Southern Weddings

If porch-front ceremonies are becoming a “trend” in Southern weddings, then sign us up! (We’ve featured two fairly recently — check out Andrea + Tres’ here!) Lane wore a gorgeous Pronovias gown for her marriage to Dan, while her bridesmaids donned J. Crew dresses. Speaking of bridesmaids, I loved what Lane had to say about what was Southern about her wedding: read on to hear all about her incredible group of family + friends, and how they pulled off such a beautiful wedding! We’ll be back soon with more succulent goodness from Maile Lani!

How did you meet? Tell us your story. We met while both working as interns for the Santa Monica office of Gensler, a global architecture and design firm. Our summer desks were next to one another, and we quickly sparked up a friendship. Dan and I would go to a beach called El Matador every weekend that summer; it was unpopulated by anyone but locals — a romantic place by any measure!
Describe the proposal. After a long distance courtship, with Dan leaving to finish school in London, England and me returning to Baton Rouge for my final year of design school in Louisiana, we finally ended up back in Los Angeles where we would eventually start our lives together. Dan proposed at our beloved beach, El Matador, a year and half later.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Creating all of the details ourselves and bringing our families together in one place for the first time.
What was Southern about your wedding? Our guests stayed in New Orleans’ historic Hotel Monteleone, greeted with hospitality packages consisting of local goodies such as Tony’s Cajun seasoning, pecan pralines, Zapp’s potato chips and Louisiana hot sauce. As soon as I arrived back in Baton Rouge from Los Angeles, I had an amazing group of friends and family rally around me to help with the execution of all the flowers and décor for the wedding. The sense of community that existed in these days leading up to the wedding may not be strictly Southern, but that sensibility is still especially strong in the South and it was very present at this time. It reminded me of what things must have been like before people just paid to have it all done. We were married on the front lawn and porch of a plantation on the bank of the Mississippi River under oak trees draped in Spanish moss. The food offering ranged from regional staples such as fried catfish and crawfish étouffée to truly delectable Cajun treats like curried pumpkin, crawfish & corn bisque, duck with praline sauce and candies yams. The evening’s entertainment was provided by a seven-piece brass band from New Orleans. Needless to say, this led to more than one soulful second line.

Photographer: Maile Lani Photography // Venue: Houmas House Plantation // Florist: bride and friends // Wedding Cake Baker: Ambrosia // Paper Products: bride // Bride’s Dress: Pronovias // Bride’s Hair Accessories/Veil: Family heirlooms // Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka // Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J. Crew

Written with love by Emily