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Happy Thanksgiving!

by in In The Office, Main on

We hope y’all are with your families and enjoying turkey today! (Or tofurkey, if that’s more your style!) We wanted to take a moment to each list a few of the things we’re thankful for on this most wonderful holiday.

From Emily, whose favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is stuffing:
I am thankful for my family. I really think I lucked out with the most loving, most brilliant, and most fun family that a girl could ever ask for. I’m thankful for a warm home, a snuggly bed, and best friends, even if they’re flung far and wide. I’m thankful for God and the innumerable blessings He has entrusted to me. And today, I will probably be thankful for the Butterball hotline, seeing as I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

From Katharine, whose favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese (which is what she’s contributing to her family’s spread):
After five years, I am thankful to be spending my first Thanksgiving with Kyle. My father will be hosting the celebration this year, and I couldn’t think of a better place to share our first official holiday as husband and wife than at my family’s home in Virginia. (Macaroni + Cheese will be included.) I’m grateful for the year of changes we have enjoyed, for my father and three younger siblings and for my new family in Cincinnati. (Our first home in North Carolina, my best friend Molly and the Duke trail are just a few of the blessings that make make life so sweet.) Speaking of sweet, I’m especially grateful for candy – of all shapes and sizes.



From Lara, whose favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is: my mom’s turnip puree.  OK, maybe it doesn’t sound exciting at first glance, but it’s like mashed potatoes with a hint of spicy heat and nutmeg.  Pretty much Southern heaven on earth. I am so grateful for Jesus, my family, and the way God has worked in my life this year.  I’m so grateful for Katharine, Emily, Marissa, Whitney, Nicole and Sierra and how they make me want to be my best every day.  They put up with my crazy ideas and my insatiable drive that keeps us busy.  I love you all so much.  I am so grateful for Gina and Emily L. and for the adventure of a lifetime we just went on.  I’ve never had close girlfriends and I have found two soulmates.  I’m so grateful for the people who opened their hearts to us on that journey.  All 100+ new friends – I’m thanking God for each one of you at my Thanksgiving table today.  So much love and thanks for all that you are.  As they say, my cup overfloweth.  I could write volumes.  I’m thankful for YOU, dear readers.  Thank you for supporting us.  I’m grateful for my eternal roomie Harmony, who is like a sister to me, and for my half-sister Kathy.  I’m thankful that these two women – my favorite women in LA – just happened to meet by chance the other night.  God is good.  I’m grateful for all of these people who have made this year so powerful for me.  Last but not least, I’m thankful for my husband.  My grandma loves him too… maybe a little too much.  Filmed just ten days ago when Gina, Ari, Emily and I went to Irvine.  Wait for it… wait for it….

Grandma Bunny from lara casey on Vimeo.


Happy Thanksgiving, lovely readers! What are you thankful for?

Photo by Erin Hearts Court

emily Written with love by Emily
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Hey gals + guys! The etiquette queries have been coming fast and furious lately, so I thought we’d answer a trio of conundrums on the blog today.

First, Katie:

My soon-to-be fiance and I plan to have a very small wedding in my hometown. As it is not easy to get there (expensive to fly in, nowhere nearby to stay, easy to get lost on country roads), we will only be inviting family and our very, very dearest friends. After the honyemoon, we plan to have a big reception in Dallas, where we both live. My question is: do I wear my wedding dress? It seems a little odd to me to wear it, when it is not the day of the wedding, but, on the other hand, I want to wear something special and still feel like a “bride.” Help!

This is one situation where, in my opinion, there isn’t any hard and fast etiquette, just encouragement to do whatever makes you feel happiest! You can’t say that about every situation you find yourself in during wedding planning, so enjoy it! :) I would say that if you love your wedding dress and want to wear it a second time, go for it. Might as well get as much use out of that sucker as you can, right?! I’m bolstered by the fact that your Dallas reception is going to be large, so it’s not like you’re going to be sitting around in your living room with a few friends in your wedding dress… which might be a little awkward!

That being said, you absolutely have the option of wearing something else. Though no one will forget you’re the bride even if you’re wearing jeans, I’d suggest a LWD (Little White Dress) for the occasion. There are perfect options either off the rack or from the line of a designer like Amsale or Romona Keveza.

Next, Bonnie, who wanted to hear more about the intricacies of addressing envelopes to dentists, academics, and medical doctors.

Are dentists considered medical doctors so that I may write out Doctor Campbell v. Dr. Campbell? I have used Dr. for all academic doctors and Doctor for all medical doctors, but where do dentists fit? If the correct version is Doctor, then is it The Doctor Campbell or just Doctor Campbell?

Actually, the doctor title should always be abbreviated on an invitation, and dentists are welcome to use this title, as well. For a male medical doctor or dentist, you would say “Dr. and Mrs. John Smith.” For a female medical doctor or dentist, you would say “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith” or “Mr. John Smith and Dr. Kara Smith,” depending on whether or not she retains her title socially.

I have two dentists married (Oliver Campbell and Catharine Campbell). Do I say “The Doctors Campbell” or “The Doctors Oliver Campbell”? Or something else?

I like either the simplicity of “The Doctors Campbell” or the egalitarianism of “The Doctors Oliver and Catharine Campbell.” Your choice!

