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Pineapple Wedding by Jennings King

by Marissa in Real Southern Weddings on August 17, 2016

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With school starting in the coming weeks, it’s inevitable that fall is right around the corner. I am all for pumpkin-everything, but Kristen and Rick’s wedding has me hanging onto sweet summer days for just a bit longer. With the help of A Fox Event, Kristen and Rick planned an intimate summer soirée at the Legare Waring House that allowed them to spend a bit of extra time with each guest (and stretch their budget a bit further!). With personal details weaved throughout, like Japanese Aralia leaves from her mother’s garden, and fun pineapple decor sprinkled into their classic design, I can see why Kristin’s joyful smile went from ear-to-ear!

Big SW hugs to Jennings King for capturing Kristin and Rick’s wedding day!

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Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I knew I wanted a full skirt and I sure did not compromise! I expected to choose a very simple, classic style, but instead, I fell in love with the rich lace bodice on my dress as soon as I tried it on. It was a very special moment that I was lucky enough to share with my mom, sisters, mother-in-law, and cousins.

I wanted a wild-looking, white, summery bouquet full of variety and greenery. Fox Events made me a gorgeous bouquet of peonies, astilbe, tulips, and a variety of garden roses, plus peach Juliet garden roses for a small pop of color. The greens included seeded eucalyptus, Italian ruscus, and smilax, and we added a Japanese Aralia leaf from my mom’s garden!

Did you decide to do a first look? Why or why not? I felt very strongly about Rick seeing me for the first time as I made my way down the aisle, and he felt the same way, so we opted to keep it traditional. Because we had plenty of evening sunlight to work with in June, we did not have to worry about having our photos done before the ceremony. I absolutely loved seeing him tear up!

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What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? I strove to contract all local businesses and tried to find vendors who used local products. For example, Salthouse Catering’s menu was farm-to-table and seasonal, and ICEBOX offered local beer and liquor companies such as Palmetto Brewery and Striped Pig. The groom and groomsmen’s bowties were handmade in Mount Pleasant, and the maids gifts came from Spartina 449 of Daufuskie Island. Also Southern was our married monogram featured in different places, such as above the porch door, on the cocktail napkins, and on our champagne flutes (I also wore my maiden monogram as I got ready for the day). We had a classic coconut cake which is “very Charleston” and so delicious. The night before the wedding, we cut Japanese Aralia leaves from my mom’s garden. We used one in my bouquet and put one on each place setting. It was a really simple way to make my bouquet and the tablescapes more dramatic and personally significant (I carried a bit of my mom down the aisle with me!). And of course, the symbol of hospitality–the pineapple–was placed throughout the venue decor.

What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? We married on a Friday evening and saved an enormous amount! I also had my envelopes hand-lettered by Whitlock Design (on Etsy) instead of calligraphed, and I ordered my veil through Etsy. I also replaced some florals with lanterns (and pineapples, of course!). Lastly, instead of renting a dance floor, we arranged the tables so that there was enough space to dance on the venue’s existing patio.

