Southern Weddings

No, you’re not imagining it: we really are featuring two weddings today!  Consider it an early Christmas present from your favorite Southern girls.  There are two (okay, three!) things I really love about Danielle + Draw’s wedding from Lang Thomas Photography and Lauren Chitwood Events: the crisp navy color palette (kind of in love with the bridesmaids’ marina blue frocks from Ann Taylor and matching heels), the bride’s ultra-flattering Marissa gown and, last but certainly not least, the vintage cotton candy machine.  Emily, of course, would be disappointed if I didn’t point out the lush, hydrangea-filled bouquets from Pathelen Flowers or the simple square cake from The Sugar Woods.  Want a few more details from Danielle + Draw’s Greystone Estate nuptials?  Visit Lang Leichhardt’s blog post here!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Drew and I met through my best friend (and Maid of Honor), Kelly. She and I moved together to Louisville after graduating from the University of Kentucky in 2006, and Kelly and Drew worked together. The first time we all hung out was Halloween, and Drew didn’t have a costume but said the only thing he would dress up as was Raphael from Ninja Turtles.  Ironically, I had been Raphael with a few friend the night before for a party. It was a sign!  We hung out a few more times as friends, until one night sparks flew!  For our first date, Drew took me to a University of Louisville basketball game, which I would NEVER have done (I am a Huge University of Kentucky fan) unless I really liked him. The rest is history!
Describe the proposal. Unbeknownst to me, Drew had talked to my boss and had him set up a fake business meeting for me on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. My boss had been harassing me about the meeting all week, telling me to make sure I wore “something nice” since this was an important meeting.  Looking back, the day before it happened, Drew and I had lunch and I told him I really didn’t want to go to work the next day and was thinking about calling in sick. Normally he wouldn’t have said anything but he seemed surprised and told me I needed to go to my meeting. That morning, I got up and begrudgingly got all dolled up for my “important” meeting. I remember getting ready and looking over to see Drew putting on a tie. He normally never wears a tie unless he has a huge meeting but I just shrugged it off.  The breakfast meeting was to take place at The Seelbach in Downtown Louisville. My boss is normally late so I waited outside for him before going in. After emailing and calling him, he finally called me back and told me to just go ahead, he would be right there. I walked in to the restaurant and was completely surprised to see Drew, mouthing to him “What are you doing here?” He had arranged for the server to escort me to his table, which didn’t work out because I argued with her about how I wasn’t there to meet him. Finally, when he realized there was no chance I was walking over to his table, he walked up the servers’ station, got down on one knee and proposed.  I was completely and totally surprised. The cherry on top was that he had arranged for me to have the rest of the day off as well!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: FUN, unique and perfect.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? I always loved fairs, carnivals and church picnics growing up. When I got engaged, my Dad jokingly said I should have a carnival-themed wedding and I thought it would be perfect. Drew and I are all about having fun and that’s what we wanted all of our guest to do as well! I think the carnival theme helped take every one’s fun to the next level.
What was your favorite design element of your big day?  I absolutely loved the ribbons we hung from all the trees at the house. It was Lauren, my planner’s idea, and it perfectly incorporated my wedding colors and the whimsical feeling of the day. Even though it was a fall wedding, I still wanted to use bright, fun colors and I think that hanging those ribbons made our wedding really stand out.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: There were so many amazing details in the wedding, but I think what I loved the most were the candy apples. They did double-duty as favors and place cards and I think they turned out great. We made the place cards ourselves and got an awesome candy store to make the apples. I had so many people tell me after the wedding that they were delicious and such a fun idea.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Going wedding dress shopping was fun and overwhelming at the same time. My mom came in town from Florida and we went to Cincinnati Bridal & Formal with my best friend, Kelly, and my now mother-in-law. Originally, I didn’t think I wanted a dress with a dropped waist but when I tried it on I knew it was “the one.” I wanted something simple, without beading or rhinestones, but that also stood out a little. I loved the flower detail on the hip; I think it gave the dress a little couture feel. We also modified the dress and turned it into a sweetheart neckline It fit perfect and I just loved it. Looking at pictures now, I wish I could wear it again!
Describe your wedding flowers: I love hydrangeas and wanted to incorporate a little bit of navy and light blue into my bouquet. Lori at Pathlen flowers really took it from there. I just told her a few things I liked and she created the most beautiful bouquet.
Describe your wedding cake: We wish we had gotten to eat more of our wedding cake! I have a serious sweet tooth so having a delicious wedding cake was VERY important to me.
Again, we wanted something simple with pop, so décor-wise it was all white with little pink dots with the layers separated by blue hydrangeas. I really liked how all the details incorporated our colors. The top and bottom layers were filed white cake with fresh strawberry filling and the middle layers were carrot cake with cream cheese filling.   Drew’s groom cake was one of his favorite things. His cake was yellow with caramel icing and topped with his favorite thing, the University of Louisville cardinal bird. 
I think one thing we did that saved money that everyone loved was serving Fried Chicken at the wedding. Here in Louisville, church picnics are HUGE. And they all serve a chicken dinner with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Well that’s what we served (along with pork tenderloin and corn pudding!). It was delicious and it went perfectly with the theme we were going for.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Walking down the aisle was surreal but amazing at the same time. And I definitely loved when they announced us as man and wife.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We didn’t write our own vows but I loved the quote on our program from the song, “Nature Boy:”
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? 
Right now, Drew and I are enjoying married life and, as always, having as much fun as we possibly can. We are saving up now to buy a house so we can start using all our presents!

