Southern Weddings

Erin from {Blue Eyed Bride} planned a fabulous reception with such great details. Reception Location: {Westin Poinsett Hotel} in Greenville, South Carolina. The reception decor is so fun and the guests look like they had the time of their lives!  Entertainment by {The Root Doctors}.  Cake by {Patty Cakes}, Pies from {Soby’s}, linens from {BBJ Linen}, For more on Erin + Todd’s gorgeous wedding visit fabulous photographer, Kelly Moore’s, {BLOG} and Erin’s {BLOG}.

Favorite design element of your big day: The Save the Date, invitations, and programs. We used the lace design on everything and had these amazing gold covers on the save the date and programs with that gorgeous design all over it. I also loved our candy buffet. My mom and her best friends spent the day setting up the candy buffet and it really became the focal point of the wedding!
Describe your wedding flowers: They were very structured and tailored. Just like me and just like the dress. I wanted clean lines and simplicity. My bouquet was all pink and white peonies and smelled wonderful!  We had various shades of pink roses and ivory roses for the reception centerpieces and bridesmaid bouquets. Libby Munn, our florist, created these incredible pieces for the ceremony by using tree branches in an urn and she attached huge white orchid blooms to the branches.
Describe your wedding cake: The cake was almond flavored with butter cream icing. It had one surprise layer of red velvet cake and tasted amazing! I wanted the cake to be really soft pink colored so it would contrast nicely with the gold walls in the ballroom.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Todd’s grooms cake! We ordered white chocolate banana cream pies from our favorite Greenville restaurant, Soby’s. We had two huge pies sitting in scales of justice because Todd is an attorney. Soby’s created a couple hundred miniature banana cream pies for our guests to take. We heard later that people were taking them five or six at a time!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? It was hard to plan a wedding that would take place 90 miles from where we live. It was also difficult not having my mom close by so we could sit and talk about it on a regular basis. I made frequent trips to Dallas for my dress fitting and they came to Greenville for our tasting with the caterer. I also had a really difficult time with the cake designer. I wanted so badly to incorporate the lace design into our cake, but we were never able to find anyone that could do it.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? Not really any traditions, but we included our family in every possible aspect of the ceremony. After my dad walked me down the aisle, my mom and Todd’s parents joined us at the front of the sanctuary and Somewhere Over the Rainbow softly played on the piano and my mom’s voice came over the speaker system. Our parents wrote letters and recorded them in sound studios to play to us at the beginning of the ceremony. It was such a special moment. My cousins sang in the ceremony and my brother was a groomsman. It was a completely family oriented day!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The last couple of dances. I know it sounds silly, but I had the most fun dancing at the wedding! We gathered with all of our friends when the band played Sweet Caroline and Hey Ya! I will never forget those last ten minutes and seeing everyone that I’ve ever loved in my life gathered around us and celebrating with us. It makes me so happy that we decided to go all out and have a big wedding for that reason. It’s a once in a lifetime kind of thing!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: The ring fiasco!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Worshipful, romantic, and party!
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Have fun with it. Make sure that you make yourself happy and your fiancé happy. It’s a special day and it’s for celebrating. The details fall into place. I’d also suggest to everyone that plans the wedding on their own to hire a day of coordinator. Just because you think you can do it yourself, doesn’t mean you should or that you’re going to want to. Get some help and let that person run the show on your wedding day.
Fun details: We wanted to incorporate food from South Carolina and Louisiana because I’m originally from Louisiana. We had shrimp and grits and crawfish etouffee. Everything was so good! We knew that the ceremony music was really important because it would be the best way to show our personalities during the ceremony. We chose Highland Cathedral for my processional and we recessed to Oh Happy Day! Our ceremony musicians were incredible and I’m so thankful that they really built up the drama with their music. The pianist played Someone to Watch Over Me, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and Nessun Dormaall beautiful love songs that are favorites of mine.
What is next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We’re looking forward to visiting our friends all over the country and seeing what happens next. Football season is right around the corner and life stops for SEC football!

Congratulations to Erin + Todd!  We wish you a lifetime of happiness!

