Southern Weddings

It’s a match made in heaven when two Carolina fans get together, and with Roy Williams and the nationals champions at the wedding it can’t get any better! Amy + Eric’s wedding was full of tradition, from Eric’s proposal at the Davie Poplar tree to the toasting flutes that were used by Amy’s parents. The reception took place and was catered by the {Carolina Club} and the couple and guests loved the cupcakes from {Cakewalk}. Another one of the bride’s favorite things was the flowers by {Fresh Affairs}. This memorable wedding was captured by {Photogen–inc}. The bride wore a dress from {David’s Bridal} and bridesmaid dresses were by {Melissa Sweet}. To see more of Amy + Eric, check out Eliesa’s {blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.  I had just moved to Chapel Hill for graduate school and Eric was working for the basketball team at Carolina.  Eric set up “noon ball” twice a week with people in the athletic department at UNC. Usually, we play basketball but that day, a friend invited me to play ultimate Frisbee with the group.  I remember Eric as the guy who talked the most, laughed the most, and never stopped moving. Actually, I don’t think I could think of a better description of him.
Describe the proposal: Eric took me to a very nice dinner and suggested we grab ice cream on Franklin Street following dinner. We had to walk through campus to get there and when we got in front of the Davie Poplar tree, a Chapel Hill landmark, Eric dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him. I don’t remember exactly what he or I said but I remember he couldn’t stop shaking.
What attracted me to my husband was: His energy and passion.  He can and will make friends with everyone and anyone he comes into contact with and wants to do everything for everybody. He puts other people’s needs before his own without even thinking and has such a love of life.
Why do you love your husband?  He makes me laugh and has a great heart. I know one day he’ll make a great father.
What attracted me to my wife was: The cut-off worn orange t-shirt she was wearing.  I remember meeting her playing ultimate Frisbee and saying all day that I was guarding orange because I didn’t know her name.  In all seriousness, there were many qualities that attracted me to Amy.  She is beautiful, outgoing, fun to be around, athletic, smart, and independent.  We always had fun together and always had something to talk about.  I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with a person that had all of these great qualities.
The weather on our wedding day was: Beautiful and sunny. Hot enough for the bridesmaids to need to take hair dryers to their dresses prior to the ceremony.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? At first, the inspiration was the outdoors and I chose brown and green as our colors (Eric was mad no Carolina blue was included).  Since we had intended to get married outdoors, I was going to go with an earthy feel with rocks and grass and fans for programs.  Things changed, we got married inside, and I only partially followed that theme.
Favorite design element of your big day:  The rock place cards.  Several months ago, I made Eric stop at a river on our way home from vacation in the mountains.  We took off our shoes, took out our coolers, and went wading for rocks.  Eric thought I was crazy (and being cheap) but I had a vision and he was good about complying with all my crazy wedding requests. I laugh when I remember us lugging these rocks back to our car, pretending for the sake of the other picnickers, that we weren’t crazy.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My roommates dragged me out the week I got engaged and it was the quickest and most painless decision I made. I tried on two dresses, liked the first, loved the second.
Describe your wedding flowers:  Gorgeous. I gave my florist one inspiration picture but beyond that, I had little involvement. I trusted my florist and he did an amazing job.
Describe your wedding cake: Cupcakes!  I loved them and apparently so did everyone else.  We realized people had started grabbing the cupcakes before we cut the “cake.”  We did an impromptu cake cutting and by the end of the night, there were no cupcakes to be found
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The photo booth was a hit.  I have our amazing photographer to thank for that detail. Our photographer, Eliesa, has a wedding giveaway each year and the winning couple in the contest gets free wedding photography. Eliesa is the best in the business and we were SO thankful to win.  Since we won the contest, we had a little wiggle room in the budget and I was able to justify splurging on a photo booth.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  The guest list. When I say Eric makes friends with every and anyone, I am not kidding. Cutting people from the list was difficult
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding?  Our toasting flutes were the same ones my parents used at their wedding 35 years ago.  Our names and wedding dates are engraved next to theirs.  Also, Eric’s father married us. It’s not a tradition but it was special.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day?  Riding around campus in golf carts, taking pictures with our wedding party.  We had a blast and it was great to be able to hang out with each other and our friends before the ceremony.
