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Confession: I definitely found myself wishing I could have attended Sarah Beth and Ryan’s wedding–and not just because of that delicious looking cake buffet! These two have such a sweet, joyful relationship, and they chose their wedding details with great purpose, always focused on things that would best welcome their guests and share how much their families mean to them. A few of my favorites? Sarah Beth’s dad officiated the ceremony (so special!), the cakes were displayed on a table handmade by her late grandfather, and the favors were a tasty jam that was whipped up from Grandma’s recipe!

Thanks so much to Emily Ann Hughes for sharing this lovely day with us!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I knew exactly what I didn’t want, so the hunt took awhile (and it was absolutely a hunt). I went to five different stores before trekking into Neiman Marcus in Dallas with my best friend. I knew I had found a designer that kept working for me, so I went straight to Reem Acra when we got there. Those dresses were so dreamy, and the experience was so fun! I loved when I finally said yes to the dress.

Did you decide to do a first look? Why or why not? Yes, my husband and I are both very emotional people. We wanted those special emotions to be experienced between the two of us before we shared our evening with loved ones. I was so nervous, and knew I would be able to enjoy the time before our ceremony more if I got to see his face.

Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? Yes, we did. One of our favorite lines was, “I wish I could quantify the joy you bring. Your charisma is overflowing, and my life is filled with laughter because of you.”

We wanted a venue that provided beauty all on its own. I had an ethereal aesthetic in mind, complete with natural and beautiful elements, so it only made sense to settle on the Rose Garden and Conservatory.

Describe your wedding flowers. Oh my word, so dreamy! We used shades of blues, greys, and magnolia leaves to complement the copper and green. They were full of texture and shapes!

We used a table handmade by my late grandpa for my sister’s wedding to display our cakes on. We had eight or nine cakes in all different shapes, sizes, and flavors. They were so tasty–Cuppies & Joe knocked it out of the park!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. Unknowingly, I was his “gym girlfriend” from afar. We had a few mutual friends who facilitated our setup, but we must give credit to divine intervention. God directed each step toward each other along the way. After spending some time exchanging glances at the gym, he finally asked me on a date, which I declined; however, he was persistent and asked me on a second date. We were inseparable from our first date!
Tell us all about the proposal! Our first summer together, we spent almost every day at the lake! Our first kiss happened right there among the peaceful surroundings on the swim deck. The following summer, he invited all of our friends onto the boat for a normal afternoon on the lake, or so I thought. After ignoring my friends’ suggestions to maybe pick another swimsuit or possibly fix my hair, I found myself on the swim deck of our boat with my charming, now-husband, on his knee. I was in shock and had to contain my urge to jump on him for fear that my ring might fall into the lake! It was the best day of the year until we actually became one.
When did y’all get married? November 14, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 200
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? We had a traditional Christian ceremony that was officiated by my dad. At our reception, Ryan’s fraternity brothers went to the center and did their dance number. Other than that, I felt it was pretty traditional all the way around–great food, great drinks, and great people!
How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? We read “Love & Respect” and went through marriage counseling with my father. We also read “The Meaning of Marriage” and went through counseling with my former pastor. We were very intentional about preparing our hearts and minds for the covenant we were entering into.
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? $25,000-$50,000
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? I love stationery, but was realistic about where invitations ultimately end up, so we kept our paper goods simple. We also chose two beers and two wines as opposed to an open bar. I felt like both of those areas saved us quite a bit of money.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? When my dad announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Campbell!
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? We enjoyed our honeymoon, and now have twins on the way! We are looking forward to our first home together and bringing two beautiful lives into the world.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your wedding? It was a blast, but being his wife is so much better!

Photographer: Emily Ann Hughes Photography | Film Processing: PhotoVision Prints | Planner and Florist: XO Events & Design | Ceremony Venue: The Will Rogers Rose Garden | Reception Venue: Ed Lycan Conservatory | Cake Baker: Cuppies & Joe | Caterer: Cafe 7 | Rentals: Conventions and More and Mood Party Rentals | Band: String & Sound | Paper Goods: The Sign Shop | Bride’s Gown: Reem Acra | Bride’s Accessories: BHLDN | Hair Stylist: Hannah Miller | Makeup Artist: Lovewell Boutique Salon and Blush for Days | Bride’s Shoes: ASOS | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Nouvelle Amsale and Joanna August | Bridesmaid Dress Salon: Prim Bridesmaid Boutique | Groom’s Attire: Tom James Clothier | Groomsmen Attire: JC Penney | Bouquet Ribbon: Silk and Willow

lisa Written with love by Lisa
5 Comments
  1. avatar Emily reply

    Beautiful! Love the colors so much, as well as the velvet linens on the cocktail tables!

  2. avatar Miranda Tassi reply

    What a precious wedding! I loved the special details of incorporating her Grandmother’s jam and late Grandfather’s handmade table. Her flowers were STUNNING yet so simple! Such a great idea to minimalize the bar selection to cut costs; most guests won’t even notice or mind. Great post! xo

  3. avatar Sarah Chancey reply

    Absolutely smitten with this gorgeous wedding! I love how they kept things simple, elegant and romantic. Her dress is to die for!

