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Caroline + Chaz love picnics and couldn’t think of a better way to spend time with their nearest and dearest than by recreating the summer activity. It was especially appropriate (and downright sweet) for Caroline, whose grandmother was a quilting pro and even had one of her creations presented to Eleanor Roosevelt! We are absolutely in love with the laid back atmosphere, delicious boxed meals and adorable lawn signs reserving quilts for the Mr. and Mrs. After enjoying the dining experience on the lawn, guests partied the night away (yes, even with a special playing of “Call Me Maybe”) until the newlyweds made their getaway in Caroline’s dad’s antique Porsche.

Did you have a cocktail hour? Right after the ceremony, Chaz and I went to take some sunset pictures, which we LOVE, while everyone else went to cocktail hour. We served some Southern classics: spiked Arnold Palmers, mini cucumber sandwiches, mini pimento cheese sandwiches, and mini BLT’s. Maybe one of our favorite parts of the whole day was that during the beginning of cocktail hour we got to eat dinner, just the two of us. Our planner had set up a table in a building adjacent to the Plantation Home where cocktail hour was taking place. We got the opportunity to talk about the wedding ceremony and everything that had happened that day. It was wonderful to get to spend time just the two of us, and I would highly recommend it to any couple!
What was the design inspiration for your reception? We really wanted something casual, Southern, and fun. We actually had never seen a picnic reception before, so this idea shockingly wasn’t from Pinterest. Boxed dinners were cheaper than a seated, plated meal, so everything worked out perfectly! We did provide enough tables for everyone in case people weren’t comfortable on quilts, but we were so glad that, although untraditional, most people joined in!

The one aspect of our wedding that we’ve never seen anyone else do was the picnic reception. It was exactly what we wanted: delicious, casual, and budget-friendly! It was also very special to me because my grandmother on my dad’s side was a quilting pro! She worked on a quilt with some women in Kentucky that won the 1933 World’s Fair Sears Quilt contest. The quilt was sent to the White House and presented to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt to keep, and there is now no record of it. Before she died, she recreated the quilt and we are so proud to have it in our possession. The quilts on the grounds of Carnton reminded me so much of her!

Tell us a bit about your first dance. While our first dance didn’t go at all how I had planned, it was definitely the most hilarious moment of our wedding. We told the DJ, who was wonderful in every other aspect, that we wanted to dance to “At Last” by Etta James. When we got out to the dance floor for our first dance, this crazy version of “At Last” starts playing. It’s not even Etta James, it’s some horrible live version. I think Chaz realized that I was horrified, so he made it his ultimate goal to make me laugh. We were cracking up our entire first dance. It wasn’t the moment I was expecting to create, but it is definitely a fun and memorable one!

What kind of food did you serve during the cocktail hour, dinner and dessert? For dinner, we decided to have a picnic. All throughout the grounds were quilts that my mom and our families collected from friends, laid out for people to picnic on. We had boxed dinners that were delicious! They had gourmet fried chicken, grilled veggies, a tri-bean salad, potato salad, and a fruit skewer. To drink, we offered fruit tea, a Nashville favorite, sweet tea, water and then a Nashville beer called Yazoo Pale Ale. Maybe the most Southern thing at our entire wedding was the biscuit bar. Our caterer made so many delicious mini biscuits: buttermilk biscuits, cheddar biscuits, herb biscuits, and sweet potato biscuits. She also brought tons of different toppings: fresh creamery butter, honey butter, apple butter, strawberry preserves, apricot preserves, and raspberry jam.

Describe your wedding cake: Our cake was alternating layers of a very light lemon and amaretto Italian wedding cake. It was out of this world. When you cut into the cake, it made yellow and white stripes, just like everything else at our wedding! We wanted to have a special “cake” for Chaz because his birthday was the day before our wedding. He decided on another Southern classic: banana pudding. We put all of the little individual banana puddings in my grandmother’s old pie safe. My loving parents lugged it all the way to the plantation just for this moment. I loved it because it felt like my grandmother got to be there. And it was adorable!

