Simply put, this wedding will take your breath away. It’s the incredible fog that rolled in, the total understated beauty, the sophisticated but homegrown style. It’s every insanely elegant detail that went into designing the most beautiful wedding ever. Plus it was photographed to beyond perfection by Casey and Drea Cunningham of Cunningham Photo Artists…so you just KNOW that it’s going to be good. Click here to see even more!
click here to see the full gallery!
I never dreamed of the perfect wedding, only the perfect guy. I knew Toby was the one from an early start. Once we were engaged, I began the process of googling venues in the Blowing Rock area. I immediately fell in love with Westglow Resort and Spa from the moment I saw their website and knew it was the one once I had my first in-person visit.
One of my main fears was being trapped inside of a hotel banquet room, with cliché flower arrangements, impersonal touches and really anything overly “wedding.” You won’t believe me when I say that my florist’s name was Fuschia Sky Moss Woods. She married a man whose last name was Woods. I’d say it was meant to be. I searched the SMP website for hours upon hours. I created folders on my computer that were designated for each aspect of my wedding, saving pictures that I liked to keep track of my favorite wedding details. Fuscia took the time to send me individual pictures of each flower I liked to make sure that my standards were met. She went above and beyond to not only find us mason jars for the wedding aisles, but blue tinted mason jars that look more authentic. If I had a vision, Fuschia was there to make it happen.
My something borrowed was from my sister/co-maid of honor. It was my mom’s locket. My mom passed away unexpectedly, Easter 2006, I had just turned 21. The pendant was looped into the twine that held my bridal bouquet together. My blue was my new married monogram stitched into the front underlining of my dress. Tob and I don’t have the best married monogram (I never knew such a thing existed until a close friend pointed out how awful our married monogram was): cAt…that spells CAT folks.
I felt that the personal details that center around the couple and bring the couple’s style out that day are the best and therefore, I tried to incorporate Tob and I into our day any way I could (all of my small detail inspirations came from SMP). I wanted simple, understated elegance and liked the look of a clean cake with pearls on the base. We had 3 different flavors: tiramisu, chocolate, and apple spice (Tob’s favorite is apple pie so this layer was for him; it was also the top tier of our cake, the one we’ll eat on our anniversary).
We didn’t have a cliché first dance or a sappy love song as our first dance…instead we chose to dance to “You Make My Dreams Come True” by the Hall and Oates. It was an upbeat, fun, get the party started kind of first dance AND Tob did make my dreams come true.
One of the 1st things that stood out to me about our photographers, Casey and Drea, was the fact that they wanted us to be comfortable with them so that when it was time to shoot our special day, we weren’t making cheesy, awkward, and unnatural faces because there was a camera there. From learning our wedding party guest’s names to immediate and even extended family, those 2 knew what they were doing and took command. And they didn’t just capture people and details, they captured emotions and feelings from that day, something I will never be able re-create. That is talent. And on the backend, they weren’t a one and done shop. They took the time and energy to make sure that I received the right wedding album for ME, not the one that they sell to everyone.
Wedding Gown: Rivini found at Nitsa’s Apparel in Phillip’s Place, Charlotte, NC / Bridesmaid Dress: Vera Wang / Florists: Fuschia Moss / Caterer: Westglow Chef / Cake Baker: Joanne, Hallmark Cakes / Band or DJ: The Swingin’ Richards / Photographers: Cunningham Photo Artists