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By far, our favorite detail of the wedding was the beautiful cafe lighting over our reception. The weather worked in our favor and we were lucky enough to forgo a tent, which allowed for the historic home at our venue to serve as a gorgeous backdrop. The openness of the patio space complete with the cafe lighting gave the reception a very romantic, summery feel. My favorite personal detail of the wedding was incorporating my beloved grandmothers, who have both passed away, into the ceremony. I wore pink wedding shoes in honor of my mom’s mom, and my paternal grandmother’s chaplain married us. I also tied both late grandmothers’ wedding rings to my bouquet, and my sisters wore them the rest of the night following the ceremony.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We first met at Stratton Mountain in Vermont as teenagers. Rick was competing in a snowboarding event and I was there with a close friend of mine. Rick and I realized that we hit the slopes at the same home mountain, and over the next few years, we unexpectedly ran into each other time after time. In the spring of my senior year of high school, we reconnected when Rick suggested we meet for coffee. We began dating shortly after I began my freshman year of college, and despite several intervals of living a great distance from each other, we’ve been together ever since!
Tell us all about the proposal! Rick had my ring hidden under our bed for almost six months prior to proposing. There were many nights when it almost came out early, but he had made arrangements to fly us home to celebrate with friends and family just a few days after the proposal, so he held off. Rick had made a reservation at a historic brunch spot nestled in a canyon of the Santa Monica Mountains (we currently live in California). After a beautiful drive up oceanside cliffs, we entered the tranquility of the inner canyon, golden with the season of fall. Under a giant California oak, Rick went down on one knee. We reveled in our brunch, knowing the exciting secret we were keeping from those around us. A few days later, we flew to Charleston to celebrate with family and friends.
When did y’all get married? June 10, 2016
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 95
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? My cousin recited Romans 12:9-16. It will always remind us to grow our love sincerely by putting each other first, and ourselves second.
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. Rick and I had a classical guitarist play traditional music for the ceremony; I walked down the aisle with my dad to “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” Our first dance was to “Forever and Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis. We are big classic country fans and just love this song! Rick and I traveled to Austin last year and learned to two-step, which was super fun. I love to slow dance, so I chose “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton for our last dance. It was so romantic and one of my very favorite memories of the night.
How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? We discussed in detail how and when to merge our finances and invest in our future together. We spent a lot of time setting financial and personal goals as a couple.
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? $25,000-$50,000
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? You may feel rushed in the beginning of planning to secure your vendors, but I think it is really important to consider your desired guest count first. Holding a more intimate wedding allowed us to have more time with each guest, which was priceless. It also allowed our budget to go further and include extra personal details and a few splurges.
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? Rick and I are finally enjoying post-wedding and post-graduate school tranquility! We are working hard to save for a home and relocate back to the South. We look forward to spending time with each other and our families, and perhaps starting a family of our own down the road.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your wedding? It was important to us that guests treated our ceremony as a worship, despite it being outside of a church. We also wanted to see guests’ faces instead of cameras and phones as we walked up the aisle for the first time as newlyweds. We were inspired by Southern Weddings’ “Unplugged Wedding” post and wrote our own notecards, which we affixed to the back of every seat. It was a huge success!

Written with love by Marissa

Southern Weddings by Jennings King Photography September 14, 2016 reply

[…] Kristen & Rick Wedding […]

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Southern Weddings Planner Review

by Emily in Expert Advice on August 16, 2016

Hi friends! I’m popping in today to share a few kind words about the Southern Weddings Planner! You’ve heard me sing its praises before (and I have no shame there – it is without a doubt the project I am most proud of from my time at Southern Weddings, and I think every bride should buy one!!). But, I can also understand that you might feel I’m a teensy bit biased, and that’s probably true :) So instead of telling you again why I love our planner, I wanted to share our friend Erin Lindsey’s review. She bought the planner herself and wrote the review of her own accord, and as someone who meets with so many brides, I think she has a great perspective. Here’s what she had to say:

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I’ll be honest, I don’t normally love wedding planner binders one finds at bookstores, etc. Why? Because I feel like often the information is outdated, numbers are off, and many books will give brides a list of obscure questions that they “should be asking their vendors,” when really the questions have no relevance to their 2016/2017 wedding. A 1998 wedding, maybe… but not a current one.

Anyway, what I just LOVE about this planner is that they also include budgeting tools, countdown checkboxes, and the information all throughout the binder is actually accurate!! And helpful! And realistic! And genius! And fun! The tips they give are for you gorgeous Southern brides of today. And on top of the great information inside the binder, it is freaking adorable, too!! On the inside and out!! And it’s such high quality. I was blown away when I opened it.

I love that something this adorable and wonderful exists for my brides and I’m excited to be putting these beauties into their hands when I meet them!

What I love about Erin’s review is that it gets at EXACTLY what we were hoping to achieve with our Planner: sharing information with you that is TRUE, realistic, accurate, and helpful, not written with some wedding industry ulterior motive. It’s exactly what we would tell our sisters, cousins, and best friends.