Describe your centerpieces: The quilts didn’t require any centerpieces, they were beautiful on their own! Each table had an ivory linen and a burlap square on top. Most of them had antique books that were both in our color scheme and whose titles were about love. We also included blue mason jars with flowers, and milk glass with flowers. Some tables just had these huge apothecary jars full of lemons and then a ribbon tied around them with a label that I designed that said, “Chaz and Caroline, June 16, 2012.”
What were some of the highlights? Chaz and I love nothing more than dancing with friends, and it was so much more fun dancing at our own wedding. I specifically remember watching Chaz dance his heart out to the songs “Scrub the Ground” while getting lower than I’ve ever seen him go before. I also requested some songs for particular friends, like this summer’s classic “Call Me Maybe” for one of my best friends, Vasilisa. One thing that we did differently than most is we had a last dance. Since we were going to Mexico for our honeymoon and we love the band Jump Little Children, our last dance was called “Mexico.” All the couples got to join us on the dance floor to close it off right before our final send off.
Did you try anything new or untraditional? The picnic idea was both new and untraditional. So was the biscuit bar and the banana pudding.
Did you toss the garter or bouquet? I tossed the bouquet, but after talking about it, both of us weren’t looking forward to the awkward “finding of the garter” (where did this tradition come from?!), so we decided to skip it.
Tell us about your grand exit. Our exit was SO fun! We started at the front of the house and walked amidst trees and people lining the walkway all the way to my dad’s antique Porsche. It’s always been my dream to drive away in his Porsche that we rode in as kids. I’m glad Chaz could drive it (this stick shift in particular is near impossible to navigate) because he worked for years in high school as a valet.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when planning your wedding? My parents were really generous to us with the wedding. They gave us a budget, and said that if we wanted to spend less than that, we could save the rest. Since we’re currently paying for Chaz’s medical school (not a cheap route), we tried to cut as many corners as we could. While this was probably the biggest challenge we faced, it was almost like a game. We continually checked to make sure that we couldn’t shave off any money anywhere. I am glad that even though we were very budget-conscious, we made sure to include all of the things that were important to us.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? It’s been a huge time of transition for us. I just graduated from college, we got married, and then we headed to Savannah for Chaz’s medical school rotations. We have a lot to look forward to both individually and as a couple. I just started a new job at Southpoint Media, a web design and development firm here in Savannah. I’m also starting a new paper line for invitations and stationary, Caroline Fausel Paperie, while also free-lancing as a graphic designer and continuing my music career in Savannah. Chaz had really enjoyed his rotations so far and is looking forward to graduating medical school soon. We’re excited to see where Chaz’s residency program takes us, and are hoping to get the opportunity to explore a new city in the Southeast.
What advice would you give to someone planning his or her wedding? Pick the top things that are important to you about your wedding day. Plan your budget around those things. The most important aspect about the planning is attitude. We kept saying to ourselves and each other, “If at the end of the day I’m married to you, I’m happy.” In the end it’s not the small details that matter, but the fact that you’re getting married!

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
7 Comments
  1. avatar Inspired by This Blog reply

    Love the banner over the dessert table!

  2. avatar miranda t reply

    I NEED to know what dress the lady holding the biscuits is wearing. im in love with it.

  3. avatar Dee Shore reply

    I’m in love with this reception! Truly unique. May “borrow” the idea lol

  4. avatar Friday Fresh Squeeze | Floridian Weddings reply

    […] I'm sure I'm not the only gal in love with the idea of a picnic wedding. Isn't this so fun? […]

  5. avatar Tuesday’s Table: Picnic in the Park | CharaNicole reply

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  6. avatar Caroline Fausel | Caroline Fausel Paper Co. reply

    Thanks, Dee! Did you end up borrowing it? So glad you liked it- I hope the idea spread :)

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Y’all, I could read Caroline + Chaz’s wedding interview over and over again. I don’t believe there is a single part of their wedding that wasn’t inspired by their relationship, their past or their shared loves. The best part is that my first impression of this wedding (pure fun and sweet love) is one that hasn’t been dulled by time. If C + C’s wedding morning kickball game doesn’t convince you of that, nothing will! “One thing that we both wanted was to spend as much time as possible together on our wedding day,” said Caroline. “We also had many people from out of town that we wanted to spend time with, so Chaz’s proposed that we play kickball the morning of our wedding. I can’t tell you how many people asked me ‘Are you crazy?!’ Yes, definitely. But we had a crazy fun time!”

Don’t forget to scroll down and read about how C + C found their wedding rings! It makes me cry every time. Giant hugs for Jamie Clayton who shot this wedding!

