Hi belles! Our friend and former Southern Weddings intern Jessica Clinch is the newest gal to take you through her wedding process here on the blog! Jessica will be blogging for us once a month until her wedding this May. In case you missed her introductory post, be sure to check it out here! — Lisa
As I type these words, I still cannot believe it–I am getting married this year!! I cannot wait to walk down the aisle to Zack in four short months, and to be able to call him my husband. I am so excited that my first Jessica’s Southern Wedding post of this year is about our wedding details, because they truly show the heart behind us as a couple!
Just like Lisa so perfectly said in her wedding details blog post, while I have worked in the wedding industry for years, I did not have every little detail planned out before Zack proposed! Of course, I had a secret Pinterest board, but I was waiting to really fill it with design details that are a true reflection of our unique personality as a couple. It has been really fun going through images together and finding details we both love and that mean something to us, rather than designs that are pretty just for the sake of being pretty.
There are a few design details I want to keep a secret from our friends and family for now, but there are some that I am way too excited about that I can’t wait to share with y’all!
1. Since we are getting married outside, I want to create a gorgeous backdrop to help define our ceremony space. I have always been drawn to romantic, flowing calligraphy backdrops and have created some on watercolor scrolls in the past, but for our ceremony, I fell in love with the delicate romance of this cheesecloth-style backdrop. Since it is somewhat sheer, you will still be able to see a faint outline of the rolling mountains in the background!
I am currently envisioning three panels of the fabric to create a large backdrop, surrounded by beautiful eucalyptus leaves. I want each panel to have something different written on it. I am currently torn between calligraphing one panel with our first dance song, one with my parents’ first dance song, and one with Zack’s parents’ first dance song, or using our first dance song, one of our scripture readings, and our favorite love poem! I am really excited to keep these panels after our wedding and find a spot in our home to use them as a statement piece!
Lauren Fair via Magnolia Rouge
2. One of the design details Zack and I are really excited about is our guest book! Zack had the idea of having me create a watercolor painting of the two of us, dressed in our wedding attire, to frame and display at our wedding. We are going to keep the painting framed and showcased on my easel, and ask our guests to sign the mat for the frame. That way, we have a unique piece of art representative of our most special day, surrounded by the names of those who are most special to us!
Kristyn Hogan via Cedarwood Weddings
3. Playing games has become a really big part of our lives, from playing corn hole at tailgates, darts while we are out with friends, Scrabble at home, or cards with our families. So naturally, we want to incorporate games into our wedding day, too! I fell in love with the decorated golf cart in V8’s Fore the Love editorial, and think it would be the perfect area to prop up some lawn games signage, since we are getting married at a golf club. One of our good friends, Shelby, is going to create and paint a custom corn hole board for us (it will be University of Tennessee-themed so that we can take it with us to tailgates after our wedding!). We are also considering having a life-size Jenga game, possibly some darts (I loved this unique white dart board; it would be really fun to create!), as well as some card games to keep in the lounge area. We really hope it allows our guests plenty of opportunities to have fun during our reception, even before dancing begins!
Top: Katie Stoops via Southern Weddings, bottom: Anna Pociask via Brides, Rebekah Westover via Mod Wedding
4. Speaking of our lounge area, I am so excited about our soft seating area. One of my sweet friends, Charity of HoneyBee Events, will be providing us with a variety of couches, loveseats, and chairs to make the area as comfortable as possible for our guests. I definitely want to make sure they are well taken care of! This will be the perfect spot for our aunts, uncles, and my grandparents to sit and relax while they watch us dance–and for our little cousins to hang out and play cards. I might even be designing some custom pillows to decorate the lounge seating with!
Top: Jen Huang via Martha Stewart Weddings, bottom: Elizabeth Messina via Wedding Chicks, Jen Huang via Martha Stewart Weddings
There are many more design details that we will be incorporating, but like I said, I want to keep those a secret for now!
Friends, I’d love to know: how did you showcase your personality through your design details? I love how each wedding is different because of the unique designs!
I LOVE the little details in weddings, and these are all fantastic! I especially liked #2, since I did the same thing for my wedding! Our “guest book” now hangs in our gallery wall in the living room. :)
SO Gorgeous! Did you make the backdrop yourself? I’ve been thinking about doing the same for my wedding in September. If you did, can I ask what materials you used? Thanks!