Southern Weddings

Oh, how we love Alabama weddings! Charlotte and Sean’s reception brought together so many personal traditions and loads of southern charm.  And how about their cake!?  It is one of my favorite cakes of all time.  I love the ribbon details.  Sean started the evening off by singing Sweet Home Alabama to his new bride as a surprise. Reception location- Montgomery’s fabulous {Capital City Club}.  A million thanks to Meg & Charles from {Meg Baisden Photography} for sharing this inspiring Southern wedding with us! Happy Thursday!

The weather on our wedding day was: Typical Southern summer day–hot and muggy!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? I had seen pictures in bridal magazines that I liked and we put them all together.
Favorite design element of your big day: I loved the chandelier and arbor over the wedding cake.
Describe your wedding cake: The cake was red velvet with cream cheese icing. It was decorated with white lace (backed with Tiffany blue satin ribbon) and gardenias.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Sean performed Sweet Home Alabama with the band at the reception as a surprise to me and the rest of the guests.  He had all the guests screaming and dancing!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  It was hard to meet with vendors since I lived in DC and was planning a wedding in Alabama.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? We toasted from a silver loving cup from which all of my sisters toasted at their weddings, and all of the couple’s initials are engraved in it.
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: Sean playing Sweet Home Alabama.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Perfect, perfect, perfect!
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Don’t forget to focus on planning for your marriage, and not just your wedding, during your engagement.  Your wedding is a few hours of your life, and your marriage is forever.  Get premarital counseling or read a few books about the huge life change on which you are embarking.
What’s next for you as a couple? Sean has started business school at Wharton Business School in Philadelphia, PA so we have moved there and are looking forward to a long life together.
Other details you want us to know about your wedding: My mom was instrumental in planning the decorations for the wedding.  I had torn out pictures from magazines of what I wanted, including the peacock feathers, the draped blue fabric, the black and white dance floor, and the blue chandelier, and she and Jennifer Riley, our florist, implemented them. All credit for my beautiful wedding goes to Jennifer and my mom!

Congratulations to Charlotte + Sean! We wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Charlotte + Sean’s wedding is one of my favorite weddings ever! The lovely couple was wed at Montgomery, Alabama’s historical {Dexter Avenue Baptist Church}.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. served as the Dexter’s twentieth pastor from 1954-1960 and it was there that he began his quest for civil rights.  Read on to hear this amazing couple’s story.  Photography by the incredible {Meg Baisden Photography}. Floral design by Jennifer Riley of Montgomery, AL.

How did the two of you meet? We worked down
the hall from each other in the United States Senate and got to know
each other because the Senators we worked for were on the same
committee.
Describe the proposal: We got engaged over Valentine’s Day
weekend in New York City.  Sean was in Philadelphia earlier in the week
for orientation for business school, so the two of us met up in
Philadelphia at the end of the week and then took the train together up
to New York City.  I knew something was fishy when we got in a cab in
Manhattan and the cab dropped us off at the Ritz Carlton.  Sean had an
elaborate plan that he worked out with the people at the Ritz, but it
completely fell through. Sean:  It’s okay since she still said yes.  He
popped the question in our hotel suite and to make up for the mistake,
the Ritz ended up chaffeuring us to dinner in the hotel’s Bentley.  We
flew down to the Alabama the next morning to celebrate and spend the
weekend with Charlotte’s family.  It was perfect!
What attracted me to my husband was: He is fun and goofy and can always make me laugh.
What attracted me to my wife was:  Charlotte is brilliant, beautiful, selfless, caring, funny, classy, and
sophisticated.  Basically everything I’m not!
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: We went to the
Shakespeare theater and the company did a “contemporary” rendition of A
Midsummer’s Night Dream that involved women in lingerie. Sean stared at
the floor in embarrassment the entire second half of the play!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I had found the dress
online, and loved it, but it was only sold at the New York Pronovias
Salon so I couldn’t try it on.  I looked at other dresses in Virginia,
but did not like it as much as this one so I finally made a trip to New
York and tried on the dress.  I loved it and ordered it!
Describe your wedding flowers: They
were white with accents of blue and purple flowers with peacock
feathers in the bouquets.  The bridesmaid bouquets were wrapped in
Tiffany blue satin ribbon.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Sean: When Charlotte said, “I do.” Charlotte: Looking at Sean when I was walking with my dad down the aisle to the bagpipe music.
Funniest moment?
During the sermon in the church service, our pastor decided to
humorously bring up the “elephant in the room” regarding our marriage:
that Sean was a Yankee (which, by the way, he still disputes).  The
congregation thought it was hilarious, but Sean did not expect to get
roasted at his own wedding!

Check back later from more of Charlotte + Sean’s stunning southern soiree…