Briefly describe your wedding flowers: I was planning on ordering all of the flowers wholesale and then putting together the bouquets and boutonnieres the day of. My sister interned with a floral and design company in Knoxville during her time at the University of Tennessee and she keeps up with the owner. One day they were on the phone and Leah, the florist, was saying that she really needed some graphic design work done and would love to get in the Nashville market. Kristen told her that I’m a graphic designer and still need a florist. We ended up chatting and bartering our services! It was such a wonderful arrangement! We stuck with the color scheme of mustard and white for the flowers. I loved our florist, and I basically left it up to her! She used lots of herbs, daisies and billy balls (which I LOVE!). Since we got married in the garden, there was hardly a need for flowers or decoration. There were about one hundred blooming historical white hydrangea bushes surrounding us. We put hanging mason jars lining the aisle with the same white and yellow flowers. My bouquet was very lush and full of stock, ranunculus, yellow garden roses, billy balls, chamomile, Queen Anne’s lace, and lisianthus. The stems were partly covered in burlap and then a vintage-inspired cream ribbon tied in a bow. One special part of the boutonnieres is that I made paper flowers out of an old Bible we had and my grandmother’s antique buttons. I chose to use pages from the book of Acts because it is Chaz’s favorite book of the Bible, so what better way to adorn his best friends? It was also made up of herbs and billy balls.

Tell me all the basics of your wedding! We got married at half past six on June 16, 2012 in the historic town of Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. Our venue was Carnton Plantation. It is special to us because we knew we wanted to get married in Nashville because that’s where I’m from, and I’ve always envisioned getting married close to home. To us, time with each other and the people we love was most important to us, so we looked for a venue that could host both the wedding and reception so we wouldn’t lose time with travel in between venues. More than anything, we wanted our wedding to reflect our personalities and who we are as a couple. When we went to Carnton, I knew it was the perfect place because the door and shutters were the exact same deep muted sea foam! It was meant to be! The plantation home and gardens at Carnton Plantation are so beautiful that we hardly had to add any decorations at all. It was a laidback and Southern atmosphere that perfectly reflected us!
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Authentic, spirited, and adventurous.
How many guests attended your wedding? We had a little over two hundred people at the wedding.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We didn’t really look at many places for inspiration. We wanted the design to reflect each of our personalities and our joint personality as a couple. We’re pretty laid back, casual, and eclectic, and we tried to reflect that.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. Finding my wedding dress was such a special experience. It was the very first thing we did in planning the wedding. We picked a weekend in May that Chaz’s mom and grandmother could come up and go shopping with us. I had three pictures on my phone to show examples of what I was looking for. I tried on a lot of different dresses, and then finally I found one I really liked. I wasn’t entirely sold, mainly because it was stark white, but it was definitely my favorite dress I tried on at this first store. When I got back to my phone, we realized it was the dress I showed the woman helping me! It was meant to be! We went to another bridal shop in Nashville and yet again, I tried on a bunch of dresses. We found the favorite from the other store, but this time the sample dress was in ivory. We spruced it up with accessories and I came out and stood on the pedestal. When I noticed that there were pockets, I was sold! For the rehearsal, I got the opportunity of doing something special for my mom. While we were looking for dresses, my mom kept telling me, “Caroline, my dress looks a lot like this….” All I could think about was this one wedding picture of theirs where the lace came all the way up to her neck and she had enormous puff sleeves. I mean, it was the 80’s! I disregarded her comments and bought my beautiful dress. Later, mom brought out her dress just to see it again. She showed it to me, and we realized that with some manipulation this could really be perfect! I tried it on, and it surprisingly fit like a glove! I took off the puff sleeves and sewed the lace onto the bodice. I loved this new dress! Since we already bought my dress, I decided it would be so special to wear this to the rehearsal. I was waiting by the altar when Chaz walked up with his eyes closed. He opened, and he was SO surprised and happy I could wear my mom’s dress. I’m so glad I got to do something that was so meaningful to her and my dad.

Matching yellow bow ties all around! I love it.

