Southern Weddings

I almost wish I could reverse this post and show you the photos from Loft Photographie from end to beginning. You’ll just have to be patient and scroll through Paige + Brian’s sweet ceremony and pretty pink details before you about fall over and swoon over the last amazing photograph in their wedding. I promise, the suspense will be worth it. Just imagine you’re scrolling through their images to the soundtrack of P + B’s ceremony, which Paige spent much (worthwhile) time perfecting, building emotions and crescendos until her debut at the top of the aisle.

Describe your wedding flowers: My flowers we perfect! They were pink roses and white hydrangea and peonies. It was the perfect balance of white and pink. My bridesmaids wore pink and had all-white bouquets to keep the contrast. I loved it!

Did you decide to do a “first look”? Yes and no! I wanted to spend some time with Brian before the ceremony and have a chance to pray together and just say “I love you” before everything happened, but I still didn’t want him to see me in my dress before I walked down the aisle. It was really important to me that have that moment and get to see him reaction of seeing me walking with my dad. Brian was blind folded and we got to have a moment before the ceremony started.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I went shopping with my mom a week after the proposal. I found my dress at Brickhouse Bridal in The Woodlands, TX. Once I saw all of the dresses, I had no idea what I wanted. Pronovias was having a trunk show that weekend and it was perfect for me. I ended up trying on five of their dresses, and the one I choose was the second dress I tried on. I tried on different styles but I kept thinking about the second dress that made me really feel like a bride! It was the one and I accessorized in the store with a short veil and vintage lace sash.

Before walking down the aisle, we came up with a playlist of some of our favorite love songs, which built up until I walked down the aisle. The last song before the ceremony started was Boyce Avenue’s “On My Way.” Brian walked out with the Pastor as the last line of the song played, “I’ll be there the moment that you walk down in white.” I walked down the aisle to Ingrid Michaels’ “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” the Elvis cover. I chose this song mainly just because I love it, I feel like it fit perfectly into our wedding theme and our story as a couple. We took communion during our ceremony and while we did this and Brian prayed over our new marriage, the Kari Jobe song, “My Beloved” played. It was perfect to me for this part of our wedding because I felt like it mirrored the love God has for us and the love that a husband should have for his wife. We walked back down the aisle to an instrumental version on the Plain White T’s “1, 2, 3, 4.”

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: At the ceremony, I would say it was the music and how it set the tone for the emotions that I was feeling leading up to being Brian’s wife, and just getting to be up there in front of everyone, showing the world my love for him. At the reception, it was the decorations. It was the ideal vintage-chic wedding that was exactly what I dreamed of! It was more than I could have imagined. My mom made most of it and she did an amazing job!

From the food to the decorations, I feel like without even trying we pulled together a simple and sweet Southern wedding. We served lavender lemonade, golden Yukon mashed potatoes and decadent cake balls. Our wedding reception was in a beautiful red barn strung with white twinkling lights. One of my main decorations was milk glass vases. I knew from the beginning that I wanted my wedding to have them as them. They worked perfectly with the burlap details, hydrangeas and pink touches. Outside, we had a monogrammed bean bag toss homemade by my mom and brother, a photo booth with an old door to hold the pictures and a quilt to be signed by our guests.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Invites, definitely! One mistake that we made was sending out invitations without knowing the exact number we were inviting. We over-invited and it got very stressful very fast! Dealing with catering, chairs, and the ranch capacity was most overwhelming as we tried to get our numbers right!

My wedding cake was a gift from a family friend who makes wonderful cakes! It was the perfect moist white cake with vanilla buttercream icing. I wanted it to be simple, tied with burlap on each tier and topped with chalkboard signs that said “Mr. and Mrs.” We paired the cake with pink iced cake balls, which are one of my favorite sweet things! The groom’s cake was a cookie cake, Brian’s favorite. It sat on top of a vintage suitcase and was surrounded by a cookie bar. We had paper bags with our initials on them for our gets to take home as a favor or eat in the moment. It was such a big hit. Not a single cookie or slice of cookie cake was left over and everyone talked about how good it was.

Y’all, isn’t this photo the best? It’s sweet, indeed, but it’s also just dripping with pure joy. It put a smile on my face immediately, so I know Paige + Brian must love looking back on that moment.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  I met Brian at Cru, which is a College Ministry that he used to play the drums at. I met him and instantly had a strong connection. He added me on Facebook not long after, but we never talked. I was friends with his friends and for a year, would secretly hope that every time I would hang out with them that I would get the chance to see Brian. But it never happened. Over a year after we met the first time (which Brian doesn’t remember) we both ended up at our friend Ruben’s Labor Day cookout. When he walked in, my heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t believe he was actually there, and I found out that he lived at the same apartment complex as I did. After the cookout, we both stayed around to watch a movie with some of our friends. We watched Michael Jackson’s Movie (which wouldn’t have been my first choice in movies but I stayed because Brian did). The entire time I noticed that Brian and I kept looking at each other across the living room, and I couldn’t stop smiling. We left at the same time and Brian reintroduced himself to me. For the next couple of weeks, we would run into each other around the Outpost, the bus, and at Ruben’s. Finally he got my number and we starting hanging out and we went on our first official date on October 16, 2010. We have been in love and inseparable ever since.
Describe the proposal. On Friday November 18, Brian asked me out on a date. We had been going on a lot of dates lately, and I knew he had the ring, so every date I got ready and wanted to look my best in case that night was THE night. But this particular Friday I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t even want to go out. Brian took me to the new food trailers in San Marcos and we ate outside under the tree lights. After we ate, Brian asked me what I wanted to do. I just wanted to Red Box a movie and hang out on the couch, but on the way home Brian asked if we could stop at this spot in town where the Christmas Festival always is. We starting walking around and he told me that he was looking for the band from church that was going to play there. I was starting to get annoyed. It was getting cold, I didn’t have a jacket and Brian was texting someone and taking a long time. I didn’t know he was texting his friends who were helping him out. We started to go over this bridge and Brian stopped me. He had told me before that if he ever told me to close my eyes, it meant he was about to propose. So when Brian told me to close my eyes, I knew it was it! I started shaking and crying. I looked up and Brian was on his knee, with his friends coming from the other side of the bridge holding signs that said “Will You Marry” and Brian was holding a sign that said “Me?” Of course I said yes! He prayed over our relationship and the next day we had a surprise engagement party with our closest friends and family!!
In what month did you get married? July
How many guests attended your wedding? 200
What range did your wedding budget fall into? $25,000-$50,000
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? Photography! I loved our pictures and what they captured will help to keep our memories alive forever! I would tell anyone that no matter what, make sure you love your photography team!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? The entire getting-ready process, with the jitters and anticipation building up and having my dad put on my garter and my mom put on my jewelry. I have always dreamed of getting ready for my day and to have both my parents be a part of it was perfect and so sweet. We are a very close family and I wanted them to be a part of every step!
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Be comfortable with the budget you have set, and make sure that you know who is contributing before you start planning.  I also kept worrying that we were doing too much, but I am so happy we did everything that we did. Less is not always more when it comes to decorating your wedding or adding in your personal touches. Those are what really make you wedding stand out!
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  We just moved to Georgia and Brian got a great job doing media at a church. I am looking forward to pursuing teaching and seeing where God is going to take our family!

Written with love by Nicole