Southern Weddings

Leave it to a true blue Southern girl to strike the perfect balance of simple elegance and down-home comfort when planning her wedding.  And leave it to Michael Howard to find the perfect way to capture every detail for your Thursday morning pleasure! Kayela + Spencer’s sweet Kentucky affair at The Club at Olde Stone is wonderfully vintage and classically chic!  Lace (how stunning is the bride in her timeless Monique Lhuilliher gown?), pearls (I am in love with the antique pearl broach on the bride’s sash and her vintage hairpiece!) and cream-colored flowers (courtesy of {Deemer Flowers) all come together to create a classic black-tie event.  But, like any good Southern wedding, the couple found ways to pepper their celebration with reminders of the bride’s hometown and hints of Southern hospitality.  We love the novelty of the horseshoe place cards almost as much as the requisite barn shots that show off the bridesmaids’ green silk sheaths from Simple Silhouettes.  Since we’re clearly on a food kick this week courtesy of {Emily}, food critic extraordinaire, I would be remiss to not point out the dramatic five-tier cake from Dessert Designs!  This would be the perfect cake for my twenty-third birthday tomorrow, right?

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met the summer before eighth grade when Spencer moved into the house behind mine. When Spencer officially met me in homeroom on the first day of school, his first thoughts were, “This girl is going to give me trouble!” Boy, was he right! Every since that fateful meeting in middle school, we have been great friends who only grew closer during our high school and college years. 

Describe the proposal: It was nearing Spencer’s birthday and, in an effort to through me off the trail, Spencer decided to propose to me on his birthday! Despite his best efforts to keep it all under wraps, I was on to his plan. I know him too well! What was originally supposed to be a quiet night with a home-cooked meal turned into a trip to Sonic Drive-in (my favorite fast-food restaurant). After picking up a Diet Coke and hamburgers, we headed to the park at Folly Beach. Spencer had safety pinned the ring in his pocket for safekeeping. While walking down the beach and holding my hand, he somehow managed to distract me long enough to unpin the ring and get down on one knee. He said beautiful things and , of course, I said yes! I guess you can say I was his best birthday present!

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? I honestly have no idea what the design inspiration was for our wedding, but I knew I wanted three things: a welcoming atmosphere for our guests, a day steeped in family sentiments and a very Kentucky affair. 

Favorite design element of your big day: There were so many little details I loved but something I really loved were the flowers. The florist was such a joy to work with and made choosing flowers so much fun. When thinking about decorating the children’s room with lollipops and gumballs, he got so excited to play “Willy Wonka.” I’ll never forget that. 

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Since Spencer is my best friend, I wanted more than anything to take him dress shopping with me, but resisted the urge. I always thought I would get the poofy princess dress but realized I got lost in all the tulle and beads. As soon as I tried on the lace Monique Lhuillier dress, I knew that was it. Putting that dress on was a feeling I will never forget. I didn’t want to take it off!

 Describe your wedding flowers: I love flowers! I wanted a very simple palette of creams and greens with a garden feel. Each of the different rooms at the reception had a different feel, but the cream-colored flowers tied everything together beautifully. We decorated the cocktail tent with tall vases filled with green apples topped with lush floral arrangements. In the formal ballroom, we filled silver julep cups with different flowers and used tall candelabras decorated with hydrangeas, bells of Irelands and roses.  

Describe your wedding cake: In a word, DELICIOUS! Spencer and I could not pick just one flavor so we chose several, hoping that a variety would please our guests.  

Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? My father passed away when I was seven and I always knew I would walk myself down the aisle, as no one could ever fill his shoes. I collected his wedding ring, as well as my grandparents wedding rings, and a locket and pin Spencer had given me and had the floral designer tie these charms into my bouquet. Knowing that these special people were with me as I walked down the aisle and said my vows gave me great strength.   

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? I remember when they opened the doors for me to walk down the aisle and I saw Spencer’s smile. I knew then and there that this walk down the aisle that I had been so afraid of since my father’s death was going to be okay. I walked to him with the biggest smile on my face. I was so happy to be marrying him. People have told us they thought they were going to cry, but looking at us and seeing how happy we were made it impossible to cry!  

