Southern Weddings

Besides the bride and groom, of course, the florals really had pride of place at Jenn + Jie’s wedding, don’t you think?  The amazing arrangements of dahlias and other bright, happy blooms were the mastermind of the lovely bride herseld, while the too-cute cake was from Cake Man Raven.  And the stunning photos?  Those are all thanks to Angelica Glass.  See more on her blog here!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  I’m very self conscious about revealing too much skin. I had spent lunchtime of a weekday afternoon browsing dresses in a big-name store in Midtown, and was feeling pretty bummed about the bad customer service I received at such a large outfit. There were only four months to plan the wedding and I was told that all dresses need six months to order (which, is far from true, as I later found out). Needless to say, I was having a freak-out. After work I trekked to the nearest David’s bridal in Woodside, Queens. A saleslady welcomed me warmly and patiently helped my try on dresses of all shapes and sizes. By the end of the evening, three, maybe closer to four hours later, I had my dress. Off it went to be tailored. My mother and aunt then put the finishing touches on my wedding dress over Labor Day weekend:  matching ivory Alencon lace cover the keyhole back, a simple bustle to help me move around. Wonderful, helpful people saved me from my wedding dress dilemma.
Describe your wedding flowers: My wedding flowers were early fall blooms that Jie and I picked up from a downtown flower stall at a deli and the weekend farmer’s market only a couple days before the wedding. With about fifty pounds of flowers, we cabbed it back to Queens and proceeded to put each bouquet in water with a pinch of plant food. Buckets, pots, vases, jam jars, were all used. My bridesmaids slept over our apartment the night before the wedding. Before going to sleep, we each created our own bouquets that we’d be carrying down the aisle the next day and put them in water. The morning of, we scrambled to make boutonnieres and wedding centerpieces. The wedding party carted away the flowers to the restaurant and my aunt helped me clean up the floral tornado of discarded leaves and stems.
Describe your wedding cake: Cake Man Raven red velvet cake that my husband and most of my friends love. Sugary cream cheese frosting and three vibrant, red layers.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding?   We included the “gift to the parents” section of the wedding where we gave handmade flower bouquets to both sets of parents during the ceremony to symbolize a giving-back to those who gave us the most.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The most memorable moment was right after the ceremony when it just us together alone in the back courtyard of the restaurant.  We were able to get away from the craziness for the first time on that day and felt really relieved.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line?  Our vows were tweaked from template selections that our officiant provided for us. We personalized them so that they were more meaningful and representative of us as a couple.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We are waiting for our new condo to finally be completed so that we can move in. We have a name picked out for our future dog, “Berky” short for Berkshire as in Berkshire pork. We just have to find Berky. He’s waiting for us.

We feature quite a few rustic chic weddings on the blog (we are, after all Southern Weddings!), but every now and again we like to highlight more modern affairs.  Since some of you (okay… probably a lot of you) don’t have access to a beautifully tumbled-down barn for your reception space or are planning to hold your reception indoors, we give you Jenn + Jie, who held their wedding in the crisp and clean iCi Resturant in Brooklyn. Since we know you’ll ask, Jenn’s dress is from David’s Bridal, her bridesmaids’ popping frocks are from J. Crew, and the were florals designed and arranged by the bride herself!  And, of course, Angelica Glass’ light and airy photos captured the day to perfection. 

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  We both share a love of food, so it was only fitting that we first met at a restaurant, a ramen shop to be specific.   Having arrived separately with mutual friends, meeting each other was the furthest thing from our minds.  Although there was no instant connection and no love at first, it was definitely the beginning of our friendship.  Out of that friendship, our love grew over time and eventually even took us by surprise.  But what was even more surprising was that while we both shied away from that feeling in the past, we found ourselves embracing it.  It was then that we both realized that out of the millions of possibilities in the world, finding each other was like winning the lottery.  And now we finally get to cash in the ticket.
Describe the proposal. Jie officially proposed to me during our engagement dinner.  (We both decided that we were getting married months beforehand.)  Nevertheless, Jie was still really nervous about finding the right moment to do it in front of several of our friends, including the best man and maid of honor.  Over the course of dinner, I mentioned several times that I was really sleepy.  Jie was trying to find the right time to ask me to marry him, so after I mentioned it again, he whispered: “Would it wake you up if I proposed to you right now?”  I was in tears immediately. .  While all of this was happening, our friends were so involved in their own conversation that they didn’t notice until I had to tell everyone that Jie had just proposed.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Homemade meets vintage Brooklyn brownstone where shades of blush pink meet a white, clean canvas.
What was your favorite design element of your big day?  The pink parasols were props we picked out just in case it rained, but they turned out to be the most smashing indoor hit. The guys, especially, liked to pose beneath them.  We also loved the photo booth we set up for our photo guest book. We had borrowed wigs, mustaches, funky eyeglasses, novelty hats etc. Our guests had a blast (or so we hope!).
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Our wedding favors were little pink gift boxes filled with our homemade salt caramel.  They also served as escort cards for the guests to find their seating at the dinner tables.

Where do you start with a reception like this one?  Jessica + Curt celebrated their newlywed status at the Marvimon House and even Emily, our wedding guru, has to admit she hasn’t come across centerpieces like the ones designed and arranged by wedding planner extraordinaire, Jesi Haack.  Like Jessica and her attendants’ bouquets, the arrangements are textured, rustic and even slightly romantic.  I like them!  A lot.  Before you go, be sure to sneak a peek at the couple’s dessert table, overflowing with goodies from the Sweet and Saucy Shop, as well as the photographer’s original blog post about Jessica + Curt’s happy L.A. day here!

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? Our vows were one of my favorite parts of the wedding. We each came up with 10 statements that started with “I promise,” and then exchanged them. They were a complete surprise, to each other and to our guests. Some were funny ( “I promise not to wear granny panties until I’m actually a granny. And even at that point I’ll try not to make a habit of it.” and “I promise to vanquish all spiders, creepy-crawlies, and other critters that might upset the balance of our pest-free home.”) and others were serious (” I promise to wake up every day and choose to be your wife, your lover, and your best friend” and “I promise to discover the world with you by my side and to love you everyday like it may be our last”). It was incredibly meaningful to combine our own words with the traditional vows that couples have exchanged for centuries. Needless to say, there were very few dry eyes in the group.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? As of now, we don’t have any immediate, life-changing plans. But 10 years from now, we’d love to be living in a little bungalow in Laguna Beach with our two little kiddies. And our long-term career goal is to open our own event space so that other non-traditional couples like us can have a unique, contemporary, and affordable wedding venue.

Written with love by Lara Casey