I am so excited to share these pictures with you! A fair warning--this post is ridiculously image heavy.
In August of 2012, the sweetest bride, Molly, and her mother contacted me about designing her wedding.
It had been several years since I had done a wedding (by choice) because they are very time consuming.
So, I was really excited to get back into it, because I do love it, and this family was ever-so-sweet!
I felt like I understood Molly's vision for the wedding right away. She wanted a classic Southern wedding with some special personalized touches of their personalities added.
She is at that time in her life where all her friends are getting married and she goes to weddings once a month. She wanted hers to stand out and have it's own feel. She didn't want to have a color scheme and instead chose to keep things soft and pastel.
I have always told my brides that you want your guests to leave your wedding and say "that was so THEM!"
I started calling this my "Old South Wedding" because it conjured up visions of drippy Spanish moss, lace, and elegant silver pieces.
Molly chose a gorgeous, classically romantic lace gown with a very small beaded detail at the waist. 
It really set the tone for the entire direction of the wedding. 
Could they be any cuter? Seriously. 
I cannot say enough wonderful things about these two ladies. Cathleen and Molly were dream clients!
And aren't they gorgeous?
Since we were working with tones of silver and pewter, Molly chose these pewter dresses from Bella Bridesmaid. They coordinated perfectly with the sherbet-colored bouquets.
Molly and Matt got married in one of the most beautiful locations in Memphis, The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It honestly doesn't even need any flowers because it is just a stunner.
For the reception, I wanted to focus on a few key points in Matt and Molly's story. They travel a lot, being that their families are in Memphis and Atlanta. But, they met in Virginia at college and they have a few other places that are special to them. We wanted to somehow include a nod to all those places.
They also LOVE the Atlanta Braves and they met at the school bookstore! So, we had to work all those things into the design. You will see how....
Outside the reception location, The University Club of Memphis, I hung two laser cut monograms that I covered with moss. Our amazing floral designers, L&Jay Productions added a little extra zhuzh with some orange and pink roses and vine.
Inside the club, guests were greeted by a guest book table. But instead of a traditional guest book, Molly chose a book about Washington and Lee University, their alma mater. I displayed it on a upcycled cake stand that I keep in my collection of serving pieces. That way, guests weren't bending down to write on it.
The table was styled with florals, lanterns, books, and moss. Every vintage book that I used had a special theme that was personal to Molly and Matt. In this vignette, there is a book about Baseball and also about Washington D.C, one of their favorite cities. I had L&Jay tuck these pink roses into an empty book cover for a lush look.
For the gift table, I used a very large lantern to hold the cards, and hung these simple glittered initials from the front of the table.
The guests were greeted outside the ballroom by our favor table. This table is one of my favorite elements of the wedding. I put together this large book page backdrop to call to mind their meet-cute at the bookstore. And I layered it with this laser cut monogram of their married initials. I covered the monogram in moss to give it extra texture. And, I think it will be gorgeous in their house!
I added some special touches in this area too, like a keepsake chalkboard I created using maps of the cities where they met, were engaged, and were married.
For the linens, Molly and I chose a very soft pewter cloth with a beautiful white lace scrollwork overlay.
Every centerpiece was a little bit different, to make it feel like the pieces were brought together from various sources. Lots of glass, silver, and lanterns intermingling to make beautiful centerpieces.
The University Club has a stunner of a fireplace and it is always the showcase of any wedding there. L & Jay used our inspiration picture to create a soft, romantic, dripping display of roses, hydrangea, and amaranthus.
For the bistro tables that we scattered around the reception, we chose a tone on tone stripe. To soften it and keep it from feeling masculine, I bought yards of extra wide lace from Joann and tied each table with a pretty bow.
The food displays were the area where we really got to have fun with Matt and Molly's favorite cities. Each food station was themed for a city.
For the Memphis station, I added a little decor of vintage Memphis records with a very funny Elvis quote about needing CPAs--they are both CPAs.