My absolute favorite design element of our big day was the bunting. While sitting there and tracing the triangles, cutting them out, cutting holes, and stringing it wasn’t the most fun thing my mom and I have ever done, I LOVED the way it turned out! We decided to have it behind the altar, and I love the way the pictures of our ceremony look! We put the bunting so many places: behind the guest book table, around the cake table, behind the biscuit bar table. I think it looked so great and it reminds me of our fun, casual personalities!

Tell me a bit about the wedding ceremony. We had a pretty typical wedding ceremony. We knew we wanted it to be short and sweet. We loved how well our pastor made connections between a wedding ceremony and the Gospel. One of my good friends, Clark read scripture that’s typical of a wedding, 1 Corinthians 13, but it meant so much to me and my family because we memorized that chapter as a family when I was little.
Who participated in your ceremony? Since I’m a musician, I knew that I had to have someone I really trusted to do the music. I led worship at a church in Athens, Georgia with a good friend who also produced my album, Paul Reeves. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had to sing and play. The most emotional song he played was when I came down the aisle. It was “You’re Beautiful” by Phil Whickham. Paul’s precious little boy Thatcher was the ring bearer and his daughter Peyton was the flower girl. They walked in at the beginning of the song, and I was totally composed, surprisingly. But then they did SUCH a great job! I was so proud of them that I lost it! It didn’t help that I walked down the aisle to the most beautiful, emotional lyrics of the song “When we arrive at eternity’s shore, where death is just a memory and tears are no more. We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring. Your bride will come together and we’ll sing… You’re beautiful.” Also, we had our wedding party pray over us during the wedding, which was really special.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. In the summer of 2009, I was spending my summer at home working at J. Crew. We had a mutual friend in town that was doing work with a non-profit in town, so when Chaz was driving through Nashville to help with a Young Life camp, we all got together for dinner. Neither of us thought anything of it, other than “Hmm, s/he’s pretty cute…” Fast forward to early that fall semester. We both, by chance, went to some mutual friends’ housewarming party. It was an older crowd, so I was introducing myself to those I didn’t know. Chaz was sitting next to me, and he stood up politely when it was his turn. We shook hands and he said “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be in Costa Rica?” He mistook me for a girl he met once who was, in fact, studying abroad in Costa Rica. After about 10 minutes of trying to figure out how we knew each other, and realizing we did none of the same things, we remembered that summer dinner. We talked while Chaz flipped burgers for the crowd (ironic now because we’re both vegetarians). Yet again, we each left and didn’t think much more of it. In fact, I had just sworn off boys forever. My thought was “the next guy that comes in my life is going to have to knock down my door to get me.” Well, that worked for about a week, and that’s exactly what he did.
Describe the proposal: One weekend, we headed to his grandmother’s house for a late lunch. His Nana is notorious for her cooking, so we had a huge meal. I knew Chaz had planned for us to go back to Athens and eat at one of our favorite restaurants there, Farm 255, but I obviously had no idea that we had specific reservations, or that anything sneaky was going on. We were taking our sweet time enjoying the food and family, and his Nana kept saying things like “Well, y’all might need to go, you wouldn’t want to be late.” I continued to reassure her that we had nothing special to get back to. We made the trek back to Athens, enjoyed a delicious and fresh meal at Farm 255 and then Chaz took me to Memorial Park, a place that was special to us because it was the first place we held hands. We walked over to the bridge, and I immediately knew this was it because I could hear Chaz’s heart beating harder than I ever had in my entire life. We sat down at a bench, and he began the speech. He told me how much he loved me, and how he loved growing so close to me while we were dating and how he can’t wait to see how the Lord continues to bring us closer together in marriage. Then he got down on one knee and opened that little Italian box I had waited for over a year to see. My response? “I KNEW IT!!!” I about tackled him and hugged him around the neck, and then he stood up and swung me around as I said “YES! YES! YES!!!” He was so sweet and told everyone in Athens that day to come to my house for an engagement party that night, so we got to celebrate with all of those that were closest to us. It was absolutely a dream come true!
