As some of you may have seen on instagram, Lara and I traveled to Birmingham for an exciting meeting with our friends at Southern Living in June. (For the background on our partnership, see here!) We discussed lots of ways to continue our shared mission, and left with renewed gratitude for Southern Living’s passion for propelling our heart for strong marriages and meaningful weddings to an ever-expanding audience.
We also left with the beginnings of a very exciting collaboration, which we’re SO very excited to share with you today. It’s called Married in the South!!
You’ve all heard of the Today Show Throws a Wedding, yes? Well, this project will be similar in that we’ll choose a couple and y’all will get to vote on some aspects of their celebration, but rest assured, the whole thing will have a decidedly Southern Weddings spin. As we well know, there is a certain magic about weddings in the South that captivates hearts around the globe. Our hope is to help one very special couple plan a deeply meaningful beginning to married life and celebrate the rich culture of this place we call home. Aside from being beautiful, we just know it will be an event that will inspire us all to love more deeply and celebrate what matters most!
Photo by Tanja Lippert from Paige + Adam’s wedding
We’ll be partnering with the best and brightest in the South to not only plan and execute our special couple’s wedding, but to come alongside us and contribute to blog posts and video features that are perfect for anyone planning their Southern celebration. Our vendors are not only incredibly talented and creative, they also have the hugest hearts. We could not be more elated that the Easton Events team has signed on to be our lead planner. (If you’re not familiar with their stunning work, see more here, here, here, and here!)
Photo by Ryan Ray from Southern Weddings V5
We know y’all will have questions, and we have answers!
How will you find the couple?
With your help, hopefully! Entries are officially open here. You can either nominate yourself or another deserving couple you know. Couples must be engaged and must NOT have booked any vendors for their wedding. They also must be willing to give over much creative control of their celebration (with, of course, the reassurance that their wedding will be in the very best of hands!).
When will the wedding take place?
The wedding will take place in June 2015 at the 2015 Southern Living Idea House, being built in Charlottesville, VA. We are SO excited to celebrate at SL’s gorgeous property, and in such an iconic Southern town!
How will we get to participate?
After we choose our couple (by the end of the year), their wedding planning will kick into high gear! You can expect to see weekly posts on the Southern Weddings blog throughout the winter and spring (hooray!), including helpful, practical tips and fun opportunities to vote at every step. Though we’re excited for the couple we choose, we’re also giddy at the opportunity to inspire so many other love stories and celebrations along the way!
Photo by Mary Rosenbaum from Toree + Forrest’s wedding
We couldn’t be more excited to kick off this project, and are already itching with excitement to read the Married in the South entries as they come in – and for June 2015 to get here!! We would love y’all’s help as we search for one very special couple, so please share our page and encourage any wonderful, deserving couples you know to apply!
I can’t find a way to nominate a couple- even the Southern Living link sends you to a ‘refresh’ of their Facebook page… :/. Help?
Try the marriedinthesouth.com link again — all fixed! : )
That is SO SO SO exciting!!! Such a great idea and awesome partnership. I can’t wait to see the lucky couple chosen and follow along as it all comes together!
We are having to pay for our own wedding. We would be honored to win. It would be such a help starting a new life together
How do you nominate a couple? The link takes me to Facebook, but I don’t see anything about the contest. Thank you in advance! *kisses*
Should be all fixed now!
[…] We are so excited to be throwing a wedding with Southern Living!! Yes, a real wedding, complete with a lovely couple, their friends and family, and traditions and details that are meaningful to them personally. We are looking forward to sharing every step of the process with y’all, with the help of the amazing vendors we’ll be working with to bring this day to life, but first, we need our bride and groom! Learn how to nominate yourself or a deserving couple here. […]