Southern Weddings

There are so many cool aspects about this wedding.  First we have that Lindsay + Jeremy met in the 9th grade and funny enough Lindsay was one of her only friends that didn’t have a crush on him.  But years later…we have this awesome wedding to share with our readers.  This wedding was also a family affair with Lindsay’s step mom creating her veil, a family friend took care of the catering, Lindsay’s aunt did the flowers and Lindsay acted as planner.  And Lindsay planned her heart out with booking the {Bullock Springs Manor} and hiring the fabulous {Brandelyn Lee}.  Check out more from this wedding on Brandely Lee Photography {Blog}. 

How did the two of you meet? Jeremy and I met in Mrs. Pruit’s 9th grade Literature Composition class. For some odd reason, my cousin and all my best friends had crushes on Jeremy. I didn’t understand the fascination until a few months later.
Describe the proposal: Jeremy proposed to me at the top of Kennesaw Mountain. I woke up that morning, July 2, 2007, got all dolled up because I didn’t think hiking entailed all that we went through. So, from the very beginning, I was not a very nice girl to say the least…complaing the whole way up the mountain. We went hiking with my sister, brother and his girlfriend. Somehow they managed to sneak away while Jeremy pulled out an enormous rock. My brother’s girlfriend, Diana, somehow hid in the bushes further down the trail and got some amazing pictures of it all happening.
What attracted me to my husband was: My husband is handsome. That’s what got me at first. Then after I got to know him better, he became my best friend and someone who was so random/hilarious. I just couldn’t imagine not being around him…having that someone to make me laugh or smile when I’m trying to be a crazy stressed out control freak.
Why do you love your husband? I love my husband because…
The weather on our wedding day was: On our wedding day, the weather was sunny during the day and overcast later that evening. It made for a comfortable June wedding.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? I found the design inspiration for our wedding in a bridal magazine that had a pink and navy monogram cake. From there, I went crazy. I thought they were unique wedding colors.
Favorite design element of your big day: Our favorite design element of the day was the gorgeous pink rose petals that covered the center aisle. They made for beautiful pictures.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: The very first dress I tried on was the one I bought. It was perfect!
Describe your wedding flowers: I mean HELLO….Just look at the flowers! My aunt was my florist and she is absolutely amazing. We just did a mixture of colorful flowers.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? My dad is stingy. He kept us on a VERY strict budget.
Hardest decision you made in planning? The hardest planning decision we made was choosing the music for the reception…especially the first dance.
The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: The flowers that lined the isles almost did not make it on time. They came from Ecuador and the UPS man delivered the flowers like 20 minutes before we left for the wedding place.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Our next undertaking as a couple is a new puppy. We just got a little black Labradoodle puppy. She’s our new baby and she’s been such a blessing.
Any DIY items? The favors and flowers balls that lined the aisle my step mom and sisters helped create.

Congratulations to Lindsay + Jeremy.  We wish you the best as puppy parents!

We are back with Marisol + Ellier but this time we are at the reception held at {Deering Estate}. This wedding was planned by {Fabulous Fetes and Events}.  We love the tables!  How beautiful and classic! Catering by {Macy’s} and wedding cake by {Heavenly Cakes}. According to Marisol + Ellier and many of the guests, the cake was the best they had ever had. This wedding was captured by {Artistry Wedding Films} and {Maloman Photographers}. Check out Maloman’s blog post {here}.

The weather on our wedding day was: Sunny with a big blue sky!
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? A chocolate bamboo motif designed by me. Also, our colors, which were chocolate brown, honeydew green, and patina blue.
Favorite design element of your big day: Our flowers and bamboo details.
Describe your wedding flowers: My bouquet was made up of cascading white phalaenopsis orchids. The bridesmaid’s bouquets were made up of green cymbidium orchids. The flower girl pomanders were made of green mini cymbidium orchids. The reception flowers consisted of white hydrangea, white calla lilies, white gerbera daisies, and white dendrobium orchids.
Describe your wedding cake: Our cake was four tiers. The flavor was Grand Marnier with a hazelnut butter cream filling. Chocolate ribbon was wrapped around the base of each tier. The orchids and bamboo adorning the cake were all made by hand out of sugar. It was gorgeous and delicious!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Everything! The whole wedding came together just as we had imagined it would. Each design element complimented the other, but if we had to choose then the cake would be on the top of our list.
Funniest moment? My husband’s Michael Jackson, dance moves always make me laugh.
Hardest decision you made in planning? Having to cut down on our guest list.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Glamorous, intimate, and perfect.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Put as much of your own personality into the details as you can. Try to at least do one DIY item, it makes it much more special.
Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration. Everyone commented on how beautiful our reception venue was. They all also commented on how good the cake was.
Who was your most honored guest at the wedding? Our unborn child that is due to arrive in July.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Becoming parents is next for us. We are so looking forward to the birth of our baby boy.
Any DIY items? I made the menus, escort cards, favors, table numbers, invitations, bamboo trays, and monograms. I also designed the reception flowers and my lovely coordinator put them together for me that day. Also, my beautiful mantilla veil was made by my grandmother and I.

Congratulations to Marisol + Ellier.  We wish you the best and congrats on the little baby boy on its way!

