Southern Weddings

Yep, we still love the regal navy blue dresses from Monique Lhuillier. A lot! Katie + Matt toasted their “I dos” with an outdoor reception at the Bellamy Mansion Museum. Yes, they did have a party on the porch! (Tres Southern, says Emily.) For more from K + M’s North Carolina wedding, check out Scott Piner’s post on the big day here!

Describe your wedding flowers: I carried a hand-tied bouquet of white gazer lilies, folded tye leaf, white mini calla lilies, green berries, green cymbidium orchids and white roses. Stems tied off with lace from Mother’s wedding gown.
Describe your wedding cake: Instead of a wedding cake, we served Matt’s grandmother’s banana pudding recipe (Matt’s favorite dessert) in china teacups placed on a tiered stand shaped like a wedding cake. It was a surprise for Matt.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Time and budget. After getting engaged on April 22nd, Matt and I wanted to try to get married at the beach, before it got cold, so our out of town guests would be able to enjoy the sun and sand when they arrived. We didn’t realize that finding a venue might be an issue. The Bellamy was perfect and available!
Our wedding planner, Lindsey Cheek, was amazing at helping us overcome both of these hurdles! Even though there are costs associated with a wedding planner, she saved us so much more in the long run. Lindsey has great relationships with vendors in Wilmington, knows how to negotiate, and was never afraid to go to bat for us to help us save money!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? So many things, but especially how much fun we had dancing! When planning our wedding, it was especially important to us that our guests have a great time at the reception. Since it was a destination wedding, everyone traveled to celebrate with us and we wanted them to have fun. So Matt and I both wanted to have a beach music band and big dance floor. We hung Italian wedding lights over the tiled dance floor, which made a huge impact and really defined the space. The dance floor stayed packed from the time supper was over until the band played the song “Last Dance”. The band played an amazing rendition of “Shout!” which probably lasted 20 minutes! Matt’s parents clogged to the University of Tennessee fight song “Rocky Top” and guests pulled out an array of old school moves, including the fishhook, sprinkler, dead bug, Dirty Susan, worm, jump rope, and stanky leg. It was such a fun party!
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? No, but my mom insisted on having a hymn, “Oh God Our Help in Ages Past”. There was a flock of birds sitting in the trees right above the ceremony and they began squawking as soon as the hymn started and stopped as soon as it ended. That was funny.