Southern Weddings

Many of our readers are Southern brides (or southern brides at heart!) who have moved away to other places. They want so much to keep that delightful southern charm in their wedding plans.  Emily + Nick transported their California guests to the South with Carolina blue and sweet personal touches throughout.  Photography by {Mary Jane Photography}, Event Planning by Rebecca Gigandet from {Imagine}, Florals by {Hearts Bloom}.

The weather on our wedding day was: Absolutely perfect…Mid-70s and nothing but blue skies, with a nice warm ocean breeze.
Tell us your story… We met at the university of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when (in the fall of 2002), as fate would have it, we became neighbors.  We spent the first 2 months as neighbors not knowing each other, and then we became friends.  We hung out for about three weeks before we both realized we were destined to be more than just friends.
Describe the proposal: Nick:  I proposed to Emily over Thanksgiving weekend of 2006.  It was somewhat common- have a nice dinner, come home to an after dinner glass of wine and candlelight.  It was romantic nonetheless, but what was pretty funny/unique was how many times that weekend I had attempted to propose but failed.  I mostly failed because of conditions outside of my control (of course, right?), such as going for a late walk on the boardwalk only to find it fenced off for construction…not too romantic; designing an intricate treasure hunt game with clues leading to the ring and the proposal….foiled by the fact that we were both tired and Emily wanted to go to bed and not play some silly game, and that’s only two of at least 4 attempts over the holiday weekend.  Emily: I felt awful about messing up his attempts numerous times- but when he did propose, it was perfect- I was so ecstatic and just hugged and kissed him probably like 50 times in a matter of a couple of minutes- I couldn’t get the smile off my face for like 2 weeks after that.
What attracted me to my husband was: His sense of humor, athleticism, and beautiful green eyes.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? The design of the wedding was simple, classic, elegant and understated.  We did this so we would allow everyone to focus on and notice the important details of the wedding such as:  the colors, which we were very passionate about — Carolina Blue (the color of our alma matter) and Ivory; and the food, which we took a lot of pride in selecting.  We were so happy with our “simple” inspiration design because we really felt it brought out all of the little details that we felt made our day so special.  
Our favorite detail of the wedding was:  Nick:  Without a doubt it was our celebrant, Saral.  In most weddings I have been to, the ceremony itself is just a formality.  Saral was so amazing at inspiring emotion by making the ceremony personal to every person there, connecting every person there, and engaging every person there, in a magical moment that we’ll always remember.  There weren’t many dry eyes in the audience, and as a guy, I can say that it wasn’t because it was sappy, we cried because Saral talked to everyone from the heart. From Emily: I definitely agree that our favorite detail of the wedding was within our ceremony.  Saral, our officiant, made it so unique and so “us”- for me, the particular part that I loved was when she read what Nick and I had (in a previous phone conversation) shared with her as to what we loved about each other… until that moment, we hadn’t heard what the other had said, so it was definitely neat to hear aloud all the reasons why Nick loves me and for him to hear all the reasons why I love him.
Favorite design element of your big day:  Nick:  Besides the ambiance at our ceremony, which was created by the blend of open air, Spanish architecture, the sounds, breeze, and view of the ocean, and the lush grounds of the Four Seasons, I would have to say my favorite design element was in the dinner room.   The room had a very warm and comfortable feeling, where everyone could enjoy each other’s company and celebrate together as the close-knit group that we truly are.  Our lighting and Carolina blue colors in the flowers and candles made it perfect.  Emily:  I would agree with Nick- the reception room was the perfect size and, combined with the flowers, candles, fire going in the fireplace, and lighting, it made for an incredibly romantic and comfortable environment for our guests and us.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: When I found my wedding dress, it was literally love at first sight.  I was fortunate enough to have found the dress of my dreams at the first bridal salon I (ever) visited.  After trying on a few wedding dresses, I tried on this amazing gown by Vera Wang with an equally amazing matching veil and instantly knew it was the one! It was the first time I really began to feel like a bride and brought tears to my eyes.
Describe your wedding flowers: My bridal bouquet was everything I wanted it to be- classic, elegant, and clean.  It was composed of white gardenias and stephanotis with pearls, a kiss of blue delphinium blossoms and a collar of white Casablanca Lily petals.  The bridesmaid bouquets were composed of white French tulips, white ranunculus, and blue delphinium blossoms.  The groom wore a boutonnière of mini Gardenia, and the groomsmen wore boutonnières of blue Hybrid Delphinium.  At our ceremony, we wanted to keep the flowers pretty simple and understated since the surroundings at the ceremony location were so naturally beautiful and lush.  To incorporate our color theme, we added 2 large urns of solid blue Hybrid Delphiniums set on columns on either side of the celebrant, and our aisle was sprinkled with white rose petals and blue blossoms.  At the end of each aisle of chairs for our guests were cones full of white petals and blue blossoms, and our guests tossed them at us as we walked back up the aisle as husband and wife.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?   Emily: It was beginning my walk down the aisle with my father and seeing Nick waiting at the end of the aisle, and then meeting eyes with him. Nick:  When it all became real.  One moment I was getting ready for what could have been any day (in which I happened to wear a tux), and the next I was standing at the end of the aisle with my best friends standing next to me, looking out at my family, realizing I was the focus of their attention, and then seeing Emily come out in her wedding dress.  We watched ten million wedding shows so I was numb to seeing women in wedding dresses, but seeing Emily in her dress and in her beauty, surrounded by beautiful weather, the ocean, friends, and family, was the best moment of the day.  
Funniest moment?  I don’t know if this really qualifies as “funny” per se, but I couldn’t stop laughing/crying throughout the entire ceremony- it was such an emotional moment for me, and my emotions were literally overflowing to the point where I could hardly look at Nick without crying and/or laughing.  By the end, I think I got everything a bit more under control, but I’m sure the photographer got some interesting shots of me during that time period!
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was:  Nick:  it was funny/unexpected to me that my wedding day is this huge day, and I literally sat in my room relaxing and watching TV up until it was time to get ready to go do photos before the wedding.  I thought everyone would be calling me, but everyone else figured I was busy and they were all out having their own fun, so I got an entire morning of relaxation. Emily: The fact that everything went so smoothly and perfectly!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Emily:  personal, fun, and unforgettable.  Nick:  Romantic, fun, unforgettable.
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase/verse/or line?  Emily: No- we didn’t, mainly because we knew we would never make it through them if we wrote our own!  Nick:  We did not read our own vows but our celebrant, via phone, interviewed each of us separately as to what we love about each other, which our celebrant read aloud to the audience during the ceremony.  We really can’t say enough about how amazing our ceremony was- it was, I think to both of our surprise, our favorite part of the wedding celebration.  Saral changed some things up from more traditional wedding ceremonies, such as having us hug and thank our parents mid-ceremony for all their love and support and turning us around to face our guests for part of the ceremony, which was really neat since guests don’t usually get to see the bride and groom’s faces nor do the bride and groom get to look out on their friends and family.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration: So many of our guests came up to us and told us how amazing they thought the ceremony was- I feel like that part of the wedding, which is really the most important, can kind of get lost in the shuffle sometimes, with all the time and money that’s put into the reception- so it was really neat to know that our ceremony was equally, if not more, memorable for our guests.