Gather Wedding: Meredith and Jeremy

I first introduced Meredith and Jeremy in my post titled "An Engagement to Remember." If you haven't seen this post, take a minute and check it out. Swan Lake Stables was where the engagement took place, so the couple felt like it was only fitting that the wedding also be held at Swan Lake.

The couple has a great sense of style and it shined through from the moment they got engaged. They wanted an organic, anthropology feel for everything. So, we hired Andy Hopper of KG Designs who I knew would be able to turn our vision into reality. The wedding and reception flowers included babies breath, pale blush pinks, greens and moss balls. The sign-in table had a brushed silver bucket that held the iced down bottled waters that were given to the guests as they arrived. My favorite detail was the antique copper bath tub I rented from Architectural Heritage for the gifts. It was a fabulous touch to our "anthropology" wedding. It looked like it came straight out of a photo shoot.....too bad NO ONE got a photo of it!

The barn has 2 horse stalls along each side of the barn. Each one opens up to the center of the barn. We decided to put a 60" round table in each stall and hang a candle chandelier over each table. Each stall became a private dinning room for guests to enjoy. (I know what you are thinking...."who in the right mind wants to eat dinner in a horse stall?") Well, the stalls are clean as a whistle. I actually heard guests commenting on how they seriously doubted if a horse had ever even been in them

Meredith's aunt had a good collection of little lanterns that we decided to hang from the ceiling over the food table to give the corridor a nice glow after the sun went down. Each lantern was carefully hung by the groom a few days before the wedding. The silver satin ribbon was a nice touch for the rustic, but elegant look. The tiny votives were lit minutes before the wedding and were blown out one by one after every guest and vendor had left (one reason why you hire a wedding planner).

Before Set Up

After Set Up

Meredith and Jeremy really wanted the "farm to table" meal for the guests. Kathy G. & Co. was able to prepare the most beautiful meal that fit right in with their organic look and feel. Guests were offered rosemary lemonade as the ceremony was ended.

Meredith is the store manager for Doree, a boutique in Homewood, AL, so the girl knows fashion. When it came to purchasing a dress, she headed to Ivory and White. Meredith loved her dress so much, that she has made it very clear she would be wearing it around the house for months to come. Meredith also had her heart set on a pair of heals that I begged her not to wear. The idea of grass and high heels made me a nervous wreck, but I should have known....the girl didn't have a problem at all.

Every bride strategically plans their "something borrowed" months before the big day and this bride was no different. Meredith wore a strand of her grandmother's and mother's pearls as well as her own.

Barb Sullivan created a beautiful cake that was stunning under the flower balls and chandelier!

Jeremy worked with A Bryan Photo when he got out of college, so there was no question who would be the photographer. I love working with Bryan Johnson and his team! Below are a few of my favorite photos from the day.

We all racked our brains for a "get away" car, truck, horse, whatever and nothing was working out. Finlay Jeremy came up with the idea to use a family member's old Cadillac Convertible and it was perfect!

Congratulations Meredith and Jeremy! Thank you for letting Gather be a part of your Big Day!

Happy Planning!

-NB

Real Wedding: Lauren and Anderson

I don't know where to being when writing you about this wedding. I have had the photos back for three weeks and every time I sit down to tell you about this wedding, I get overwhelmed and I hang it up. If you haven't figured it out by now, I will work 100 plus hours on a wedding, but get frustrated in the first 10 minutes of writing about it. This is why I have been so terrible about updating lately. Well, the wait is over.....I hope you enjoy reading through this post half as much as I enjoyed planning this wedding!

I have known Anderson all of my life, and have been lucky enough to have Lauren as a dear friend for the last few years. Many people ask, how can you plan a friend's wedding? Is it weird? The answer in this situation is NO! With the right care and attention, your friends can be your best client!

Lauren was not a bride who had already planned her wedding before getting engaged. So, when we sat down to plan her day, she was open to ideas and suggestions. She quickly figured out what she wanted and we ran with it.

First Step: Venue

Fist Baptist is the church Lauren grew up in, so it was only fitting for her ceremony to take place there. It was also special that her parents married in the same church years ago.

We visited just about every venue in Montgomery before making our last stop by a new venue called Alley Station. The minute we walked in, we knew it was the right place. Lauren had asked for a sleek, modern look and Alley Station screamed modern elegance!

There were two sitting areas in the ballroom like the one above. Considering the wedding color was gray, and we were planning on bringing in lounge furniture for the roof top garden (yes, I said roof top garden :)), this was an added bonus!

This photo was taken of the roof top before construction was complete, so unfortunately I can not show you how beautiful it is now.

Second Step: Vendor Selection

We talked to various talented vendors, but we finally narrowed it down to who we thought would be the best fit for what we were looking for.

Caterer......

Jennie Weller Catering out of Montgomery knocked it out of the park. The food was fabulous! I can not tell you how much I enjoyed working with Ann and Jennie. I think Ann and I talked every day the few months leading up the wedding. There wasn't anything they wouldn't do for us!!

We chose to have the more formal foods in the ballroom and serve fun casual foods on the roof. To recognize Lauren and Anderson's love for mexican food, we had a self serve taco bar that was a huge hit. We also had a panini and pizza station. The panini and pizzas were a huge hit during the game and as the party continued into the night.

Paper......

We hired Ashley Rice with Rice Designs to create the save the date, invitation, hotel information, program, huggie, cups, labels, you name it! I am going to do a separate post on this. To get you excited...the invitation made me cry when it came in. I was so happy with the way it turned out!

Decor.......

Andy Hopper from KG Design (Birmingham) worked his magic with flowers, furniture and lighting. There wasn't a detail left out.

Andy and I before Lauren walked down the aisle.....

Oh and yes, that is Lauren's bouquet made of 21 large calla lilies and orchids. By the looks of it, you would think it weighed 2 tons, but it was light as feather!

Curly willow lined the aisle and baptismal in front of the church. 500 orchids were used in the church alone!

Photography......

I will give you one guess as to who we used....I guess the logo in all of these photos gave it away. Arden did a wonderful job capturing all the details of the weekend without being in the way. As Lauren says it best, "I didn't even know she was there."

Cakes.....

Peggy McKenny created the perfect cake for Lauren. We also had Peggy make a few sheet cakes to send home with each guest as the wedding favor.

"Have your cake and eat it too!"

Music......

The band was a very important aspect to the wedding, so I hired SOUL STATION out of Memphis. They are a good wedding band who kept the guests dancing even a hour after the reception was supposed to be over. The bride was so inspired by their tunes that she sang a solo of "Baby Got Back". . . Priceless!

Football.......

If you are a big football fan, it is usually a good idea to stay clear from a fall wedding. However, you may not have a choice if your church gives you one or two dates to choose from. September 18th just happened to be the Auburn vs. Clemson game, so I arranged for a AV company to set up the game on a big screen. We created a football lounge on the roof top and embraced the fact that guests would be glued to the TV the first hour of the reception. While I make this sound like it was no big deal, it was almost a complete disaster! (stay tuned for a post on "why you need a wedding planner" for more on this story).

Third Step: Details

I can honestly say that the details of this wedding were what made it. Two of my favorite touches

were the logo that we carried throughout the entire wedding, and the throw pillows for sofas on the roof were purple with a "W" monogramed in gray.

The nine months it took to plan this wedding was a blast! I loved every single second of it and could not have been happier with the way it all came together!

Happy Planning!

-NB