Southern Weddings

Caroline + Tyler’s pink and green reception details made for Georgia vineyard heaven! Fluffy pink flowers in assorted vases sat upon lace runners and decked the heavy wood tables. I love that the newlyweds decided to incorporate aspects of their location in the details, including wine bottles in between place settings and place cards in the form of flagged Georgia peaches! I’m sure guests were delighted with the personalization, even after receiving escort cards doubling as fabric-banded favors. Another vision of pink and green? Caroline + Tyler’s simple but beautiful round-tiered cake by Frosted Pumpkin , decorated with Swiss dots and peonies. After cutting in, eating and dancing, the two made their way through a line of sparklers and into their vintage getaway car. Extra bonus points for their classic streamer and tin can decorations. Thanks again to Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love for sharing this lovely wedding!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Montaluce is very Tuscan and rustic but Erica, my wedding planner, and I were able to come up with nice Southern touches throughout the design of the wedding. We incorporated lots of peaches in the overall décor (including full wood bowls, table numbers, and head table seating assignments), milk glass, handmade lace, and some burlap. We also made a point to incorporate lots of handmade items such as the hand-painted wood signs Erica made. Candied pecans were also a part of our guest favors (and seating assignments!), which were tied in little kraft boxes with fabric printed to match our invitations. All of the paper goods and signage were absolutely Southern. The favorite Southern detail that was not planned was all of our college friends yelling the Ole Miss cheer, “Hotty Toddy” as we were being sent off from our reception to the Four Seasons.
Describe your wedding cake: Ours was a classic wedding cake with three tiers. Each tier was wrapped with a sage green ribbon on the bottom and was a different flavor (vanilla cake with raspberry-lemon Genoese filling, red velvet with cream cheese filling, and coconut) with a few big fluffy peonies on top! Tyler had a chocolate-mousse cake covered with chocolate-covered strawberries.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? A lot of brides-to-be have the privilege of being in the same city or state as their mothers, but my immediate family lives in Dallas, Texas where I am originally from, so the distance sometimes made the planning difficult. I am also a bit of a “Mama’s girl,” so there were a lot of emotions involved in this as well. I always thought I was going to be one of those brides that needed mom to plan the entire wedding, but Erica helped me out with so much. Fortunately, my mom and grandmother were able to fly in for the important things such as picking out my dress and seeing the venue, which I am more than grateful for.
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? Wedding planning! Erica was my saving grace.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Wow, there were so many funny and emotional ones. The most sentimental was probably my little sister’s sweet maid of honor speech welcoming Tyler as her brother and to our family. We are super close and she had been trying to come up with a speech all day but would start getting teary and had to stop writing. When it came time for her to give her speech, she put her notes away and spoke genuinely from the heart. The funniest memory was Tyler dancing and jumping up and down like a wild man with a large circle of people cheering him on during our reception.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We just moved into our first house so it will be a constant yet rewarding work in progress. Next summer, we are planning a trip to France, Spain, and Italy for our one-year anniversary. Having a family is extremely important to us, but we want to have plenty Caroline + Tyler time, which will involve lots of travel, seeing live music, visiting friends and family, and hanging out with our two dogs, which are our children for the time being.

Photographer: Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love // Planner: Erica Loesing for Amy Osaba // Ceremony venue: Montaluce Winery & Estates // Ceremony Music: Amati Chamber Music // Officiant: Reverend Ed Cook // Reception Venue: La Vigne at Montaluce Winery & Estates // Florist: Erica Loesing and Amy Osaba // Wedding Cake Baker: Frosted Pumpkin // Caterer: La Vigne at Montaluce Winery & Estates // Paper Products: Erica Loesing // Bride’s Dress: Anne Barge via Guffey’s Formal Studio // Make-up: Raney O’Keefe // Hair: Tukia Allen of Studio Bold Salon // Bride’s Shoes: Tory Burch // Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Simple Silhouettes via Bella Bridesmaid

Written with love by Nicole