Southern Weddings

Lily + Jordan were married in Macon, Georgia, on the August 9, 2008. This date was very important to the couple because it marked the one year anniversary of their engagement as well as Lily’s parents’ wedding anniversary.  For the ceremony, the couple chose to write their own vows. They didn’t share with each other what the other planned to say, but they did agree to finish it with, “and I promise to love you more than the moon loves scary castles.”  {Nectar and Company} created the outdoor urns and provided the lounge furniture. And ins’t the ceremony program delightful!?

The weather on our wedding day was: Unseasonably cool for August in Macon.  I spent a year preparing myself for and worrying about inevitable sweltering heat of August Ninth. As it turns out it wasn’t that bad! I think it was in the 80’s, which is NOTHING for summertime in Georgia!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? The farm, our friends, family, us!!! Casual elegance—I didn’t want a theme or to have colors—if we liked it, we tried work it in to the wedding. I wanted the beautiful setting to speak for itself. 
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My dress was by Lazaro and I love it!!
Describe your wedding flowers: My flowers were all white and greenery.  I wanted them to be small with a random mix of flowers.  All of the bridesmaid’s bouquets were different arrangements of white flowers and greenery as well. Jordan loves Gladiolas so I tried to incorporate them in as many ways as possible: boutonnières, and multi-colored stalks at the bar, in the back yard, as well as in urns in the lounge area. 
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? We wanted our wedding to be rich with family tradition and tried our best to honor both of our families as well as we could.  To begin, we were married on my parent’s anniversary, which is also my mother’s parents’ anniversary.  When we were talking about getting engaged and we saw that Aug 9 was a on a Sat. we knew it was meant to be. 
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? I had two: Seeing my Dad for the first time and hearing Jordan’s vows for the first time.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Dream-like, casual, fun!!
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/or line? Yes, Jordan and I did write our own vows but we didn’t know what each other were going to say—we set parameters—5 or six lines—and the rest was a surprise.  I was reluctant at first, but the vows turned out to be my favorite part of the ceremony.  We both ended our personal vows by saying, ” And I promise to love you more than the moon loves scary castles.”  

Check back for Part III shortly…

OK, get ready for a fan-tastic SW of the Week today!  This amazing wedding was sent to us by the lovely gentlemen at {A Bryan Photography} with the following note from Bryan.  “[Lily and Jordan] are one of the coolest and most unique couples I have ever met and their wedding was very different.  Things I love about it: the bride took intentional ugly shots with each bridesmaid, the groom designed a unique pair of shoes for each groomsman, the groom wore a brown ruffled shirt with a light blue cummerbund, all the beer that was served was High Life and Bud…”   Read on to hear how these two met, tied the knot and everything in between.  Happy Friday!

