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“Heritage” is the word that kept coming to mind as I read through Katie and Chris’ interview. At every turn, these two embraced the opportunity to celebrate their roots and let their guests know that even as they started a new chapter together through their marriage, they were grounded in the history and traditions of their families. A historic Atlanta venue was a natural fit–it made Katie the fourth generation of women in her family to tie the knot in the city! Along with honoring this special locale, Katie and Chris got creative by mixing Southern details with elements of their German, English, and Irish backgrounds. Catherine Kelly Events and Mary McLeod tied all of these meaningful sources of inspiration together with Katie’s favorite Anthropologie-inspired flair, and I’m sure you’ll agree, the results were so lovely and inviting!

Thanks so much to Lauren Carnes for sending this beautiful day our way!

My something old and borrowed was a lace fan my grandmother, Anne Caswell, lent to me to carry in my bouquet like she did during her wedding in Atlanta in 1955. My something blue was my engagement ring with a sapphire halo that Chris had custom made for me, my shoes, and my Chi Omega sorority handkerchief (given to all Eta Deltas at graduation). My dress, earrings, and hair accessories were new.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I have been a devoted Anthropologie shopper since 2003 and was over the moon when they launched their bridal store, BHLDN, my senior year of college! After we got engaged, I scoured the website and found several dresses I wanted to try on. The only problem with BHLDN was that they hadn’t launched their Atlanta store yet, so I researched online and found two local bridal boutiques I knew I would want to check out: Kelly’s Closet and The White Magnolia. I was very nervous about trying on wedding gowns and was so glad I picked the two boutiques I did. They were both on the small side and I had a very personal and positive experience at each. I had loved the look of The White Magnolia for years (I had driven by the Jacksonville location many times in high school) and booked an appointment at their Atlanta store as soon as I learned that they carried the Penelope gown (one I had picked out on the BHLDN site). As soon as I put on the Penelope gown, my mom and I knew it was the perfect dress! It was so delicate and different. I loved the illusion neckline, lace bodice, and dreamy tulle skirt! What I loved most was the bronze underlay, which made the dress work so well for our fall wedding. Mallory, the owner of the Atlanta store, made my shopping, purchasing, and dress pick-up experiences easy and stress-free! I ended up going back to Kelly’s Closet to buy my beautiful veil.

At first, we didn’t think we wanted to do a first look, but after discussing it in more detail, we decided we would do one after all. Several of our friends had done a first look and said it was very special to have private time together as a couple before the wedding. Also, since we were getting married in November, the sun would set early in the evening and we wanted to have pictures taken in the natural light. Finally, we liked the idea of getting our formal pictures done early so we could just be in the moment and go straight from the ceremony to the reception to enjoy the time with our family and friends on our special day.

My mother requested that the mothers and grandmothers be escorted and seated to Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and that the bridal party process to Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” which is what played at my parents’ wedding. I was very happy to continue that tradition. We sung two of our favorite hymns during the ceremony, “For the Beauty of the Earth” and “Be Thou My Vision.” We loved that “For the Beauty” is a song of thanksgiving and highlights the importance of love in all of our relationships, and that it mentions “friends on earth and friends in heaven,” giving us an opportunity to remember loved ones no longer with us. We chose “Be Thou My Vision” as a prayer for our relationship and charge to guide us as we began our marriage. We processed to Beethoven’s “A Hymn to Joy,” which is Chris’ mother’s favorite.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Family and heritage are very important to us. When picking our venues and determining the look and feel of our wedding, we wanted to incorporate elements that would celebrate those things. We are also big foodies and hoped to express our style and heritage through food and drinks. We wanted our wedding to be elegant and classic, while being inclusive and comfortable, with a touch of whimsy and personality. I come from a long line of Southerners, particularly Atlantans. It is very special to me that I was the fourth generation of women on my mom’s side married in Atlanta. Chris’ family immigrated to America more recently, and he still has extended family members living in Germany. We had a table of family wedding photos laid out with the names, dates, and locations of the ceremonies for our parents, grandparents, and maternal great-grandmothers. The vision for the cocktail hour was to honor and celebrate Chris’ German heritage and his family’s love of beer. We designed it to look like a beer garden and added soft pretzels and mustard to the grazing table. We also wanted to make it feel like a Southern backyard gathering with benches, bar stools, and blankets to encourage guests to relax and get cozy. We served fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grit cakes, and duck tacos. Inside the Trolley Barn, we wanted to create a Southern garden party feel, with subtle nods to my English/Irish heritage through greenery, vintage china, and Irish coffee. We decided to do long banquet tables so everyone would be seated together, and we served the meal family-style to encourage guests to interact with each other and have the opportunity to try a bit of everything.