And of course, what else do you serve on a Memphis station but BBQ? But, we did Pork-tinis! Pork-tinis were little martini glasses layered with pulled pork, bbq sauce, baked beans, and slaw. Memphis in a glass!
The University Club was fabulous to work with! Melissa and her staff were so flexible in our menu choices and really worked with us to create the perfect menu!
Paris was the location of their honeymoon, so we had to include it! I used a Paris themed hat box, some tip trays with beautiful paintings of Paris, and some vintage monogrammed tea towels to decorate the station.
Lexington, Virginia is the location of Washington and Lee University and we served a blackened chicken pasta that is famous there. The moss symbol is actually the trident symbol of Washington and Lee.
Hilton Head Island is a favorite vacation location, so we of course served Crab meat Hush puppies and Shrimp and Andouille Sausage skewers. Each table also had a framed picture of the couple in that city.
And what else but peaches at the Atlanta table? Actually it was Fried Chicken and Waffles and
Crostini with blue cheese spread on
bottom and topped with fresh peaches and honey.
For the cake, I proposed we do things a little bit differently.
Instead of presenting it on a traditional round table, I wanted to do it on a vintage piece of furniture. We found this gorgeous antique buffet and doors at PropCellar. PropCellar is an amazing service that allows you to rent beautiful vintage pieces of furniture!
This buffet was the perfect piece to display the cake. I loved the idea of having the drawers open and the flowers spilling out the front.
I found a beautiful vintage lace table runner to put on top of the buffet.
Major thanks to Shara's Paperie for providing us with all the paper goods, including these napkins, frosted cups, programs, invitations, favor tags, and way more!
We had the hardest time deciding on a favor that the guests could travel with, since a majority of them were out of town! But, we wanted them to take something home that was quintessentially Memphis.
And BBQ spice rub was it! Easy to put in your luggage, and something that the guests could use!
We added these beautiful tags by Shara's Paperie to give them a finishing touch.
To toss at the end of the wedding, we chose these small hand-stamped bags of dried lavender. It smelled amazing and really gave the wedding a special touch.
I displayed them in a wooden basket I got at an antique mall for $6. I covered the entire thing in moss to tie into the monogram.
And now, more eye candy.
The groom, Matt, is not much of a sweets guy. So, he wanted to have a late night snack instead. I was all for that idea! But, instead of having the late night snacks out on a table, I proposed having them butlered around using boxes like a concession vendor would do at a baseball game.
Again, calling to mind their love of the Braves.
I made this giant chalkboard for the guests to know that the snack would be at 11pm. I love the way it turned out!
The late night snack included sliders, mini hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, and small bottles of Coke.
To create my concession boxes, I used antique Coke crates and I stapled ribbon to them to give them a neck strap. I used iron-on bonding tape to add Braves themed ribbon on top of the large ribbon. Each one had an assortment of small Braves buttons on them too!
The guest absolutely loved this part! It was awesome to see all the smiling faces when these guys came around the room!
LOVE this picture of Matt and Molly sharing some cotton candy!
I cannot thank Molly and Cathleen (and Matt and Jim) enough for being so amazing to work with!
I wish every wedding and event could go as smoothly and as beautifully as this one!
Special Thanks to Kevin Barre Photography, who sent me these amazing images from the wedding!
Vendors:
Photography: Kevin Barre Photography
Gown: Maggie Louise Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid
Floral Design: L & Jay Productions
Videographer: Message In A Bottle
Wedding Location: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Reception Location and Catering: University Club of Memphis, Melissa Gwyn
Linen and Chair Rentals: Classic Party Rentals Memphis
Vintage Furniture Rentals: PropCellar
Cake: Carla Beard
Band: The Party Jammers, RAM Entertainment
Favors: Corky's BBQ of Memphis
Lavender for Toss: PiperLovesOllie
Graphic Design and Invitations: Confections by Shara's Paperie
Cotton Candy: Dolly's Cotton Candy
Wedding Design, Coordination, and Styling: GreyGrey Designs