Scariest moment? Driving to the wedding, I realized the box holding my garter wasn’t among the things sent to the reception. Spencer had been talking about the garter toss for as long as I could remember. One call to the wedding coordinator had everything under control. Later, I find out the maintenance man from our church drove it to our reception. How nice it that? 

What are you looking forward to in the future? We are looking forward to continuing our journey and making more memories together. Our time together has always been full of laughter, so there is no doubt there will be much more of that in our future. I think we are just excited at the prospect of learning about each other as a married couple and building a life together as husband and wife.

Ready for a fun splash of color that is sure to make you sad to see the hot summer months go?  The bright reds and cool aquas of Mary + Mark’s Tennessee wedding already make me miss the long days at the beach and afternoons by the pool.  We have to say that Dixie Pixel Photography did as phenomenal a job capturing the fresh and contemporary look the couple was going for with their Ridge Valley Farm nuptials as their planner, Sonya of A Perfect Day!.  The bridesmaids looked summer-perfect in their sheer Mori Lee slip dresses and contrasting bold red bouquets from Whimsical Gatherings while the crisp, three-tiered cake and delicate floral detailing from Party Perfection added just the right hint of simple elegance.  Clearly, judging by our apparent obsession with the dreamy dessert bar from Abner’s Attic, we are loving the catering (and especially the sweets!) from the tented reception.  Is it even possible to pick just one favorite from this to-die-for spread?

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Mark and I met through a mutual friend named Steven. Steven and Mark were best friends in high school and I had met Steven in the dorm the two of us shared. Mark and I hit it off pretty quick and never looked back. In November 2007, Steven was killed in a car wreck on his way to hang out with Mark and another close friend. As we mourned, we realized how special our story was and how our story would always be intertwined with our memory of Steven. 

Describe the proposal: Oh man did he make me work for it! I basically drove all the way around Birmingham going to memorable places and asking strangers for “clues.” I eventually ended up at the base of Vulcan, a statue overlooking downtown Birmingham. There, Mark handed me one final “clue” stating his love and asking me to marry him. As I looked down at him on his knee with tears in his eyes he said, “Will you?” It took everything I had notto give him a hard time and say “Will I what?” But after making him sweat for a few seconds, I gladly accepted. We chose to celebrate our new engagement by eating at the Cheesecake Factory and going to see the movie Baby Mama. (I now realize what a strange choice that was!)

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Our inspiration was the colors red and aqua. Once we picked the colors, the rest of the design fell into place. I wanted something contemporary and fresh.

Favorite design element of your big day: All my beautiful red flowers! I knew that the bold red would be gorgeous against the light aqua shade, butt he colorful flowers managed to set the tone for the whole wedding.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I went casually browsing one day with my mom and ended up ordering a dress without even trying on a sample gown. I fell in love that fast! My dress was simple with no beading or lace, but the raw silk material made it unique and stunning.

Describe your wedding flowers: When I first met with my florist, there were only a few things I knew I wanted and didn’t want. Anything traditional was out of the question, so roses and lilies were really not what I had in mind. Also, I wanted every single flower to be red. I ended up choosing peonies, anemones, ranunculus and tulips. I hate to admit it but I did let some lilies and roses into the mix.

Describe your wedding cake: This was one of the easiest choices we made. Red Velvet cake with cream cheese icing is both Mark and my favorite. My mom learned to bake one when we would come visit to bribe Mark into doing chores. We added a white ribbon around the base of the cake as well as a few decorative clay flowers.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Not making the planning process a full time job. Mark was working full time and I was working and trying to finish my last semester at school. It was a challenge to focus on homework when I could browse through wonderful wedding inspiration.

Three adjectives that describe the day are: Fun, relaxed and too fast!

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/line? Mark’s vows were perfect. I can’t pick just one line or phrase because the whole thing was so special. Knowing that every word Mark said to me that day was from his heart and was the truth made it incredibly sweet.

What’s next for you as a couple? Life. Pure and simple, Mark and I want to spend our lives together. We don’t know what’s next, but we’re glad to be able to experience it together. 

Congratulations, Mary + Mark!  Enjoy your time together as newlyweds!