Our florist, Mary McLeod, did an incredible job with our flowers. She is a true artist! The bouquets and boutonnieres were gorgeous. She and I discussed how I was going for an Anthropologie-esque vintage chic/rustic look. She created amazing, loose, and romantic arrangements and picked the perfect colors and style of ribbons and details. Walking into the reception was like walking into a dream! She took everything I’d been imagining and turned it into reality, surpassing anything I could have hoped for. She has such a talent and eye for detail–there was greenery on the seating chart, cake, and backs of our chairs, little arrangements and vignettes on the highboys outside and on the banquet tables inside, and large arrangements and fall foliage trees she constructed on the walls inside the venue. It was spectacular!

Describe your wedding cake or dessert. Our cake was just darling! We like the simplicity and elegance of naked cakes, but also love icing, so we opted for a “semi-naked” cake to maximize the amount of cream cheese frosting per bite. We had the hardest time narrowing down the cake flavors because our cake baker, Carissa, makes such delicious cakes! Thankfully, since we were having a family-style dinner, we decided we could do more flavors and have them served to our guests on platters in pre-cut bite sizes. The three-tiered cake was pumpkin with cream cheese icing, but we also served vanilla cake with chocolate icing and red velvet with cream cheese icing.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We met online shortly after I moved to Atlanta. He asked me to join him for dinner at a restaurant in the historic Decatur Square, Leon’s Full Service, on November 20, 2012. By our second date, we were already comfortable enough to eat barbecue in front of each other! We both knew it was love on New Year’s Eve 2012 when Chris braved a night of festivities with several of my closest friends. We all had so much fun and Chris totally charmed them. The fact that he could hold his own in that crowd and enjoy himself, plus the very enthusiastic approval of girls who knew me so well, I knew he was the one!
Tell us all about the proposal! After two years of dating, it seemed time for our families to meet. Chris joined my family for a quick trip to New York before we made our way to Cape Cod to spend Thanksgiving with Mr. and Mrs. Keinath. While in New York, we stopped by the Algonquin (where my parents honeymooned) for drinks. Chris took advantage of the moment when I stepped away to visit the ladies’ room and search for Matilda, the famed cat-in-residence, to ask my parents for permission to propose. They gladly gave their blessing, and everyone was in on the secret at Thanksgiving except for me. We spent Christmas apart, and while he was home, Chris picked up the engagement ring and made a plan. Once we were reunited in Atlanta, we went out for a belated Christmas dinner on December 30th. Following dinner, we opted for a casual night in and celebrated another great year together with a bottle of champagne. As we were toasting the memories of the past year, Chris said we had some more thing to celebrate before the year was over, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him!
When did y’all get married? November 21, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? About 140
What made you choose your ceremony and reception venues? Did they have any special significance to you? One day, when we were on a walk through Inman Park, one of our favorite places in Atlanta, we stumbled upon the Trolley Barn and I secretly made a note that it would be a great wedding venue. After Chris proposed, we went on another walk and came across the Trolley Barn again. It felt like the perfect place for us. My family on my mother’s side goes back several generations in Atlanta and I remembered hearing stories of my great-grandfather riding the Atlanta trolley, which made it seem even more special. Once we settled on the Trolley Barn and locked in our date, we discovered Inman Park Church a block or so away. It was built around the same time as the Trolley Barn (late 1800s) and it was just what we were looking for: simple and lovely, with just enough room for our desired number of guests. We knew it was the right place as soon as we stepped inside and saw the wood beam ceiling, distressed plaster walls, and breathtaking stained glass windows. It felt like a sacred space.
How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? We wanted to be very intentional about focusing on our relationship and preparing for marriage while planning our wedding. We did premarital counseling through a local church, the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course at home together, and read a couple of recommended books: The Five Love Languages and Boundaries in Marriage.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? My wedding was the best day of my life because I got to marry Chris and was surrounded by my favorite people in the world. But, the day went perfectly because we had a team of kind and talented professionals who went above and beyond to make my dream wedding a reality. A wedding planner is worth their weight in gold and we had the great fortune of working an absolute all-star, Mary Catherine Fisher of Catherine Kelly Events. The peace of mind that comes from having someone work alongside you throughout the process, managing the details and getting to know you and your family, can’t be overstated.
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? It was a lot of fun getting married right before Thanksgiving so we could have an ultimate Thanksgiving with all of our family and dearest friends in one space. Since we are starting out as a married couple at the end of the year, we get to celebrate Christmas, New Years, and a whole new year of celebrations together for the first time right away! We are excited to devote our newfound free time to building a life for ourselves in our new home, Johnson City.

