If you have a copy of our 2013 wedding issue of clutch, the bride’s guide to have and to hold, chances are you caught a glimpse of this “everyday wedding” in print. When I first laid eyes on these photos, I knew that we had to feature them in our magazine! I love the fact that the wedding takes place at a beautiful residence, has amazing florals and includes chandeliers hanging from trees. The colors are beautiful and the bride is stunning. I adore the fact that she chose her grandmother’s vintage dress as her exit outfit … that is one of my favorite parts (I am a vintage clothing junkie!).

Here are some of Elizabeth’s own words about her wedding. We didn’t have room for her full story in print, so I am excited to include it here:

Our wedding day was a perfect representation of who we are individually and as a couple. Capron and I are both non-traditional people from traditional background,s and we really love our families and friends, so we wanted our wedding to not only reflect our love but express our love to the people we care about.

Having the wedding in my parents’ backyard seemed like an obvious choice. I have so many memories in that yard. Capron proposed to me on the back porch that overlooks the beautiful with terraces, gardens, and fountains – it is really perfect for entertaining. We wanted the whole thing to be relaxed and beautiful, like a candlelit garden party.

The dresses that my bridesmaids wore were their own choices. My sister wore a dress that belonged to my late grandmother, Mary. We were looking through a bunch of her old dresses from the 40′s, 50′s, and 60′s, and she found a gorgeous blue cocktail dress. We both thought that it would be perfect for the wedding, and she tried it on and I thought it looked gorgeous on her. I felt like it would be a great way to honor Granny’s spirit.

Since it was a blue dress (and blues are my favorite), I asked my bridesmaids to choose their own. They all have different styles and personalities, and it wouldn’t have felt right having them all wear the same thing. By allowing them to choose I knew they could find something to fit their different bodies, personalities, and budgets. The dresses ended up showing off their unique personalities, which is something I love about all of them, so it worked really well. Originally, I wanted to wear blue but eventually decided to wear white.

When my Memaw (mom’s mother) heard I was doing blue bridesmaid dresses she offered her wedding dress, which was a beautiful baby blue tea-length dress from the 50′s. As soon as I saw it I thought, “Nope, this can’t be a bridesmaid dress – this is for me!” It fit like a glove, and I ended up wearing it at the reception.

Capron and I made our own iPod playlist for the reception. It was a really fun thing for us to do together, and we knew the type of music that our family and friends would want to hear that was still in line with the ambiance we wanted. That worked out really well.

Everything just felt so laid back and warm. The ceremony was definitely my favorite part. We had an amazing officiant, and you could just feel the love radiating from the people around us. Capron and I went into the whole experience with the feeling that as long as we were married to one another at the end of the day and we got to share that day with everyone we loved, then our wedding would be perfect – everything else was just details. That made the planning feel fun and stress-free and it did turn out to be truly perfect. My mother was an incredible help in planning. She has incredible taste and I relied on her for many things. It was truly the best day of our lives.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for sharing your heart. Again, I adore the story of the dresses! Enjoy these photos of the wedding, which were taken by Jeremiah of Stone Blue Productions. Elizabeth and Capron, I wish you the best in your life together!

Photography – Stone Blue Productions

Catering – Avenue Foods

Cake – Montana Plains Bakery

Wedding Dress – Church Street Bridal (Pnina Tornai) (Alterations by Grace at Sew What)

Chair/Table Rental – True Value Hardware

Officiant – Rev. Anne Gibbons (Lynchburg College Chaplain)

Flowers/Decor – Rod Meek & Company

If you would like to view more of the work of Stone Blue Productions, click here to view another posting.

Wait, wait! I know it’s not May 1st, BUT these darling little cake toppers are easy to make and oh so darling. They can be made to go with any wedding color scheme (or even a shower… wouldn’t they be sweet?!) and would make quite the impression on your guests. This all hails from Studio DIY, so just click here to head on over to their blog for more photos and the instructions.

I love that this posting has a plethora of Hill City Bride and clutch vendors … plus the fact that it’s stunning.

I would like to preface this post by saying that I like to follow a logical order when doing a posting … getting ready, ceremony, reception with details, leaving … etc. For this posting, I thought you may want a glimpse into the day of a photographer, so I decided to leave the images in the order that they were given. You will see that many of the detail shots are in the daytime at the beginning, and you will also see some again during the reception photos. It just goes to show that hiring a professional photographer is such a benefit, and they are there from beginning to end (if you hire them to do so!). Brides spend so much time planning out the details that to have someone there to document all of the elements of the day is so helpful, and the images will be there for years and generations to come.