Congratulations and best wishes, Danielle + Drew!

Do y’all read Weddingbee?  I sure do.  The rest of the SW office doesn’t keep up with the life and times of the bees as avidly as I do, but I know they enjoy the biweekly updates I deliver at our morning huddles.  Right?  Right?!  Oh well.  One thing’s for sure: I know they enjoy featuring a bee’s wedding (like Chelsey + David’s!), and that’s just what we have for you today!  Mr. and Mrs. Apple Cider’s wedding at the Banner Elk Winery in sunny North Carolina was a true DIY affair, with everything from the paper goods to the bride’s dress handmade.  The lovely photos are by Anna Naphtali Photography, the florals from Jason Clodfelter at The Bitter Pear, and the cake designed by Cakes by Rita. For more Apple Cider, including DIY instructions and templates for some projects shown here, check out her archives!

Describe the proposal: We planned this engagement to a T.  And when I say “we,” I mean “we”.  We knew a year ago that we wanted to get married in 2009.  We also knew we wanted to get married in October of 2009 so we started planning.  We decided to buy the ring together.  I didn’t feel like it was fair to put the financial burden on my grad student groom so we did it all together and shared the cost.  We planned, designed, talked, researched and finally got the ring.  We had one rule: the ring would be shipped to Alan and I wouldn’t see it.  (We had one slip up: the jeweler sent a picture of the ring to my email but I knew what it was and deleted it from my inbox.)  So then the waiting game started.  I knew Alan had the ring and, since we were dating long distance, I thought there was no way I wouldn’t know when the proposal was coming.  But leave it to Alan to find a way to surprise me.  