When a girl from Tennessee and a boy from Kentucky decide to tie the knot, nothing short of an authentic Southern wedding can ensue, as proven from Sarah + Matt’s Tennessee nuptials from Chris and Adrienne Scott.  If you know me, then you know the very first of the many details I feel in love with was the groomsmen’s blue and white seersucker suits and matching yellow bowties.  Can you say sheer Southern perfection?!  Since I love blue and yellow, it’s no surprise I’m also a huge fan of the ladies’ summery yellow dresses from The White Room, the bold sunflowers and daisies in the Rachel Short Designs flower arrangements and, best of all, the fun, three-tiered cake from Publix.  While I just adore the expansive lawn at the North Campus of the Franklin First United Methodist Church that served as the site of the couple’s outdoor ceremony, our resident food critic, Emily, is still raving about the fabulous spread from Providence Farms} catering.  The delicate lace and organza detailing of the bride’s crisp white gown (also from The White Room!) adds the perfect finishing touch to this lovely mid-summer affair!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.We met in college. I was studying abroad in Europe with Matt’s two best friends and he transferred to our school while I was gone. When I got back to the States, our mutual friends set us up on a blind date.

Describe the proposal:Matt and I were in Florida for the holidays visiting my sister. He let me pick out a new digital camera for Christmas but told me it hadn’t come in before we left for our trip. While we were getting ready for dinner the first night of our vacation, he told me that he bought me a small present to make up for the fact that I couldn’t bring my new camera with us. I opened a small box and there was the ring! He proposed and said lots of nice things. My first reply was, “Is this for real?” but quickly said yes!

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted our wedding to be simple and Southern and to highlight our favorite parts of our Tennessee and Kentucky roots. A graphic designer friend created a logo and monogram using “KY” and “TN” and our names to connect our two home states. We used the design on the signs, programs and just about every other elements of the wedding.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: We had a very short engagement so I had to choose a dress quickly, which meant I was limited to certain designers. I tried on about five dresses at the White Room in Lebanon, TN, but as soon as I put on the sixth dress my mother and I knew it was the one. The dress was somewhat simple, but still very pretty.

Describe your wedding flowers: Since we were getting married outside, I didn’t want the flowers to compete with the natural scenery at our wedding site. Our bouquets and centerpieces were made up of wildflowers, just like I wanted.

Describe your wedding cake: The cake was one area where I was willing to save money. Matt doesn’t even like cake and I just couldn’t justify the cost that some of the big bakeries had quoted us. We actually used Publix , the grocery store, to design our wedding cake. The store had a full cake tasting so we were able to sample all the cakes and then take our favorite elements to create a unique cake that fit our theme and colors. Since Matt loves pie, we also had a small bakery from his hometown in KY make personal pies for everyone. They were amazing!

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Matt’s mom passed away suddenly three months before our wedding. It was very hard to make sure we found time to enjoy our engagement and wedding planning while also dealing with grief. Though it was a difficult time in our lives, the experience did teach us a lot of valuable life lessons.

Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? We wanted our wedding to be very representative of our families and of us, so we decided to focus on those things that were most important and to not worry about the rest of the details. We had a bluegrass band play for our ceremony, which was perfect because Matt’s grandfather was a very accomplished bluegrass musician and my parent’s friends have a bluegrass band. My sisters and I carried irises as part of our bouquet because our grandmother passed away a year before the wedding and irises were her favorite flower. We also had a table at the reception with pictures and mementos from our grandparents’ weddings. Since we wanted to honor Matt’s mother, as well, Matt’s sister carried the bouquet that would have been their mother’s as she walked down the aisle. She left the flowers in her empty seat.

Three adjectives that describe the day are: Southern, summery and fun.

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/line? We used a poem written by a poet-friend and writings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that were unique and different. My favorite line from Bonhoeffer says, “It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.”

Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: Several people told us they loved our wedding because it was so “us.” We tried to inject our personalities into all the details. We both have been to a lot of weddings over the past few summers and we wanted people to leave ours and remember it as uniquely our own!

What’s next for you as a couple? We hope to buy a house and work on getting our boss reelected!