  4. avatar Dana reply

    awww they’re presh

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I was so blown away by Alise + Conor’s movie-like love story. It’s an epic reminder of how powerful love is and how quickly it can work its magic. Giant thanks to Paula O’Hara who shared this wedding with us!

In July of 2010, my best friend and I decided to go traveling through Europe together. The first country on our trip was Ireland. On our last night there, naturally, we decided to go to a pub. Within minutes, I locked eyes with a handsome guy across the room and he came over to talk to me. I was instantly smitten with Conor’s accent and good looks. I never thought I would see him again, as my friend and I flew to London the next day. A few days later, to my surprise, he sent me a Facebook message. My friend and I continued on our journey, visiting England, France, Italy, and Spain, while Conor and I sent messages back and forth to one another. We returned to Ireland on the last leg of our adventure to fly home a few days later. I spent those last remaining days with Conor. We knew we had something pretty incredible, but we also knew the probability of us actually working out was pretty slim. We made promises to Skype and email each other any chance we got until we saw one another again.

So, as you probably guessed, things worked out! We Skyped and emailed each other any chance we got, and I flew back to Belfast in October for two weeks. Those two weeks were definitely the major turning point in our little love story. We fell crazy in love with each other. We would find any way to make the distance between us work.

I was to fly out from Atlanta to Belfast on December 26, 2010. There were snowstorms all along the East Coast and my flight was cancelled. I was so sad. Conor was adamant, though, that I get on the next flight. He called the airlines and rebooked another flight for me. I arrived in Belfast the next evening, luggage lost and exhausted from my trip. When we got back to his apartment, Conor wanted me to open my Christmas presents. Even though we had only been together for five months, he had written “our story” since the night we met. At the end, it said how he felt for me, and that he had to ask me a question that could change our lives forever. When I looked up with tear-filled eyes, he was down on one knee, asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. We choose to wait a while to get married as we had experienced such a whirlwind romance with one another. We flew back and forth every couple of months for over a year and finally tied the knot in April of this year. We chose to get married in Atlanta, because that’s where I’m from and also because I just moved to Ireland! Our wedding was a combination of happy beginnings and heartbreaking goodbyes — very emotional in many ways to say the least. It’s been an amazing experience, one that I only ever thought happened in films and fairy tales.

Did you write your own vows? We choose to compose our vows from many different vows we saw online, just picking and choosing what we liked here and there. Our vows sounded like the ones that have been used for centuries, though. We liked that the idea of reciting the same vows that many amazing couples have said to one another throughout the years, the same ones our parents and grandparents said to one another.
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? 1 Corinthians: “Love is patient” and the Apache Marriage Blessing.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. Our ceremony was a very traditional ceremony. I walked down the aisle to “Bridal March” by Wagner. We had two solos, “Ave Maria” and “The Prayer.” After we said our “I do’s,” we walked back up the aisle to “The Wedding March.” Our first dance was to “No Other Love” by Chuck Prophet. We wanted something different and original that not many people had heard of.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? (From the bride) The most memorable thing for me was Conor’s speech. Those words were the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life and he saying how he felt in front of our dearest family and friends was just surreal and so moving. (From the groom) After wondering all your life what the woman you are going to marry will look like walking down the aisle, seeing Alise was amazing. After all of those months of being apart, it was very surreal to finally see it coming true.

Describe your wedding flowers: I will be the first to tell you that if I was a picky bridezilla on any level, it was with the flowers! I knew exactly which ones I wanted and what colors. I spent months trolling wedding blogs for floral inspiration. Let’s face it, when else do you get to spend that much money on flowers? I wanted a very soft color palette and a dreamy, wildflower look for the table centerpieces. I choose anemones, peonies, dahlias, succulents, garden roses, David Austen roses, heather, lavender, Queen Anne’s lace, dusty miller, scabiosa pods, and seeded eucalyptus, just to name a few.

Alise + Conor’s tagged favors rank among my favorite details from this wedding! Mini + witty = love!

A few of our favorite details were the jam jar favors I handmade with my dad and sweet grandma. My grandma was not able to attend the wedding due to her health, so making those had very special meaning as well as stemming family tradition. The table settings were also a favorite. We handmade the woodland ornament place card settings, and strung together the lavender with ribbon, as well as printed the thank you cards in the napkins.

I have a feel we’re going to have a group swoon-fest over A + C’s chair decor! Lush pink ribbon and wreath initials aside, you can do no wrong with some Johnny Cash embroidery.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Most of my details had Southern or Irish ties to them. I wore my mother’s veil and my great-grandmother’s brooch on my sash at the reception. All the tablecloths were lace with burlap table runners. We served sweet tea at every guest’s place setting. All of the antique pieces we used were passed down from my grandmother, aunt, and mom. We had old mason jars everywhere. The jam was homemade using my grandmother’s recipe that’s been passed down from her grandmother. We served mashed potatoes, had old milk bottles and The Varsity peach pies, Krispy Kreme donuts, as well as old Coke bottles.

