Glamour and Grace: Real Wedding: Emily and Ryan

September 22, 2010

Real Wedding: Emily and Ryan

Bright happy weddings are what make the world go round. And today's wedding is just that! A fun spring wedding filled with vibrant colors, glitter TOMS shoes, and fabric flowers. Yep, that's right! The bride has allergies and opted for these cute fabric bouquets instead! I love when brides find fun ways to get around challenges that arise and really think out of the box! Even better, check out the beautiful photos the talented Wes Roberts captured!

Here what the bride, Emily, had to say: When we began planning our wedding, we knew a few things: we wanted it outside, nontraditional, and in the spring/summer. What unfolded was our dream wedding, with some fun and silly bumps along the way.

My dress, as well as the bridesmaids' dresses, were from David's Bridal, and we all wore silver glitter TOMS Shoes. I was ecstatic to have my makeup done by long-time friend and makeup artist, Dean Brown.

I'd visited Jasmine Hill Gardens a few times before and fell in love with the wedding garden and the surrounding grounds. The reflecting pool made for a gorgeous backdrop to the altar, and the gorgeous surroundings made for a mess-free decorating solution. Unfortunately for Ryan, though, the heat was so intense (it was May in Alabama, after all!) that he was sweating all day–which didn't quite agree with his hair. The ceremony was performed by a local pastor who was also a family friend, and we wrote & read our own vows. Just as we had every guest misty-eyed, the maid of honor dropped the ring onto the stone altar, making a loud clanging sound––and erupting the crowd into giggles! We used a sand vase pouring in lieu of a unity candle, to the song "You & Me" by Dave Matthews Band, and exited to the song "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles.

I am a graphic design major, so I designed the invitations, stationary, and special interactive guestbook pages at each guest's seat. The flowers were hand-assembled fabric flowers from reallybadkitty on Etsy, but were sent unwrapped (and in the boutonnieres' case, unassembled) for me to do myself.

The cake, designed by Teresa's Cake Art & Bakery, was a fondant-covered pound cake with cream cheese icing, topped with a cake topper made in the couples' likenesses, with their two dogs depicted near them, while the groom's cake, shaped like a snare drum, was peanut butter cake with chocolate icing.

The reception highlights: I was serenaded during the reception by the groom's fraternity brothers to a song entitled "Let Me Be Your Sweetheart". The bouquet was caught by the maid of honor, and the garter, houndstooth & Alabama football-themed, was caught by one of the groomsmen. I later changed into a short dress and pink heels to cool off from the summer heat, and we were sent off with sparklers outside of the reception hall.