Southern Weddings

Hello, gorgeous dress!  The bride fell in love with her regal one-shoulder gown from Luly Yang the moment she saw it, and I can totally see what.  (I may be biased since I’ll be wearing a one-shoulder gown in a little over a week, but you have to admit her dress is pretty fabulous.)  Michelle + Ken swapped “I dos” at the Semiahmoo Resort, with Michèle Waite on-hand to document the big day.  Steven Moore Designs planned M + K’swedding and styled the intricate blooms.  Come back soon for Part II, ‘mkay?

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We met at a “guy’s baby shower.”  I was living in Portland, OR at the time and was out on the town with a girlfriend and my brother.  Ken was in town from Washington State celebrating his friend’s “weekend get-away” baby shower.  As Ken puts it, why should women get to have a party and the men don’t?  We met, exchanged numbers, and the rest is history!
Describe the proposal. It was our 3-year anniversary and Ken secretly arranged with my clients to come after a lunchtime Pilates class that I was teaching.  One of my clients had asked me to wait after class to meet a friend of hers who was interested in Pilates.  The “friend” turned out to be Ken.  I thought the surprise and enormous bouquet of flowers that he was carrying was for our anniversary, but I couldn’t figure out why all of my clients were taking photos.  Then, he got down on his knee and asked me:  “Will you spend the rest of your life with me?”  I was completely stunned and said, “Of course I will!”
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Romantic, fun, perfect.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was:   My grandfather who was very special to me and who had passed away raised sold peonies.  It was really important to my family to have some peonies incorporated into the décor, despite how difficult they were to get during July.  My bouquet, my mom’s bouquet and my grandmother’s all had peonies.  Our head table also featured single pink peonies.  There were moments during the wedding when I could smell their fragrance and I felt completely embraced by my grandfather.  We also had my grandmother’s oil paintings of my grandfather’s peonies displayed during the reception.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration?  What was Southern about your wedding? My aunt gave us a beautiful 100 Blessings quilt on our wedding day that she had made.  The quilt is incredible and was by far our favorite gift.  We were really excited to incorporate it into some of our photos, too.  We also served pork sliders and sweet potato fries as a late night snack during the reception.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  My brother, my Man of Honor, saw my dress in the window of Luly Yang, a boutique across from his office in downtown Seattle.  He called me and told me that he thought he had found my dress.  And he did.  It was exactly what I was looking for and I was the first person (and last) to try it on!

Chelle + Tim’s outdoor reception at the Pine Rose Cabins looks so effortlessly summery and relaxed, I can’t help but wish the SW teams were on the West Coast.  Sarah Rosenberger, one of Chelle’s bridesmaids, styled the fresh white and yellow blooms, and Jensen’s of Lake Arrowhead designed the too-cute bird cake.  Just one question, C + T: was that cake as delicious as looked?  Since we know y’all love pretty things, there are more shots from the rustic wedding from The Brothers Wright. 

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My Mom and sister both live in Oklahoma, and I live in Long Beach, CA.  In October of 2009, they both flew out for a girls’ weekend of celebrating and dress shopping.  A few bridesmaids came along, and we spent the day at bridal boutiques in Southern California.  It was so special to be able to share this moment with them.
Describe your wedding flowers: I love the look of renunculas, and yellow is my favorite color, so that set the foundation of our flowers and color scheme.  I knew I wanted to find an alternative to traditional bouquets and boutonnières, though, so we eventually discovered handmade flowers in a shop in OKC made from neckties.  My father and grandfather had a ton of neckties they no longer wore, and we were able to find a few more at thrift stores.  The bridesmaid bouquets were also made from these and finished with vintage buttons from my grandmother’s sewing box.
Describe your wedding cake: Our cake was three tiers, each a different flavor. We used a pine tree round from the Pine Rose Cabin properties for the cake stand.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Tim makes films for a living, and wanted to create a film to show at the reception of each of us answering the same questions about each other, (e.g. where we met, how he proposed, what we love about each other, etc.).  Towards the end of the film, Tim went to great lengths to describe the proposal. Unbeknownst to me, Tim’s best man, Ben, had secretly hidden a camera in the bushes on the mountaintop where Tim proposed.  I was able to watch him propose to me at our wedding, and it was absolutely priceless.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line?  We did write our own vows, in addition to repeating traditional vows.  It was shocking how similar they were to each other’s!
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? We still live in Long Beach, are continuing in our current professions and hope to have children sometime in the next 5 years.  For now, we’re enjoying being newlyweds.

I like the color yellow, and I like (okay, love) cowboy boots, so I’m pretty sure Chelle’s cheery maids (in Anthropologie frocks) get the W for this week’s Super Southern Bridesmaid Ensemble.  So it’s not a real award, but if we did have one, they’d definitely get it!  Chelle + Tim said “I do” at the rustic Pine Rose Cabins in California, and were lucky enough to have The Brothers Wright on-hand to document the occasion.  The bride wore a lacy Pronovias gown (style name “Galvina” for those of you dying to try on the romantic v-neck number yourself), finishing her wedding look with a handmade veil.  The reception photos are just around the corner!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. (From the groom) The first time we EVER met was at a Labor Day BBQ in September of 2007…but Chelle doesn’t really remember this, so it doesn’t count.  I began attending Grace Brethren Church in Long Beach in January of 2007 and soon met Christa Neilsen, Tim’s older sister and we became friends.  Somewhere along the way I met Tim, but he lived far away in Corona. We crossed paths every now and again, but then in the summer of 2008, Tim moved to Long Beach and started attending Grace regularly.  Tim organized a “group hike” one Sunday afternoon in November but unfortunately I was the only person who could make it. We hiked to the top of Mt. Zion by the light of the moon and their headlamps.  At the top of the mountain we laid on our backs and watched shooting stars. Very shortly after this, I received an unmarked package in the mail. It contained a case of black jack gum (my favorite which had been discontinued). My roommate tipped me off that Tim had stopped by earlier that day…but he denied any responsibility until a month later when we began officially dating. Tim FINALLY asked me out in December.
Describe the proposal. Around late July, Tim started telling me that I needed a day off of work.  So we planned a hike for Saturday, the 1st of August.  Since we were going to Oklahoma in a week, my engagement radar was at a -10, despite the fact that we were hiking Mt. Zion…they very first place they’d ever hiked…and despite the wonderful breakfast that Tim had cooked for us that morning before we left. During our hike, we finally came around the last set of turns to the summit, where Tim’s friend Ben had set up a picnic. I was touched that Tim had planned a romantic summit celebration and finally realized that there was more to it when he uttered the words “will you marry me?” I said yes and we celebrated later with family and friends at Tim’s house in Long Beach.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Peaceful, reverent, joyful.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? I am from Oklahoma, so all the girls wore cowboy boots. We had fresh lemonade and mason jars for flower arrangements.