Southern Weddings

When you get engaged at a State Fair, it seems only fitting that your wedding has the same amount of color, whimsy, and fun! Country club weddings occasionally get a bad rap for all looking the same or being too difficult to personalize, but I daresay that Brooke and Bryan blew that idea out of the water. With the help of their planner, Kim Bignon, and designer, Stacy Coon Stage, they turned the Orlando Country Club into a truly fabulous and colorful place to become husband and wife!

We’re so happy Amalie Orrange shared this celebration with us!

Tell us all about the proposal! One of our first “official” dates was to the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. Each year after that, we made sure to make at least one trip back to visit and snag a corndog. On our anniversary last year, Bryan convinced me that we were going to the fair to watch his dad receive an award. During our walk to “find his parents,” he stopped me in a garden, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him! After he proposed, he surprised me even more with a party, complete with our friends, his family, and most importantly, my family who had secretly flown in from Florida. We ended the night with the fair’s mascot, Big Tex, congratulating us. It was perfect!

Living in Dallas while my mom and sister were living in Orlando made wedding dress shopping a little tricky. We were lucky to find one weekend when everyone could be in Orlando together to speed-shop for dresses! I tried on dresses in three stores, and by the second store, I knew I had found the one. It was the perfect mix of several other dresses I had liked earlier in the day! Although it was a bit scary committing to a dress after only one day of searching, I knew it was the one when every dress I tried on afterwards didn’t even compare.

Did you decide to do a first look? Why or why not? Bryan and I chose not to do a first look before our wedding because we thought it would take away from the magical moment of walking down the aisle. Right before the ceremony, when the nerves were setting in, I thought it may have helped if I had seen him already. Walking down the aisle towards him was such an amazing moment though, and I am so glad we waited to see each other then.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Although it’s hard to pick just one detail, I think our favorite was our confetti exit. Our wedding designer, Stacy Coon, created the most elaborate and beautiful confetti bar where guests could make their own mix of confetti. There were about twenty varieties of confetti to choose from, including pieces with our pictures on them. As we made our exit, not only did our guests shower us with confetti, but there were also ten confetti cannons shot from the balcony above us. It was so much fun and made for great pictures!

Our ceremony and reception were both at the Country Club of Orlando, the country club I grew up attending. We initially wanted our ceremony to be in my parents’ backyard in Orlando, but due to the bugs and weather in Florida, we decided an indoor venue was a better choice. Since we couldn’t be in the backyard, the country club right down the block was the next best thing.

Our flowers were magnificent! Lana from Fairbanks Florist has been a long-time friend of the Bosserman family. She did an amazing job taking some of my weak ideas and turning them into beautiful floral pieces throughout the ceremony and reception venue. She made hundreds of arrangements in hues of red, pink, and white. Everywhere I looked, there was one (or ten!) of her masterpieces. One of the most special moments of the day was when she personally delivered my bouquet to me before the wedding. It was so special to receive my bouquet from a friend, who I know had worked so hard to make the day perfect for me!

Describe your wedding cake. Our cakes were absolutely gorgeous and, more importantly, delicious! Sugar Suite created the exact cake I had pictured in my head for months. The bride’s cake was eight tiers and had amazing red and pink sugar flowers running all the way down it. There were gold accents on the cake that matched the cake stand and sequin tablecloth. Bryan’s groom’s cake was a chocolate peanut butter cake in the shape of Texas with a replica of his favorite cowboy boots on top. The boots looked stunningly real. One of our favorite parts of our morning-after brunch on Sunday was eating leftover cake!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. Bryan and I met in college through our roommates. I attended Baylor University and he attended Texas A&M. We attended several sorority and fraternity functions together before we started dating, almost ten months later. We lived in different cities for the first three years of our relationship, but finally both ended up in Dallas. We were in Dallas together for almost two years before we got engaged.
When did y’all get married? May 23, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 270
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? Neither of us are marvelous writers, so we opted for traditional vows. We also found something special in reciting vows that thousands of other couples have recited before us.
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? We had readings from Proverbs and 1 John.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. Bryan and I walked back up the aisle to “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks. My dad suggested this song because Bryan is quite the cowboy. We did our first dance to “Me and You” by Kenny Chesney. This song was sweet and country–our favorite! We also danced to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder to officially start the dance party.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? I think what was most Southern about our wedding was that it was very traditional. Our venue was the Country Club of Orlando, which was founded in 1911 and is very traditional in decor. Our ceremony was traditional in that we waited to see each other until I walked down the aisle, old hymns were sung, scripture was read, and traditional vows were said. At dinner, we sat our guests at long banquet tables, which created a warm and inviting environment, showing Southern hospitality. Bryan’s groom’s cake also had cowboy boots on top of it–can you get more Southern than that?
How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? We planned for our marriage by attending an eight-week wedding prep class at Watermark Community Church in Dallas. We learned about roles in marriage, communication, finances, expectations, etc., in regards to our upcoming marriage and life together. It was a great way to have discussions on important topics that aren’t always the most fun to talk about, but that are so important when deciding to share your life with someone.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Find a solid team to help you. Whether it be friends and family who love doing DIY crafts or a team of trained professionals, don’t try to do it all yourself! Delegating tasks takes the stress off of you and allows you to enjoy the planning process.
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? When Bryan and I got back to Dallas after our honeymoon, we got right to work moving into a home we recently purchased together. For the next couple of months, we plan on finishing up house projects and making memories together with our friends and family in our new place. Our honeymoon to St. Lucia also inspired us to do some more traveling in the future.

Photographer: Amalie Orrange Photography / Videographer: Voila Cinematic / Planner: Kim Bignon / Venue and Caterer: Country Club of Orlando / Florist: Fairbanks Florist / Cake Baker: The Sugar Suite / Lighting: Kaleidoscope Lighting / Band: Frequency Band / Bride’s Gown: Hayley Paige / Hair and Makeup: Simone at Makeover Station / Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade / Bridesmaid Dress Salon: Bella Bridesmaid / Menswear: Men’s Wearhouse / Wedding Designer: Stacy Coon Stage / Dance Floor Covers: Flourish Balloons / Paper Products: Balloon World Invitations and William Arthur / Cookies: Parker’s Crazy Cookies / Linens: Over the Top / Paper Flowers: Paperposh Events

Written with love by Lisa