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Southern Weddings

Author: Lisa

Honestly, how awesome is it to be a bride in 2017? From wedding websites to online RSVP tracking to universal registries, there are so many ways technology makes wedding planning easier (is it bad if I actually cringe when I think of our parents having to write down SKU numbers on clipboards when they created their registries? No thank you!). Even with all of the blessings technology provides for brides though, wedding planning is STILL stressful, so whenever we find out about something that can make your life a little easier or save you time, we want to shout it from the rooftops. After all, less time doing mundane planning tasks = more time for date nights and marriage prep with your fiancé, AKA, what matters most!

For years, we’ve been singing the praises of Zola‘s online registry system (our blogger bride, Jessica, even used it when she was engaged!). But now, having heard the concerns and worries of brides everywhere, they’re taking their beautiful interface and amazing customer service to a whole new level…Zola Weddings is now a one-stop site for planning your wedding!

Your Zola Weddings dashboard includes planning checklists, your wedding website, guest list management, and your registry, all in one easy-to-use place. The organizer in me loves the idea of seeing something on a checklist, accomplishing it, and then checking it off, without even leaving the website! Your checklist is custom-created based on your wedding date and the traditions you may want to include in honor of your religion or heritage. Of course, you can also add, remove, and edit tasks to best suit your needs.

Creating a wedding website is SO helpful for your guests (I’d go as far as to call it a gesture of Southern hospitality :)), and Zola Weddings makes it incredibly easy. Their templates are beautiful, the pages are customizable, and the entire thing is mobile-optimized.

One of the handiest features of the all-new Zola Weddings is guest list management. Making the guest list is enough of a headache…managing it doesn’t need to be! In your guest list tab, you’ll be able to add guests and all their information (imported from your contact list, by requesting info via a private link, or by entering it manually), specify what the inner and outer envelopes of your invitation should say, and then mark an invitation sent or not sent. Guests can then RSVP through your wedding website. No more penciling numbers onto the back of reply cards in case someone doesn’t fill out their name!

We have to talk about Zola’s claim to fame: their online registry! They were one of the first companies I ever heard of that allowed couples to add items to their registries from any online retailer, and their easy-to-use system and elegant (also mobile-friendly) interface makes them one of the best options out there. Along with the ability to add physical gifts from over 450 top brands to your registry, they also allow you to register for experiences (like cooking classes, spa visits, and more) and for cash funds for your honeymoon, a house down payment, etc. SO practical, useful, and convenient! I especially love the way this helps your guests understand what’s important to you as a couple, and gives them a glimpse of your hopes and dreams for your future together. To make things super easy on your guests, your registry is seamlessly integrated into your wedding website–people can shop directly from there.

One last feature I’m so excited to tell you about: true to their reputation for amazing customer service, each couple who uses Zola Weddings will have access to a Zola advisor. This person will be able to answer any questions you may have as you use the system, and they’ll guide you through any part of the process you may need some help with.

Friend, we couldn’t be more excited about this new system for keeping all of your wedding planning ducks in a row–we hope you love it as much as we do!

This post is brought to you by Zola Weddings. Thank you for your support of the brands who make Southern Weddings possible!

lisa Written with love by Lisa
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About two years ago, we reached out to our friend, photographer Anna Shackleford, about doing a home tour for our Southern Newlywed series. We went back and forth for a little while working on the logistics, but then the hustle and bustle of wedding season put our plans on hold. When I reconnected with her to pick up where we left off, she replied with something along the lines of “I’d love to, but we’re actually about to sell almost everything we own, renovate a camper, and spend the next year or two on the road, so I don’t know if you would still want to feature us!” My response? Heck YES, we do! We were so excited to hear about Anna and Daniel’s unique new living situation, they inspired the Southern Newlywed “Home Sweet Home” feature in V9, in which we profiled different types of newlywed homes. I hope you love this peek at their “on the go” home as much as we did!

The couple: Anna and Daniel Shackleford
How many years have you been married? Four years!
Tell us a little bit about your unique living situation. We are currently living on the road full-time in a 28-foot travel trailer that we pull with a truck. We’ve always dreamed of traveling together, and after many discussions and prayers, we decided that we couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. We were in the perfect season of life to pursue the adventure: newlyweds, without children, without a mortgage, and in careers that provide relatively flexible schedules. Before we moved in to our travel trailer, we repainted the entire interior, reupholstered the furniture, and decorated it like we would any other house. It’s a cozy little space that we love calling home.

Tell us about the process of moving from a house to a camper. How did you decide what to bring with you, store, or get rid of? We first thought about the type of life that we wanted to live together. We knew we wanted to live more simply, spend more time with friends and family, and explore the outdoors. Once we nailed down the life that we wanted, honestly, picking the items that we wanted to bring with us was easy. The downsizing process was incredibly freeing. When you know you only have 225 square feet to live in, it gets pretty easy to make decisions about what is necessary and what is not. We stored a few pieces of heirloom furniture, photos, and paintings, but other than that, we sold almost everything that we owned. Getting rid of all of the clutter gave us clarity about what was truly important.

What most makes your camper feel like home? Bella, our sweet, eight-year-old golden lab that we absolutely adore. Having her with us on the road is just the greatest thing ever!

What are the biggest challenges of being on the road? We had both thought that moving into such a small space would be the biggest challenge, but oddly enough, that has been one of our favorite parts. Everything has a place and it’s clutter-free! We wouldn’t think that in 2016 finding reliable Wi-Fi would be an issue, but it has been a big challenge for us!

