Southern Weddings

Em + I had to smile when we saw today’s adorable navy bridesmaid dresses from Monique Lhuillier. Last week’s post on the coveted blue dress revealed that y’all think, as one reader so eloquently put it, that “navy bridesmaid dresses are soo hot right now!” We couldn’t agree more. The bride, also in Monique Lhuillier, looked stunning and reminded me how much I love short-haired brides. (They always look so Southern to me!) And for those of you wondering how the gents should dress to complement ladies in blue, take a look at Matt and his dapper attendants: khakis and blazers, all the way! Scott Piner photographed Katie + Matt’s North Carolina wedding at the Bellamy Mansion Museum, and Lindsey Cheek (who now works for Salt Harbor Designs) served as planner extraordinaire! Blooms courtesy of A Beautiful Event.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met in 2005, the summer before Matt’s senior year at Appalachian State University, in Boone, NC. I was up at App visiting a friend for the weekend. That Saturday afternoon, we both happened to be hanging out at “the dam” on the Watauga River. While our friends were hanging out on the rocks below, neither one of us could sit still and ended up doing flips off the dam. Matt admits that he wanted to meet the girl in the orange bikini and Chaco’s (that would be me). Let’s just say, the feeling was mutual, so we met. For the rest of the summer, we saw each other about every other weekend. That was the beginning of what turned out to be a five-year, long-distance relationship.
Describe the proposal. My whole family had gathered for dinner to celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday. Matt had asked my father for permission to marry me, in advance, but they had agreed to keep it a secret because my mom would likely ruin the surprise. We all sat down for dinner and Matt only waited about 3 minutes before standing up to address the group. He was extremely nervous and we knew he had just signed a contract for his first house, so we thought he was going to share the news about that with everyone. I was excited for him, but before I knew it, he was asking me
to marry him. Needless to say, I said “yes”(actually, I said “thank-you”). I was super surprised and excited! He gave me his great-grandmother’s diamond. After he proposed, we invited other in-town relatives and friends to join us. It was certainly a celebration with dancing in the family room, complete with The Platters playing “With This Ring,” in the background.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Charming, relaxed and fun.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: I loved that both the ceremony and the wedding were outside and I loved the laid-back feeling of the wedding. My mom and a dear friend made burlap runners for all of the tables. My mom hand painted signs that she and my uncle made out of old wood scraps. She also made one large sign that listed all the cities represented by our guests and the distance of each city from Wilmington, NC, where we were married. It was a big hit and great source of conversation for our guests.