I DO- Reception

There is no way to sum up our reception other than....THE BEST PARTY OF OUR LIVES!!!!!! It topped all our expectations! It was beyond fun! I could go on and on!


The details:


Flowers- I'm a girl that loves flowers. Why our reception flowers I have to be honest and admit weren't exactly what I had imagined or pictured -I still loved them. We had a mixture of tall and short centerpieces to give the room more height and depth. The shipment of hydrangeas was slightly messed up and not as many as were supposed to came, but the look still was full with white, yellow and a pop of green color. There were also willow branches in the tall arraignments although it's hard to see!


Chairs- we had chair covers and accented them with the same silver gray color chair tie as the bridesmaids dresses. They helped to bring the yellow and gray color scheme come all together, and really made the chairs pop!


Paper Lanterns- Probably the best design decision we made. I was the first bride to use the lanterns in this ballroom. That made me nervous, I didn't want to make a decor mishap! I was obsessed with the paper lantern look though and wanted to use them BAD! The day of I checked in on the reception room every hour to see how the look was coming along. Much to my delight the lanterns looked fabulous! We had them scattered across the entire room. We also used a few different heights and sizes to bring more detail in.

We had lanterns accented with flowers and moss for the cocktail hour! Even though the weather was too crisp to enjoy them they still looked great!

reception set up

flowers, chair ties, lanterns!

Drink Stirrers: I was obsessed with putting my mark on our wedding by little details. The drink stirrers were something I HAD to have! Thanks to Etsy I had custom drink stirrers made- they were a hit!

                                                     Custom Drink Stirrers- Etsy Shop 

Seating chart: I had big plans for the seating chart. I wanted it to be easy to navigate for our guests, but didn't want it to lack in design. I ended up deciding on a big framed template that in my opinion looked great! Thanks to Etsy again for the seating chart: I simply ordered, sent over our guest list alphabetized, and printed at Kinkos. Put it in a great frame and ta da!

                                                     Custom Seating Chart- Etsy shop

Table Numbers: I designed these also on Etsy.... go figure! They were amazing paper quality and I loved how the yellow and gray colors with the damask design tied into all the other details. I used card holders from Michaels to display them- as they needed something sturdy and weighted to hold them since the paper was thick.
                                                            Table numbers- Etsy Shop

Wishing Tree: First off I wish we had a better picture of this beauty! OMG it was so gorgeous! I didn't want to do the traditional guest book that you never look back at. The wishing tree is a way for al your guest to write personal wishes for your future, marriage, love etc. We will look at these on anniversaries through the years!


Bridal Portrait: We displayed my bridal portrait, pictures from the portrait session and engagement photos along a decorated table. We also had the wishing tree and card area on this table. It was candle lit.

                                                          Custom Wishing Tree Tags

wishing tree tags 

Display table

Wishing Tree

Napkins: We (Me) of course had to have personalized wedding napkins! We had two different ones. They turned out great! I loved having our new last name one them!

We ate, drank and were married :)

Food: We're eaters in our family, and having great food was super important to us! We had quite a spread that included: carved prime rib, a risotto AND mashed potato bar with tons of fun toppings, seafood station with jumbo shrimp, crab claws, and oysters, roasted vegetables, salad, rolls etc! I can't even remember it all! We also had the banquet staff make up plates for Joel and I to have in our suite waiting for us - I would highly highly recommend this to all Brides! We ate at the reception but not as much as we wanted because we wanted to spend time with our guests!

YUM!!!!

Mashed potato and risotto bar served in cute glasses!

Seafood Station

DJ: At first in wedding planning I didn't think you could really go wrong with a DJ- I mean they just play music right?! Wrong! We learned quickly some DJs are completely obnoxious and very cheesy! Dylan Skidmore was recommend to us by many family and friends. He was slightly above our budget set by GPI- but they got him for us! They really pulled out all the stops for us! He was the best DJ ever! Our guests didn't leave the dance floor- everyone old and young was breaking it down and singing along all night! If this is a testament I didn't even have a bathroom break at the reception- that's how much fun we were having! And everyone that knows me knows I have a bladder about the size of a small pea :)

First dance: We were dorks and took ballroom dance lessons to have a great first dance. I have to say most would probably think this would be something that was an added stressor to the wedding process- for us it was the total opposite. I would meet Joel at the dance studio all dolled up, we would dance, laugh at ourselves the entire time, and then always have a dinner date after. It was a day we looked forward to! After about seven lessons we had learned our dance, and I have to say we did pretty well! We danced to "You are the Best Thing" by Ray Lamontagne.

breaking it down for our first dance- love the expressions on peoples faces! lol!

Father/Daughter dance

Cake: I gotta admit I wasn't a girl that cared much about the cake! I know I found out along the wedding planning process that was pretty weird! All I cared about was that it taste good and have a monogram! I got my wishes!

Joel was really getting into it!

love a bow and pearl accents

We used the bridesmaid bouquets to decorate the table! Get as much use out of them as possible!

