. It would also look cute tied to the back of our getaway car for a new twist on the “just married” sign. These monograms would be great to tie in our monogrammed overlay on the cake table!
I would love to use these on the doors of the church or the end of the aisles at the ceremony. At the reception they could be used on the ride and groom chairs and during portraits too!
I think the monogram would be perfect for the front doors of the chapel! Maybe nestled in some magnolia wreaths.
I would definitely hang them on the doors that open onto the courtyard :)
I would hang it on the gates
I am monogram crazy! I would hang one monogram above us during the reception and another on the barn doors on the way into the reception.
These are wonderful! We are having our ceremony and reception at an oceanfront beach house so one of them would be perfect on the front door to welcome everyone! The other would have to be highlighted at the reception somehow! They’re awesome!
I would hang them on the front doors of the Southern mansion that our reception is at, inside the Mississippi cotton boil wreaths! I’m obsessed with monograms!! And it would be a great way to greet our guests to our first party as a married couple!! :D
i love the idea of using these monograms at our wedding! i would use them inside of wreaths for our church doors and then also use them at the entrance to our reception site!
I think it would be absolutely sweet to have a monogram-themed post-wedding photo shoot! Having the bride and groom hold their own separate monograms, then bringing them together with their new “together” monogram….absolutely adorable. :)
I love it all! I especially like the colorful flower wreath with monogram and the wine koozie with monogram!! Super cute!!! Would love to have one!
I think it’d be really neat to put them on the table at the church entry with the guest book and flowers. I would also love it on the family wedding portrait table to show how my name is changing :)
I agree with Kelsey–how could you not use these!! I would probably use them at the door to welcome guests or near the dance floor!
oh how I love monograms! I think I’ve loved monogramming EVERYTHING since preschool when I had my pink backpack monogrammed with my name…. (or maybe even earlier with the bloomers with my name- haha). Anyway, I’d use them in flower wreaths on the church doors!!!
I’d love to hang one behind us at the reception. Or maybe put it on the guestbook table. I can’t decide!
I would love to have one of these monograms!! We’re getting married in a private garden off a busy street in downtown Charleston, SC, so this would be a great way to make sure our guests know where to come in for our wedding!!
Quite frankly, I will monogram anything that stays still long enough. And although the doors on the chapel I am getting married in will stay still, I think I would be in BIG trouble if I monogrammed them, so these custom monograms would be the perfect fix on the chapel doors!
I would nestle each monogram inside a wreath of white roses and hang them on the wrought iron gates of my venue using an off-white or champagne satin ribbon. Then later, I’d use them in my formal Christmas tree! The other one would have a reserved spot on my front door year round!
Although I had the wedding of my dreams this summer, I would just LOVE to place our new initials on the front door of our home-sweet-home! I have cotton and burlap that were saved from our wedding that I would love to use in a vine wreath. The wood monogram would make it absolutely perfect! They are simply adorable!
I love this Southern Fab Find! I’ve been wanting a sign to hang on my office door – kind of like a storefront sign!
The 3-letter ten inch monograms would be beautiful if hung from the two giant wooden handles on the doors to my church. It would definitely be a
Southern way of letting guests know they’re at the right
place for our wedding! And they’d just be so darn adorable!
The better question is “where would I NOT use them?’ I am absolutely obsessed with monograms and cannot wait to put my new initials anywhere and EVERYWHERE at my wedding in April.
I have been oogling over these FOREVER! I love the three letter monograms in 10 or 14 in! I really want one for our front door!!
I have been looking into monograms for our wedding but haven’t found exactly what I wanted yet. I love these birch wood monograms though, they would go perfectly with our rustic farm setting. My Mom and I are marking fall inspired wreaths for the doors of the barn as guests enter the ceremony space and I would love to include these in the wreaths. We are also planning on using monograms throughout the reception on our chairs and on the dessert table.
My wedding is just 3 weeks away! We are still putting the finishing touches and details together. I can see the 3 letter monogram (10 in) on the fireplace mantle behind our head table beside a white and green hydrangea arrangement and also the single monograms scattered throughout the reception site.
I would string these on burlap and hang one each on the huge wooden doors at the entrance of Raffaldini for our wedding. I don’t usually like personal items monogrammed, but love these!
I have always love the look of the bride and grooms chair decorations. These would be fantastic to use on our chairs at the reception – one three letter monogram each with our initials – hanging with bright ribbons! OR (since the wreaths are just adorable) a three letter monogram with our two initials on either side of the last name initial hanging on the front door of the reception. Too adorable!!
How purdy! We are getting married under a tree in the middle of a Tennessee vineyard. I would love to hang these monograms on the vine post on either side of the tree.
Let me start by saying I’m getting one of these wether or not i win! I like to call my wedding theme, Farmhouse Shaby Chic. I’m using lots of pieces of old furniture and lots of items whitewashed. The monogram will be perfectly with every single detail in my wedding!!!! I could use two single letters for mine and my fiances first names and a three letter monogram for either, the sign in table, in a wreath, somewhere in my southern style buffet line or a number of other places!! I’m so glad ya’ll posted these!!
I would love to use two of the 3-letter 16 inch monograms on the back of the bride and groom’s chairs. They are so simple and elegant, I think they would be the perfect addition!
I would use the 3 letter monograms as an accent to my “Love is Sweet” table. We are having a variety of desserts with pictures of us growing up eating cotton candy, ice cream, candy, popsicles, etc. I would love a large one to set right in the middle. I would probably use the other in a magnolia wreath at the door of our reception (an old plantation type house) here in Virginia :)
I’m getting married in a “secret garden” in downtown Richmond VA. We are using the garden door as theme and it would be perfect to hang the monogram from the wreath on the door!
I LOVE these!! I would use one to hang behind our bride and groom’s chairs!
I love these. I am getting married in a old barn and they would look great of the barn doors as guest walked in.
These would be so great for my wedding! I seriouls love these! Our reception is in a big red barn and they would look great on the barn doors as our guests walked in! I always love a beautiful monogram!
The Acrylic Cocktail Tray with monogram is perfect for tailgating, entertaining and/or showers!! LOVE it!
[…] Now, you know how much we love monograms around here. From the looks of it, you do, too! We love Southern Proper Monograms for their customization and huge selection of sizes. I’d love to see a newlywed […]