What is your favorite part of being on the road? It’s hard to choose just one thing! Seeing all of the diversity that the US has to offer across different landscapes has been incredible—we especially love spending time out west. But honestly, this experience has taught us to trust others more than we ever have before. There are so many good, kind people in this world, and we’ve loved getting the chance to meet so many of them along our journey.

What are some of your dreams and plans for where you live over the next five years? We want to explore as much of the US and Canada as we can while we are living on the road. We plan to continue living on the road for at least a few years, but we have major baby fever, so who knows how that will impact our travels!

Photography: Anna Shackleford

lisa Written with love by Lisa
4 Comments
  1. avatar Alexandra P. reply

    How wonderful! I love how the camper looks like a real house — so many are not well designed. I would love more details on where the furnishings/paint/decor came from

  2. avatar Elizabeth Burns reply

    I LOVE this! It’s great how all different types of housing are highlighted in this series, not just single family homes. And that sweet pup!!! <3

  3. avatar Lyndi and Jason Redfern reply

    This is beautiful! It’s surprisingly spacious and so well laid out that it’s hard to believe it’s a camper!

  4. avatar Bri A reply

    Oh my goodness!! I couldn’t believe these photos were from a camper – how gorgeous. I’m not sure I could live on the road like they are, but these sweet pictures made me want to give it a try!

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Whether you’re clicking through wedding blogs on your lunch break or catching up with us once you get home from work and switch gears to planning mode, consider today’s post a little breather. We’re all about the practical and the pretty around these parts, but sometimes, we don’t want you to worry about filing away important info or looking for details to pin…we just want you to get excited for your big day! Besides, when else in your life do you get to wear a stunning gown, dance the night away with both your sorority sisters and your grandparents, AND (last but far from least!) commit your life to your best friend? Jaicee and Kolton’s wedding film by Hampton Road Studios will hopefully be a sweet reminder of all of the above and more. We loved this peek into their special day beneath the most gorgeous Spanish moss!

P.S. See more from Jaicee and Kolton’s wedding here!

From the bride:

We had originally planned to have our ceremony and reception on St. Simons Island, Georgia, but after visiting my grandparent’s coastal house so much and remembering why we loved that location, we couldn’t pass up the beautiful Spanish moss-covered oak trees and the chance for a waterfront reception.

Southern grace and God’s presence are so important to us, so the prayer before the ceremony (instead of a first look) was so special! The emotion of seeing each other for the first time down the aisle was simply breathtaking. We also decided to write our own vows, which we will cherish forever.

A Southern wedding is not complete without a long farm table, so we chose that as our head table. The tables were lined with driftwood, English roses, oyster shells, succulents and Spanish moss. My mom takes pride in her beautiful ferns, so we had to include those, too! We served two of our favorite Southern hors d’oeuvres; crab cake balls and chicken salad pastries. My dad hand made our dance floor out of wooden pallets. I also took up calligraphy in my spare time and designed each of our signs at our wedding. It was so special to see each of those in the photos and video knowing that I did them myself!

Venue: Sutherland Bluff Plantation | Videography: Hampton Road Studios | Photography: Chloé Giancola Photography | Planner: Ally Moline Events | Florals and design: RAZZ Jackson Design | Hair & Makeup: Kelsey Kinsman, Kate Davis, Natalie Scarborough, Fonda Davis Salon | Dress: Alyne Bridal | Bridesmaid Dresses: Show Me Your Mumu | Catering: Tasteful Temptations Catering | Rentals: Tasteful Temptations and Carlson’s Premier Events & Rentals | DJ: Island Sound

lisa Written with love by Lisa
14 Comments
  1. avatar Ashley Hampton reply

    We are so in love with Jaicee and Kolton’s wedding! Thank you for featuring their sweet wedding!

  2. avatar Cali reply

    LOVE!! What a great video, love this feature. Thanks for sharing!

  3. avatar Meg Simone reply

    Ashley! This is a beautiful film! Your story telling never fails to give goosies! Love love love :) Even better the video is featured solo! Nothing is lost in all the details :) Congrats :)

  4. avatar Shire reply

    What a beautiful wedding film!!!

  5. avatar Rebecca reply

    Such a beautiful wedding! Great job Hampton Roads Studios!

    Thanks for being willing to publish stand-alone video features like this! I love it!

  6. avatar Naomi reply

    This video is absolutely stunning! What a treasure for the bride and groom to keep! This is why videography is so important on wedding days! ❤️

  7. avatar Maura reply

    What a beautiful video! Capturing those words from Dad and so many beautiful emotions with a video just can’t be compared! LOVELY!

  8. avatar Brittany reply

    This is so beautiful!!!

  9. avatar Angela Burch Brewton reply

    Mom of the Bride here!!!! This wedding was amazing and everything Jaicee wanted it to be! All things Southern!
    Thanks for featuring them!

  10. avatar Paul A Drawdy reply

    Possibly the best wedding video I’ve seen. No, it is the best wedding video I’ve seen. Great job Hampton Road

  11. avatar Tammy reply

    Oh my goodness!! I absolutely LOVE this wedding film. What a great way to capture the day. I love the audio in this film and it is beautifully shot and edited. Great job!!! Please feature more wedding films….I could just sit here and binge watch them all day long.

  12. avatar Amy Cheree reply

    BEAUTIFUL wedding and BEAUTIFUL film!! There are so many special moments captured that I know will serve as a lifelong keepsake. Great job Hampton Roads Studio and congrats to the happy couple! <3

  13. avatar Shayna Banfe reply

    I love all the beauty and sweetness of the day that was captured!!! So dreamy.

  14. avatar vicky reply

    Jaicee, i love your earrings! if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get them? thanks in advance!

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

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