Photographer: Lauren Carnes | Planner: Catherine Kelly Events | Ceremony Venue: Inman Park Church | Reception Venue: The Trolley Barn | Florist: Mary McLeod | Cake Baker: Cakes by Carissa | Caterer: Endive | Tables, Chairs, and Heaters: Goodwin Events | Vintage China and Chalkboards: Southern Vintage | Linens: Party Tables | Lighting: Active Production and Design | Band: Melonbelly | Paper Products: Woods & Co. | Bride’s Gown: “Penelope” by Willowby from BHLDN | Bridal Salon: The White Magnolia | Bride’s Veil: Kelly’s Closet | Bride’s Hair Pins: Davie and Chiyo | Bride’s Earrings: BHLDN | Hair Stylist: Kimberly Killens | Makeup Artist: Holly Chastain | Bride’s Shoes: Anthropologie | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: “Evergreen Draped Dress” by Anthropologie | Men’s Jackets: Macy’s | Men’s Shirts and Pants: Jos. A. Bank | Suspenders: Melody of Cuteness | Bow Ties: The Tie Bar | Cufflinks: Tesoro Jewelry | Chalkboard Artist: Callie Meyers of Eliza Jane Lettering | Custom Bride and Groom Portrait: Spratt Design Inc.

lisa Written with love by Lisa
4 Comments
  1. avatar Dana reply

    I love the bright flowers that still fit into the fall wedding!

  2. avatar Lauren Carnes Photography reply

    Thank you so much for featuring Katie & Chris’ amazing day! It’s always an honor to share with you all – this one was certainly one for the books – and the sentiments and heritage-inspired details were so sweet!

  3. avatar Gosia reply

    Lovely pictures, thank you for shearing!

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For Britt and Travis’ friends and family, this wedding was fifteen years in the making. After growing up together, their decade and a half of friendship culminated with the most overwhelming (in a great way!) experience of their lives–their vows! Britt and Travis chose to devote their lives to each other through personal vows built from pieces of their favorite parts of friends’ ceremonies. Such a neat way to incorporate loved ones into a wedding day! We could not support Britt and Travis’ sentiments on their wedding more: while the details are nice, the most important thing was the people around them and the covenant that they made.

Big hugs to Sara & Rocky for sharing this sweet day with us!

Finding my wedding dress was a lot more challenging than I had expected. I wanted to feel like a bride, and for some reason, I just didn’t in anything I tried on. My youngest sister lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and her roommate had suggested a store called Low’s in Brinkley. My mom and I decided to make a fun trip out of it and flew out to Little Rock one weekend. When we drove into Brinkley, I was a bit apprehensive, because it felt like we were in a ghost town. This three-story dress shop was just about the only thing still open, but it was well worth the drive! The Allure gown that I chose was exactly what I was looking for–I just felt like a bride in it. The combination of lace and tulle with some very subtle beaded accents fit my personality perfectly!