I travel often for work and usually take a red eye from the West Coast back to the east coast on Fridays when I travel.  On September 12^th, I got on a 10 p.m. flight from the West Coast, set to arrive at 6 a.m. the next morning.  When I landed, Alan called to “make sure I landed” safe.  I told him I was fine, exhausted and heading straight to bed.  I told him to go back to bed and that I would call him later and see him in a few weeks.  I ended the conversation saying, “I wish you were at my apartment right now.”  Little did I know he had arrived at my apartment the night before to propose that follow morning!  I arrived at my apartment (looking like a hot mess) and proceeded to carry my heavy suitcase up 6 flights of stairs, to find my bedroom door was closed.  (I though this was really weird!)  I opened it and my whole world changed.  My usually colorful room had been turned white and there were at least 100 candles with different colored rose petals all over my floor, bed and in between all the candles.  It was only 7 a.m. so the room had a soft, sunlit glow and the candles magnified that.  I was in complete shock when I first saw Alan!  I can’t remember everything he said… I was dazed… but know I heard the word wife being spoken as he got down on one knee.  I, of course, said yes.  We then called our families and woke up all our friends!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Blissful, magical and handcrafted.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Our wedding location really gave us an opportunity to work with a certain “feel.”  We didn’t want the wedding to be overtly winery-themed, but did want it to have a romantic and rustic feel.  We incorporates wood elements from the wood grain paper we used for our invitations to the wood slices we put on the tables, to the bench that was custom-made to be our guest book.
What was your favorite design element of your big day? The flowers were more beautiful than I had imagined.  We also decided to use extra trim from my custom-made wedding dress and wrap it around the bouquets.  It really tied everything together.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: We really loved all the paper elements we incorporated.  We added a paper element for everything from the programs and the signage to the custom earring holders for the bridesmaids and wood grain sparkler holders.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My dress, my dress!  My dress was custom made by an up-and-coming designer in North Carolina, Michele Nassaney.  I came across some of Michele’s dresses and fell in love. I loved that they were stylish but not too polished, and that they had elements of romance and individuality.  We decided to use Italian silk because of its transparency and romantic feel.  I went with a strapless gown but wanted a raw, pleated edge.  The entire dress came together around this gorgeous Italian trim that we found.  It was perfect.
Describe your wedding flowers: Dahlias were vital to the day.  I love dahlias and knew that the fall was the perfect time to use them.  We worked with one of the most talented florists that I have ever known, Jason Clodfelter, of The Bitter Pear.  Jason works with local florists and many of the dahlias he used came from North Carolina.  Alan and I are huge supporters of local artists and the idea of supporting local flower growers really appealed to me!  We had a gorgeous arbor piece for the ceremony, beautiful Mason jar shepherd hooks and two “wow” pieces for the reception.  He incorporated bark and rustic elements throughout.  We also knew we wanted to use deep, jewel-colored flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: The wedding cake was a last minute decision.  Alan and I love going apple picking.  We’ve been to beautiful orchards in New Hampshire and North Carolina, and thought this would be a great inspiration for our cake – hence our decision to incorporate apples on our cake!  It turned out really well: not too over the top, simple and definitely unique.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? I think the biggest challenge for the wedding was knowing when to stop. I had so many projects and ideas in my mind and I really wanted to make them all happen. I had such wonderful support from friends and family and they helped me to take on the projects we really wanted.
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding?  We really wanted our wedding to be unique. We decided that we would have live music incorporated into the ceremony.  I decided to walk down the aisle to an Adele song (original by Bob Dylan) called “Make You Feel My Love”.  My cousin, Hailey Hewitt Clark, sang it. Her voice was flawless.  Alan and I decided to recess to Ingrid Michaelson’s “Way I Am” with live bongos!  We incorporated readings into our wedding but decided to let the readers choose anything they wanted.  We had readings from The Alchemist (a novel) and a Jason Mraz song (“Love Is Real”).  We also decided to incorporate “the box” tradition, where the bride and groom write letters to each other about why they are getting married and what they love about each other.  They choose a sturdy box and place the letters, a bottle of wine and 2 glasses in the box.  Then they nail the box shut and agree that if the marriage ever faces a difficult time that, before they make any decisions, they will open the box, read the letters and drink the bottle of wine.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? For me, it was walking down the aisle.  The aisle was a long, long sidewalk at the winery, which lead to a grassy area where we had the ceremony.  I could see all the way up and watch my bridesmaids walk in.  Having my parents on either side was amazing.  And when I saw Alan, I couldn’t help but beam.  For Alan, it was after the ceremony. We decided to take a walk together before heading to the reception.  As Alan happily put it, it was “finally just us” and we could think about the amazing step we just took.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line?  We didn’t write our own vows but we borrowed a verse from another wedding.  We fell in love with the vows and used them as our own. The vows were: Together with you, I want to live a life full of the kind of love and the kind of laughter that makes strangers stop and stare.  I will take care of you and give you peace of mind and heart.

Congratulations to Miss Apple Cider and Alan!