Southern Weddings

I’m a bit of a sucker for prettiness, so Rosanna + Jared’s ultra-feminine Georgia wedding at Kimball Hall really does it for me.  Plenty of white accents kept the couple’s light lavender and petal pink color scheme from looking too girly, though my two favorite details just happen to be the bridesmaids’ coordinated Bari Jay gowns and the flower girls’ frilly frocks.  Rosanna wore a princess-worthy Maggie Sottero gown and carried a blooming pink and white peony bouquet designed by Pat Holland at Kimball Hall.  Fun fact: this couple had not one, not two, but three photographers on-hand to capture their big day – no big surprise considering the bride is a photographer herself.  Special thanks to Mike Colon, Scarlett Lillian and Luke Edmonson for sharing their work.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Jared was my pastor! Funny story: it was his first Sunday on staff as a teaching pastor and the church met in a place called the Shark Club that actually had a live shark tank. Jared worked at a church about an hour away from where the meeting was so didn’t really know anyone there.  He didn’t think the meeting went too well (and the shark had been rather loud!) so he was sitting down on a bar stool, looking somewhat dejected.  He didn’t meet too many people that first night and was honestly contemplating a career change! About that time, he met me.  A Chicago native, I was also new to the town and church as well.  He didn’t even know if I was allowed, but he asked me if I wanted to go to dinner.  Somehow we ended up talking for several hours that first night and went on our first official date a few nights later.  About a week later, he told me he was going to marry me!
Describe the proposal.  Jared knows I am the kind of girl who would rather be surprised with a gum machine ring than get a ten-carat diamond that I expects, so he knew the element of surprise was the most critical part of the proposal.  Jared had my friend call me on a Wednesday night and plan a walk in a Laguna Beach park near where I lived and she worked.  The plan was for me to get off work at sunset, drive to meet my friend and arrive at an ocean-view and candlelit proposal on the side of a cliff.  Everything went according to plan:  Jared made sure my boss let me off work on time and I drove to meet my friend, but stopped by the chiropractor’s office along the way.  Poor Jared was waiting in the dark when I arrived!  He grabbed my hand and took me down a path that led to a spot where he had laid out pillows, candles and roses.  He got down on know knee and she said yes!  Jared says it’s a good thing he remembered the candles!
Three adjectives that describe the day are:  Emotional, life changing and euphoric.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The arbor! I couldn’t believe they took my ideas for the arbor and made it so much more. It was literally dripping in flowers and branches. I gasped when I turned the corner and saw it.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I knew my wedding was my one chance to wear a big princess dress and not have anyone laugh at me, so I was going to take full advantage of that!   I had a picture from a magazine of a Maggie Sottero dress that had it all: lace, beads, roses, a corset, princess neckline, strapless, and bustles. I showed the dress shop the image and they said they actually had the very dress in the picture. When I put it on, I could not believe how gorgeous it was. I tried on about 20 dresses throughout the day, but never got over the first. I had found the one!