Dancing: Not much need for explanation here! We all danced our booties off! Absolute amazing time! I only am sharing a few and man it was hard to pick!

love seeing my parents so happy!

the girls having a great time!

time out for a BFF hug!

having a blast!

hey there!

ha ha!

smooches! xoxo

Exit: We had a big exit! Much more awesome than we imagined it would be! All of our guests lined up on both sides of the hallway exiting the GPI and cheered us on! There were woo hoos, high fives and lots of smiles! We left in a golf cart decorated  by my girls! We were married, we were so happy, and our reception was a success to say the least! Lord if I could do it all again I would! Even though we extended the reception and bar by an hour my Dad still said "I could have done that for two more hours"! I'm so glad my parents had as much fun as we did!

The line felt like it went on and on! So good to say bye to everyone in a great way!

one last hug with Dad

We're off!!

Love all the cheers!!

haha Success for sure!!

GPI at night!

So gorgeous! 

Brunch: The next day my MOH Bailey's family hosted our out of towners and family to a fantastic brunch! They knocked it out of the park! The food, drinks and company were amazing!
After brunch we had all our friends and family back over to my parents to open gifts and hang out! We drove back to Charlotte Sunday afternoon so we could head out to Puerto Rico on our honeymoon Monday am! YAY!


Photography credit to The Schultzes  :)

I DO- Our Ceremony

Signed, Sealed and Delivered- I'm yours!

Our wedding Ceremony was absolutely perfect!

A stunning mountain skyline backdrop, fall crisp air, a beautiful stone and lantern filled terrace, and all of our loved ones by our side- it was the perfect way to say I DO!

Until getting engaged I had always been an absolutely no outdoor location type of gal. Let's face it I did not want to have to worry about the weather being an issue- but my number one thing honestly was that I didn't want to have to worry about my hair messing up! Ha! 

After getting engaged man did those plans change- I absolutely wanted outdoors. Joel and I both grew up in church and are religious, but I definitely think an outdoor ceremony can be just as religious and spiritual. We felt the love from our family, friends and God shining down on us during our ceremony.  The air was crisp- but we were warmed by all the love surrounding us! 

Even though I had lived in Asheville the majority of my life,  I never had thought/dreamt of being married at the Grove Park Inn. I only looked at a few venues- and we went to GPI first. Honestly we were SOLD- I immediately had a feeling and butterflies- this was where we were supposed to get married! I couldn't get it out of my mind- and my Mom had basically already started planning the big day! 

 But just to not get too ahead of ourselves we put a hold on our date - 10/01/11...the last October date available (hello fate!),  and checked out one more location. As we did our walk through we were constantly elbowing each other and hinting- ehhh this is nice, but it's not GPI. Ha Ha! 

I was very lucky because I was as sold as my parents were! And luckily my(then) fiance' completely trusted me. We had discussed our vision for the day and we completely agreed on it all. After visiting the following weekend- Joel was in! We signed all our contracts and our date was set! Holy cow that was easy! I was so happy finding our venue was not a hassle! 

For our wedding we knew that we would have a lot of out of town guests- our college friends, out of town family, and Joel's family from California. Having our ceremony and reception in one place was a big perk for us. After the ceremony was done- the party could immediately start! Our guests could go right into the cocktail hour and the celebration would immediately begin! Also after my bridal portraits I was glad to not have to get in a car in my dress- even though my dress wasn't "poofy" it can really take up some room! 

For the ceremony we wanted an arch way decorated in flowers to be really the main decor of our ceremony   "alter". I wanted a full but then cascading floral look. I think it turned out fabulous! 

Our Arch! 

The chairs had hydrangea blooms along with magnolia branches- rustic elegance

Wedding Ceremony Program

We chose to be traditional and not see each other before the ceremony. We both wanted that anticipation and rush of emotions that comes with seeing each other for the first time as your about to commit and join as one. It was just that- emotional, so special and even more romantic and memorable than I could have imagined! I definitely was nervous and excited- but started to tear up as I was walking with my Dad. Luckily I got it together- as my day chanted to me "this is fun, this is fun", and I have a few pics without an ugly cry headed down the isle! 

My Dad's smile just makes me so happy!

This is fun, this is fun!

The look on Joel's face as I walked down to meet him was just simply priceless! He was the sweetest thing, pure excitement and joy radiated from his adorable smile- and tears were shed- score! These pictures are some of my favorites! They truly capture the emotion of this moment!

Still calm

Deep Breathe

And all smiles!

Our littlest bridal party members were too cute for words! Our flower girls- Isabella and Jocelyn I had nannied for all through college! I started to babysit Bella when she was 4 months old- she's now in first grade! Wow I'm feeling old!

They were so cute!

Our ring bears were also siblings! Our close family friends Jason and Stephanie are the proud parents of these cuties! They looked so adorable with this sign I bought on Etsy!

The sign was a big hit!

The Mountain View Terrace- GPI

Completely picturesque

Vow time!

You may kiss your Bride!

Too happy for words!

 This was with no exaggeration the absolute best day of our lives! We will look back on these pictures and remember the joy we felt that day and be happy- very happy!