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Why or why not? This was a really hard decision for us. As someone who has photographed weddings, I understand how sweet and special a first look can be, but I wanted to experience all of the emotions and excitement that comes with not seeing your future husband until walking down the aisle. I also wanted the time before our ceremony to be spent with our individual families and wedding parties. I knew that if we had a first look, I would fill the time with pictures and tasks that I needed to let go of. I’m so grateful that we went that route, because it allowed us to enjoy sweet time with family and friends that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Over the past five years, I’ve been to and photographed a lot of weddings, and for some reason, I had decided to write down parts of the vows that I really loved and remembered. I went back and asked several of those friends if I could borrow parts of their vows, and we put them together to come up with our own version of vows. Our favorite phrase was the very end, and it said: “Letting nothing divide us for we are made new; all our days forward, you are my beloved and I am yours.” We intentionally chose the words “letting nothing divide us” because we believe that it’s our responsibility to fight for our marriage, and that it is a choice to let nothing divide the covenant that we have made both with the Lord and with each other.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Saying our vows to one another was pretty surreal. To think back on 15 years of friendship and see all that the Lord had done to get us to that exact moment was easily one of the most overwhelming experiences of our lives.

Long before we got engaged, a family friend purchased an organic pecan farm in our hometown that they invited us to come and see. They shared with us their vision of hosting gatherings of all types, providing education about organic farming to students, and creating community, with the ultimate goal of serving the Lord through this gift. Once Travis proposed, I didn’t even think twice about where I wanted our wedding to be. When we got engaged, Chandelier Grove was simply a farm house and the pecan grove, and that was more than I had ever dreamed of. Over the course of our 11 month engagement, they purchased two 200-year-old barns from an Amish family in Canada and had them resurrected on the property. One of my favorite parts of the property is the 2000 wood slats that Stacey hand stained for the barn and chapel. As she stained the ceiling, she prayed over the property. Each time a verse would come to mind, she would carve the verse into the wood, so if you look up, you can faintly see the carvings of scripture all over the barn and chapel. There are literally thousands of little details like this on the property–it’s incredible!

Describe your wedding flowers. My sweet friend, Stacey Crowe, who owns Cornelius in Tomball, Texas, went above and beyond to make sure that every little detail was beautiful! I knew that I wanted lots of beautiful earth tones and textures that would complement the property, so we used things like brunia nodiflora, curly willow, pampas grass, thistle, seeded eucalyptus, scabies, plumosa, lotus pods, privet berry, apricot stock, and tuberose, as well as some of the magnolia off of the property. I wanted the colors to be a mixture of soft and rich tones, so we went with blush tones in protea and garden roses, combined with the rich colors coming from blackberries, garden roses and dahlias. After our wedding, Stacey went to my parents’ house, picked all of the extra flowers up, rearranged all of them, and took them to local nursing homes. If that doesn’t speak volumes about her character and her heart for people, I don’t know what does!

Describe your wedding cake or dessert. I grew up going to The Whistle Stop in Tomball. They are known for their great desserts, so I decided to ask them if they might be up for attempting a dessert bar for our wedding. They made a three-tiered Italian cream wedding cake with cream cheese and pecan icing, a triple layered chocolate cake for the groom’s cake, samoa and heath bar pretzel rods, butter banana rum cupcakes with pecan penuche icing, pineapple carrot cake, key lime pie, and hummingbird cake. I don’t think there was a single thing left from the dessert bar at the end of the wedding. They did an amazing job!

