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I don’t know about y’all, but my Instagram feed was full of beaches and lakes this weekend! As if that wasn’t enough to get me extra excited for my own first beach trip of the summer in a few weeks, today’s wedding is a Southern coastal wedding dream come true. Inspired by their mutual love for the water and Robert’s childhood summers at the Carolina Yacht Club, Lara Beth and Robert were married at one of their favorite places. I love how they added just a few sweet, personal details to their already-beautiful venue–with views like this, it certainly didn’t need much!

Thanks so much to Britt Croft for sharing this pretty wedding with us!

Describe your wedding flowers. I got extremely lucky when I found my wedding planner, Teresa Gausman. Not only is she a talented event planner, she is also an amazing florist. My bouquet was an assortment of ivory and blush pink peonies, roses, and hydrangeas. Teresa cleverly hung beautiful pink rose balls from manzanita branches for some of the centerpieces, along with assorted arrangements of hydrangeas, roses, and tulips. She did a fantastic job!

We both love the water and wanted to get married near the beach. Robert spent many summers at the Carolina Yacht Club as a child, and the location was perfect for us. It definitely had the romantic, casual atmosphere that we were looking for.

Did you have something borrowed, blue, old, and new? If so, do tell! For my something borrowed, I borrowed earrings from my dear friend Emily. They were beautiful and she had also worn them on her wedding day. For something blue, I had the wedding date and my new initials, LBM, sewn into the inside of my dress with blue ribbon. I had lace from my mother’s wedding dress wrapped around my bouquet for something old. My wedding dress was my something new.

Our favorite detail was the nautical theme that was carried throughout the wedding. The beachfront yacht club set the tone, and we chose soft, coastal colors for the wedding party attire and ceremony/reception decor. The invitations and ceremony programs had a simple anchor placed at the top of them. We also had cups made with our names and an anchor printed on them in seafoam green.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Our reception menu was very Southern. The main course for dinner was fried chicken and waffles, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, deviled eggs, and succotash. These items are always crowd pleasers at Southern weddings, and sure enough, no one left hungry!

What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? After the reception, guests lined the walkway of the yacht club and wished us farewell with a sea of colorful streamers. I remember the love and excitement that I felt knowing that all of our closest friends and family members were gathered together for us. With a bottle of champagne in hand and a full heart, we left on Robert’s boat. It truly was a happy day!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We both went to UNC Wilmington for college and met there through mutual friends. We started dating after college, while I was living in Charleston, SC, and dated long distance until I moved to Wilmington a little over a year later.
Tell us all about the proposal! Robert proposed on his grandfather’s pier at Lake Waccamaw, NC. His grandfather plants thousands of flowers on the pier every year and it is absolutely beautiful! Other family members have gotten married and engaged in that very spot. It is such a special place!
When did y’all get married? April 12, 2014
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 275
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. A string quartet played the prelude, processional, and recessional at the ceremony. We kept the music traditional (Canon in D, Trumpet Voluntary, Ode to Joy). Our first dance was to Van Morrison “Crazy Love” because we both love Van Morrison and we wanted a song that was upbeat and easy to dance to.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert. We had a four-tiered cake with blush pink and ivory flowers arranged in bunches on top of the cake and between the tiers. There were alternating layers of strawberry and almond pound cake with a cream cheese filling and buttercream icing. It was delicious!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Our biggest challenge was that our wedding was held on the same weekend as a very popular festival in Wilmington. Hotels fill up quickly for this weekend, so we reserved several blocks of rooms almost immediately after setting the date. We did not want guests to have to travel in heavy traffic from the ceremony to the reception, so we decided to have everything at the yacht club. The ceremony was held on the lower deck and the chairs were quickly removed during the cocktail hour to make space for guests during the reception. The yacht club staff and Teresa’s team worked magic to make it happen.
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? We reused flowers from the bridesmaid luncheon and rehearsal dinner at the wedding. This was a huge money saver!
What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? Working with my wedding planner, Teresa Gausman, was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning. She had ideas galore and was a dream to work with. She is one of the most creative people I have ever met, and because of her, the yacht club looked stunning!
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? For me, wedding planning went by super quickly. My advice would be to enjoy every minute with your significant other and savor being engaged!
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? At some point, we would like to start a family, but for now, we are enjoying this time as newlyweds. We are the best of friends and we grow closer every day.

