Southern Weddings

Thank you to the wedding gods (a.k.a. our Art Director, Emily Ayer) for giving me another quick fix for my black-and-white wedding addiction.  Needless to say, I’m in Monday morning heaven with Peyton + Nick’s Indiana wedding at the Columbia Club from Megan W. Photography.  Classic black bowties, simple Melissa Sweet bridesmaid dresses and lovely bouquets of white roses and daisies from Posh Petals – what more could a self-proclaimed B&W lover wish for?  How about a stunning Melissa Sweet gown with sweet lace and ribbon detailing paired with drop-dead gorgeous high heels?  Check!  Come back in a bit and we can ogle this classically elegant affair some more!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.  It’s pretty safe to say we’ve known each other forever.  Our parents are friends and have known each other for years, and Nick and I were even in the same fourth grade class!   Our families often took spring break trips together throughout school and Nick and I began dating seriously at the end of our freshman year of high school before both attending Purdue University.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding?  The rooms for our ceremony and reception at The Columbia Club were gorgeous and gave us tons of inspiration!  The classic style was not only the perfect backdrop for our wedding but also allowed us to stick with a black and white theme while adding some modern touches of green!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  My parents live in southern California, so my mom and I went dress shopping at The White Dress in Corona Del Mar while I was out visiting over Christmas.  The White Dress is one of the most beautiful stores I have ever seen and just screams elegant, classic bride!  I also had the best salesperson, Brielle, who made it an amazing experience. She helped me find some great dresses and made the whole process spectacular!  We found several dresses that we really liked, but when I tried my dress on we all knew it was the one!  Brielle then popped open some champagne and gave some to everyone in the store to celebrate.  It was a great day!
Three adjectives that describe the day are:  Perfect, fun and classic.

Whenever our lovely editor-in-chief chimes in about a wedding, we know it’s something special.  So when Lara gushed that she “loved the cuteness” of Cami + Tanner’s colorful Las Vegas wedding from Oakstream Photography, I just had to take a look myself.  We love that the bride choose four wedding colors rather than just one, picked cute, frilly pink and yellow BCBG frocks and carried one of the sunniest bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen.  How can one help but smile?  Luckily we have a second image board to enjoy together!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.  Tanner and I lived across the street from each other last year. He became good friends with my roommates while I was dating another guy. I thought Tanner was adorable from the first day I met him. After sharing many meals and enjoying our favorite T.V. shows together (not to mention all the accounting homework Tanner helped me with!), we became good friends.  We started hanging out more and more until Tanner asked me to go home with him to California for Thanksgiving. I was shocked but thrilled at the same time.  Our trip to visit his family in California is what first made our relationship official!
Describe the proposal:  He had me fooled. He gave me the typical run-around men give when trying to fool girls (“the ring wouldn’t be finished in time” and he had to “figure out all the finances”).  For Valentine’s day, Tanner made plans for us to double date with his roommate where we ate a nice home-cooked meal together.  After dinner, we headed up to his friend’s house in Alpine, Utah where we were going to watch a movie and hang out.  Tanner and I arrived first and he said had a Valentine’s gift he wanted to give me before our friends arrived. He made me a video slideshow of all our pictures of us dating set to the songs that we liked.  At the end of the video, the screen read: “Tanner and Camilla together forever June 20, 2009.”  (I should have known right then that he was planning on proposing!)  He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  I was shocked and SO excited!  Right then, his roommates came out of the closets where they had been hiding the whole time video-taping the entire proposal!  
What was the design inspiration for your wedding?  Anyone who knows me knows I’m a very happy and bubbly person. I love bright colors and am not afraid to wear them or decorate with them.  Not surprisingly, I couldn’t choose just one color for my wedding, so I chose four.  I always wanted a laid-back outdoor summer wedding, and that’s what I got!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Oh boy, this is a story of its own!  The short version is that I went to Danielle’s Bridal Boutique in Utah with my mother and two aunts. I literally loved every dress in the store and tried on about thirty before narrowing it down to eight favorites. It was so hard to pick just one dress! I almost called Tanner to have him help me decide!   In the end, I kept going back to the same dress and just couldn’t resit. 

Yes, yes, the bride + the groom (and the photography, and the flowers, and the venue!) are drop-dead gorgeous!  I guess it’s not too surprising, then, that Emily + Nathan’s reception was equally breathtaking.  We love the simple hydrangea centerpieces and our lovely Art Director has already decided the couple’s four-tier cake is the cake (yes, THE cake) she would have at her own wedding.   A girl can dream, right?  Thank you again to Leigh Miller for sharing this California gem!

Describe your wedding flowers: I wanted to hold a classic bouquet of white roses. I also wanted the flowers to have a very airy, casual feel to them, so I thought my bridesmaids should carry baby’s breath, which tied in beautifully with the aisle flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: This cake really turned out just perfectly! It was very elegant, but simple. I found the inspiration for this cake from another wedding I had seen but my baker put her own flair on it. The cake topper featured two doves in honor of my husband’s Armenian heritage. Releasing two doves at a wedding signifies peace and happiness in the marriage, and the two doves made a beautiful cake topper!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Having a tight budget was somewhat challenging, but I would have to say that everything went incredibly smoothly, thankfully!
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding?  I wanted our wedding to feel very comfortable and real, rather than too rehearsed or forced. I had the girls wear the same color, but they were free to choose their own dresses and accessories. I think this made them feel very comfortable and it helped set the tone for the entire day!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? I really enjoyed when Nathan and I went with our photographer to take our couple-shots. It was so nice for us to have time to get away from the crowd and excitement to really focus on what our wedding day was really about. The next most memorable moment was right before my father walked me down the aisle.  I was so nervous so he said a brief prayer. I will always remember that very special moment.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? I am really looking forward to become a unit and having time before we start a family to bond and travel and have spur-of-the-moment getaways! But I am also excited to start a family in a few years.

Congratulations, Emily + Nathan!  Enjoy traveling together as husband and wife!