Southern Weddings

More from Jude + Josh’s uber fun Tennessee wedding captured by {Dixie Pixel Photography}.  Jude + Josh had their food catered by {Cafe 4} and according to them it was fantastic.  Of course the cupcakes and wedding cakes didn’t look half bad either by {Magpies Cakes}.   The cake topper again came from {Etsy} and speciffically, {Melabo}.  Congratulations to Jude + Josh and make sure to read their interview as they share some great tips!

The weather on our wedding day was: Sunny, thank goodness!!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? The design inspiration came from a love of paper and paint-by-numbers. I wanted to come up with ways to make details meaningful and whimsical with a smidgen of humor. Nothing too formal would do!
Favorite design element of your big day: I think my favorite design element had to be the way the stage was decorated. It was the one thing I was really worried about, but when it was all finished and the lights set it was perfect. And I loved my invitations.
Describe your wedding flowers: I chose to use a wonderful vendor from etsy.com (St. Jude’s Creations) to make tons of crepe paper flowers for me. The bridesmaids carried single, large, white blooms and the reception tables were decorated with white and pink blooms. I was originally going to carry a giant crepe paper flower but opted for a bouquet of tissue paper flowers that I made. My sister assembled the bouquet and added in a few yellow crepe paper flowers. My sister and I also made crepe and tissue paper wrist corsages for the mothers and grandmothers.
Describe your wedding cake: My wedding cake was a fun, fruity creation from Magpies. Peggy took my ideas and ran with them! Mom and I chose an orange, apricot, strawberry cake. I don’t usually go for fruity, but this was AMAZING! I also bought the best cake topper from another etsy artist. I have a large squirrel collection so I flipped when I found a porcelain Groom and Squirrel Bride. It’s nuts!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: I have three. My dress. The paint-by-numbers portraits of me and Josh. The secret strawberry moonshine!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The options can be overwhelming. Also, it’s hard to work within a small budget!
Funniest moment? I never thought the bouquet toss would be a big deal. I counted down and slowly lobbed the posy in the air and turned around to see it snatched from the clutches of my niece by a bachelorette in a red dress who had zipped in from the side to tackle the prize. It was crazy. In an instant, my 7-year-old niece was flat on the floor and the winner of the bouquet had slid into the stage, dress up around her head and panties-a-flashin’! That moonshine must have been really good! UPDATE: She just got engaged!
Scariest moment? (Josh) You know, I thought that the dance with Jude would be the scariest moment…I’m a tall white guy who can’t dance. But it turned out great. Plus, we danced to “Could We” by Cat Power, which is one of our favorites. That really helped. (Jude) I wasn’t scared a bit!
Hardest decision you made in planning? (Josh) Well, I was in charge of putting together the entire music set list for the wedding…I agonized over that!! I’m sure Jude can think of a hundred hard decisions she made though…(Jude) Josh is right, too many hard decisions. I love too many things!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: You know, the most surprising thing was the food. The venue switched chefs at the last minute and the new chef laid out an absolutely SPECTACULAR spread. Amazing.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Lighthearted, Love-filled and Loopy
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding: Know that it is okay not to follow all of the wedding ‘rules’.
Who was your most honored guest at the wedding? Everyone was our most honored guest. We were honored that people chose to celebrate us by attending!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? I think we are looking forward to revamping our home a little bit…some new furniture here, a new TV there, maybe a remodeled bathroom in the mix…now, if we can just get that money tree to start growing!! (Obviously Josh wrote the previous sentence…you forgot the kids Josh! ;) )
Any DIY items? There were many DIY items. The wedding invitations, programs, ceremony garland, flowers, boutonnieres, friends and family painting, paint-by-number portrait canvas, hair accessories.

Congratulations to Jude + Josh.  You two are fantastic!