Photographer: Britt Croft / Planner and Florist: Teresa Gausman of Premiere Events / Venue: Carolina Yacht Club / Cake Baker: Imaginary Cakes / Caterer: Pine Valley Market / Rentals: Party Suppliers / Lighting: High Performance Lighting / Band: The Phase Band / Bride’s Gown: Mori Lee / Paper Products: The Fisherman’s Wife and Kamin & Associates, Inc / Hair and Makeup: Bangz Salon and Day Spa / Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Allure / Men’s Attire: Tommy Hilfiger

lisa Written with love by Lisa
4 Comments
  1. avatar Nicole reply

    So gorgeous! I love their flower-decked altar and those gorgeous white petal linens on the porch!

  2. avatar Kat reply

    so soft & romantic! I love the white textured linens & the touches of minty-blue & blush!

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If you’re signed up for the Southern Weddings newsletter, you’re about to have a snapshot of where we are in the magazine prep process sent to your email! Spoiler alert: we are knee-deep in the middle of our editorial shoot season :) We’re looking for a few happy faces to join us in Charleston, and would love to hear from you!

This is a smaller shoot, so we are just looking for a bride and groom, a maid of honor, and a best man. All hair/skin colors are welcome, though we are particularly looking for a Hispanic couple for this shoot, so if that sounds like you, I’d encourage you to apply!! If chosen, we will need you to be available on site from about noon to 8pm on Wednesday, June 25. We might start later or end earlier, but we want you to be prepared!

If you’re interested, please send an email to [email protected] with the subject line V7 Charleston Model Call. Be sure to include a recent headshot (no need for professional photos, we just want to see your lovely face!), a few candid photos, and your height. We promise it’s going to be a blast!

P.S. Closer to Nashville than Charleston? We’re still looking for a few happy faces to help us in the Music City!

emily Written with love by Emily
2 Comments
  1. avatar Southern Weddings V7 Behind the Scenes, Part 2 – Southern Weddings Magazine reply

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    […] Resort for the Honey List. We’re looking for reader models in Charleston! Info for applying here. We gave y’all a peek behind the scenes of our V7 bouquet shoot. Carlene of Healthfully Ever […]

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Believe it or not, Emily and Chris met during an Animal House-themed frat party! These two never thought they’d meet their better halves while donning togas, but after chatting, their common interests proved to take this meet cute right to relationship! Now, these two spend their time making way too much jam (be sure to read their adorable interview!), and dating each other even after their wedding–love that! Emily’s best advice for brides? “Continue to date each other and set aside time together that does not involve wedding planning.” We couldn’t agree more!

Big thanks to Graham Terhune for sharing this gorgeous day that had Lisa and I swooning all last week! We could barely wait to share it!

Did you have something borrowed, blue, old, and new? If so, do tell! My something borrowed was my mom’s sixpence that she wore in her shoe on her wedding day. For my something blue, I honored both of my sweet grandmothers by wrapping a piece of my Grandmama’s blue wedding dress and my Granny’s blue handkerchief around my bouquet. My something old was my Papa’s fraternity ring that he wore every day. My something new was my sparkly Jimmy Choos!

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Why or why not? Yes and we’re so glad that we did! Our “first look” pictures are some of our favorites. Although we were initially hesitant to stray from tradition, we agreed to give it a shot for the sake of getting to spend more time with our guests at the reception and being able to enjoy a quiet moment together. Walking down the aisle to my groom was equally as exciting and emotional!

I walked down the aisle to a bagpipe and organ duet of “Highland Cathedral.” Bagpipes have a special significance in Western North Carolina and I had always dreamed of walking down the aisle to this song. One of our favorite wedding planning moments was a private concert with our amazingly talented organist to select our music. We chose “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” for our Gospel hymn and my all-time favorite, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” for our communion hymn. We walked back up the aisle to “Hornpipe” by G.F. Handel. Our bagpiper was playing out on the lawn as guests exited the cathedral to board trolleys to the reception. Selecting our first dance song was perhaps the most difficult decision we made! We decided on “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding. My dad and I danced to “Tupelo Honey” by our favorite artist, Van Morrison. Chris and his mother danced the Carolina shag to “I Love Beach Music” by The Embers in honor of Chris’ late father, who played in a beach music band.

