Southern Weddings

I love Emily.  A lot.  Why?  Because she not only picks the most beautiful weddings around for our blog but also occasionally slips in a wedding she knows I will absolutely love.  (As an admittedly picky traditionalist, it’s not always easy to please me, so this is a bigger challenge than you may think.)  What do I love about Annie + Sam’s Texas wedding from Sharon Nicole Photography?  THE CANDY BAR!  It’s amazing, right?  But really, it’s not just the sweet display of, well, sweets, but the candy-bright color palate the couple chose for their wedding at the Tuscany Villa.  The blooming centerpieces from Special Arrangements, the vibrant accents atop the Cakes by Gina two-tiered confection, the lemon-yellow chair ties?  Delicious!  Didn’t get enough?  (Don’t feel bad – I didn’t either!)  Check out Sharon Nicole’s blog post here!

Describe your wedding flowers:  Lori of Special Arrangements was our last minute florist and she was fantastic!  We presented our budget and told her about our wedding elements and gave her free reign to design the flowers she thought would best suit the event.  They looked so beautiful and really added a fresh, eye-catching look to our day.  After delivering the flowers, she stayed to make sure everyone was pinned and taken care of. 
Describe your wedding cake: Instead of one large cake, we had six smaller cakes and used them as centerpieces.  It was both economical and helped make the cakes more memorable!  We picked two different flavors and altered the flavors between layers.  One layer was red velvet with cream cheese filling and the other was amaretto and raspberry puree.
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding? On behalf of our guests, we donated $1 per guest to World Wide Life Fund.  Instead of doing a traditional garter and bouquet toss, we also included two t-shirt tosses with the WWLF t-shirts we had received from our donations.  The t-shirts said, “hotter than I should be” across the front (in reference to global warming).
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  Turning around to face our guests during the ceremony to receive the congregational blessing, and being wowed by all the people who came to support us on our wedding day.
Any surprise elements?  There were a lot of butterflies hovering around during our ceremony!  That was not planned!
Describe your wedding favors:  Sam and I are both of Chinese descent but we didn’t incorporate any Chinese traditions into our wedding.  For our wedding favors, however, we had chopsticks designed and engraved in Hong Kong.  We also designed our own wedding t-shirts that said, “Wedding Staff” across the back, which we distributed to our wedding party and helpers.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  First, we will turn Sam’s bachelor pad into something that resembles a home.  Second, learn to live each day with gratitude for what God has given us.

Congratulations, Annie + Sam!  Best of luck to you from the SW girls!

Written with love by Lara Casey