Southern Weddings

Though today’s bride described her wedding as “simple and natural,” you won’t feel like anything is missing from this lovely affair at the John Oliver Michael House. Crisp blue bridesmaids dresses from J. Crew and a fresh-looking groom take this wedding from home-grown to sweetly Southern. If you’re like me, then you’ll be impressed with the bride who bought her BCBG wedding dress through Brides Against Breast Cancer and you’ll fall in love with her bouquet of peonies and cotton, courtesy of Fertile Crescent Gardens. Thanks to Laura Leslie Photography for sharing!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met in a philosophy class at Furman University, where we both did our undergraduate work. We were actually both dating other people at the time, but we remained acquaintances with a lot in common until after graduation. We dated long distance for four years while Timothy was in school and I pursued teaching and another degree…but it was worth it!
Describe the proposal. We both love to travel and we planned a two-week trip to Nicaragua full of plenty of adventures like volcano hiking, surfing, and eating. I didn’t think he would be crazy enough to carry my ring around, but he was—and he proposed one morning on a remote surf beach. We celebrated with fish tacos and Nicaraguan beer.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Simple, natural, and very us
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: We both loved the cotton–it was unique and appropriate because there is a giant cotton field down the road from our venue—it’s one of the first things I noticed.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Well, the cotton was Southern, but other details of our flowers were very local and thus Southern. Georgia Pine, rosemary, larkspur, and other greenery were all locally grown. We tried to use the natural, rustic beauty of our venue as an asset in the decor and worked with it rather than competing with the trees, azaleas and dogwoods. I insisted on Southern food so we served fried chicken, squash casserole, and shrimp and grits. We also had kegs of the BEST Southern beer, the local Terrapin. I tried to honor my family in a lot of ways. We wrapped my bouquet in my great-grandmother’s handkerchief, used antique pins, and hung black-and-white family wedding pictures dating back to the 1800s. It’s pretty cool to think about the long line of women and men who’ve come before you, doing the same thing you are doing.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I looked around at a few places in Nashville, where I was going to school. Then I heard about a traveling dress tour, Brides Against Breast Cancer. I thought, “why not have the large amount of money you spend on a dress go towards a wonderful cause?” So two of my girlfriends came with me, we found “the” dress, called my mom, and bought it that day. It was a purchase I really felt good about.

Written with love by Nicole