A Classic Southern Wedding - With Some Fabulously Fun Touches Added In!

I'm all for a classic Southern celebration any day of the week but when it's infused with personal details and fabulously fun touches. You too? Well, look no further than this Amy Arringtongallery of gorgeousness. From the wine corks to the going away outfit on our beautiful Bride, it's a wedding to remember and be inspired by - see it all right this way!

From the Bride... Drew and I have been going to school together since middle school (6th grade!), but we didn't start dating until we were Juniors at Wake Forest University. We have been so fortunate to have an amazing group of friends and family support us in this journey from friends, to dating, through engagement, and now in marriage. We really wanted our wedding day to be a true celebration of our past and what brought us together, and what our future holds. Mostly, we wanted to have a great evening and we wanted everyone to have fun with us. The number one recommendation I would make to a bride would be to hire someone to help you plan and execute on the day-of. I had been a bridesmaid in a wedding that TOAST planned, and the bride was the most relaxed I had almost ever seen her - and they handled everything. I knew immediately that I wanted to be the same way, and to arrive on my wedding day having given all the details over to a trusted partner. We hired TOAST, and Kerri and I laughed throughout the process about only making decisions which would enable me to be "cool as a cucumber" and we succeeded - I had the best day because I was so relaxed, I knew they had everything under control! At the beginning of the planning process, I had a few strong opinions about certain elements, and then I wanted to allow my vendors to take the reins from there - they are the experts! Kerri and I had a great brainstorming session where we, along with my Mom, talked through the vision: a great celebration that combined beautiful and classic Southern colors and traditions with some modern updates and personalization.​Kerri connected us with great vendors ​who​ are incredibly talented and wonderful to work with. They​ immediately understood my vision for the style of the wedding​ - Lisa at Paper Daises and Gabi at Edge Design made my loose conception and ideas of what I was looking for into a reality - more perfectly than I could have ever imagined. They understood and helped us maintain the balance between a more updated look that reflects our style and a traditional black tie Southern wedding. When it came to the day of the wedding, our amazing vendors took care of everything and​ ​we were able to enjoy every moment - which is evident in the beautiful photos that Amy and Brandon (Amy Arrington Photography) took.​ Amy and Brandon were able to perfectly deliver our need for more traditional, posed wedding photos of extended family, but also offer their beautiful artistic eye and use of light to take photos where everyone looks amazing and not "stiff." We will enjoy their images forever. ​ ​We cannot say enough great things about our band, the Atlanta Showstoppers, who had everyone on the dance floor until the very end of the evening. They played the perfect mix of oldies for swing dancing and upbeat pop songs, which appealed to the whole crowd. ​They ensured my vision of a great celebration (i.e. a really fun party) was a reality! At the reception, instead of a traditional guest book for signatures, we had blank corks and asked everyone to sign a cork. Drew and I save the corks from bottles of wine we drink on special occasions and with special friends and family. He used our cork collection when he proposed, so we loved including this element in our wedding. Lisa (Paper Daises) and Gabi (Edge Design) created a beautiful area of vases and pictures to tell this story - and now we have a whole bowl of corks from our wedding guests which we've added to our collection! We also opted for a "grooms cake" that was an ice cream bar, because Drew LOVES ice cream. This was a great choice because late June in Atlanta guarantees hot and humid weather, ​and most of our guests were very interested in a bowl of ice cream! Chef Christophe Joignant and the team at Capital City did a beautiful job with all the food and I loved collaborating with them on the flavors and location of our "grooms cake" ice cream and cookies station! My mom loved her going away outfit and I wanted to embrace the classic tradition myself. So I changed before the evening ended into a shorter white cocktail dress. Not only was it a fun nod to tradition and my mom's outfit change, but it was a surprise! I'd kept my dress a secret, and only a few people knew I was planning to change at all, so it was fun for me to have a little reveal! It also turned out to make my last few moments on the dance floor the most fun I had, as my short going away dress was much more comfortable for dancing and departing than my long and heavy wedding dress! ​

Photography: Amy Arrington Photography | Event Planning: TOAST | Floral Design: Edge Design Group | Wedding Dress: Buckhead Bridals | Cake: Classic Cakes And Cheesecakes | Stationery: Paper Daisies Stationery | Ceremony Venue: Peachtree Road United Methodist Church | Reception Venue: Capitol City Club, Brookhaven | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid | Hair + Makeup: The Moore Agency | Lighting: Unique Event Elements | Band: East Coast Entertainment | Transportation: Atlantic Limo | Rentals: James Nesmith