As many of you know, our dear Whitney is leaving us for the big city soon (sniff sniff). It’s her last week in the office, so we couldn’t resist throwing a little goodbye party at our weekly meeting today.
We went with a “Big Apple” theme in honor of her new residence.
Did we mention how much we’re going to miss this smiling face??
Oh yes, we did — here + here. And lest you think it’s all fun and games in the SW office, this was us a few minutes after the conclusion of our party:
Woo hoo!
In all my years of blogging, there hasn’t been a harder post for me to write. Whitney has been with us here at Southern Weddings since day one and to see her head to the Big Apple next week to be near her sweet boyfriend, Scott, will sincerely be one of my saddest days. She’s seen me through ups and downs in life and in business, through moves and four gorgeous issues and now into my years as a mother. Y’all, I just can’t even put into words how much I am going to miss her around these parts. Grace has come to know her as a favorite “Auntie” already (blame the red hair and Whitney’s electric smile!) and I feel like she’s always been family. And she always will be.
The day Whitney told me she was moving to New York, my first thought was YOU GO GIRL!!!! My second was, oh my goodness please don’t go! I’ll miss you too much. It’s a bittersweet goodbye. We’re all so excited about what’s ahead of her, but there will be a lot of tears next Friday when she officially says farewell. There already have been a lot of tears. We all have been quietly moping around the office a bit lately, unable to really talk about Whitney leaving without having a cry fest start to well up. Thankfully, she’s only a quick plane ride away and has promised many visits home to Chapel Hill!
Whitney…. oh, hello tears again… I love you, beautiful lady. Thank you for being a true friend and for giving your all to our dear brides here and for working your tail off to make all of our lives happier every day. You are a remarkable woman. You’ve weathered so much over these last four years that I’ve known you and you’ve grown faster than kudzu on a corn patch. I will sincerely miss seeing your smiling face here every day. We all will. But, you have great paths ahead and so much joy waiting for you in that big city. You will be fabulous. There’s no other option. It’s just who you are. Warm, witty, resilient, charming and full of Southern spark. Dear NYC, I’m jealous that you will have Miss Davis soon to make your world a little brighter. W.E.D (best initials ever!), thank you, to the moon an back, for four years of your very best. The best is yet to come… xo Lara
A little love from all of us…
My dear Whitney, I can still remember seeing your face for the first time in an SW blog post (before I came to work here!)… and thinking you were 25. Though it turned out I was WAY off on your age, it seems appropriate – you have always possessed a maturity, strength, and graciousness beyond your years. In the almost three years that we’ve known each other, you have only grown into a more wonderful person. You have a knack for making everyone feel at ease and welcome, you’re quite stylish, and you’re an extremely hard worker. I have been so lucky to call you a colleague, and I know that your future co-workers will feel the same way — and that they, too, will quickly call you a friend. I can’t wait to hear all about your Big Apple adventures!! Much love, Emily
Dear Whitney, I am so sad to be writing this goodbye to you, but SO incredibly excited for you at the same time! I know that you will be amazing, and brighten everyone’s day that you meet! I will: however, miss a long list of things about you. Not limited to: laughing until my stomach hurts while making (ripping) tissue poms, sending thousands of emails back and forth, getting dressed in lobby bathrooms, riding in cabs with crazy drivers, gushing over gorgeous wedding gowns (and trying them on!), Pinkberry at midnight, you rocking red lipstick at the Ace Hotel, and most importantly my PIC! And I had to narrow this list down! I am so grateful to call you my friend, and I cannot wait to come visit you in New York! I officially call dibs on your couch! SO much love, Marissa
Whitney dearest, there are so many things I want to say to you! Before I even met you, I knew you had some fierce drive and ambition. Seeing you move to New York and making your dreams come true (cheesiness not intended) was like the cherry on top of all the wonderful things I already think of you. I admire you so much for not only being passionate about every task and project you undertake, but for being a lovely person and a great friend. When I finally met you two years ago while we were both working at a wedding, I was so happy to have met another person who was sweet, smart and funny! You are incredibly easy to talk to, and I’m forever grateful for the endless advice and encouragement you’ve given me. I refuse to let our bonding over coffee and baked goods and jokes in the office end! Expect texts, tweets, emails, Skype calls and smoke signals coming from the SW office as I update you on the funny proposal stories we get, wedding madness and of course, if I ever meet a boy from the J-School. I know for a fact that whatever the next few months and years bring to you, you will knock everyone out of the water, take on the world with a smile on your face and still be that wonderful, down-to-earth girl I met two years ago. Also, let’s please meet again soon so we can bake macaroons! You do know I’m coming to visit you in New York, right? So much love and coffee and Kate Spade, Nic
Needless to say, you will be missed Miss Davis. Don’t forget to always over-sweeten your tea and teach every cabbie you meet that very important word… y’all. We love you!!!!! And now, a little trip down memory lane…. (break out the tissues, y’all!!!)
