Friends! We’ve been carefully adding talented new folks to our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory all spring, many thanks to your recommendations! This time around, we’re introducing you to a few of them through their answers to some of our favorite BRV interview questions. Click through to their listings to find out more about them!
Photo by Katelyn James
Name: Amore Events by Cody
Where you call home: Charlottesville, Virginia
Favorite part of a wedding day? When the bride and groom come in and see the reception all set up before any of the guests come in. They get to see everything they dreamed about and planned for all put together and beautiful!
Name: Ashley Seawell
Where you call home: Aiken, South Carolina
Favorite Southern city? I was married in Savannah so it will always be my favorite city!
Name: Brita Photography
Where you call home: Atlanta, Georgia
Best piece of advice for brides and grooms? Don’t let the little obstacles get in the way of what really matters on your wedding day (and in your journey together). Cherish the entire day! It goes by entirely too fast!
Name: Butterfly Gap Retreat
Where you call home: Maryville, Tennessee
How I got into weddings: Funny story! My parents owned 900 acres of undisturbed mountain property, and I was engaged! After building a 12-acre lake for their private use, we decided the peninsula on the water would be the perfect backdrop for my outdoor wedding. Not wanting to have a reception in a tent, we contacted my uncle, a local architect, to build a special events building. After my wedding, we decided to start a family special events business and bed and breakfast. We started with the reception facility and three guesthouses. Now we also offer an indoor wedding facility and are under construction on our seventh guesthouse. Our little family of five has come a long way!
Name: Christina Banner Cakes
Where you call home: Newland, NC
Favorite part of a wedding day? The part of a wedding day that I enjoy the most is actually a part that the bride and groom rarely see. It happens one or two hours before the reception begins, when all of the vendors are busy doing their thing. The band is rehearsing, the cake is being set up, last minute touches are being added to the table settings, and so on. There is so much energy and anticipation in the room, as all of the hard work and preparation starts to come together for the big event!
Name: Courtney Dox
Where you call home: Columbia, South Carolina
Favorite part of a wedding day? I have two! One of my favorite parts of a wedding day is the moment right before a father walks his daughter down the aisle. I love to watch Dad’s eyes well up as he breathes deeply, trying to keep it together, because he just realized he’s about to give his baby girl away. Gets me every time! I also love to watch the bride and groom cut a rug on the dance floor!
Name: Dark Roux
Where you call home: New Orleans, Louisiana
How we got into weddings: We eloped and have no photographs from our very special day. We didn’t mind at first, but once we had children and realized we had no images to share with them, it really bummed us out. The very first wedding we shot was an elopement on Mardi Gras day, and we were very excited to have the opportunity to give the couple the photos that we missed out on. We really fell in love with preserving those special moments for people on one of the most important days in their lives, so we made wedding photography our priority!
Photo by Landon Jacob
Name: Fern Studio
Where you call home: Columbia, SC
Best piece of advice for brides and grooms? Work hard at the beginning to find vendors who compliment your style and understand your vision. Hire them. Give them some loose inspiration but the freedom to do their best work. You’ll get it.
Name: Fresh. Local. Good. Food Group
Where you call home: Greensboro, NC
Favorite thing about weddings in the South? There are so many! Warm nights and fireflies. The charm that comes with bow ties and bluebonnets. A gathering of friends and family in wide open spaces. The “y’all’s” and the prayers and the “bless your hearts”. More than anything, it’s the comfort of easy love: no fuss, definitely frills, and lots of fun.
Name: Floral & Bloom
Where you call home: Always been a Maryland girl
Things you’d write home to your Momma about: I love sharing exciting news with my momma… oh, and I can’t forget about my grandma! Having my work featured on Southern Weddings and Style Me Pretty is such an honor! I would be really proud to tell them that I am following my dreams and doing something I truly love, and that their support means the world to me.
Check out all of our favorite vendors in the Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory! I also wanted to mention that we’re working particularly hard to expand some of our areas of slim pickings – namely, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. If you would like to recommend someone (or nominate yourself!) for any of these states, please email emily at southernweddings.com!
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