Southern Weddings

Yummy Southern food (like friend green tomatoes!), a gorgeous oak trees backing both the ceremony and reception, and fun colorful details! Stacey + Patrick’s big day was a sweet reflection of their love of the outdoors (be sure to read their engagement story, even snow and a hurricane couldn’t stop Patrick from getting his girl!), heritage, and Stacey’s affinity to bright colors. She said she “wanted to have a whimsical feel to the wedding”, and I’d say that the mix-n-match centerpieces and colorful chevron runners completely fit the bill!

We’re delighted to share this fun day from Dana Cubbage!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I’m not one of those women who has known from childhood exactly what my dress, or even my wedding would be like. I consider myself a bit of a tomboy and until the last few years, I didn’t even like wearing dresses unless I was forced to do so! Needless to say, dress shopping was very intimidating for me at the outset. I visited maybe two shops before stopping in to the place where my sister had bought her dress eight years before. There was a dress on display in the window when I walked in, and I said “That looks like a fun dress!” I tried on a few, didn’t love any of them and finally said, “I want to try that one in the window.” I put it on and instantly loved it! I found myself playing with the ruffles while in the dress shop–it was so fun to wear! I wanted to be comfortable in my dress and wanted to have a good time at the wedding. This dress fit the profile perfectly for me.

By the look of this glamorous bride we see here, I don’t believe you were ever a tomboy, Stacey! : )

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Why or why not? We did go with a first look. From the beginning of our wedding planning, we tried our best to make the wedding what we truly wanted, and not just what was expected, typical, or considered “traditional.” We realized that this would be a great opportunity to spend a few moments alone together and really focus on each other. We knew how crazy and busy the day could get (it went by so fast!) and we truly cherished those few moments we had alone together.
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We did write our own vows, and we shared them with each other during our first look. There can be a tendency to forget about private, special moments for the bride and groom on the wedding day. Having a first look allowed us to spend a few moments together, but also allowed us to share our vows without having the pressure of “being on stage” in front of all our family and friends. I don’t do well with speaking in front of a lot of people!

I love bright colors and wanted to have a whimsical feel to the wedding. My bouquet had coral peonies, bright pink peonies, dusty miller, burgundy scabiosa, blush astilbe, red ball dahlias, red gloriosa lilies, bupleurum, white phalenopsis orchids with fuchsia centers and red anemones, hand-tied with a ribbon. Branch Designs did a fabulous job taking my thoughts and ideas and making beautiful floral arrangements. I would’ve been lost without them!!

What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? We didn’t have any readings, but we did have a great family friend, who was our pre-marital counselor, say a personal prayer for us during the ceremony, which was truly special. We had “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman playing in the background while he was praying.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. We used instrumental versions of our favorites played by the Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) for a few of the songs during our ceremony, and also at our cocktail hour. We played “1,2,3,4” by the Plain White T’s (VSQ version) for the wedding party procession, “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s (VSQ version) for the Bridal Procession, “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman during the prayer given by our good friend and pre-marital counselor, “M79” by Vampire Weekend for wedding recessional, “Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole for mother/son dance, “Sunrise Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof for father/daughter dance, and “All My Days” by Alexi Murdoch for our first dance

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Considering that Patrick and I live in Maryland and are from that area, I’d say the entire wedding was Southern in that it was in Charleston, SC! We probably best represented the South in the food we served. We had passed hors d’oeuvres of fried green tomatoes and shrimp and grits, a mac’n’cheese station, and pan-seared local wreck fish (a South Carolina specialty) with succotash.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The venue was probably our favorite. Jacqueline at Sweetgrass Social Event and Design did a fabulous job finding the perfect venue, Legare Waring House, for us. I have a huge love of trees and wanted both the ceremony and reception to be outside. This venue couldn’t have been more perfect for us!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We met in college playing soccer. I played for a friend of mine as a favor, since his team never had enough girl players. Patrick was playing on the team that day. He asked me for my number after the game so that I could be on the next team he put together. He never did put a team together, but different circumstances brought us together over the next year and a half and we became best friends. We started dating and dated for five years before getting married!
Tell us all about the proposal! The weekend before the proposal, we were supposed to go camping in Shenandoah Valley, but Hurricane Sally hit the East Coast and covered our campground in multiple feet of snow! We both love adventures and trying new things, se weren’t going to let some snow ruin our camping trip! We had never snow camped before, and although we enjoyed the experience, it was freezing cold. We slept as well as we could in our tent that night, and the next morning, we planned on going for a hike. Since there was quite a bit of cloud cover, it was even colder than the night before. I suggested we just pack up and go home, but he insisted we go on a hike…my suspicions were piqued! We began our hike, walking along in the snow, stopping here and there to look at waterfalls and streams. We stopped on a bridge to pray and get something to eat. Patrick knelt down and began rummaging around in his backpack. I could hear plastic wrappers and I excitedly said, “Oh! Snacks!” He replied, “I think you’ll like what I have for you more than snacks.” He opened the ring box and proposed, and I instantly said yes!! I was so happy to be marrying my best friend and the love of my life!
When did y’all get married? June 14, 2013
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 90
Describe your wedding cake or dessert. Instead of serving wedding cake to our guests, we wanted to have other small desserts to offer. Cru Catering provided our food and desserts and it was all so delicious! We decided to go with strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream and bourbon spiced pecan pie. For people who stayed late to dance and mingle, we supplied a s’mores station. Patrick really wanted to have a cake to cut, so we also had a small chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting supplied by Wildflour. We liked the cake so much during our tasting session that we ordered a number of cupcakes in various flavors for our honeymoon. They didn’t last long!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The biggest challenge was making choices! Although I dearly love Pinterest, it made it very difficult for me to settle on making decisions. I kept thinking that if I kept looking, I’d find something even better than what I had settled on previously. There are just so many cute things and ideas out there that it can easily become overwhelming! I had friends and family around to remind me that the wedding would come together one way or another, and that God had brought us together and I was going to be marrying my best friend!
What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? Honestly, everything came together so well and we loved every vendor that played a part. Dana at Dana Cubbage Wedding Photography did a fabulous job of capturing our day. We feel like we not only have great memories of our day, but we have wonderful pictures to prove it. She and her team truly heard what was most important to us, and made those things possible without a hitch.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? There were a few minutes after the ceremony and before our arrival at cocktail hour where Patrick and I were sitting in the house that overlooked the wedding. We were able to look down and see our family and friends and the beautiful set up of our wedding and kind of get a bird’s eye view of our day. It was an unplanned moment alone, but it was so fun seeing all of our hard work and planning come together and everyone enjoying themselves.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Before you start planning, sit down with your fiancé and discuss what top three things are important to each of you. I feel that if you have that figured out, you can spend your time and money on those things, and the rest will fall into place a lot easier. Also, I don’t know how I would’ve planned this wedding without Jacqueline at Sweetgrass Social Event and Design. She was invaluable throughout the process and she and her team allowed my husband and I to truly enjoy our wedding day without a single worry. I would highly recommend having a wedding planner!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? We’re looking forward to getting to know each other as husband and wife, which has a whole new set of responsibilities and roles for each of us. We love spending every minute together and thank God every day for the gift he’s given us in each other. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for us. :)

Written with love by Marissa