In what month did you get married? April
How many guests attended your wedding? 150
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I didn’t know what style I wanted and decided to be very open minded. I knew I wanted to wear my mother’s veil so the stipulation was that the dress had to look good with the veil. I tried on probably more than 50 dresses! I finally went into Sweet Elegance Bridal in Decatur, Georgia and I found three dresses there that I couldn’t choose from. I flip-flopped back and forth between those for a couple of days and finally choose “the one.” I loved it because it was classy, timeless, all lace, and had a cathedral train!
Did you decide to do a “first look”? We decided against a first look, just because we’re traditional like that.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert: We opted to save money and have a dessert station instead of a huge wedding cake. We still had a small, amazing wedding cake, but we also had The Varsity peach pies, Marlow’s Tavern apple pies, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, Krispy Kreme donuts, shamrock-shaped shortbread, mini cheesecakes and different chocolates. Our cake was amazingly delicious. One layer was a coconut Funfetti cake, the second layer was a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, and the third layer was vanilla lemon cake with fresh strawberries as the filling. All had a vanilla almond buttercream icing.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? As with many couples, we were on a tight budget and I have very expensive taste. My mom always told me, “You have champagne taste on a beer budget.” She’s so right! I decided to take on every DIY element I could get my hands on! I definitely put myself under a lot of stress with that, so I enlisted the help of my very talented and dearest friends to help me out. Our wedding was truly a labor of love and it wouldn’t have turned out so beautifully without the help of all our family and friends! Also, my husband-to-be living over 3,000 miles away made for a stressful situation in itself. He was an amazing help, though.
What range did your wedding budget fall into? $10,000-$25,000
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? Definitely the photography! We wanted images that were going to be timeless. I knew I wanted our engagement shoot in Ireland and once I laid eyes on Paula O’Hara Photography, I fell in love with her work. She puts her heart and soul into everything she photographs and strives with every shoot to tell the couple’s story. After she shot our stunning engagement photographs in the Irish countryside, I tried so hard to find a photographer in Atlanta that would compliment those. I couldn’t find one in our budget and it was actually cheaper to fly Paula over. She agreed to shoot her first international wedding for us, and made us such a happy couple by taking that leap! She’s a dream to work with, very non intrusive, and makes you feel at ease in front of the camera. The way she captured our wedding day is remarkable — the aesthetics, the personal documentary style, the details, the emotion, and all the in-between moments. We couldn’t be happier with our photographs!
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? If I could offer any advice to brides to be, it would be to think about what’s really important to you. Many times throughout our engagement and planning, we wanted to call it off and just elope because it all became very overwhelming. Now, we are so happy we didn’t. Being surrounded with all those people who love you both so much and are so happy for you is an amazing feeling and a very special experience! Your wedding day only happens once and is a reflection of you both as a couple, so make it as personal as you want. Don’t stress over the things that are out of your control. As much as you try to plan out your special day, it never goes exactly according to plan, but it will still be beautiful and perfect. On the day of, try to steal a few minutes with your groom to walk around and see everything you’ve been pouring yourself into actually come to fruition. Also, BE PRESENT. That was the best advice I got before my wedding day and I’m so happy I listened. Take in every moment, detail, emotion and all of the love that is surrounding you both. It will fly by and you’re only left with those sweet memories! (And awesome pictures, if you’re lucky!)
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Since I recently moved to Belfast, we’ve just been enjoying our newlywed life together. It’s wonderful knowing we don’t have to get on a plane to leave one another and that we can just relax and enjoy doing the simple everyday things together. Since the wedding, I’ve become a budding wedding stylist. I’m trying to bring creative, fresh ideas to the brides-to-be on this side of the Atlantic! I’m also trying to start a wedding blog for Northern Ireland as there is definitely a market for one! We weren’t able to afford a honeymoon because of all of our wedding costs, flights, shipping, and visa expenses, so we’re saving up for that and hopefully will be able to go by next year around our first anniversary.

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
17 Comments
  1. avatar Wholesale Diamonds here reply

    Very nice wedding. I like the bouquet and the bridesmaids outfits are beautiful. I like that they’re in varying shades of blue.

  2. avatar Lauren reply

    What a beautiful wedding!!! The photos are gorgeous, bride is glowing and the flowers are amazing. I’m also happy she was honest and willing to talk about budget…I also have “champagne taste on a beer budget” and am trying to have everything work out while being cost conscious :-)

  3. avatar cathy steiner reply

    beautiful story/wedding/photos/couple…congrats!

  4. avatar Heather reply

    This is one of the sweetest wedding stories I’ve ever read! Good luck to Alise and Conor!

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  14. avatar ann reply

    Hi
    I have made 200 jars of jam for my niece’s wedding in Oct and trying to find tags with SPREAD THE LOVE. Did you make your own tags or order them? I would appreciate any information.
    Thanks

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  16. avatar Maria reply

    I love your shoes!! where are they from?

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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