Southern Weddings

If Yvonne + Kevin don’t look like the epitome of a happily married couple, I don’t know who can.  They are in lurve, and I love it!  Murphy and Klein Floral Studio provided the backyard-inspired floral arrangements, and Jones Scones delighted guests with spread of gourmet cupcakes.  And yes, the newlyweds did commission a proessional painter in lieu of a videographer to capture the play-by-play of their ceremony and reception.  The result?  A masterpieces the couple will cherish forever.  Visit Jenna Walker Photographers’ blog to see the original post from the weekend – and speaking of weekends: we hope y’all had a great one!

Describe your wedding flowers: Understated, natural and unfussy. The hand-tied bridal bouquet featured white cosmos, white ranunculus and white scabiosa.  My bridesmaids carried a simple mix of cymbidium orchids nestled in green and white cosmos. Each of the guys had an orchid boutonniere, green for the groomsmen and white for the groom.  The cocktail tables had silver mint julep cups full of Queen Anne’s lace. We used hay bales covered with madras fabric for seating at the cocktail hour.
Describe your wedding cake:  In lieu of a traditional wedding cake, we served gourmet cupcakes displayed on a tiered cupcake stand. Flavors included red velvet, pumpkin spice and chocolate ganache.  Delicious! No one could eat just one.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? It’s impossible for us to choose just one.  We remember and cherish every moment of the day that we spent with each other, friends and family.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We didn’t write our own vows, but my favorite part was when Kevin accidentally repeated after the Reverend when he wasn’t supposed to!
What’s next for you as a couple?   Starting a family.

Congratulations to the happy couple!  We wish you all the best as newlyweds!

For Yvonne + Kevin, the hometown sweethearts who swapped “I dos” at the Oliver Family Farm, the fun was all in the details.  Case in point: the fabulous fashion + beyond-awesome getaway cars – er, vehicles.  The bride and her attendants donned summer-worthy J. Crew frocks and sandals while the gents cleaned up nicely in salmon-colored slacks, navy blazers and customized sneakers.  And check out the hot ride the bride + groom hijacked on their way to the ceremony.  Genius!  Jenna Walker Photographers documented the couple’s Pennsylvania wedding, and was good enough to give us enough images for two posts.  More soon!

How did the two of you meet?  We are from the same small town in New Jersey, and have known each other for years.
Describe the proposal. We got engaged at home on a cold winter evening in front of a cozy fire.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Country-cool, laid-back and fun.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Rather than hire a videographer, we decided to commission a painter to paint the wedding live as it happened. Frenchy is a live performance artist who paints acrylic on canvas.  The guests enjoyed watching the painting come to life and those that wanted to could help put paint on the canvas.  The best part is that we have a priceless memento of our amazing day!  Another favorite detail was the wedding favor: jars of honey supplied by the bees from the aviary on our property.  We also really liked the escort cards, which were tied to antique horseshoes with ribbon.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Easy!  I chose the Erica gown online from J.Crew.  I didn’t even try on one wedding dress prior to choosing it!

Happy Monday, friends!  Here’s a sophisticated update to the popular bird theme from Dana Grant Photography.  The bride’s dramatic hairpiece from Blackbird Blue and You (an etsy vendor, natch), the groomsmen’s too-cute boutonnières courtesy of Steven’s sister Amanda Dusch ([email protected]) and lovebirds perched atop the couple’s Santa Anita Gardens cake are fresh and refreshingly subtle.  Brittany, in a lace Pronovias, and Steven celebrated their California nuptials at the Villa del Sol d’Oro with J. Crew-clad attendants.  Love the bridesmaids’ coordinated cardigans from Anthropologie!  Take a peek at the photographer’s blog post here.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Steven and I met through a mutual friend and began our friendship mostly via email.  It wasn’t long before we began officially dating, and three years later Steven took me on an early morning date to one of our favorite breakfast spots down the street from my house.  (Side note: Steven later told me he had planned to propose at the restaurant, but decided to wait at the last minute because he knew I wouldn’t appreciate such a large crowd watching… he knows me so well!)  After a walk home in the lovely California December weather, Steven got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  After enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast, a lovely antique ring and a proposal from my very best friend, how could I refuse?
Three adjectives that describe the day are:  Holy, romantic and warm (even though it was raining outside!)
Our favorite detail of the wedding was:  We loved the bird theme we used in our wedding.  Birds were incorporated into our invitations and my bridal shower.  There was a bird figurine on each reception table, and we passed out birdseed heart favors for our guests.  Birds, birds, birds!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  I had always imagined myself in a very simple wedding dress, so it was kind of ironic when I ended up choosing such an ornately beaded lace Pronovias gown.  I found my dress at our first stop, Mon Amie bridal salon in Costa Mesa, CA.   I was torn between two dresses, but I knew this one had to be “the one” when my mom cried the second she saw me in it.  So a big “thanks” to Mom’s tears for making what could have been a tough decision very easy!
Describe your wedding flowers: Oh, the wedding flowers!  We loved loved, loved, LOVED our wedding flowers.  And it was even more special for us because Steven’s sister, Amanda Dusch, did them for us.  She is so amazingly talented and has such great ideas.  We couldn’t have been more pleased.  I gave her the colors (deep rustic purples, dusty pinks, and creams) I wanted to use, and told her I love dahlias and mums, and she went from there!  I also wanted to incorporate rosemary into my bouquet and feathers into my bridesmaids’ bouquets.  My bouquet was wrapped in burlap and lace, while the bridesmaids’ bouquets were wrapped in vintage fabric.  Amanda also created the most amazing flowerless boutonnieres for the groomsmen out of birds’ nests, feathers, felt, wire and twine.  They were probably one of my favorite things about our wedding. 
Describe your wedding cake: We wanted something very simple and clean, but also wanted a cake that would give our guests that warm, homemade feeling.  So Santa Anita Gardens Catering made our apple-spice cake with chunks of fresh apples in the filling and buttercream frosting.  Yum! 
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? There were so many lovely, memorable moments for us: doing the “first-look” with my father, the moment Steven and I first made eye contact as I walked down aisle, having such a holy and beautiful marriage ceremony, and standing outside together toward the end of the evening in the refreshing night air and rain puddles. 
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We look forward to not having to think about the wedding and all of its little projects anymore!  When we are not busy teaching and designing, we are relaxing!  We look forward to sharing our lives, for the rest of our lives… growing in faith and, eventually, having a family.   

Congratulations, Brittany + Steven!