Have I convinced you? Go pick up your planner in our shop. Still on the fence? You can read more reviews. And, if you already have a planner and would like to submit a review, please email me directly!

Written with love by Emily

1 Comment

Tags: planner, Southern, southern wedding, Southern wedding ideas, Southern wedding inspiration, Southern wedding magazine, Southern Weddings, Southern Weddings Magazine, southern weddings planner, wedding, wedding planner

Kelly August 16, 2016 reply

Ordered one yesterday for a friend that just got engaged to put in our traditional engagement basket. So excited for her to get her hands on this!

Tented Wedding by Jen Fariello and Shindig Events

by Lisa in Real Southern Weddings on August 15, 2016

I couldn’t agree more with Janie’s advice for brides: “Your special day will be magnificent in its own right. Find the one or two wow-factors that are important to you and trust that instinct. This was a budget-friendly way for us to navigate what was imperative to our vision and what was not.” In her and Adam’s case, my guess would be that the wow factors they prioritized were their floral arrangements (brought to life by the tremendously talented team at Southern Blooms) and the slate details they incorporated. The groom himself was responsible for making the slate menu cards, table numbers, and escort cards from shingles recycled from an old local school’s roof. It was such a unique and memorable detail, and the fact that they were a DIY made them all the more special!

Thank you so much to Jen Fariello for sharing this beautiful celebration with us!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. My mother, aunt, maid of honor, and matron of honor accompanied me to Bella Rosa Bridal. I tried on seven dresses with the encouragement of those accompanying me, who used paper bridal gowns on dowel rods with feedback such as “ooh la la!” and “no way.” I knew my dress was the one I had envisioned, and was convinced that I could make it the dress of my dreams with a few custom alterations.

Did you decide to do a first look? Why or why not? Yes. In the practical sense, a first look maximized the time we had with our wedding guests. In the magical and romantic sense, most importantly, it offered us the opportunity to engage privately, prior to the ceremony. During the wedding planning process, we heard that the first look enriched the ceremony because the intimate moment together before the ceremony imparted a more robust experience of the wedding. We found this to be true for us.

Our dear friends, a married couple whom Adam and I highly regard and admire, played the processional music. For the bridal procession, “Simple Love,” a song performed by Allison Krauss, was played on the violin and guitar. We recessed to my childhood friend playing “Dancing in the Moonlight” on the guitar.

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What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? We absolutely could not have designed and executed such a stunningly beautiful wedding without the help of Shindig Weddings and Events. Meghan Streit struck the perfect and rare balance of personal interest and authentic enthusiasm for Adam and me AND effective communication, the ability to meet deadlines, and collaboration. Meghan offered incredibly creative and gorgeous ideas, which she and her Shindig team executed flawlessly. She was also budget-conscious and sensitive to our tastes, dreams, and needs. We could not possibly thank her enough!

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Our venue, Gwyn Arvon, is an ancestral home, in Arvonia, Virginia. This is the place where Adam and I fell in love and spent numerous happy memories, so we hoped that adoring energy would emanate for guests at our wedding. In their own right, the home and grounds are incredibly beautiful–they was built for the purpose of showcasing Buckingham slate.

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Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Adam’s mother died when he was sixteen years old. In her honor, we set out a chair in the first row of the ceremony. When Adam and his two brothers, who were groomsmen, walked by, they each placed a long-stemmed peony in the chair. In addition, Adam is quite handy and made slate menu cards, table numbers, and escort cards from slate shingles that once comprised the roof of a former school in Buckingham County. Anna Sisman provided calligraphy for menus, table numbers, and escort cards.

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What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Our first look was incredibly special and memorable. Having a private moment to see one other prior to the hubbub of the day and to get grounded together in the commitment that we would be making was profoundly impactful. It was at this point that the weather began to shift from rain to sunshine, which offered us more hope for the flow of the day. It was tremendously touching to see each other after so much anticipatory build-up!