Our engagement season came with a lot of trying life circumstances at home. If there was a challenge that could happen–job change, moving, terminal illness–you name it, it happened. But in all of that, there was this very real, very constant reminder of how fragile and special life is. It kept us grounded, and forced us to really consider what is important. Don’t get me wrong–I love the details and all of the pretty things, but at the end of the day, those things had absolutely no bearing on the purpose of our wedding day. Rather, it was the people around us and the covenant that we made that mattered most.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. Travis and I met in 7th grade in Tomball, Texas. We became part of the same friend group fairly quickly and spent most of the last 15 years as really close friends. My parents and siblings have always loved Travis, and joked about how they were going to find a way to make him part of our family–my sisters even made him sign an “adoption contract” to ensure that he wasn’t going anywhere regardless of who he married! Clearly, we weren’t getting the hint! In the summer of 2012, I took a job in Missouri, which meant that we were 12 hours away from one another. About two weeks after I moved, I got a phone call from Travis asking if he could come visit me one weekend. I honestly didn’t think a thing about it! We spent the entire weekend hanging out with my sister, hiking the Ozarks, and catching up on life, and then he went home. I figured that I would see him again at Christmas or the following summer when I was home, but two weeks later, he came back to visit again, and this persisted every few weeks for months! A couple months into his visits, he sat me down and told me that when I was ready, he would like the chance to pursue me. It took me awhile to come around, but I finally agreed to go on one date. We dated for a year and got married in October 2013. I think that everyone we know had been asking when this would happen since we were 12!
Tell us all about the proposal! In October 2013, we had gone up to Austin, Texas to see Travis’ dad for the weekend. Travis told me before we left that his cousin was running a marathon in Austin and wanted to see us while we were in town. I had my suspicions that something was up because he told me that we had to get breakfast with them and would need to leave super early to get there. Last I checked, no one finishes a marathon before 7 a.m., but who was I to question what the athlete had deemed a reasonable time? I noticed pretty quickly that we were not headed to a restaurant when Travis pulled over on the side of the road by Zilker Park. He walked me through the woods and down a trail to Town Lake, where a canoe was waiting at the edge of the water. From there, we paddled down the lake to a dock that was lit up by candles, with breakfast and coffee waiting. One of our favorite times of the day is breakfast, so he knew that it would mean a lot to me to have a sunrise proposal. I only finished about half of my cup of coffee because I was so nervous, but Travis kept encouraging me to finish it. Finally, he got impatient and told me that if I wasn’t going to drink the coffee, I should just throw it into the lake. What I didn’t know was that at the bottom of the coffee cup, he had written “Marry me, Britt?” When I finally saw it, he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. Before I knew it, all of my siblings and parents came out of the woods where they had been videotaping and photographing that moment. I had always told Travis that I wanted my family to be there, so he flew all of my siblings in from California, Colorado, and Arkansas to make sure that they were part of the day. Then, to top it off, he had scheduled time for my mom and sisters to go look at wedding dresses with me, since we all lived in different states. It was a pretty incredible day that I will never, ever forget!
When did y’all get married? October 4, 2014
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 230
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? I’m a big believer in small business. Every business has to start somewhere, and that means that someone has to take a chance on them. I chose to work with a lot of creatives who had never actually executed a wedding because they didn’t have the demand that a lot of well-known vendors do, so they were more reasonably priced. It was exciting to work with people who were so eager to have the opportunity, and who paid such close attention to details. They all did a phenomenal job!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? We just purchased a 1928 craftsman-style house in the heart of Fort Worth, Texas. We are so excited to make it a home and start hosting our own gatherings. We LOVE community, and we look forward to seeing what the Lord will do with this gift.

Photographer: Sara & Rocky Photography / Videographer: Brittan Pittman / Planner: Britt Latz Visuals / Ceremony and Venue: Chandelier Grove / Florist: Stacey Crowe / Dessert Baker: The Whistle Stop / Catering: Black Walnut / Rentals: Any Occasion Rental / DJ: Michael Green / Bride’s Gown: Allure Bridals / Bride’s Jewelry: Christine Elise / Bride’s Hair and Makeup: Sarah Roark / Bridal Party Hair and Makeup: Makeup Texas / Bride’s Shoes: Ann Taylor / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Em and Lee / Menswear: Jos. A. Bank

marissa Written with love by Marissa
19 Comments
  1. avatar Loverly reply

    We are swooning over the lush floral arrangements throughout this entire wedding! So gorgeous!

  2. avatar Sara Garza reply

    Thanks SO much for the feature today!! It looks absolutely stunning. We are grateful for you guys and our couples like Brittany and Travis.

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  4. avatar Mindy Reich reply

    Beautiful Wedding! My daughter just got engaged and they would like to look at Chandler Grove. Would you be able to provide us with contact information. My daughter and her fiance are both very strong Christians. Thank you! Mindy

  5. avatar Barbara Powell reply

    I am interested in looking at this venue for my daughters wedding reception and we live in Tomball. I have driven to the place and done multiple online searches but cannot find a telephone number or email address for Chandelier Grove. Could you please forward one to me? Thanks.

    • avatar Maria reply

      Beautiful Whimsical Wedding. I am recently engaged and grew up in the area. I was hoping you could provide us with the Chandler Grove contact information. I would love to check it out, but had no luck looking online.

  6. avatar Natasha reply

    Loved the blog.I was wondering if you could give the contact info for The Chandelier Grove. I cannot seem to find anything online.

