Oh, Georgia. Just when I think I have your pretty, pretty ways all figured out, you up the awesome a notch with a fabulous Brasstown Valley Resort affair, complete with mason jars, vintage books, fabulous DIY details and wildflowers galore crafted by Flowers From Us. And then you throw some camels into the mix for some post-wedding session gorgeousness and, well, there’s just no way I could love you more. