Southern Weddings

One benefit of a short wedding gown? You get to wade in the picturesque creek at the Historic Cedarwood! Photo fun aside, this family-style reception manages to be Southern-stylish without any fussy details. With lace underneath, guests chowed down to fried chicken and all the fixin’s at a long banquet table that brought the entire party together. I’m totally smitten with Jamie + Dan’s embroidered chair sleeves and their floral china makes my heart pitter-patter! Even with these beautiful details, their reception looks like the epitome of summer ease and relaxation. The only thing that could make it better would be hummingbird cake by Patty Cakes and pecan pie! Guests were treated to the desserts along with chilled watermelon slices and homemade jam as the night came to a close. Don’t you wish you could hop right into this wedding? Big thanks to Ulmer Studios for sharing this sweet celebration!

Describe your wedding flowers: The flowers for our wedding were an array of summer colors – natural like a wildflower meadow. Yellow, purple, green, and orange were just a few of the colors in the amazing arrangements and bouquets. They were set on the tables in gorgeous antique glasses and mason jars. Cedarwood incorporated hummingbirds for a perfect show of a Southern summer style.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert: Our wedding cake was a hummingbird cake, which is an old recipe of several layers of a banana cake with layers of icing in between. The cake was garnished with handfuls of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. We also had a pecan pie made especially for the groom. I don’t know if there is another dessert that is more Southern than a pecan pie!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? I think the biggest challenge was the distance. The wedding was held in Nashville and Dan and I live in Arkansas. Though there was a lot of distance and it was hard for me to imagine how everything would come together, I knew that our wedding was in the best hands. The Cedarwood team did an amazing job of pulling together all of the details of the wedding.
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? The venue. Cedarwood is probably the most beautiful setting for weddings that I have ever seen. They are also wonderful designers. Dan and I couldn’t have styled our own wedding as well as they did. They were always very receptive to our ideas and any questions we had were always answered right away. They not only gave us an amazing wedding, but they made it easy even though we were so far away.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? It is hard to choose just one thing as the most memorable moment. One of the details of our wedding that we were so happy with was the band. The guitar, banjo, and fiddle brought the whole ceremony together. To be able to listen to them play and sing throughout the ceremony made it feel that much more special.
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We didn’t write our own vows, but we did choose the different parts of our ceremony. One thing that meant a lot to us was including my four year old daughter. There was a part of Dan’s vows where he promised to always take care of Presley. Not only was it important to him to let her know that he would always be there for her, but it also meant a lot to her to be included.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Decide what you want and don’t let anyone talk you out of it. Make yourself happy first and foremost or you will regret not making the wedding your own.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Next, we would like to buy some land where we can build a home and expand our little farm. Presley is so amazing and watching her growing up and playing around our home and little farm really makes us look forward to having more children in the future.

Photography: Ulmer Studios // Venue and wedding planner: Historic Cedarwood // Flowers and styling: Cedarwood Weddings // Officiant: Ralph Griggs // Hair and Makeup: Katie Guberud of Aura Salon // Wedding Dress: The Bridal Cottage // Invitations and Paper Goods: Designs in Paper // Wedding Cake: Patty Cakes // Bluegrass Music: Mark Burnett and Kathy Kuhn with Jason Fletcher of Nashvegas Ramblers // Catering: Monell’s // Favors: DIY by the bride

Written with love by Nicole