This week’s Southern Wedding of the Week features one of our favorite southern bride bloggers, Erin, of {Blue Eyed Bride}. How gorgeous is this wedding!? I love this couple and I am a huge fan of Erin’s blog! The shot of Erin and her maids with the purple umbrellas (from {Toss Designs}) is one of my favorite wedding images of all time. Photos by {Kelly Moore Photography}. Thank you so much, Kelly, for sending us this inspiring wedding! Floral design by Libby Munn. Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Tell us your story… I graduated with my Masters degree in August of 2005 and immediately began working at a law firm in town doing special events and meetings. I also managed the floor that housed all of the meeting space. Football season was about to start and it was Steve Spurrier’s first year with the Gamecocks. Todd came up to the floor one day to meet another attorney that was supposed to give him football tickets to the first game of the season. As he waited, we started to talk and I found out that he’d be starting work there full time in a week. When he came back a week later, I saw him a few times and I definitely remembered him, but we never talked. I ran into him at Publix one night after I’d just finished working out. I had on ratty gym clothes and had a cart full of food. Todd had his little basket with just cereal and milk. I told him that I recognized him from work and we talked for about 20 minutes there. The next day, I spoke to him in front of his friends, and obviously embarrassed him. He quickly emailed me and we emailed each other for months. It got to the point where I couldn’t wait to go to work and see what he had written that day. We finally decided to go to lunch and then our first date followed about a month later. I told my roommate the night of our first date that it would be the last first date Id ever go on!
Describe the proposal: It was a normal spring Saturday in Columbia. I had just finished planning my major golf tournament for the year the week before, so I was looking forward to a relaxing day. I wanted to go to Charlotte to visit a friend, but Todd begged me to stay in town. I thought this was a little strange because when I asked him why I needed to stay in town, he didn’t really have an answer. We took Boudreaux, our Golden Retriever, to the park, went to lunch, and then he told me that he wanted to go have a nice dinner. I was getting ready for dinner and he called to ask if we could take a walk because he needed to get some things off his chest. We drove to the Horseshoe on the USC campus and started walking and talking. Most of what we talked about I don’t really remember, but he pointed out that the University was kind of a cornerstone in our relationship. It brought me to Columbia for grad school, he met me the day that he was picking up his football tickets, and now we would start the next phase of our life on that campus. He said, “Erin, will you love me forever and marry me?” I said, yes! We drove to the restaurant and when we walked in, I saw my Mom, Dad, and brother and Todd’s Mom, Dad, and Nana there at the table. Todd’s family lives in Columbia, but he had flown my parents in from Dallas and my brother in from Louisiana. It meant the world to me to have them there. We spent the entire weekend talking about wedding plans and it was wonderful that we were all there together!
What attracted me to my husband was: Instantly, it was his quick wit. He has a laugh that is so infectious and he is so warm and welcoming to everyone he comes in contact with.
Why do you love your husband? Todd is the kindest, most patient man that I know. He can make me laugh like no one else can and has been able to finish my sentences since the day we met. He met my family right after we started dating and they loved him, too. I knew very early on that he was the one for me and I think of those moments from the beginning every day when I look at him. He’s smart and he challenges me on a daily basis. He is the most complimentary person I’ve ever known and he makes me feel the way any girl would want to feel.
What attracted me to my wife was: I met Erin the Thursday before I started my first job out of law school. We ended up working at the same law firm, but she was quite intimidating. Not only was she beautiful, but it seemed like the entire firm’s power brokers knew her and liked her, but none of them had any clue who I was. Thankfully, we ran into each other at a neutral location (in the frozen foods section at a local Publix), and we immediately hit it off. I found out very quickly that, in addition to being a knockout, Erin was hilarious, deftly quoting lines from Home Alone and doing other random things to keep me laughing, and smart as a whip. Erin’s heart of gold was obvious, too, and it instantly became clear that she was everything that any man could ever want in a wife. (And while they technically did not attract me to her, Erin’s phenomenal Cajun and Southern cooking abilities have been a wonderful bonus to marrying my bride!)
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: For my birthday in 2006, we went to Gainesville to watch USC play Florida. The game was on my birthday and we ended up losing by one point, but the trip was so much fun and so memorable.

The weather on our wedding day was: Surprisingly beautiful. Weather reports for the whole week said that it would be gorgeous in Greenville except on Saturday, May 3. It was supposed to rain all day long. It rained while I was putting my make up on and as soon as we stepped out to take pictures on campus, it was gone. The temperature was great and the sun wasn’t totally out. Todd said that the sun came out completely just as I started walking down the aisle.