Scariest moment?  None really.  Except when the coordinator at the reception site came up to us and told us there were two guests who didn’t have a spot at a table.  We had not invited these people, but we knew who they were and they knew many of our guests, which made for an uncomfortable situation.   We debated between pulling up a chair somewhere vs. telling the guests they were not invited.  It dawned on me that there was a reception at the Carolina Inn, a reception site very close to our own, and it appeared they were at the wrong venue.  About that same time in dawned on them that we were a different bride and groom.
Funniest moment? Eric golfed that day with his groomsmen and on the first tee, he swung his driver, made contact, and let go of the club.  It is still hanging on the trees at the first hole of the Finley Golf Course.  For me, as I was struggling to get into my wedding dress, I commented how graceful my entrance was and at that same moment, I elbowed one of my bridesmaids right on the side of the face. It was fitting that what is such a magical moment for most girls was full of bloopers and laughter for me.
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was:  Eric stepped on my dress on our way out to our first dance and then the DJ played the wrong first dance song.  The DJ realized his mistake and transitioned from the slower Elton John song to our song, Jason Mraz “I’m Yours.” Everyone I talked to later said they thought we planned it that way.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Joyful, exhilarating, unforgettable
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding?  Don’t get roped into what the industry says you need to make your wedding great.  Keep your guests in mind, keep it personal, and if it doesn’t bring you joy, don’t do it.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration:  Prior to the wedding, someone told us to take a night the week of the wedding and go on a date, just the two of us, with no wedding talk.  We didn’t actually take this advice but we did go to the beach the weekend prior with some friends to relax.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?  We are looking forward to gaining a sense of normalcy and being able to spend time with each other without talking about guest lists or registries or timelines.
Any DIY items?  Eric thinks a better question would be what I didn’t do myself.  I made the Save the Dates, invitations, programs, place cards, table numbers, half the centerpieces, charity cards, and photo booth reminder cards.  My competitive pe
rsonality took over…I thought I could do most things as well as anyone else and for cheaper

This is one wedding story that grabbed my attention from the get go.  Our team received Christine + Travis’ interview a few days before the NCAA 2009 National Championship Men’s Basketball Game.  Our office being located right at the home of the UNC Tar Heels were all pulling for our beloved team and this interview remind us again of the Tar Heels win in 2005!  Congratulations to the Tar Heels and congrats to Christine + Travis!  Maybe it was the luck of their interviews that lead the team to victory? Christine + Travis married in South Carolina at a friends home in {Beresford Hall}.  The couple choice {Lowcountry Boils} to cater this fabulous event.  Christine looked radiant in her {Casa Blanca} gown that she purchased from {A Beautiful Day Bridal}.  Matching it perfectly was the jewelry from {The Beaded Belle}.  This fabulous day was made possible by the wedding coordinator Linda McDowell and capturing all the fun was {Jeff Holt Photography}.  Check out more on Jeff’s photo {Blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Six degrees of separation is a great way to describe our relationship in the beginning. We both went to Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina and had many of the same friends thanks to our sorority and fraternity. However, we never really hung out except for one time in ’99, our sophomore year. Years passed and in 2005 I went to an engagement party for one of my best friends and sorority sister who was marrying one of Travis’ good friends and fraternity brothers. I was working on the invitations and I saw that Travis was invited and that he lived in Durham. I remember thinking “how neat someone new from ASU lives in Durham. I need to talk with him at the party and see how things are going”. I did just that, but I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. For those of you who may not know this, 2005 was the year that the North Carolina Tar heels won the men’s NCAA basketball championship. {Editor’s Note: They did it again in 2009! Go Heels}. Durham, North Carolina is in the heart of Tobacco Road where people are either Duke fans (which I am) or UNC fans (which Travis is). The night of the engagement party UNC won the Elite Eight game against Michigan State and now was headed to the Final Four. At the beginning of the party, I was thanking everyone for coming when I saw Travis. I asked him how he liked living in Durham. We chit chatted and swapped phone numbers so we could grab a drink and I could show him around Durham. During our conversation, UNC won their game against Michigan State. Needless to say, Travis was very excited and was looking to give a Duke fan (me) grief. “Just say Go Tar Heels and I will leave you alone I promise,” said Travis, but as a true Duke fan I just could not do that. We had a good time at the party with all our friends and I completely forgot that I had swapped phone numbers with Travis. So the following weekend when he called to ask me for that drink, I thought not the Go Tar Heels guy! What was suppose to be two new friends getting together for a drink and a tour of Durham, turned out to be drinks, dinner, hours of talking and now a life time together.