Whitney + Steve’s “Jessica Simpson” inspired reception at {The Carolina Inn} was perfectly pink and covered in pink roses by Lyn Graves at {Fresh Affairs}.  It looks like {The Maxx} band, out of Atlanta, put on a wonderful show.  I love the picture of the Whitney + Steve taking the mic!   I am currently drooling over those perfect little cupcakes created by {Sweet Memories Bakery} in Apex, NC.  Perhaps I should take a little road trip to go get some for myself. Cigar bar by {Coastal Cigars}.  Thanks again to {Joey Seawell} for sharing this special event! Be sure to take a look at event planner, A Southern Soiree’s {Blog} for more details.

The
weather on our wedding day was: absolutely beautiful!

What was
the design inspiration for your wedding? As corny as it sounds, Jessica Simpson’s.  I wanted candlelit, light pink roses, and
romance!

Favorite
design element of your big day: I loved every bit of it!  From the initials lit up on the wall, to the
cigar bar, to the enormous arrangements of pink roses on top of the candelabras. 

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: It
was the 5^th one I tried on! 
Only took about 2 hours – I knew it was the perfect dress! 

Describe
your wedding flowers:
that’s easy….pink roses!  Yes, every one
– and there were A LOT!

Describe
your wedding cake:
Simple is best!  It was a five tiered
white cake with edible pearls throughout. 
Each layer was outlined by black ribbon. 
A few pink roses (I know, a surprise!) were sprinkled on
top. 

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Steve
said the cigar bar.  I’m torn between
two: the milk and cookies they served as the reception was coming to an end and
our giveaways.  They were cupcakes made
by Sweet Memories.  However, they were
very special because the recipe that was used was that of the New York famous,
Magnolia Bakery.  These were very special
to us, as the first year we dated, Steve lived in New York City while getting
his masters at NYU.  Every time I would
go up to visit him, we’d always have to make a trip to get a cupcake at
Magnolia Bakery (even if the line was wrapped around the building!)

What was
the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Where to have
it.  Steve’s from Fayetteville and I’m from
Advance (near Winston-Salem).  We
considered Bald Head Island, but it wouldn’t hold enough for us.  So we ultimately decided on my Alma Mater
(Steve’s law school Alma Mater) where we could have room for all of our friends
and family, be with in walking distance of anything you wanted, and be right in
the middle of Fayetteville and Advance.

Were
there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? Steve wanted me to
have the blusher over my face; although not a family tradition, he likes the old
school style.  We did follow all of the
old school traditional traditions: something old, new, borrowed, blue; no
seeing each other after midnight the night before the wedding; having a stand
in for the bride during the rehearsal.

Scariest
moment?
There weren’t any scary moments…well I take that back, I guess a button falling
off my dress as I was getting into it at the church would count.  However, again, my fabulous wedding planner
found a glue gun and had that button back on in minutes.

Funniest
moment? My veil fell off walking down the isle – and the only thing Steve had requested
was the blusher over my face! 
Thankfully, however, just days before I decided to add a hymn into the
ceremony.  So, while we were all singing
the hymn, my fabulous wedding planner and her assistants ran down the isle and
put my veil back in.  They did it with
such grace, all the guests thought it was all a “planned revealing”. 

The most
unexpected event on our wedding day was: I can honestly say, thanks to all of my
wonderful vendors, it went just as planned….Steve however, may not have
expected that I would actually smush the cake in his face when it was my turn
to feed him!

Three
adjectives that describe the day are: The BEST, unforgettable, FUN

Did you
write your own vows? No, we’re very
traditional.  In fact, we even found a
more traditional version that even our minister offered us.

What advice would you give to someone
planning their wedding? Remember what the day is about.  It’s not a production, it’s not the perfect
dress, it’s ok if the cake happens to show up late, or your shoe strap breaks –
because it’s about you and your best friend getting married.  And as long as he and the minister show up,
nothing else matters.  Enjoy yourself!

Best
advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding
celebration:   I will never forget a woman telling me a few
days before the wedding, “Whitney I hope your wedding turns out as magical and
perfect as you’ve always dreamed”.  I
just thought that was so sweet!

Fun details: Our out of town goodies bags were my favorite details of the wedding!  I made a welcome booklet so that everyone
would have important numbers, the schedule, and things to do around town.  Inside we had a bottle of wine with a blue Tarheel foot on the label, a bottle of water with our monogram on the label,
pink homemade heart cookies from mom, a bag of pink M&Ms, peanuts, and
craisins, and finally a small bag of pink popcorn – are you seeing a pink
theme?  I
really liked having a cocktail hour on the front lawn on the Inn with the
signature drink of spiked pink lemonade and a jazz band in the background.  It was so much fun riding up in the horse and
carriage and seeing all of our guests enjoying themselves outside.  I loved that, thanks to my dad, our entire
family, bridal party, and some close friends all stayed at the Carolina Inn.  So we got to spend a lot of time together!  One last thing that I really enjoyed was
having a brunch the morning after the wedding, I wore a white sun dress I had
made with my new initials in pink!  Oh yeah, and the honeymoon was a surprise!  I didn’t have a clue where we were going,
(just knew it was Caribbean) until we landed in Miami and Steve gave me my
ticket to Aruba!

What’s
next for you as a couple? Right now, we’re just really enjoying being
married!  We wake up, make each other
laugh, go to work, Whitney goes to the gym, the grocery store, and cooks
dinner.  Then Steve comes home, we eat,
watch TV, kiss each other good night, and the day starts again.  We try to find the simple joys in life each
day, and are just happy we have each other! 

Congratulations Whitney + Steve.  We wish you a lifetime of happiness!