Southern Weddings

First, can I just say that, aside from her lovely wedding, I am in LOVE with the color of Erica’s hair?  I kind of want to go out and dye mine the exact. same. shade.  Okay!  Now that that’s out in the open, let’s move on to Erica + Chet’s bash at the King Plow Event Gallery in Atlanta, photographed by the over-the-top fabulous Jesse + Whit (better known as Our Labor of Love!).  They really have a knack for bringing out the best in their portrait subjects, don’t they?  And in their still life subjects, I might add, like Erica’s custom-made dress (courtesy of Chelsea Cook) and pretty white ranunculus bouquet, designed by her mother and Bloom Floral Design.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We met while working at Georgia State as Community Assistants.  We planned programs together, slowly started hanging out just by ourselves, became good friends, and, before we knew it ,were dating.  Our first date was to the drive-in to see the romantic classics “The Grudge” and “Saw II.”  Five years later, and here we are!
Describe the proposal.  Long story short[er], we were walking along a canal in Amsterdam last summer when I finally admitted to Chet that I had found the ring… I just couldn’t hold it in any longer, it had been days!  So Chet asked, right then and there, and I said yes!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Sparkling, perfect and normal.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding?  Since Chet and I are both designers, it was really important that we collaborate and make the wedding entirely “us.”  We wanted it to be classic, timeless and elegant, while still making it fun and upbeat in other ways.  The ceremony was mostly blacks, whites and ivories, while all of our printed material, cupcakes, etc. brought in the splashes of color.  Because of the detail of the space, especially the raw textures of the old brick walls, concrete floors, and metal doors, we wanted to keep the overall design very simple and understated.  Lots of ivory and white candles, not a lot of overdone floral arrangements.  We just let the space speak for itself!
What was your favorite design element of your big day?  The birds.  The symbolism of the birds flying over us as we said our vows made the ceremony even more special.  We carried the bird theme through the entire design of the wedding – from the Save-the-Dates all the way to the actual ceremony.  The purity and subtlety of the white birds against the raw brick walls was so beautiful, and we were just thrilled with how Our Labor of Love captured this balance.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Seeing how everyone experienced all of our details.  After spending countless hours and late nights designing and producing down to the very last detail of our wedding, it was so special to see all of the people we love and care about enjoying the time we put into the big day.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Well, I couldn’t find a wedding dress!  I would go in the expensive stores and oooh and aaah over the lovely dresses with their lovely details, but then I would see the price tags and knew there was just no way.  Then I would go to the bargain stores and be so utterly saddened to watch the mass produced factory dresses get tossed onto the dingy floors. Then, thanks to my beloved architecture professor LaRaine Montgomery, I got in touch with the extremely talented Chelsea Cook.  At SCAD we had done a fashion and architecture collaborative studio, and I had always marveled at her detailing and craft.  So we collaborated on my dress!  Chelsea is based in New York, so we did lots of emailing, sending samples, sketches, and muslins, and, in the end, the dress was just so perfect and everything I ever hoped it would be.  Chelsea hand stitched each and every little piece of lace onto the dress.  You could really see the love that she put into it, which made me love it all the more.  (Not to mention how it sparkled in the candlelight as I walked down the aisle.)

Our Labor of Love is a Southern Weddings sponsor.