Tell us about your beautiful engagement ring. The story of my engagement ring is one of our funnier stories. I studied abroad in Cortona, Italy in the summer of 2010. At this point, even though we had only been dating about nine months, Chaz and I knew this was it. An important precursor to this story: I’ve never liked engagement rings. They are always so fitting of the person, but I’ve never found one that fits me (not literally, although my 3.25 ring size is a challenge). On one of our day trips to Sienna, I was walking by a jewelry store called “Platinum,” and I just stopped in my tracks. My friends, who didn’t even notice me stop, came back to see why I was just staring in the stop window. They stood and stared at the hundreds of items in the window, and somehow they both were staring at the same ring I was. They simultaneously said “Caroline. You HAVE to get that ring.” Since the owner was on Siesta, I rang the doorbell, got his card, and figured I would never see the ring again. I showed Chaz a picture of the ring, on Skype, of course, and he loved it just as much as I did. He sent the owner an email, and I got my Italian friend to call, but no luck. We had almost given up, but then I showed my Mom and Dad a picture of the ring, and my mom said “Caroline, you HAVE to go back and get it!” Three train rides later with my sweet friend Missy, we arrived at Platinum. She helped me barter in Italian, a language neither of us knew very well at the time. Finally, it was mine! Since I wasn’t engaged, and this wasn’t the typical engagement ring process, Missy allowed me to look at the ring a measly three times that day. We had a beautiful celebratory dinner in Sienna and then took a train back to Cortona in complete bliss. The night I came back to the states I handed Chaz the ring and never saw it until over a year later when he proposed. We’re so glad to have this ring because Italy has been such a special place to my family, and then me, and represents to us fun travels as a married couple in our future. While the groom’s ring usually doesn’t have a unique story, Chaz’s ring is possibly has an even sweeter story than mine. I knew finding a ring for Chaz would be a struggle because he hates male jewelry, and we’re also concerned with the environment, so the whole mining for metal thing concerns him. That left me the option of antique jewelry. After going to many an antique store, I realized that because the price for gold is so high, many pawn and antique shop owners are melting down any gold that comes in their store for the sheer value. Either that, or the price of a simple gold ring was exorbitant. Luckily, I found an alternative. I asked my parents if they had any gold that they weren’t using anymore. My dad so kindly offered me his University of Kentucky class ring, a ring that I remember him wearing everyday for my entire life. I knew it meant so much to him, so his sacrifice deeply touched me, and I knew it would mean the world to Chaz. I took it to some jewelry shops, but even using our own metal cost so much for labor. Then I realized that one of my best friends Vasilisa has been taking lots of jewelry and metals classes, even in Cortona the summer after I was there. I asked her if she would be able to fashion a ring for Chaz out of my dad’s ring. She said she would be delighted! It was a hard and rigorous process, but she did a wonderful job. More than that, she gave it to us as our wedding present. We felt so honored to receive such a wonderful gift! I presented Chaz with the ring because I knew it would be an emotional experience for both of us. My father and Vasilisa’s sacrifice and gift to us brought him to tears. I know that his ring is absolutely the perfect ring for him, and nothing else could have sufficed!
Groom’s favorite detail of the wedding: After the ceremony and family pictures, our wedding planner Jennifer took us to a private room where we had the chance to sit in private and reflect on what we had just accomplished together.  It was very important to me that Caroline and I had a chance to process our day and the huge step in life we had just taken together so Jennifer made sure to give us that opportunity.  We sat together for about 30 minutes without any distractions talking about our favorite details of the day and sharing our excitement for the future.  It was a wonderful and sweet time that I will cherish for the rest of our lives.
What was the most memorable or touching moment about your wedding day? Right before our pastor was about to announce us as man and wife, right at sunset, there were hot air balloons flying along the horizon. It was so absolutely special. It was as if God wanted to let us know that He was blessing our marriage.

