Southern Weddings

Welcome back for Part II of Janie + Tony’s beautiful Charleston wedding.  Be sure to check out the {A Bryan Photo BLOG} for more.  You can also see the selects from the entire wedding HERE.  Enjoy~

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Just the feeling I wanted to create: old world elegance. Understated, timeless and classic, yet very attentive to the guests’ comfort and enjoyment.
Favorite design element of your big day: That is tough to say. I loved our invitations and wedding programs, but I think our wedding favors were my favorite. We had butler cards attached to beautiful silver boxes with truffles and the guest’s table number inside. They were displayed beautifully on a mirrored table underneath a tall gorgeous floral arrangement. They were also a nod to the groom’s background as a jeweler and gemologist.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:  Tony’s daughter Kristen had recently married, so she called and made me an appointment. Kristen, my daughter Claire and myself all went. When I tried on a dress at Madison Row, a lovely store downtown, they both knew it was the one. I continued to look, but concluded that they were right and purchased the gown by Angel Sanchez.
Describe your wedding flowers: I chose all white flowers. They were lush and romantic, not structured or architectural. The florist was wonderful. She used lots of peonies, roses and hydrangeas. 
Describe your wedding cake:  A fabulous baker/cake artist named Jim Smeal incorporated the design on my invitations for the cake. Our favorite detail of the wedding was:  A grand fireworks display at the end on the night just before we left.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  The most memorable moment was the pastor’s homily during the service. It was inspired. He was able to both comfort the families and friends of our late spouses while still celebrating the joy and the miracle of our relationship. It set the tone for the amazing reception to come.
Scariest moment? My son Jordan, one of the Best Men, got light-headed during the ceremony and nearly passed out.
Funniest moment? The Best Men seated some of the mothers/mother-in-laws on the wrong side. 
Three adjectives that describe the day are:  Romantic, ethereal and magical!
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding?  Do not stress over every detail and making everything perfect. No matter how hard you try, something(s) won’t be perfect. But no one will even notice or care if the bride and the groom are obviously in love and celebrating their joyous day! Make the decision to relax and enjoy it.
What’s next for you as a couple?  Tony’s daughter Kristen is pregnant with her first child. We are looking forward to having a grandson!

Congratulations, Janie + Tony!  We wish you a lifetime of love and joy!

There’s nothing I love more than a gorgeous wedding with an incredibly inspiring love story behind it.  Janie + Tony take the cake with this beautiful celebration designed by {Kristin Newman Design} and photographed by my favorite Southern gentlemen at {A Bryan Photo}.  Catering, {Cru Catering}; Florist, Heather Barrie of {Gathering Events}; Videographer, Ben Hough of {Artistic Eye Productions}. Thank you, Bryan, for bringing this lovely couple to SW.  This is the kind of wedding that completely makes my week! 

From Bryan… “One of my favorite coordinators in the world to work with is Kristin Newman, out of Charleston, SC. Kristin called me last year to tell me about Janie and Tony’s story and their upcoming wedding. Immediately I hoped that they would book us, based on their touching story.  Janie and Tony both lost their first spouses to cancer. They connected in their sorrow and formed a love that remembers the past yet brings hope for their future. On June 21st, at Daniel Island Club, they were joined in marriage as their friends and grown children looked on with joy.”

The weather on our wedding day was: There were torrential thunderstorms thirty minutes before the ceremony. But it stopped and was followed by a rainbow.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story… It’s a great story. We both lost our spouses of many years to cancer in 2003. Both were long happy marriages. A good friend of mine, Sam Levin, and my late husband, Neil, began doing a lot of work with Tony in 2004. About a year and half after Neil died, Sam said he was awakened at 3:00 am by a dream in which Neil (my late husband) appeared. He could not go back to sleep for the rest of the night. The next day, he called each of us and convinced us that we needed to meet. The three of us had lunch together a little over three and a half years ago, and the rest is history!
Describe the proposal: It was a birthday dinner for me prepared by Tony’s daughter, Kristen. All of our children, my parents, Tony’s parents, Tony’s mother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law were all present. After I opened my gifts, Tony said he had one more thing. In front of all of them, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was beyond wonderful!
What attracted me to my husband was: Everything. He is extremely handsome, intelligent, warm, kind, generous, spiritual, successful, and funny. But the thing that attracted me the most when we first met and talked was his deep love for his late wife and his children. We had many similar experiences and we shared the same values about what is most important in this life.
Why do you love your husband? All of the above are some of the many reasons I love my husband. I would add that he has great integrity and character. He is also a good man who gives a great deal to others and to his community.
What attracted me to my wife was: Her beauty, personality, and her good heart.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember:  After two or three months of dating, we had dinner at the Boat House restaurant. Tony asked me how I met my late husband. I went on to tell how unlikely that meeting was and how all the circumstances came together perfectly for that “chance meeting” to occur. I told him that I even knew the date, which I commemorated in a Shadow Box that I made for him. It was November 5, 1977. At the time, Tony was still wearing his wedding ring. He took it off, and showed me the date engraved on the inside. The day and year that I met my late husband was the same day and year that Tony and his late wife were married. There turned out to be many more “coincidences” like this one, but I believe it was God’s way of letting us know that He understood the pain we went through, but that He was present in our relationship and that He brought us together.

Check back later for Part II of Janie + Tony…