Southern Weddings

Have you taken our 2012 survey yet? Thanks, y’all!

Y’all, we don’t often get to read entire wedding interviews from the groom’s perspective, but every once in awhile, one does come in and we LOVE it. Nick brought plenty of chuckles around the office with his story, but what we adore the most is how in love he is with his new bride, Whitney! Really, y’all — it’s too sweet. Whitney + Nick’s New Orleans wedding is perfect for Mardi Gras week and just bursting with Southern charm.

Since Whitney + Nick’s nuptials were more like a destination wedding for many of their guests who had never been to NOLA, all the stops were brought out! The first? How about Whitney’s lacy-sleeved wedding dress, netted veil (with a few feathers, of course!) and bright shoes? I think it’s a genius idea that W + N held their wedding in The Cabildo , part of the Lousiana Museum of State History — what better way to set the historic Southern vibe? — and that their ring ceremony was led by Whitney’s grandfather.

This next part is what had us head over heels for this wedding — The Second Line! Here’s what W + N had to say about their “hands down” favorite part of the day: “We started from the Cabildo and marched a square through the heart of the French Quarter, led by a fantastic brass quartet called Kinsfolk. Most our friends and family had never seen or heard of a Second Line, but they were instantly hooked, dancing, waving hankies, taking pictures, celebrating with onlookers who joined in the celebration. It was insanely fun and an experience of a lifetime.”

According to Whitney + Nick, Southern traditions came into play at every level. “The Second Line was a big one, and we provided all our guests with handkerchiefs with our wedding date printed on. The food, from top to bottom, was thoroughly Southern, and a huge reason why we wanted to get married in New Orleans. We served jambalaya, duck and andouille gumbo, shrimp and crawfish, fried oysters, steamed veggies, shrimp ‘n grits, blackened alligator, Louisiana crab claws and crawfish tails.”

Along with their band who kept everyone on their feet all night, the food was one detail that couple was happy they splurged on.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Whitney and I met at church! It was the summer of 2009. Whit was teaching Sunday School at a congregation for young single adult Mormons, and I was smitten. She was smart, funny, well-traveled and had this incredible sparkle – a smile and personality I instantly wanted to be around. But it wasn’t until two months later that we finally hung out, on a long bike ride from NYC up to the Palisades in New Jersey. That bike ride quickly turned into a weekly ritual, where we’d meet up for early morning rides in Central Park, slowly getting to know each other and giving me ample opportunity to stare at Whitney’s cute bum in spandex. We still didn’t go on an actual date until December. Finally on that date, it was just…ON. We never looked back, and I’ve never been happier.
Describe the proposal. The morning of the proposal, we had breakfast together followed by a 90-minute bike ride through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, rekindling some of the magic of our very first “non-dates.” We followed it up with lunch at a hot dog place we both love and where we went after one of our first rides together. That night, we had a date night planned: a perfect way to set the mood, and an easy disguise for my proposal maneuverings. We decided on dinner at a delicious French-Mexican restaurant, and swing dancing at the 92nd Street Y. Whit was beautiful and charming at dinner as always, questioning my curious, sappy romantic side that was gushing out. Dancing, which was dominated by the retiree crowd, was quirky and delightful, with men four-score older than me anxious to ask Whit to dance, hoping to capitalize on her twinkle toes and my own ineptness. Later on, after getting dessert to-go and a cab home, I led Whitney out to the roof-deck of her apartment – a place special to both of us — dropped to one knee, poured my heart out, and asked the girl of my dreams the most important question of my life, “Do you have forks for the dessert?” No, I popped the question, of course. She said yes, and we’ve had an incredible adventure ever since.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Magical, delicious, joyous
In what month did you get married? October
How many guests attended your wedding? Approximately 125.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: (From the bride) The wedding dress was a bit of a challenge as I wanted covered shoulders. It seems like 99% of dresses are strapless! I narrowed down the exact look that I wanted and found a sleeveless lace dress that could be tailored pretty easily to become the vision that I wanted. My mom went to the garment district in New York to match the lace and then I worked with a great tailor, Ellen’s Couture who made my bespoke wedding dress.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert: We’ve never been huge fans of wedding cake, so we decided on cupcakes instead. We had tasty little bite-sized cupcakes for our guests, and Whit and I had king (and queen) sized ones for our cake cutting. Sadly, there was no cake smashing in the face.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Leaving the reception in the back of a Pedi cab, with the cool evening breeze brushing over us, on-lookers cheering, and kissing the whole way to the hotel. The ultimate victory lap, I’d say.
Did you decide to do a “first look”? Why or why not? No – we didn’t do a first look as we had a two-part ceremony. The first part was a traditional temple wedding in Baton Rouge, so we rode up in the car together on our wedding day. It definitely helped release any nerves as we could both relax – we both knew we wouldn’t be stood up at the altar!
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Elope! No, just kidding. Our best advice is pretty simple: decide at the very beginning what’s important to you, and focus on that with your time and money. For us, it was food and music. Both turned out great, and we had an awesome party.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? Besides world domination? Actually, we’re just loving the newlywed bubble and being done with wedding planning. We’re looking forward to our annual trip to New Orleans in March, family vacations this summer, spending more time with friends, taking some classes, cooking, getting to the outdoors more often, practicing our baby-making skills, and hopefully, a little more time back on the bike.

Photographer: Rachel Thurston // Ceremony Venue: Baton Rouge Temple, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints // Reception venue: The Cabildo, Lousiana Museum of State History // Caterer: DC Events

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Written with love by Nicole