How did the two of you meet? Jordan and I met when I was in college at UGA.  Jordan was had just moved to Athens to pursue his career as a glam rock star and I was a student and part time cashier/ waitress / traveling hippie. We met at the counter of the pizza place that I worked in throughout school.  I was manning the register that day and in walked Jordan– fur trimmed coat, skinny tight jeans, eyeliner and all!! We had a funny exchange that included emptying our pockets to reveal our kindred tendency to hoard receipts, trash, and change.  Jordan was of course immediately in love and after some unsuccessful ‘stalking’ we finally saw each other again walking to different parties on the same street.  Our first attempt at love was unsuccessful but Jordan and I remained friendly and were always pleasantly surprised to see one another.  Fast-forward four years.  Jordan had just ended an intensely serious relationship and I had just returned to Athens after living in Charleston for a year.  Our paths crossed once again, this time through my little sister who had recently moved to Athens and met my old friend Jordan.  Jordan and I were older and (I’d like to think) wiser versions of our selves and something between us this time just clicked. Our friendship quickly morphed into more.  I believe it all happened some time in between our breakfast date and sewing Halloween costumes in a hammock that I looked in to his eyes and knew he was the one. 
Describe the proposal: It was August 9, 2007 (one year to the day before the wedding) and I had just started a new job.  We had seriously discussed getting married on August 9 because it was my parents and grandparent’s anniversaries and it also happened to be a Saturday in 2008! I guess it was the new job, but I was NOT thinking the proposal was coming yet. I got off early and went over to Jordan’s (without notice) to say hey and hang out.  Little did I know, he was planning the details of the proposal and was nervous that I would figure it out.  From my prospective, Jordan was being quite short, quite rude, and weird, so I decided to take myself home and leave him alone to maybe fix his bad mood.  A few hours later I was hanging out at my house eating a snack and in walks Jordan with a stack of old encyclopedias tucked under his arm.  We tend to collect old stuff, so I figured the books were just Jordan’s most recent thrift store find.  He asked me to sit down at the kitchen table and sat the encyclopedias in front of me. First the “L” encyclopedia, a note on the front of the book told me to look up “love”.  After a lengthy description of love “see also God” was highlighted and I was instructed to look up God in the next book in the stack.  This continued through a few more encyclopedias ending on the last book in the stack “M”.  “I’ve ear marked this one for you” Jordan said.  I opened eagerly to the marked “marriage” page to find a hole carved into the book and my great-grandmother’s ring shining up at me.  I quickly saw the words “WILL YOU MARRY ME” written in bold red letters and turned to find Jordan on one knee beside me sobbing. I screamed and then promptly said yes and began to cry with Jordan.
What attracted me to my husband was: His curls, his sense of style, and our differences.
Why do you love your husband? He is the most truly unique individual I have ever met. Jordan inspires me daily with his wealth of creativity and passion.
What attracted me to my wife was: Well the first thing that drew me in was the curly hair and then her amazing nose but what really hooked me was her friendly sense of humor.  Its unreal, she says she’s shy but once you get her talking she can make quite an impression on anyone.  When I watch her talk to people they are laughing and cutting up.  It’s still got me hooked
A date we went on that We’ll always remember: Ill never forget because I hardly slept the night before in anticipation! Our first date was for breakfast at Big City Bread. Jordan was wearing his yellow Miami Vice T-Shirt and blue shorts—ill never forget it.

More to come! Check back later…

Arjola + Peter’s infused their celebration with family tradition and special meaning…  Arjola’s is originally from Albania an decided to pay honor to her heritage by having hydrangeas (a native flower in her home country) in her wedding arrangements.  The couple decided to wed on 08-08 not due to Chinese traditions of this being filled with luck, but to honor Peter’s grandparents who wed on the same day decades before. Catering by {Matthews Market and Catering}.  Wedding cake by {Etiquette of Chocolate}. For more, be sure to visit the Agnes Lopez Photography {Blog}.