    Thank you,
    Natasha

  7. avatar Candice Garner reply

    This wedding is so beautiful! I have been searching for a place like this. I can not seem to find the contact information anywhere either. Has anyone had any luck?

    Thank you so much,
    Candice

  8. avatar Kelley reply

    My fiancé and I have been trying to reach out to Chandalier Grove to see their venue. The place and photos just speaks to us both and the story above completely overwhelmed me with the huge Christian base of this place. Could you please provide us with contact information so we could reach out? Thank you so much

  9. avatar Teresa reply

    Hello,

    Do you happen to have the contact information of the venue Chandelier Grove?

    Thank you

  10. avatar Catherine reply

    I love hearing about this venue!! Would you be able to send me their contact info? I can’t find it anywhere. Thank you so much!!

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  12. avatar Jennifer reply

    I love everything about this post! Could I receive the contact information for chandelier grove? I can’t seem to find anything online, and I’d like to have my wedding here!

  13. avatar Tori reply

    This place is beautiful! Could anyone provide me with the contact information? Thanks so much! :)

    • avatar Marissa reply

      Hi Tori! Thanks for your comment, it sure is a beautiful space. We looked around, but unfortunately cannot locate their contact information. We believe it might be a private property. We do have some great venues in the Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory! https://southernweddings.com /vendor-category/venue/ Hope you find the perfect place. xo! Marissa

    • avatar Stacey reply

      Hello Tori,

      This is Stacey, I’m the owner of the farm above. You’re welcome to contact me via [email protected].

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There are two beautiful details that really stand out at Sara + Justin’s wedding: the gorgeous estate tables and the innovative ceremony backdrop. I’m a bit obsessed with estate tables, and the dark wood of S + J’s is the perfect blend of formal and farm table-esque. Now that ceremony backdrop – oh my loveliness! I was already smitten with the installation, and then I read that the paintings were created by Sara’s late grandmother. Wow, I’m so impressed how Sara + Justin were able to seamlessly incorporate such meaningful pieces in to their wedding. I also love Sara’s nod to tradition by wearing the same head piece as her mother and grandmother did.

Jodi Miller did a fabulous job capturing all the details and emotion of their big day.

I wanted elegant flowers, but I also wanted to incorporate our love of cooking through the use of fresh herbs. The fresh herbs were such an amazing touch not only for their beauty, but for the scent that they perfumed throughout the ceremony and reception. I will never forget the sweet smells of rosemary and basil during our ceremony, blowing toward us from the wall of flowers and herbs behind us.

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Yes. We wanted to be able to spend as much time with our guests as possible. It also made the trip down the aisle a tad less nerve-wracking!

I’m sure Sara’s grandmother is so honored to see her art displayed in such a lovely way.

Did you write your own vows? We didn’t, but our officiant used our own words in her address during the ceremony. Our favorite line from Justin’s interview with our officiant was, “Marriage means that I am guaranteed to have Sara as my best friend and partner for the rest of my life.”
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? The Union by Robert Fulghum
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. I walked down the aisle to “In My Life” by the Beatles. I walked back up the aisle to “Here Comes the Sun”, by the Beatles. For our first dance, we danced to “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel.