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: We incorporated several pieces of custom artwork. We worked with an incredibly talented family friend and artist to create a Quaker marriage certificate for guests to sign and a bar menu with our signature drinks and beer and wine selections. We also purchased a watercolor wedding map to include in our welcome bags and a custom painted monogram to use as a label for our strawberry jam wedding favors. Each of these are now hanging on the wall in our home and serve as a lovely reminder of our wedding day.

Describe your wedding flowers. Since most of our guests were from out of town, we wanted our reception to feel casual and welcoming, like a dinner party among friends. Stacey from the Bloom Room gave our venue the romantic, homey vibe that we envisioned with low arrangements of flowers that were lush, but not over the top. We used anemones, garden roses, peonies, hydrangea, and delicate greenery in an eclectic mix of antique silver, crystal, and mercury glass vases.
Describe your wedding cake or dessert. It was divine! Our cake was funfetti with vanilla buttercream filling and frosting. The icing had a subtle, soft texture with our new married monogram on the top layer. Each layer had a piped beaded border and touches of fresh flowers.

What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? I think one of the biggest things that sets Southern weddings apart is the value placed on honoring family traditions. For us, the most special of those was that we were married on my parents’ anniversary! One of my favorite details was a handkerchief I gave my mom with both of our monograms and wedding dates. We included the cake pull tradition at the bridal luncheon the day before, and then each bridesmaid tied their charm around their bouquet. We also served several classic Southern comfort foods at our reception. We had mini trout cakes and pimento cheese crackers for cocktail hour and buttermilk fried chicken (tossed in NC’s Texas Pete hot sauce!), green beans, and macaroni and cheese for dinner.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. Chris at I met during the fall semester of our senior year at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. We knew of each other through friends; however, we officially met at an “Animal House”-themed mixer for his fraternity and my sorority. I never would have guessed that I would meet my husband at a toga party! We exchanged phone numbers and quickly found that we had a lot in common. We had our first date later that week with dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant and a walk through the arboretum.
Tell us all about the proposal! We planned a trip to the mountains to visit my parents for the weekend. On that Saturday, December 15, the four of us decided to head to Asheville to see the annual gingerbread house competition at the Grove Park Inn. After we spent time looking at the exhibit, Chris suggested that we walk around the resort a bit and get a picture together. We stopped to pose for a picture on a terrace overlooking a beautiful sunset over the Blue Ridge mountains. Just as my mom was getting ready to snap the picture, Chris got down on one knee and proposed! Then, as the icing on the cake, Chris’ mom and sister came running out to congratulate us. Little did I know, they had followed us from a distance throughout the gingerbread exhibit and around the resort. After that, we celebrated with dinner and champagne with our families.
When did y’all get married? April 26, 2014
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 170
Tell us about finding your wedding dress. Before we were engaged, I fell in love with a dreamy tulle cap sleeve gown that I saw on Pinterest. When I started shopping for my wedding dress, I realized that the chances of finding that gown were slim to none, as it was an older design. I hoped to find something similar from the same designer, so I scheduled an appointment at Nitsa’s in Charlotte and invited my mom, sister, both grandmothers, and my best friend. As we began pulling dresses to try on, I was so excited to find that my dream dress was still available! The dress was everything that I hoped it would be: soft, feminine, and perfect for twirling!
What made you choose your ceremony and reception venues? Did they have any special significance to you? My family is from a very small town near Asheville. We knew that our church would be too small to accommodate our guests, and reception venue options in my hometown would be limited. We decided to get married in Asheville, the city where Chris proposed and a place we love to visit together. We had our ceremony at the historic All Souls Cathedral. All Souls was commissioned in 1896 by George Washington Vanderbilt III, developer of the Biltmore Estate. For our reception, we loved the intimate atmosphere of the Century Room, with its exposed brick walls and views of downtown Asheville.
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We recited traditional Episcopalian vows and wrote our own personal vows to each other that were read on the morning of our wedding.
What readings, if any, did you have at your ceremony? My granddaddy read Philippians 4:4-9. This reading comforted us during the chaos of the final months of wedding planning and kept us focused on the meaning of marriage. Our other readings were Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, read by Chris’ sister, and Matthew 5:1-10 for our Gospel reading.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Our biggest challenge was definitely the guest list. We made the unfortunate mistake of booking a reception venue before we created our guest list. We spent so much time analyzing room diagrams and sending desperate emails to the event coordinator at the Century Room. In the end, I think we were able to maximize the space as best we could.
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? Chris and I love to cook together, so we decided to make strawberry jam for our wedding favors. We slightly underestimated the amount of time that it would take to make 170 jars of jam and ended up spending an entire weekend in the kitchen, but it was well worth it. We also took on a few other DIY projects, including our escort card display and a sidewalk sign.
What is the one detail or vendor that you were so happy to have as a part of your wedding? We are so grateful to have had Graham Terhune Photography! Graham and his wife, Samantha, are the sweetest, most genuine people that we had the pleasure of working with. They made us feel so comfortable on our wedding day and they didn’t miss one second of action. One of the best moments for my mom was watching Graham chase after our getaway car to ensure he got a great shot!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? We will never forget when our priest asked us to turn around and glance around the church during the homily. Seeing so many of our favorite people from all different parts of our lives gathered together to celebrate with us was such an overwhelming feeling!
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? It can be so easy to lose sight of the purpose of your wedding, especially when you get wrapped up in all of the details you “have to have.” Continue to date each other and set aside time together that does not involve wedding planning.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you most looking forward to about married life? We’re enjoying life as husband and wife and spending time with our dog, Betsey. On our wedding day, Chris surprised me with 12 dates to celebrate each month in our first year of marriage. Next month, we’re headed to the U.S. Open!