For those that like a ultra-chic wedding then Jude + Josh is for you to check out.  Jude + Josh met at a concert but they soon found out they had more in common then just music.  With a similar style, the two had a mod ceremony and reception at {The Square Room} in Knoxville, Tennessee. The beautiful paper goods that marked this event were created by Travis Grey.  Jude being quite the {Etsy} shopper had many of her flower accessories by {St. Jude Creations}.  Being creative again, Jude purchased her dress from {VeKa Bridal Salon in NYC} and left the shop with a dress perfectly fitting her on the day she went in!  Lucky girl! Photography by {Dixie Pixel Photography}.  More amazing things to come in the second post!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met at a performance by folk singer Malcolm Holcomb. Oddly enough, we had known some of the same circles of people for years, but just hadn’t crossed paths yet.
Describe the proposal: I kept it simple: a nice dinner and then came home with a bottle of wine and popped the question.
What attracted me to my husband was: I love that Josh is very tall. I love his sense of humor, his laugh and his ability to talk to just about everyone. Did I mention that he is tall?
What attracted me to my wife was: I fell in love with Jude’s cheerful disposition and those great big eyes.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I’m a very independent shopper and I don’t like being fussed over. The idea of having to order a dress six to eight months in advance just made me squirm. I must have tried on 30+ gowns and never felt comfortable in any of them. On a trip to New York to visit a friend, I called a boutique out of curiosity and made an appointment. Thirty minutes after trying on one of two dresses I walked out the proud owner of a Suzanne Ermann gown after a) having been ‘fussed over’ and b) having to order a dress in advance! It was the best experience ever!
Were there any special details included in the wedding? We created special details to honor family members and friends. In lieu of a guest book, we had guests sign the leaves of a tree my sister and I painted on a large canvas. This Friends and Family tree was then placed on the stage and during the ceremony Josh and I signed the heart on the tree trunk. It was our version of the Unity Candle. I pinned a section of lace from my mothers veil to my bouquet. I also honored our grandfathers by attaching little framed photos of them to my bouquet.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? I’m almost 34 years old and my Dad still got choked up at the question ‘Who gives this woman…’?

More to come from this sweet wedding!