The weather on our wedding day was: Partly sunny, partly rainy. We were able to get great pictures both outdoor and indoor.  You can’t worry about the weather too much because in Florida, it rains everyday in August.  That is why we got a tent!  
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? The simplicity, elegance and romance of a starry night.
Favorite design element of your big day: Aside from the big date: 08.08.08, the little sparkling blue twinkles in the bowl of the centerpieces filled with little beads. We were not allowed to use candles because of the art work in the museum, so we got creative on how to light the tables!
Describe your wedding flowers:  All white; hydrangeas, orchids, tulips, white tea roses.  I am from Shkoder, Albania and hydrangeas are abundant in my birth city, there is even a song about this gorgeous flower which in Albanian it’s called Lule Bore. It was important that we include this flower in honor of my heritage.
Describe your wedding cake: Awesome! It had champagne and raspberry fillings.  So amazing and captured the navy blue and simplicity we wanted.  We felt our cake was made with love.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Both being in school full time in Orlando and Winter Park, Florida and planning a wedding and dealing with vendors that are all in Jacksonville.  Peter had class from 7:30am-5:00pm also with an internship and I was finishing up my senior year at Rollins College and going through Graduate school auditions all while giving two piano concerts, one solo and one with the orchestra.  We both were very busy throughout our engagement, but this challenge was actually more of a blessing because we did not have time to sweat the small stuff and we had to make decisions pretty quickly.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? Yes, lots of Albanian dancing which all guests joined in and loved.  Peter and the rest of the crowd got down on one knee as I danced around him.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? “Dancing Cheek to Cheek”.
Scariest moment? Peter: It was past time to go to the church and I was still fighting with tying my bowtie – youtubing how to tie it!  I thought I was going to be late or come without a tie!  –  I got it covered though.  Practice, practice, practice.
Funniest moment? As she was offering her champagne toast, the matron of honor started out by saying that the only way she could convey her love for the two of us was through an interpretive dance.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Cherish.  True.  Fun.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Just have fun and spend time with each other as much as possible.  Don’t micromanage too much, remember, your vendors do this for a living! They know what they are doing, and that is why you picked them.  Trust them!
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration. In his toast, the best man said that he hoped and wished that each person in the room can experience, even if for one day, the way we love each other.  He said our love is eternal and he toasted to eternity.
The details:  We were married on 08-08-08.   According to
Chinese numerology, eight is the luckiest number.  We got letters from
all around, including our registry congratulating us on getting married
on the luckiest day of the luckiest month of the luckiest year.  I
guess that is why the Chinese started the Olympics on that day. All
this is great but the date has even more significance to us because the
reason why we chose it was to honor Peter’s grandparents who are no
longer living, but we now share the same wedding date.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Everyday.
Vendor reviews:
{Agnes Lopez Photography}
I can’t say enough great things about Agnes. She is phenomenal to work with and does phenomenal work. We saw her work her magic at two weddings before ours, Peter’s sister and my best friend Ansley. Their pictures are breathtaking. There was no question in mind that we wanted her and she was the first vendor we booked! The pictures exceeded our expectations. She and her husband are such a wonderful duo and they truly made our special day awesome. She even taught us how to cut the cake, we had no idea what to do, also orchestrated our exit from the Cummer Museum. She made the most of her time with us, even though it started to drizzle and we were taking pictures outside, then we rushed into what was a room with just white walls, she was still working, not wasting any time asking us to pose and make the most of the situation. Agnes, thank you so much, we truly appreciate your artistry and amazing eye for beauty! Thank you for making our event that much more special, and thanks to you and your amazing work, we will have beautiful memories that will take us back to 08-08-08 each time we look at our pictures!!
{Glenn Certain Studio} (Flowers and Rentals)
Anything Glenn and Brent do is extraordinary! They are simply the best in Jacksonville (and I am sure it extends beyond.) They truly listened to our vision and turned it into a reality. Every time I called I was able to get a hold of them and they were ready with my file in front of them adding more and more details to our dream decor, while being conscious of our budget. You pay for what you get, but they are absolutely worth it! We didn’t even consider anyone else, Glenn Certain Studio was our choice from the beginning. Everything looked stunning!! Thank you guys! You are not just florists, you both are artists and you painted a beautiful picture with our wedding decor that depicts exactly who we are!
{Matthew’s Market and Catering}
We were treated with such care from day one until the night of our wedding. Elizabeth Van Nuys, the Catering Coordinator at Matthew’s is phenomenal! She is just amazing to work with, answered all of our questions, handled everything with such extreme care and attention to detail. The food was impeccable! It’s beyond belief good. We have had so many of our guests comment on how amazing the food was. Although new to the catering business, they had a superior performance at our wedding and we are truly grateful for them. The entire staff was incredible, the rentals and everything they did was superb. Elizabeth handled everything with such professionalism yet we felt like she cared so much about the two of us and our event. Matthew himself cooked for us for the tasting, that was quite an experience to have the chef extraordinaire all to ourselves. We made some great decisions in choosing our vendors for our wedding and choosing Matthew’s as our caterer was one of the top ones. Thank you so much for making 08-08-08 an amazing experience for us and all of our guests!
{Etiquette of Chocolate } (Cake and Favors)
We were planning our wedding from Orlando, so Jaycel was willing to meet with us anytime. We met him for the first time on an early Sunday morning because that is all the time we had in Jacksonville. I was just shocked that any business would be willing to be open for us at that odd time. He put on a great tasting for us and truly was constantly conscious about our availability. We were captivated by this young, hard-working, and creative entrepreneur. We wanted a very simple cake, that’s just who we are, and Jaycel really listened to what we wanted and sent us to appropriate websites to look to get ideas. He explained every step of the process and truly guided and listened to us as we made our decisions. We had our dream cake for our wedding! Not only was it beautifully done with refined artistry, but it was the best cake we have tasted. We have had so many of our guests and family members say that to us. We had the raspberry and champagne filling. We were not even planning on doing favors, and had even decided against them, but we were so happy with how we were treated and how budget conscious he was that we ended up ordering chocolates as favors and, also, we had guests say they were awesome!! I can tell you too, they are AWESOME!

Congratulations to Arjola + Peter!  We wish you a lifetime of happiness and joy!