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How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. Adam and I met in a history class at the University of Virginia called “Rural Poverty in Our Time.” We knew of each other from class and around the grounds and the Corner at UVA. We reconnected through work at The Discovery School of Virginia for Boys. When I began work at The Discovery School, many youth who Adam worked with expressed to me, “You’re going to love Mr. Crist!” Little did I know, this Mr. Crist was a familiar face. We are both immensely grateful for the elapsed time between our first introduction and our sparked romance, which enabled us to become better versions of ourselves, and, in turn, better partners for each other. By our wedding date, we had been together nearly four years.
Tell us all about the proposal! Adam proposed on bended knee on February 22, 2015 under the guise of taking a photograph at Pippin Hill Vineyard. Following that, we returned home to a surprise gathering of our extended families and dinner at the Smoke House Grille in Scottsville, Virginia.
When did y’all get married? May 14, 2016
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 215
Describe your wedding cake or dessert. Our wedding cake was done by the talented Riki Tanabe of Albemarle Baking Company. It was a four-tiered cake with peonies from Southern Blooms decorating each tier. The cake featured chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and praline crunch filling and textured buttercream icing. The cake also featured vanilla cake, bavarian cream filling, and marzipan icing. We placed framed photographs of loved ones on the cake table as a “sweet” reminder of those celebrating in spirit.
How did you plan for your marriage while planning your wedding? Sarah Wood, our beloved officiant, was my high school chaplain and one of my field hockey coaches at Christchurch School, as well as my mentor and friend. I note that she was a “special incorporation,” because her history with me and her fast friendship with Adam made our premarital counseling, preparation for the ceremony, and the ceremony itself so much richer, and more personal and robust. Sarah recommended that we read “Life of the Beloved” by Henri Nouwen and “The Art of Being Together” by Francis H. Wade.
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? We cut costs by choosing a family-owned venue and performing the landscaping ourselves. We spent two months, with consultation by master gardener Jan Glennie-Smith, beautifying the grounds of the house. Although we worked tirelessly, we recognized that any imperfections could potentially make the outcome even sweeter. We cut costs by having close friends play the processional and recessional music, as well as by having an iPod and speakers for music at the cocktail hour.
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Your special day will be magnificent in its own right. Find the one or two wow-factors that are important to you and trust that instinct. This was a budget-friendly way for us to navigate what was imperative to our vision and what was not. Trust the creative expertise of your vendors!
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? We are profoundly grateful for the wedding celebration and honeymoon that we were able to have. Now, we look forward to celebrating others’ and our own milestones and rites of passage. With our wedding ceremony behind us, we get to simply enjoy our marriage. We love the Central Virginia region that we live in and the hiking, canoeing, wineries, cideries, and breweries that it has to offer. We hope to celebrate our first anniversary with a trip to Europe.

Written with love by Lisa

4 Comments

Tags: Albemarle Baking Company, Anna Sisman, bella rosa bridal, Carolyn Thombs, chicken and waffles, cocktail hour menu, crossback chairs, Design Corral, farm tables, Festive Fare, fretwork program, garden ceremony, greenery installation, hanging greenery, Jackie by Paloma Blanca, jen fariello, Jim Hjelm, lace veil, neutral bridesmaid dresses, Paloma Blanca, peach bouquet, Peter Blair, Shindig Events, short sleeve wedding dress, sideswept updo, Skyline Tent Company, slate details, Southern, southern blooms, southern wedding, southern wedding blog, Southern wedding ideas, Southern wedding inspiration, Southern wedding magazine, Southern Weddings, southern weddings blog, Southern Weddings Magazine, tented wedding, Thairapy Salon, traditional lace wedding dress, unique escort cards, unique greenery centerpieces, unique place cards, wedding

Dana August 15, 2016 reply

Yum chicken and waffles bites! Those flowers are WOW
Skylar Caitlin August 23, 2016 reply

That headtable installation is just stunning! Love the added lighting of the hanging, geometric lanterns.
Sera August 29, 2016 reply

This is gorgeous! What a beautiful backyard wedding!
Dougie Cameron October 1, 2016 reply

Some great advice here for those working to a tight budget.