Our last question of the day comes from Morgan:

My fiance and I are eloping — minus the destination and surprise part. Next spring we are having a lovely private ceremony in Dallas at the chapel my parents were married in. It will be just our parents and siblings in attendance. However, quite a few “close” friends have announced displeasure at our decision. Bless their hearts, they feel they need to BE there. As a result, our wedding date has remained fairly secret. Our plan is to send out formal wedding announcements on our wedding day, each with an enclosure inviting the guest to a full reception about 6 weeks later. The tricky part is, how should we word it to appease my very proper family? We will be using the formal announcement from Ms. Post, but the reception invitation is a little harder. Can it be worded like a typical reception insert? Does it need to be formally worded like an invitation (i.e. Mr. and Mrs. X invite you to a reception in honor of Mr. And Mrs. Y?) If it is formal, is it strange that the wording is almost the same as the announcement that’s also included? Does it go in a separate enclosure envelope? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, Morgan! First, Katharine and I agree that the reception information/invitation should be separate from the wedding announcement, since guests weren’t invited to the ceremony. In terms of wording, I think very simplephrasing would complement the formality of the announcement without being repetitive. Try something like this:

Celebrate with the newlyweds / at a reception in their honor / Saturday, June 15 / at five o’clock / 123 Main Street / Dallas, Texas / The favour of a reply is requested

I’d follow the format of an invitation but remove the majority of the names for redundancy’s sake. Readers, if you have another suggestion for Morgan, I’m sure she’d love to hear it! And, of course, if any of you have etiquette issues of your own, feel free to email me and we’ll hash them out here!

All photos c/o Cooper Carras

emily Written with love by Emily
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  1. avatar Meredith reply

    I got married in a small town in Virginia, but my husband and I had a lot of college friends that wouldn’t be able to come from Oklahoma. So we had a reception in his hometown of Lawton, OK. I wore my wedding dress to give people who were unable to come to the wedding a taste of what it was like. We used the same color themes at the reception and we also reused a lot of the decorations that we used in VA!

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On the final morning of the conference we each chose four breakout sessions to attend.  I chose Todd Fiscus of todd.events, Maria McBride from BRIDES Magazine, and Tara Guerard and Liz Banfield.  My last session was the editors panel with Lara, Shira from Martha Stewart Weddings, Susan from Destination Weddings Magazine, Marilyn from Inside Weddings, Brooke from Weddings Unveiled, and Carol from The Bride & Bloom.  It was moderated by Michelle Rago (whom I now love) and they all did a fabulous job!  On a side note, it was so cool to see V3 out and about and in the hands of all of our industry buddies!  Though a little crazy, it was also a really neat experience to release the issue while we were at Engage!

After a social media panel by Lienne of Think Splendid, we had the afternoon to ourselves.  I spent mine by the pool :)  Soon enough, however, it was time to get gussied up, because the gala was about to begin!  To say that The Breakers culinary and design staff pulled out all the stops is really not doing it justice.  When we entered the ballroom, there was a chandelier of hanging champagne glasses about twelve feet up in the air.  Oh yes, and there were waiters on STILTS waiting to cut one down for you!  I know this phrase is used a lot, but we all really couldn’t stop ooohing and aaaahing. 

Pictured below :: Lara, me and Harmony Walton; Jessica Lorren, Yesim Insel, Lara, and Sara Kauss; Lara and Sharon Alexander of Sweet Sensations; Lara, Todd Fiscus, and Xoua Vang of Preston Bailey Designs

Pictured above :: Lara, Jeff from The Breakers, Cameron Keating from The Breakers, Edward Neary of Joseph Edwards Wedding Filmmakers, and me; Melina Glavas from The Little Nell and Lara

Isn’t the decor just stunning?  Again, The Breakers staff truly outdid themselves.  Every table was different, but each was equally as fantastic.  As a paper nerd, I also loved the stationery — menus by CECI New York and calligraphy escort cards by Laura Hooper.  I was also thrilled to finally have a chance to connect with Tara Guerard and Charleston photographer Gayle Brooker the final evening.  I also sat next to Carol Poon of Bride & Bloom at dinner, and she was wonderfully friendly!

Dinner consisted of an individual raw bar, the choice of lamb or Chilean sea bass (the lamb was delicious!), and individual giant sundae bars.  We were also entertained at different times by a jazz band, dueling violinists, and STOMP-esque performers, all courtesy of Elan Entertainment.

Pictured below :: me, Jeff from The Breakers, and Lara; Anthony Luscia from Martha Stewart Weddings, Lara, and Randy from Say Yes to the Dress; our table — Brian Callaway of Callaway Gable, Laura Hooper, Beth Helmstetter, Alexandra Rembac of Sterling Engagements, Leslie Maynor of Fantasy Frostings, Carol Poon, Harmony, and Vanessa Van Wieren of Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations

The night ended with dancing, break dancing, mingling, some more eating in the adjoining ballroom-turned nightclub.  We also had the pleasure of screening Cloud Nine Creative’s GORGEOUS films from Days 2 + 3 of the conference.  Bruce and his team are so, so talented!

Watching the film really reminded everyone, I think, of what an amazing experience Engage! is.  This was my first time attending, and I was definitely nervous — would people like me?  Would I have anyone to talk to?  I needn’t have worried.  Unlike some other conferences I’d been to, it was SO easy to introduce yourself to anyone and to talk to everyone, even though some attendees were quite famous.  Others have said the same thing, but it’s so true — there really are no egos at Engage!  Everyone is there to learn and to teach, which makes for a magical experience all around.

To end, then, HUGE kudos to Rebecca and Kathryn, the geniuses behind Engage!  They do such an amazing job planning everything, and Lara and I are so thankful you allowed us to attend (and Lara to speak!).

On that note, if any vendor is thinking about attending a future Engage!, I would be more than happy to answer any of your questions.  Between me (first time attendee) and Lara (five-time attendee), we have all the bases covered!

All photos in this post are courtesy of Mel Barlow, DVB Photographers, Sara Kauss, Lara’s camera, or one of our iPhones!

Laura Hooper is a Southern Weddings sponsor.

emily Written with love by Emily
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Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

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