Describe your wedding cake or dessert: Justin and I both don’t particularly enjoy cake. I am an ice cream fan and he loves cookies. We had gelato provided by a local vendor in Charlottesville and our venue made three of Justin’s favorite homemade cookies. We are adventurous eaters so our gelato flavors included a chipotle chocolate and of course, ice cream sandwich making was encouraged.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Justin and I met at our first job out of college at a consulting firm called BearingPoint. Justin had worked at BearingPoint since 2005 and I was hired and started in the late summer of 2007. Once I joined the firm, I was responsible for finding a project. As fate would have it, I was asked to interview for the same project that Justin was leading. The interview was not particularly great and during the post-interview discussion, one of Justin’s colleagues suggested I was too inexperienced for the project. While Justin didn’t agree with his colleague, the decision was tabled for another day. Fortunately, what I lacked in consulting experience, I more than made up for in shrewd negotiating skills. By the time Justin returned to his desk, he received a phone call from me suggesting that if the team did not act immediately, they would lose their opportunity to hire me. I assured Justin that I had offers from several teams at BearingPoint and needed to make a decision immediately. Backed into a corner, Justin panicked and with no real authority told me that I would receive an offer to join the team. While this gave Justin the unenviable task of explaining his new role of hiring manager to the actual hiring manager, I received an offer and the rest, as they say, is history.
Describe the proposal. Three years elapsed from the day we first met at BearingPoint to the day we booked a vacation together to Turks and Caicos. Having been through our first corporate bankruptcy (goodbye BearingPoint) and the beginning of two new jobs at rival consulting firms (hello Deloitte and PwC), stress dictated a need for some rest and relaxation in a tropical paradise. We both agreed Turks and Caicos presented the perfect option. The vacation was planned for January of 2011 and thus the engagement wheel was set in motion. In order to keep the engagement a secret until January, Justin had to buy a ring and keep the ring in his possession for two months. Needless to say, nobody thought he could do it…not even Justin. Justin was horrified by the idea of high pressured in person jewelry shopping. As evidenced by his anemic negotiating performance with me three years prior, he knew his strengths were not suited to deal with jewelry salesmen. Therefore, he did what any rational internet aged male would do and found an online establishment, performed weeks of research, and ultimately executed one of the largest purchases of his life sight unseen over the internet. Justin had to carefully coordinate the timing and subsequent delivery of the purchase so as to avoid detection. Justin chose two days before Thanksgiving. At the time, the date seemed perfect; close enough to a holiday to not arouse suspicion regarding a random work from home day for Justin but far enough from a holiday to prevent me from working from home. Unfortunately, the night before the ring was to be delivered, I mentioned offhand, “good news, my boss said I can work from home tomorrow…we will be able to hang out all day!” As you can imagine, terror and panic again shot through Justin’s body. Not knowing what to do he texted one of the our close friends, Kathleen. After some awkward cryptic text messages, Kathleen read between the lines and understood that I HAD to go to work. Kathleen called my boss and convinced her to make me go into work. Disaster averted. Despite a few minor hiccups between Thanksgiving and the vacation date, Justin was able to preserve the surprise for me. Once in Turks and Caicos, we went for a long walk on the beach. After some stealth maneuvering and good timing, Justin was able to find a quiet spot of sand overlooking the ocean. Just as the sun was setting over the Atlantic, Justin asked me to marry him. I quickly agreed and we spent the rest of the week having biking adventures, snorkeling, and eating and drinking like kings
In what month did you get married? July
How many guests attended your wedding? 128
Did you write your own vows? We didn’t, but our officiant used our own words in her address during the ceremony. Our favorite line from Justin’s interview with our officiant was, “Marriage means that I am guaranteed to have Sara as my best friend and partner for the rest of my life.”
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? The Union by Robert Fulghum
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. I walked down the aisle to “In My Life” by the Beatles. I walked back up the aisle to “Here Comes the Sun”, by the Beatles. For our first dance, we danced to “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Paying homage to my grandmother by displaying her hand paintings on our flower wall during the ceremony. I also wore the head piece that she and my mother wore in their weddings and a pair of her earrings.
What range did your wedding budget fall into? $50,000-$75,000
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? The band. We didn’t stop dancing the whole time. We also did a photo booth and I think our guests really enjoyed it during the wedding and we really enjoy it as a keepsake. Also the venue — Veritas is a full service wedding venue. They provided us with a wedding coordinator leading up to the wedding and a day-of event manager. The day of the wedding, I didn’t worry about any details — they had it all covered. Leading up the wedding, I had an expert I could reach out to for advice whenever I needed.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? We made a contact sheet leading up to the wedding and called all of our vendors the week before to confirm everything. It wasn’t necessary, but the biggest source of anxiety for us was making sure all of the vendors showed up and on time. Also, at the very least, get a day-of coordinator. You don’t want to give those jobs to your bridesmaids or parents; they should be enjoying everything along with you!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? A honeymoon to Bora Bora in October and one day, a family!

marissa Written with love by Marissa
2 Comments
  1. avatar Wedding Gift Shopper reply

    The idea of the eggplant on the center table is cool

  2. avatar Julie reply

    Everything was so beautiful!! It was such an elegant wedding. The icing on the cake came when we all had so much fun!!!

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