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What a privilege to work with people you love and honor and respect this much. Whitney, best wishes with your move.
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As an advertiser, I had the pleasure of corresponding with this lovely lady for a while now. What an example of a true Southern lady. Whitney, God Bless You in these exciting endeavors and I wish you loads of luck in NYC. And to the rest of the SW ladies…Although W.E.D. is irreplaceable, I can’t wait to see who you come up with to work with all of us – no doubt another fabulous lady!
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Aww – we’ll miss Whitney! But best wishes in all of your future plans. So sweet of you to move to NYC to be near Scott! Moving to NC to be near Anna was the reason I moved long distance – and I know it ain’t easy to leave all that you know! But your relationship will be rewarded for it in the end, and as long as you have each other, you have everything :)
Hugs, Brent (and Anna)
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Whitney + Lara + all the rest-a-y’all, Here’s to friendship, fierce focus, weathering growing pains together and MAKING LIFE HAPPEN together AND when life pulls you (geographically) apart. All my love! N
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I love you Nat!!!! xoxox
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Y’all!! This sweet, sweet post left me bawling like a baby. Thank you so much for all of your support. My time with Southern Weddings has been nothing short of phenomenal and I am so thankful for all of the friends that I have made along the way. Xo
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Dearest Whitney, I am so thankful to call you a friend. My heart feels sad knowing that I won’t be seeing your beautiful, bright smile when I visit the SW office, but I know an incredible future lies ahead of you! Please, please stay in touch! I can’t wait to see how your adventurous life unfolds! xoxo
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Best wishes on your new venture in NYC, Whitney!
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Over three years ago, I walked through the doors of the Southern Weddings office for the very first time to start interning for the brand new magazine. Next week, I will walk out of the office doors after my last day of work to take on a brand new challenge. My darling boyfriend of two years, Scott, is moving up North for law school and I am uprooting myself as well to bring a bit of Southern charm to the Big Apple. I’ve made it my mission to Southern-ize the whole world, and what better way to start than by spreading some Southern sweetness to those Yankees up North? In my years with Southern Weddings, I’ve written dozens of posts, but none have been as difficult to write as this one.
I feel like my personal growth has paralleled Southern Wedding’s continued success. I have been blessed with seeing the entire process of launching this publication and how it has spread like kudzu. I have had the opportunity to build close friendships with the amazing women that work in this office and I have nothing but praise for all of the talented sponsors that I have had the opportunity to work with. While I am excited for the changes ahead, I can’t help but be sad that my time with Southern Weddings is coming to an end.
Some of my very happiest memories are intertwined with the gals at Southern Weddings and, believe me, we’ve had some crazy times! Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane and relive some of the highlights. In the past three years, we were hard at work creating this completely sold out issue…
…this stunning issue…
…this pretty issue (which also happens to be sold out)…
…and most recently, this beauty!
I had a blast preparing for all that print goodness at our editorial shoots. I particularly loved working with Emily, Marissa, Sierra, Nicole and intern Emily on the Paper, Cotton, Flour shoot for V4. It was a blazing hot summer day, but spirits could not be higher. We were all thrilled with how the shoot was coming along.
I swear, there is no better way to bond with co-workers than working a photo shoot!
Who could forget the office parties and our weekly office meetings? Sometimes, I can’t believe we got work done at all with so much fun mixed in! I don’t mean to make y’all jealous, but our weekly meetings always include some assortment of candy, cookies, sweet tea and Sun Drop. We even had a King Cake for Mardi Gras a few weeks ago!