What were your something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue? My something old was Todd’s mom’s handkerchief. My something borrowed was a locket that my grandfather had given my mom. We attached it to my bouquet and it had pictures of my parents and a picture of my brother when he was 4 years old. I cried so hard when I saw that for the first time. My something new were my gold Manolo Blahniks and my something blue were my Hanky Panky’s and a little blue ribbon attached to an E monogram that Carolina Herrera sewed into the dress.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I wanted to go shopping with just my mom. I knew it was very special to both of us. My parents live in Dallas and I wanted to go to Dallas to find the dress. We made appointments with lots of shops and found a perfect Carolina Herrera dress that really felt like me at Warren Barron Bridal in Highland Park Village. The veil was Angel Sanchez.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? The design inspiration was a gorgeous handkerchief that Todd’s mom gave me the night we got engaged. She carried it on her wedding day and it had this beautiful paisley lace design around the edges. It was the very delicate linen hankie and I knew it had to be incorporated into the big day. I also had this really pretty magazine page torn out that had a pink and gold card that said, dinner and dancing. I had never considered pink and gold as my colors, but they were so beautiful together.

Scariest moment? When we realized 20 minutes before the ceremony that when we sent our bags and clothes back to the hotel with the valet driver, the rings were still in the bag! The father of my flower girls dashed off to get him and we got them back just in time!

Funniest moment? When my Dad, who raises money for a children’s hospital, looked at me and was wearing a clown nose just minutes before we were to walk down the aisle. He decided to bring it from Dallas just in case he thought I needed to laugh!

Check back later for Part II of Erin + Todd…

We love this Charlottesville, VA wedding from {Jeff Greenough Photographers} . The ceremony took place at Holy Cross Episcopal Church and inspired the couple’s color scheme of sage, cream, brown and apricot. The bridal party looked stunning in their {Ann Taylor} dresses and {Calvin Klein} tuxes, which complimented the bride’s {San Patrick} gown. Their cake, made by {Albemarle Baking Co}, was topped with marzipan grapes and the reception held at {Veritas Vineyard} to showcase the couple’s love of wine. Check out the lovely flowers, table linens and decor items created by {Beehive Events}.  We especially love the table centerpiece that Shawn from Beehive created with the beautiful apricot roses.  Be sure to check out Jeff’s {BLOG} for more of Melissa + Bill’s lovely day!

The weather was : It was beautiful at 70 degrees and sunny.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Rustic Elegance. We were married in a small church in the countryside and the reception was held at an elegant vineyard at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We are wine-lovers!
What colors did you choose for your wedding? Sage, cream, brown and some touches of apricot
Describe your wedding flowers: We had lush peonies and garden roses in cream and apricot, with green foliage, apple blossom branches and some gardenias. This was included in the bride’s bouquet and as groom’s boutonniere.
Describe your wedding cake: A round, four-tier vanilla sponge cake frosted with white chocolate butter cream and filled with Bavarian cream and strawberries. The cake was decorated with green grapes and grape leaves made of marzipan, and a rope-like decoration around each tier also made of marzipan.
How did the two of you meet? At a Halloween party.
Describe your engagement: Bill proposed at home on a Friday night over a bottle of champagne, our Friday night tradition. Although that particular Friday was a much nicer bottle of champagne!
What attracted me to my husband was: Besides the physical attraction, he is an amazing listener and a very caring person
What attracted me to my wife was: She is a fun, spontaneous and loving woman
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: Our first date to a Vietnamese restaurant in Washington, DC
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The groom’s black and white spectator shoes.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The timing – we planned it in two and a half months! And having all out-of-town guests made transportation a big concern – we rented buses for our guests for the wedding day
Where there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? I arrived at the church with my father in a vintage Rolls Royce. We also had cigars at the reception
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Riding from the church to the reception as a newly-married couple (and, other than the driver, alone for the only time the whole evening)!
Scariest moment? When my grandmother got sick the day before and we didn’t think she would be able to attend the ceremony. She did, and even danced with the groom at the reception.
Funniest moment? Laughing during the wonderful, yet humorous homily.
What were your something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue items? – Old: I wore vintage pearl and diamond earrings from the 1940’s. New: my wedding dress. Borrowed: a lace handkerchief that is a family heirloom, borrowed from my mother. Blue – a light blue and white lace garter.
Why do you love your husband? He is my rock when I feel uncertain, scared or apprehensive about anything.
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: How absolutely nothing went wrong!!
How was your wedding different than the way you’d always imagined it would be? It wasn’t – it was truly perfect!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: romantic, laughter-filled, seamless.
Did you write your own vows? No – we said traditional Episcopalian vows.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? After planning the entire event myself, I can say that it is important to do your research and keep organized, but the most important is if you have a vision about what you want your wedding day to be like, just go for it!

Congratulations Melissa + Bill!  We wish you a lifetime of happiness.