Describe the proposal: It was very romantic. While at ASU, Travis found a beautiful private stone and wooden gazebo overlooking the Blue Ridge Parkway. Since both of us went to ASU and we started our relationship in Boone, Travis knew that was going to be the place where he would propose to me. On our way up to Boone for Homecoming, Travis mentioned there was a place that he wanted to show me. When we got there it was like stepping into a fairy tale. We were on the parkway, up in the clouds and in our own little piece of heaven. I was walking around taking pictures, not paying attention to him because of the beauty. So when he asked me to come to him, I didn’t even think twice. When I did, I was completely shocked to see him down on one knee. At first I laughed, then I cried, and then I said YES!
What attracted me to my husband was: His sensitivity
What attracted me to my wife was: Her personality, from our first date we just clicked.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: Travis would say the time I surprised him with a picnic dinner, but I would have to say going to see Alison Krauss at a small intimate outdoor amphitheater. That was the night that he told me he loved me.
The weather on our wedding day was: Perfect! A Bright blue Carolina (UNC) Sky and 80 degrees.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? An Intimate Charleston Garden Wedding.
Favorite design element of your big day: The intimacy of the event.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: A NIGHTMARE! I found the dress that I wanted online, but before I bought it, I wanted to try it on. After 5 months of searching, I finally found the dress that I wanted in Jacksonville, Florida. However, the only shop in North Carolina that would order the dress at the time was in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This was great because that is where Travis’ parents live and my future mother-in-law could be involved in the whole process. We ordered the dress on February 2, and were told they would call me the following week with my shipping date. A week passed and I didn’t get a phone call. By 10 business days, I was getting nervous. So I went online to get their phone number. Both the website and the phone were disconnected. Needless to say, I was freaking out. I called my future mother in law and explained the situation. She became mother of the groomzilla! She went to the shop knocked on their door until someone opened it. She demanded my deposit money back (which she got) and made the store manager apologize to me personally on the phone. I was one of the lucky ones. The shop closed down the next week and a lot of brides lost their dresses. I finally found a shop in Durham that would order my dress. Four weeks later, I received my dress.
Describe your wedding flowers: I loved my flowers. I chose hot pink roses, green calla lilies, white snapdragons and white gladiolas. The flowers were one area I incorporated family into the ceremony. Pink roses are my favorite flower because they remind me of my Grandma Rose Marie, who I lost when I was young. The gladiolas were for my Grandma Grace, because that is what she carried on her wedding day.
Describe your wedding cake: No cake. My husband and I are not big cake fans, so we did a very southern thing, pies! We had two types of pies, Chocolate Chess and Key Lime.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: How family was incorporated into the wedding. Here are just a few ways we incorporated family. My uncle who is a priest and my godfather was one of the ministers in the service. Our wedding day was actually Travis’ parents wedding anniversary. We had a parents pledge instead of the giving away of the bride. My aunt did the scripture reading and Travis’ aunt read a poem she wrote after she became engaged to Travis’ uncle.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Planning a destination wedding.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? Other than the ones I already mentioned, I also had both my Grandmothers wedding rings with me on my wedding day. I wore one as a blessing for a long happy marriage and one was incorporated into my bouquet as my something old.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The vows, our minister (who was Travis’ youth minister) was nervous so when he asked Travis, “Will you take Christine to be your wife?” Travis answered, “I do, I will, absolutely.”
Scariest moment? The wedding dress disaster.
Funniest moment? The vows and the father- daughter dance (it wasn’t your typical father-daughter dance).
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Beautiful, peaceful and romantic.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Don’t listen to anyone else. The day is for you and your husband to be only. DO WHAT YOU WANT!
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration. To remember the moment and use that memory when things aren’t so blessed.
Who was your most honored guest at the wedding? Because our wedding was a destination wedding everyone who came was an honored guest.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Remodeling our home.

Congratulations to Christine + Travis.  We wish you many more victories in life!

Written with love by Lara Casey