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
26 Comments
  1. avatar Charissa reply

    What a super cute wedding. Love the bow tie necklaces.

  2. avatar Jamie reply

    Theres not enough shrimp and grits in all of Charleston to try and show my love that I have for you lovely ladies.

  3. avatar Morgan reply

    Such a great story about both rings – wish there was a ring shot!

  4. avatar Jordan Thompson reply

    Wow. Such a perfect “Southern Wedding”! So perfect!

  5. avatar Heather reply

    So beautiful! Where is the little boy’s outfit from?

  6. avatar Caroline Fausel reply

    We’re so honored to be featured again, Southern Weddings! I had no idea we’d make it to the blog, too :) Thanks for all of your kind words!

    • avatar Kayla Whaley reply

      Caroline Fausel: I am in love with this dress it is almost exactly what i have been looking for, I know the designer is Watters but i cant seem to find it anywhere. If you know what the style is could you please email me and let me know.

      Thank you so much
      Kayla

    • avatar Caroline Fausel | Caroline Fausel Paper Co. reply

      Kayla I’m so sorry I’m just now seeing this, a year later… I’m sure you’ve already found a dress, but it’s Waters’ Wtoo line, which I highly recommend! It’s their less expensive line… Here is the link to this specific dress: http://watters.com/Product/WtooBrides/15828
      Or I’m selling mine at preownedweddingdresses.com! Let me know if you’re interested :)

  7. avatar Ashleigh reply

    Such a darling wedding! Everything is so sweet & southern!

  8. avatar Meghan P. reply

    I absolutely adore this post!! I am from Franklin, TN, and grew up down the road from the Carnton Plantation. I am so happy to see someone do it justice and have an absolutely gorgeous wedding there!

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  10. avatar Al reply

    Where did ya’ll get the Bow ties?

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  22. avatar Claudia @ Felizes4Ever reply

    Really nice couple. It’s really good inspiration for my own wedding. :)

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    […] Caroline, the bride pictured above, shared, "My absolute favorite design element of our big day was the bunting. While sitting there and tracing the triangles, cutting them out, cutting holes, and stringing it wasn’t the most fun thing my mom and I have ever done, I LOVED the way it turned out! We decided to have it behind the altar, and I love the way the pictures of our ceremony look! We put the bunting so many places: behind the guest book table, around the cake table, behind the biscuit bar table. I think it looked so great and it reminds me of our fun, casual personalities!" – Tennessee Picnic Wedding, SouthernWeddings.com […]

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We always think of weddings as joyful here at Southern Weddings. That is, after all, part of why we love them so much. But for Ali + Austin, their happiness and excitement is evident in the details of the day. We love the fun pops of color that speckle their reception at Willow Oaks Plantation and the cute way that Austin talks about wooing his new bride! In the middle of all the fun you’re having looking through these photos from Robyn Van Dyke, you’ll also find yourself reaching for a handkerchief (or your “Pin It” button) when you come across the family moments she captured.

A few weeks after getting engaged, my mom, sister and I started looking for dresses (just for fun). After all, we had plenty of time! However, I found the dress surprisingly quickly at a boutique called Victorian Rose Bridal in downtown Raleigh. I knew I wanted something with lace on it and a sweetheart cut neckline, but other than that, I really had no idea what I wanted. It was the second store we had been to, but only the fourth or fifth dress I had tried on. When I came out of the dressing room with it on, my mom and sister told me that this was the one — it was written all over my face.

We decided not to do the “first look.” One of our favorite things about weddings is when the groom sees his bride for the first time – his look of absolute wonderment. We wanted to let the suspense build up to this special moment and wanted the first words we said to each other on this day to be our vows.

Did you write your own vows? In our ceremony, we said our traditional vows; however, before the ceremony, we had written letters to the other with our own list of vows. Austin’s favorite promise I made to him was “I promise to love you with unending grace the way God intended it.” My favorite promise Austin made to me was “I want to make you feel and believe that you are a daughter of Christ every day.”
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? We had two of our Young Life kids read scripture during our ceremony. We used 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Colossians 3:12-17.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding. In our ceremony, we had a guitar, a banjo, a mandolin, and a singer. During the prelude, we played “Divine Romance” and “Before the Throne of God Above.” When the groomsmen and bridesmaids came in, we played “Come Thou Fount.” When I came down the aisle, we played “Jesus I Come” by Shelley Moore Band. During the ceremony, the guests sang “In Christ Alone” while the wedding party and family prayed over the bride and groom. For the recessional, we played “Oh Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.” For our first dance, we played “Hung the Moon” by Drew and Ellie Holcomb.

I love seeing couples incorporate a prayer into their ceremony. There’s so much power and love behind these photos from Robyn Van Dyke and I just love that Ali + Austin chose to have their guests sing.

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? (From the groom) For me, the most memorable part was seeing Ali walk out from behind the shutters to begin walking down the aisle. She looked absolutely beautiful. (From the bride) I loved confidently staring into Austin’s hazel eyes, knowing I was making the greatest decision of my life, completely forgetting about my fear of having everyone watching me!

