Southern Weddings

This wedding is vintage rustic perfection. I’m loving the juxtaposition of the giant wood tables with the delicate floral pattern on the china–perfect for a wedding at a botanical garden, right? While couples often go the extravagant route with weddings, Jennifer + Barret showed off their personalities with small details, like the Polaroids strung in the reception area, chalkboard menus on each table, and the yummy cupcakes, courtesy of Buttercream Cupcakes. We’re even bigger fans of the cake-eating moment captured by Love Me Do Photography and the so-in-love look the couple share in the photo following it.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I saw a photo of my dress in a magazine and knew it was perfect for me. I found a store that carried it, tried it on, and I said yes. It was that easy. In a world with endless options, I always feel its best to go with what you know, so I didn’t bother confusing myself!
Describe your wedding flowers: When you get married in a botanical garden, there’s no need to compete! Plus, I think it’s crazy to spend so much money on flowers for one evening. We picked out very twiggy, delicate wild flowers, as well as some herbs for the boutonnieres and lilacs for the bouquets. I wanted everything to look natural and reflect a very whimsical and wispy feel.
Describe your wedding cake: We both hate wedding cakes and, again, were astounded by the pricing. We had our local cupcake lady make us a batch of red velvet with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with butter cream frosting, and vanilla with butter cream frosting. They were fantastic!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? To be honest, my biggest challenge was overcoming my philosophical issues with the financial investment for such an occasion. While an occasion like this certainly warrants a worthy celebration, it is very easy to get carried away and lose perspective. A wedding is a very symbolic event about what happens afterward, not just about what happens that day. Both Barret and I made every effort to ensure we were able to have a wedding that reflected an attitude of celebration with appropriate restraint.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? It is difficult to pick one as the entire day is so special. I felt the most anticipation about seeing Barret for our “first look.” But for me, having my father perform the ceremony was very meaningful.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Barret and I are quite settled in our jobs but are looking to sell our home and move a bit closer to his work in Delaware. We plan to make Wilmington, DE the next hip spot, if anyone wants to join us!

Written with love by Nicole

I love delicate and feminine details. Jenn + Barret’s ceremony, shot by Love Me Do Photography, is just that. Since the two were married in Bartram’s Garden, the couple chose to go with wispy wildflowers to avoid a floral overload. I personally love that Jenn chose lilacs to carry down the aisle. They’re not a flower you see in weddings often and they stand out fabulously next to her lace Monique Lhuillier gown without overpowering. More things I love about this wedding? The unexpected source for the bridesmaids’ dresses. The satiny gray dresses the girls donned (and with attitude!) are from H&M, but they match perfectly with the rest of the wedding’s vintage details. One last thing to note–how cute are the flower girl and ring bearer?

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Barret and I are a Match.com success story! We were both urged to join by our friends after Barret moved from Atlanta for his new job at the University of Delaware and after I was politely scolded for hanging out with married couples and working too much. We gave in. I totally submitted myself to the process and went out on a limb and sent him a message. We emailed and talked on the phone for about a month and soon enough, we had our first date at a University of Delaware football game! Nine months later we were engaged!
Describe the proposal. Barret proposed to me at the beach in Charleston, South Carolina. I had a feeling something was up that morning as he seemed a bit nervous. When we arrived at the beach, Barret seemed hell-bent on going to the pier. I kept trying to sit down and he kept saying, “Why don’t we go to the pier?” This made me nervous, but I went. I made us sit down on a bench on the pier, which I think complicated his plan for a one-knee proposal. Fortuitously, some dolphins were swimming by and so I said “look, dolphins!” Barret seized the moment to grab a “camera” from his bag, which turned out to be a vintage cocktail ring with diamonds and sapphires, which Barret’s father had used to propose to his mother. When he opened the box, I could see how nervous he was. He had forgotten to take off his sunglasses and looked down at me through them and asked, “Will you marry me?” I was so surprised at the ring (we had picked out a different ring a bit earlier that I liked) that I said something like, “That’s not my ring! But yes! I will marry you!”
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Intimate, merry, warm
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Barret’s favorite detail of the wedding was the bluegrass band. They really set the tone for the evening and made everyone comfortable. My favorite detail of the wedding was the farm tables. I think they made for a very intimate, dinner party-like atmosphere while bringing a lot to the whole aesthetic.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Barret did all of his schooling (BA, MA, PhD) in Atlanta, GA and Greenville, NC, and my mother was raised by a cattle farmer in Kentucky, so we both have an affinity for the South. I think the whole wedding was meant to reflect the charm we both sense from Southern living, thus the blue-grass band, the quilts and lawn-games, the farm-tables and family-style dining. The evening was meant to feel warm and relaxed and intimate, like the dinners I remember having at my grandparent’s house in Kentucky, and the fun Barret had with all his friends during school.

Written with love by Nicole