Photographer: Graham Terhune Photography / Videographer: Good Earth Films / Ceremony Venue: The Cathedral of All Souls / Reception Venue: The Century Room / Florist: The Bloom Room / Cake Baker: City Bakery / Rentals and Lighting: Classic Event Rental / DJ: Mitch Fortune Productions / Bride’s Gown: “Julianna” by Christos / Paper Products: Reaves Engraving / Bridal Salon and Veil: Nitsa’s / Bride’s Earrings: The Bride’s Maids Shop / Bride’s Bracelet: Tiffany & Co. / Hair and Makeup: L.A. Beauty Bar /Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: “G763C” by Amsale / Men’s Attire: Black by Vera Wang / Wedding Coordinator: Joseph W. Lane Events / Transportation: Gray Line Trolley / Reception Dress: Kate Spade / Getting Ready Robes: Plum Pretty Sugar / Cufflinks: Smathers & Branson / Calligraphy: Dottie McKesson and Brinkley McNeil / Wedding Map: Caligrafia Bella / Quaker Marriage Certificate and Bar Menu: Lauren Gray Weddings

Graham Terhune is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

marissa Written with love by Marissa
7 Comments
  1. avatar Lisa reply

    Oh my goodness, I love this wedding so much! Emily and Chris are absolutely beautiful together, and the details they chose are so lovely and thoughtful.

  2. avatar Graham reply

    We love seeing Emily and Chris’ gorgeous Asheville wedding featured on SW today! Thank y’all so much the feature!

  3. avatar Rachel Nordgren reply

    That dress is absolutely dreamy! Also…homemade strawberry jam? Fantastic idea for favors!

  4. avatar Nancy Ray reply

    Well done, friends! This is stunning!

  5. avatar Plum Pretty Sugar reply

    Oh goodness! What a stunning couple! It is such a treat to have our robes be a part of their wedding day! We send love and so many congratulations. So much!

    xo

  6. avatar North Carolina Wedding Film by Good Earth Films – Southern Weddings Magazine reply

    […] and I had a bit of an e-mail swoon-fest over Emily and Chris’ Asheville wedding when we featured it earlier this year, so you can imagine my delight when Good Earth Films sent […]

  7. avatar Wedding Video Wednesday XXI » Borrowed and Blue Occasions reply

    […] Aren’t they just adorable?!? This gorgeous couple was also featured on the Southern Weddings Blog! […]

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