Allegra of Allegra’s Studio was the photographer, and here are a few questions that she asked Crishaun and Patrick:

How did you meet? Patrick and I met in High School – we both went to E.C. Glass and knew of each other as acquaintances.  Then our senior year of college we reconnected.  My mom wanted new tennis shoes so we went to Lady Footlocker, Patrick was working there for Christmas break, and he helped her out. From that point on, we were inseparable. 

Tell us about your dress, shoes and other accessories. My dress was a ball gown by Eve of Milady, and my shoes were by Badgley Mischka. My jewelry was a combination pieces from Betsy Robinson’s and gifts from Patrick.

What detail did you like best about your wedding day? I loved my décor!  Sandra Guelzo from R.S. Exclusive did a phenomenal job making my vision come to life. Everything that she did – from the ceremony to the reception- was beyond amazing. I especially loved the beautiful centerpieces for my reception!

Describe your decor and how you chose it. Our décor was what I like to call sophisticated elegance. Our colors were various shades of pink, gold and ivory. I truly wanted to create a classy, warm and intimate mood.

What was your favorite moment during your wedding day?

Crishaun: My favorite moment was walking down the aisle with my dad to meet Patrick. I was able to have a special moment with just my dad, see all of our family and friends, and ultimately see Patrick’s face light up with a big smile as I approached him!

Patrick:  My favorite moment during the wedding was when I was waiting with the pastor and father of my bride; having that breath taking moment staring down the aisle at my wife to be.  That moment of joy, happiness and tranquility was the moment of the day for me.

Tell us about your food and cake. Our food was provided by Chef Michelle Hamrick, and everything looked and tasted fantastic! Our guests raved about the bacon wrapped chicken bites that were served during cocktail hour. Our cake was provided by LaBella Torta, and it had 3 delicious flavors of Strawberry Lemonade, Death by Chocolate and Snickers.  Simply divine!

Why did you choose Allegra’s Studio for your photography?  As soon as I saw Allegra’s website, I knew that she had to be our photographer! Her work is captivating and it speaks for itself. I particularly fell in love with her infrared photographs because they are so unique and beautiful.

What’s next on your calendar as a couple?  Enjoying the holidays as a newly married couple with our family and friends!  We are also looking forward to celebrating the New Year and anticipate many great things to come for 2013!

Ok, enjoy these photos. You are in for a big treat visually! Also, please take a peek at the full vendor listing at the end.

Again, great kudos to the amazing team of vendors!

Photographer: Allegra’s Studio

Wedding Coordinator, Florist, Decor and Invitations: RS Exclusive

Caterer: Michelle Hamrick

Cake Artist: La Bella Torta

Lighting: Official Entertainment

Videography: Stone Blue Productions (we will be featuring their video in a separate posting soon!)

Minister: Pastor Sean Womack

Wedding Gown by Eve of Milady

Brides, don’t forget that Bliss, a fine wedding fair is coming up soon. Be sure to register here … so fun!!

Cake! We all love it (well, most of us), and they can be so beautifully focused at a wedding. I wanted to provide you a little bit of cake inspiration today from Black Box Photography … enjoy!

Thank you again to Black Box Photography for submitting these cake photos via Two Bright Lights. For more cake inspiration, just click here.

Brides, don’t forget that Bliss, a fine wedding fair is coming up soon. Be sure to register here … so fun!!

Brides, don’t forget that Bliss, a fine wedding fair is coming up soon. Be sure to register here … so fun!!

From the tall arrangements on the table to the accent pieces, The Arrangement Company made such a lovely color combination for the florals (I would like to stress that they did the reception flowers and not the bridal party for clarification).

Today’s wedding was photographed by Kimberly of KD Burke Photography, and enjoy this feast for the eyes. Sorry if it’s heavy on the flowers … honestly, I just couldn’t help myself. They were too pretty to pass up!

Photography: KD Burke Photography

Reception Flowers: The Arrangement Company

Cake: Coffey Cakes

If you would like to see more blog postings filled with inspiration from KD Burke Photography, just click here and take your pick!

Brides, don’t forget that Bliss, a fine wedding fair is coming up soon. Be sure to register here … so fun!!