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? First of all, we got married on a plantation called the Willow Oaks Plantation in Eden, North Carolina. It’s also a hunting lodge. It had the typical beautiful white house with acres of land and huge trees providing lots of shade. There was a silo and an old water tower with a wooden fence surrounding the property. Secondly, my bridesmaids and I all wore cowboy boots with our dresses! It really brought out something extra. Finally, we had lots and lots of burlap: burlap table runners, burlap wrapped mason jars, burlap wrapped novels, etc. Thirdly, we had pulled pork barbecue with sweet potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, and biscuits. Doesn’t get much more Southern than that!

This next set of photos is so beautiful! I know that if I were a guest at A + A’s wedding, I would have needed a hanky to wipe away tears.

What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? The venue for sure. It was exactly what we had been looking for and was absolutely beautiful. We got nothing but raving reviews on how beautiful the place was. I can’t tell you how many times we got asked, “How in the world did you find this? I’ve never even heard of Eden, North Carolina!”

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. (From the groom) We met on the first day of college at NC State University on our way to Young Life. I was really into Ali, but she wasn’t having any of it. After two years of developing a great friendship and watching each other grow in our relationships with Christ (and lots of persistence), Ali finally said yes to going on a date with me. Two years later, we were engaged!
Describe the proposal. In early December of 2011, Austin told me we were going on a double date, but changed plans at the last minute and told me we were going on a surprise trip to the Outer Banks. I was extremely surprised when I found out that we would be flying on a private plane! Once we got out there, he took me for a walk on the beach (and I could tell he was very, very nervous), and at the end of the walk, he took me to a spot on the beach where he had laid out some flowers, and then he asked me to marry him (of course I said yes!). When we arrived home, I was very surprised to see that Austin had invited all of our close friends and family over to celebrate our engagement.
In what month did you get married? July
How many guests attended your wedding? 290
Describe your wedding flowers: For our flowers, we wanted to go with lots of peaches, ivories, pale pinks and champagnes. Some of the flowers included were white hydrangeas, cream and pale pink roses, mini peach spray roses, peach stock, peach and green hypericum berries, and lots of baby’s breath.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert: We had a four-tier ivory cake with a peach and cream floral design on each layer. We had two types of cake: Mexican vanilla cake with hazelnut chocolate filling, and chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip filling (Austin’s favorite!).
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: There are two answers to this question. In terms of tangible details, we loved having vintage books as our centerpieces for the reception tables. I am a high school English teacher so it definitely matched my personality. More than anything else, our favorite detail was when our entire wedding party and family prayed over us during our ceremony while the audience sang “In Christ Alone.” It was something that really refocused the attention on what marriage is all about, beyond the physical details of it all.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The guest list was probably the hardest part. Because we have both been involved in Young Life for the last five years, there were lots of high school and college kids that we wanted to be there. I also have a huge family, so that definitely boosted numbers up. There were certainly some really hard cuts we had to make, but ultimately we wanted those who have had a significant impact on our lives to be present on that day.
What range did your wedding budget fall into? Around $25,000.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Don’t lose sight of what really matters about this day. Sure, coming up with fun ideas and planning out all the details is a blast, but at some point, something will more than likely go wrong. The singer gets sick, the cake turns out wrong, your dress rips, it pours rain… the list goes on and on. But at the end of the day, you will be professing your love for one another in front of all the people who care about you the most, and nothing is more beautiful than that.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We are learning how to love and serve each other more and more every day. We’re excited about having a couple of years to truly enjoy each other’s presence and grow as a couple and someday start a family of our own!

Robyn Van Dyke is a fabulous member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
7 Comments
  1. avatar Emily reply

    I’m in love with this post! I just got my cowboy boots for my wedding…. the pic above totally inspires me because my girls are wearing pink dresses too!

    xoxo
    Emily
    emilyannestyle.com

  2. avatar chris reply

    it really great by seeing all pics specially the letter reading pic by couple…its amazing experience and thanx for the share
    Budget Planners

  3. avatar Coretta’s Jewels reply

    The gown! The corporate prayer with everyone gathered! Love!

    Coretta
    Coretta’s Elegant Events

  4. avatar Tara reply

    Can anyone tell me what gown this is? I’m trying to choose mine right now and this looks very similar to both Enzoani and La Sposa dresses I’ve tried on. Thanks!

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