Southern Weddings

Ever thought about planning a wedding in Costa Rica?  Well, Edna and Brett did and it turned out just what they wanted tropical and romantic. The two married at {Buena Vista Villas & Casas at Tulemar Beach}. They had the ceremony on the beach that was complete with music by Los Tres Caciques.  The ceremony was just what Edna + Brett wanted however, it wasn’t completely legal.  Read on to hear how they handled it and why it pays to have a Tennessee Mayor at your wedding.  More to come with this beautiful photography by {Beall and Thomas Photography}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story: Both hailing from active Maryville, Tennessee families and being Maryville High School graduates, there was always a few degrees of separation between us. We never met until much later, but our paths seemed destined to cross. I went to MaryvilleHigh School with Julie (Brett’s sister) and Brett was the same age as my step-brother. We both graduated from Maryville
High School (he six years ahead of me) and went on to pursue higher education and start our careers. One night after Brett finished a hard day at work and was checking his email, a message from his manager arrived announcing that his team had just hired a specialty product representative. The email went on to highlight that this new hire (a female) had experience working overseas and now would be working with the East Tennessee team. Brett called the number on the email and scheduled to meet her the following morning. “When she got out of the car, I knew I was in trouble,” said Brett. He spent the rest of the day working with me and by the end of the afternoon, we discovered how close we had been to meeting each other at other times. My dad operated on both his parents, Brett and my step-brother knew each other in high-school, and I was his sister’s Spanish 3 partner. Over the following weeks, Brett and I reminisced about growing up in the same community. After Brett got the boss’s blessing, we started dating. When Fall came, Brett took me horse-back riding on his parents’ Belgian Draft Horse Farm. At one time, Cunningham Farms raised over 25 Belgian Draft Horses and specialized in Carriage Rides and old fashioned farming with horse-drawn machinery. When we were leaving the barn, we both suddenly noticed a newspaper clipping on the barn billboard. It was a faded yellow picture from The Daily Times back in 1985 (our local Newspaper). In the photograph, Brett is driving a team of Belgian Draft Horses pulling a cart and family. In the photo, I am standing on a bale of hay while Brett is driving. We got engaged a few weeks later over
Thanksgiving.
What attracted me to my husband was: He is one of the most playful people I know—but he is also the first to take the shirt off his back and give it to someone in need. He is generous to a fault and is not afraid to sacrifice for causes he cares about. He can also make you laugh so hard your tummy will hurt for weeks. Did I mention- he’s not bad looking either??
Why do you love your husband? Because there is no one else for me. He has a softer side he hides under his mischievous armor.
What attracted me to my wife was: My husband said he now has to turn in his “Man” card for doing more wedding crap after being married! Best answer he could give “Her fiery Latin side.”
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: Our first trip to Costa Rica. Brett had never been in Latin America before! We found a long weekend to getaway. We both had a blast!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The design of the actual ceremony. We had to have a tent at the last minute due to weather, but each seat was decorated with a beautiful wedding program, a cone of beautiful small tropical orchids, and a champagne bubble blower! We also had a beautiful table with our special Unity Candle and orchids to represent the loved-ones in our lives that could not make it. Even just after the rain, it looked beautiful!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Getting our hair, nails, and make-up done! I loved spending time with my incredible wedding party and the other ladies on our trip. We turned the wedding day into a day of pampering! It was so much fun not only to be with all my ladies—but also to see the transformations! We had such a blast that day.

Scariest moment? I had two scares in one day! The first scariest moment was right before it miraculously stopped raining! I was so scared of walking over the bridge with my dad in the rain! I was so thankful when it finally stopped completely when I got out of the car. Then, I got even more scared after my dad announced that since the wedding in Costa Rica was just Ceremonial, he didn’t feel comfortable with me going on our honeymoon. At that point, my father-in-law jumped up and married us again! Twice in one day! The laws had just changed and the Costa Rican weddings were not considered legal anymore. Thankfully, Brett made me go with him to the courthouse before we left the country to get a marriage license. Since his father Jerry is a Mayor, he could marry us all over again!

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/ verse/or line? We did not write our own vows per-se- but we worked with Friar Jorge (our Celebrant) to create a blend of vows that focused on our unique wedding and love for each other. When Brett’s dad married us again that night, we used traditional vows.

More to come from Edna + Brett!

