Southern Weddings

When I think about a Southern wedding, I imagine an intimate backyard affair attended by the bride + groom’s closet family and friends. Add lush blue hydrangeas designed by Events, Etc., a traditional portrait collar gown from Priscilla of Boston and wheat fields ripe for picture-taking, and you have Lindsay + Jonathan’s celebration. The catch? The newlyweds (who initially met on match.com!) were married all the way out on the west coast – proof that the Southern sentiment and famed hospitality transcend geography. California-based Flory Photo documented L + J’s wedding at a family friend’s private estate, and Events, Etc. planned the West Coast celebration.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met on Match.com. I had just moved to San Francisco and was looking to meet some new people and get a few drinks out of it along the way. My plan was spoiled when I met up with Jonathan for a beer at the Plough and Stars on Clement Street. Both conversation and beer flowed longer than planned that night. There was something there and we’re still enjoying it today.
Describe the proposal. (From the groom) I’m not able to surprise Lindsay too often – she’s much brighter than me! My first thought was to plan a backpacking trip to the Trinity Alps, but a solo couple trip could tip her off to the real motivation. As a distraction, I invited some friends, but, big surprise, they couldn’t make it. So it was off to the woods by ourselves, with a surprise in the making. Our destination was Lake Anna, an alpine lake perched a vertical mile above the trail head. It was slow going as the trail disappeared and we threaded our way through thick Manzanita. Daylight began to wane and we hadn’t reached the little alpine lake yet. In fact we sat at the base of a 300 foot scree field unsure of the exact location of the lake. At this point, the last thing on Lindsay’s mind was marriage. We scurried up the last few hundred feet of scree with the sun cresting the horizon. When we reached the top, I pulled out a Nepalese ring and kneeled (partly from exhaustion). Lindsay’s initial reaction was confusion which was overcome by joy. Success.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The weekend with family and friends was amazing. There were so many details that made our day special including the personal touch of our wedding at a family home, our friends playing the ceremony music, and Jazz Mafia’s improvisation of a New Orleans street band when the power went out. But the best detail was being immersed in the love of our friends and family.