Laura + Jason truly had the perfect wedding day, thanks in part to {Magnolia Events}. The couple loved their tasty, nontraditional flavored wedding and grooms cakes from {Baker’s Man, Inc.}, which Laura + Jason and gusts enjoyed at {Kung Plow Event Gallery} after the beautiful and personalized ceremony captured by photographer {Kate Altmix} and videography by {Atlanta Wedding Memories}. Floral arrangements, one of the couple’s favorite things about their wedding (and ours, too!), were by {Tulip}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We’re good old fashion high school sweethearts! We officially met Jason’s senior year after a football game. We spent that first evening laughing and flirting and then started to talk more at school – “accidentally” bumping into each other in the hallways during breaks. After all that flirting, Jason decided to make his move in February. On Valentine’s Day morning 2001, I walked out to leave for school to find a single rose on my car windshield. The note read, “I Hope you Have a Great Day – Jason.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Describe the proposal: Malibu. Cliffs. Sunset. Need we say more? After seven and a half years of dating, Jason staged the perfect moment while we were on vacation in California.
What attracted me to my husband was: His sense of humor. Jason has a wonderful, sarcastic, witty sense of humor that immediately appeals to the 16, 25 and hopefully 95 year old girl in me.
What attracted me to my wife was: Her physical beauty and sense of humor. Not only is Laura one of the most beautiful girls anyone will ever see, she has a great sense of humor and contagious laugh that always keeps me happy.
The weather on our wedding day was: Perfect Spring day – mid-60s and sunny.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Clean, classic lines with a spring color punch! We wanted the look to be romantic, but feel young and fun. Each of our favorite colors (purple and green) lots of candlelight and lush florals were our musts and everything else was built off of these elements.
Favorite design element of your big day: It’s cliché to say, but it’s so hard to pick just one! We loved how the picture display in the entry way turned out. A beautiful, Tuscan table was filled with a handful of our engagement pictures and then wedding and couple pictures of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents. It was the first thing people saw before they entered the ceremony area and it really personalized the space. We also loved the super fun purple & green “Life is Sweet” candy bar, the live floral artwork and the super romantic candle-lit ceremony space! The florist and wedding coordinators did a great job bringing all our visions to life on the big day.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: What a fun experience! I had a vision in my head of what I wanted in a dress and I ended up with something similar (although I swore I’d never wear strapless). I found “the dress” the very first day we went shopping. We went three places and found it on at our second stop. As soon as I tried it on I knew it was the dress. It had clean, soft lines that went with my vision for the wedding, with a touch of lace around the bodice and skirt adding the perfect romantic feel. At our third stop, all I could think about was “the dress.” We went straight back to buy it. Like everyone says – when you know, you know.
Describe your wedding flowers: The gorgeous flowers done by the lovely ladies at Tulip were all different blooms in our purple and green color scheme. The centerpieces, varied by table and each featured different monochromatic, mono-floral arrangements (e.g. purple tulips, green spider mums, etc). I think the use of the mono-florals created a bold, understated floral impression – and the hydrangeas surrounding our altar and on the estate table were unbelievable!
Describe your wedding cake: Delicious! We both have a major sweet-tooth, so a traditional wedding flavor wasn’t going to cut it! The wedding cake was filled with alternating flavor layers and fillings (can you say cookies and cream?) and the grooms cake was a peanut butter cup dream!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Having all of our friends and family there to support us. It made for a perfect wedding day.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Planning in a big city with hundreds of wedding vendors! My wonderful mother and I were completely overwhelmed by the process. Hiring a wedding coordinator not only solved this problem, but was hands down the best decision we made throughout the entire planning processing.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? While we didn’t incorporate any specific traditions into the wedding, we tried to incorporate family as much as possible. Outside of the family picture display, my bouquet was wrapped with fabric from the wedding gown of my late maternal grandmother and I wore a bracelet of my paternal grandmother, who was in attendance that day.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Before the wedding, our wonderful minister, Dr. David Jones, had us write letters to him describing what we loved about each other. Dr. Jones integrated our comments into our wedding ceremony, resulting in a beautiful personalized, but yet still traditional ceremony. The words we wrote about each other were spoken in our ceremony in front of all our family and friends. It was so sweet (and funny in parts!) – we know the memory of our ceremony will stick with us throughout our marriage.
Scariest moment? The beautiful mother of the bride nearly caught her dress on fire on the candlelight that lined the ceremony aisle as she was walked to her seat. Neither of us saw it, but several of our guests commented after the wedding about how close her skirt was to catching on fire!
Funniest moment? Unveiling the groomsmen gifts at the rehearsal dinner – each of the groomsmen got their own personalized bobble head doll!
Hardest decision you made in planning? Picking a venue! Once we decided on King Plow, everything else came together!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: How incredible the service was! From the brilliant catering company to our hard-working coordinators – we didn’t worry about one thing the entire day!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Romantic, Breath-taking, Surreal
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Enjoy the process – it flies by! Don’t be afraid to price compare or see if you can make something yourself. There are vendors out there that offer bargains for the same quality materials and services. If it seems expensive, Google for other vendors. You might be surprised what you can afford when you step outside the big name vendors.
Who was your most honored guest at the wedding? We are so grateful for all our family that made the trip to Atlanta for the wedding, but we’re especially blessed to have each had a set of grandparents at the wedding to share in our day.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We’re ready to enjoy this next phase of our lives as a married couple. Even after dating for so long, we’re learning new things about each other everyday living together and merging our lives together. We’re looking forward to starting a family one day and to taking each of life’s adventures as they come!
Any DIY items? Save the Dates, Ceremony Programs, Candy To-Go Box Labels, Ring Bearer Pillow…whenever we couldn’t find the perfect piece, we figured out how to make it ourselves!

Congratulations Laura + Jason! We wish you the best is your upcoming adventures!