Romantic is definitely the right word to describe Leanne + Robert’s wedding! Roses were everywhere – from the isle to the chairs to the bouquets. The center pieces, Tiffany lamps adorned with roses by {Designs by Design}, added soft, romantic light to the reception and were one of the couple’s favorite design elements of their wedding. The bride wore a dress by {Demetrios}. The catering and the wedding cake, which was banana with chocolate cream frosting, were both done by the venue, {Arizona Biltmore Resort}. The bride thanks her wedding planner from {Signature Events} for a flawless and un wedding. See more of Leanne + Robert’s wedding at {Marriott Photography}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story: We met on the internet in 2003. After a few weeks of chatting we finally met and we have spent nearly every day together since!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted an elegant theme with lots of dark reds and gold colors.
Favorite design element of your big day: We loved the centerpieces on the tables and pretty much everything about the layout on the tables. Our centerpieces included a raised tiffany lamp with cascading roses flowing out of it.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I looked at quite a few dresses before deciding on the final one. I looked at a lot of the high end designer dresses, they were all beautiful, but I really fell in love with a “mermaid style” dress from Brides By Demetrios. During my final fitting a lady in the store came up to me and said “you’re getting that dress, right? You’d be crazy not to!” and that was pretty much when I knew this was the dress for me!
Describe your wedding flowers: We had lots of beautiful red roses. My bouquet was a cascading bouquet of roses and all my bridesmaids carried mini-bouquets similar to the one I carried.
Describe your wedding cake: We chose a pretty large wedding cake for the size of wedding we had. We just loved the look of a larger sized cake. The flavor of the cake was banana with chocolate cream frosting… It was delicious!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: I loved the rose petals lying across the isle, up to the alter.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: FUN, FUN, FUN! But if I had to name two other than fun I would say elegant and romantic.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? I would give the advice of not coming to me for advice! I’m just kidding (sort of). I would say find a GREAT wedding planner… I don’t think we could have had nearly as beautiful wedding (or a wedding that ran as smoothly) without our amazing wedding planner!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Right now we are just looking forward to spending the rest of our lives with each other. Children are definitely in our future, but maybe not for a few more years… We’re still kids ourselves!

Congratulations Leanne + Robert! We wish you the best in your new life together!

For those that like a little blue and possible a little red then this is the wedding for you! {Amy Squires Photography} submitted this wedding to us and we knew we had to share it with our readers. Then we got the interview from Nicole + Mike and well, did you ever have your parents say they can see you marrying a childhood friend?  That might not have been the case for Nicole + Mike but their parents were friends for over 30 years and lets just say when the two began working together something sparked. But it was six years later that the two wed at {Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach} with planning by {Platinum Weddings by Kerrie}.  The gorgeous flower arrangements were created by {The Treasured Petal}.  I love the ceremony aisle treatment and the paper good details from {Joceybella Invites}.  Nicole looked radiant in her gown that she purchased from {M Bridal Salon}.  The wedding cake was created by {Rockwell’s Creative Cakes}.  For more on this wedding make sure to check out the photographer Amy Squires’ {Blog} and the florist Treasured Petal’s {Blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Our parents have known each other for 30+ years. Mikes’ parents own a generator shop while my parents own an auto body shop. Before our facility moved in 2003 the two businesses were about three buildings apart. Although our two families worked so close together, Mike and I were not friends until after Mike started working at our shop in 2003. And the rest is history…
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Elegant with a fun funky twist.
Favorite design element of your big day: My favorite design elements were definitely the flower arrangements. I am still amazed.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: When I tried on my dress, I didn’t “know it” like everyone says you do. I originally found it locally during the designers’ trunk show, but I wasn’t sure, so I passed it up and continued on the quest for the perfect dress. While looking at other dresses, I kept comparing them to the original dress from the trunk show… that is when I knew I had to try it on again. My wedding planner found the dress about an hour away, so I made the road trip to try it one last time. Once I had it on again, I finally picked my dress.
Describe your wedding flowers: My flowers were perfect, even better than I imagined. My tall centerpieces were in tall rectangular vases filled with aqua blue water and submerged James Storei Orchids. They were topped with red and burgundy flowers including roses, dahlias, orchids, and lilies. Aqua blue crystals dangled from each centerpiece. My low centerpieces were clusters of three vases of varying heights filled with aqua blue water and filled with different types of flowers, including roses, orchids, and dahlias.
Describe your wedding cake: My cake was a four tier square cake. Each tier was covered with differing patterns of black and white stripes, polka dots, or both with aqua blue accents. It was topped with a Bride dragging a Groom by the collar. The cakes were red velvet with chocolate mousse or white cake with bavarian cream and strawberries. Yumm-o!
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Hire a full service wedding planner!!
Any DIY items? Mike and I made our cake stand and wishing well card box. Mike’s mom made our Croatian heart favors that were placed on all of the napkins.