I’ve had the joy of going to plenty of industry events and weddings during my time here. Confession: attending industry events might just be my favorite part of working in this great field. It’s not because I get to knock elbows with some of the best and brightest in the wedding industry (though that’s a plus!), my favorite part of any good industry party is the Smilebooth! I am completely, unabashedly addicted to these fun photobooths. Hand me a couple props and there is a large chance that I’ll be in the booth all night. What can I say? I’m a ham.
Marissa and I had the joy of covering Bridal Market (read: bridal fashion week) this year. Trent Bailey covered the fun and gave us these adorable photos. Marissa is and always will be my partner in crime and I can’t wait for her to come up to the city next year so we can relive our Bridal Market adventures!
Images by Trent Bailey
I’ve been busy as a bee working with our fabulous sponsors, planning giveaways and helping with photoshoots but I did manage to squeeze in enough time to graduate from UNC (GO HEELS!) and meet an amazing (and handsome) boy.
There are literally hundreds of photos and memories that I could put in this post (really, I could write a novel), but when you get down to it, the women that work in this office have really been the reason that my time with Southern Weddings has been so special.
Lara has given me the opportunity to have such a faaaantastic first job and every day I am grateful that she took a chance on me and decided to bring me on board after my internship many moons ago. She has had the insight to build such a brilliant team and I cannot wait to see Southern Weddings continue to flourish in the years to come. Emily, Nicole, Marissa and Sierra are some of the most talented and kind women in the world. I’m not kidding you. I dare you to find gals as friendly, professional and intelligent as the ladies here. It’s just not possible. Oh man, cue the sappy music. I’m all emotional now! It has been a huge privilege to work with this team and I will always be grateful that they have been part of my life.
Image by Millie Holloman
Last, but most certainly not least, thank you! Thank you for following along these past few years and thank you for making Southern Weddings the community that it is today. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Three years ago when I started out here, Southern Weddings was a brand new blog (and one of the few wedding blogs in existence) and our first print edition had just hit the shelves. Today, Southern Weddings claims an international following, a strong community of readers, and some of the best Southern inspiration on the ‘net (though I may be biased). From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your kindness and your enthusiasm. Of course, I will be following along and reading the blog every single day from my new pad in New York, and I am excited to stay a part of the Southern Weddings family as an avid reader. Thanks, y’all!
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What a wonderful post! I wish you the best of luck, Whitney! I’m so excited for you, and know you’ll do so well in New York. I hope you & Scott have fun planning adventures throughout the Northeast together- you must venture on up to Maine sometime!
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Best of luck to you in NYC, Witney! We really do need more true Southern charm up North and not just from Northerns who love to slip y’all into sentences causing people to pause for a moment (that would be me). NYC is one big adventure waiting for you, and I’m sure you’re going to rock it!
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Oh my sweet sweet Whitney! I am going to miss you so much! You are and will always be my PIC as well! I adore you to the moon and back!! xx p.s. I feel like a proud big sister! I know you’re going to be amazing!
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Gosh how exciting, a bit of an emotional rollercoaster but focus on the positive!
Wishing you the best of luck
Jules x
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Whitney! Congratulations on this new & exciting adventure! I know it can’t be easy to leave, but I know you will have no problems Southernizing NYC! You are sweet as pie. Good luck, best wishes and it has been an absolute pleasure working with you. :)
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Best of luck in your new adventures Whitney!
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Congratulations and good luck to you, Whitney! As a dedicated follower of SW, I feel as though I know you and the rest of the girls personally. You and SW helped me make my wedding the most memorable and special day possible. Thank you for sharing so much with us and I wish you the best, sweetest life possible. A BIG thanks to you all, SW girls!
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Whitney, I wish I could have met you in person because over emails you have been wonderful!!! Have fun in the big apple! And don’t forget to come back to good ol’ NC when you need a Bojangles fix :)
Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post. And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads. We love hearing your kind thoughts!
What an adorable party! She’s definitely one lucky lady to have all of you!! Good luck Whitney in NYC! You’ll love it, I’m sure!