Southern Weddings

Talk about Old Southern Elegance!  With its impressive marble columns and perfectly-manicured lawn, the Spindletop Hall where the new Mr. and Mrs. Durtschi celebrated their marriage with friends and family is reminiscent of a sprawling Kentucky estate – and I love it!  Photographer Laura Negri did a fabulous job capturing the classic elegance and Southern sophistication of the couple’s wedding without losing sight of their fun, easy-going personalities.  Seriously: how much fun does it look like they’re having?!  (We think the red accents really help bring out Brittany + Patrick’s fun side!)  Since I’m a bit of a sugar addict, I hope you’ll indulge me as I marvel over the delicate four-tiered confection from Martine’s Bakery… amazing.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My mom and I went to try on dresses the day after the 4^th of July.  There weren’t a lot of people in the salon because of the holiday weekend, so I pretty much tried on dresses for hours.  When I tried on the lace Lazaro gown and looked in the mirror, I was shining!  I felt different in this dress and knew I looked different because of the way my mother was looking at me.  I wanted to make sure this was “the dress,” so we visited some more salons in Florida and Kentucky.  Eventually, we were back in Florida and I was purchasing my Lazaro gown.  It really was the perfect gown for me.
Describe your wedding flowers: The flowers were simple and elegant.  For our centerpieces we used oversized mint julep cups filled with bright, beautiful flowers.  Roses and hydrangea’s are my two favorite flowers so we made sure to have plenty of those in each piece.  Nancy Potter, a family friend, made all of the gorgeous floral arrangements as a wedding gift for the two of us.
Describe your wedding cake: We wanted our cake to look like a traditional wedding cake; white, classic and elegant.  Two of the tiers were red velvet, since that is our favorite flavor, and the other two were vanilla with butter cream.  The topper was a gift we received from one of my grandmothers.  The groom’s cake was a complete surprise for Patrick!  He loves Makers Mark bourbon and I wanted to surprise him with a Maker’s Mark-inspired cake at our reception.  It turned out to be a huge hit with all the guests, and it was definitely delicious.
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included?  We included several family traditions in the wedding.  The flower girl baskets we used were over thirty years old and already have been used in three other family weddings.  Another family tradition is for the Groom to change his jacket, so, after our ceremony and formal photos, Patrick changed in to a white dinner jacket.  The look was very Gatsby and he loved it.  All of our rings (including my engagement ring) were made by a jewelr in eastern Kentucky and he happens to be the same jeweler who made some of my aunts’ and uncles’ rings.  It felt great to know he made ours, too.  We started a new tradition by having the wedding party ride in the back of my dad’s 1936 Ford Truck. 
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  We both agree that the most memorable moment was when I was waking down the aisle to meet Pat.  It was a feeling we will never forget.  It was finally our wedding day and now the two of us are a family. 
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  Enjoying one and other, traveling, moving in to our first home and having fun every day. 

Congratulations, Brittany + Patrick!

Written with love by Lara Casey

Brittany + Patrick’s Kentucky wedding from Laura Negri Photgraphy reminds me how much I adore red accents!  (It really isn’t used enough, it it?)  Just like the bride was hoping, the ruby-colored red details in everything from the bridesmaids’ pleated Anna Elyse sundresses and matching bouquets from family friend, Nancy Potter, to the bride’s fun, feathered shoes really pop against a crisp, all-white background.  How stunning does the bride, in a wonderfully lacy Lazaro, look amidst the lipstick-colored details?  We’re swooning over the newlyweds’ fence-side portraits in front of the Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church where they exchanged traditional Christian vows but are mildly obsessed with the father of the bride’s classic 1936 Ford truck that served as the wedding party’s getaway car. 

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We met in 2003 while studying at the University of Florida in Gainesville.  One night, my best friend and I were going out to some of our favorite places downtown and she decided to invite some of her friends from high school.  Patrick was one of the people I met that night and nothing was ever the same.  He was handsome smart and had the best sense of humor of anyone I had ever met!
Describe the proposal.  The proposal was perfect and I never saw it coming.  Patrick and I had made plans to spend the weekend at Disney World (one of my favorite places) but he didn’t want to propose there.  The ring was burning a hole in his pocket so he knew he had to come up with a pretty clever plan to talk me out of going to Disney.  That’s when his Dad called and told me he won a package at an auction and didn’t realize it expired that weekend (his parents were out of town).  The package was a sunset boat rental on the lake, followed by drinks and dinner at the Mission Inn Resort Club.  I really wanted to go to Disney, but I felt bad for his parents so said we would use the package for them.  Wow, was I ever fooled.  When we arrived at his parent’s house on Saturday, the ruse was all set up.  They even went so far as to make a fake auction letter and had it all printed on Mission Inn letterhead.  Pat and I made our way to the dock for our boat rental and spent the afternoon cruising around.  It turned out to be a beautiful evening and we anchored the boat to watch the sun set.  We were dancing on the boat and, just after watching one of the most beautiful sunsets, Pat dropped to one knee and asked me to make him the happiest man in the world before pulling out the most beautiful emerald-cut diamond I had ever seen.  “Will you marry me?” he asked.  I was so surprised and emotional I forgot to answer to “yes.”  Once I realized what had just happened, I kept saying “yes!” over and over.  I was even more surprised when he told me all of our family and friends were in on the surprise.  We had an amazing dinner at the Mission Inn that night.  The entire balcony was reserved for the two of us and there flowers and a card waiting from his parents.  We went to Disney the next day, of course.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Classic, elegant and fun!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted the day to reflect each of our personalities.  We wanted to incorporate vintage flair and Southern hospitality, all the while keeping the design elegant and timeless.  We wanted to use red and a lot of other bright summer colors to complement it.
What was your favorite design element of your big day?  We loved all the red!  It all started with the bridesmaids’ dresses.  We picked red dresses because we thought the color red would really “pop” against all the beautiful Kentucky bluegrass.  It all came together with the red in the flowers, the red velvet wedding cake and even my beautiful wedding shoes. 
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Our getaway cars!  After the ceremony the entire wedding party rode in the back of my dad’s 1936 Ford truck that was once used to service an apple orchard.  It was one of our favorite memories of the day.  Cars were honking and we were all waving like we were in a parade.  After the reception, Patrick and I made our getaway in a beautiful 1956 Bentley.  It was so romantic because it was finally just the two of us and we were riding away in this beautiful classic car. 

Check back soon for more of Brittany + Patrick’s real (red!) Kentucky wedding!

Written with love by Lara Casey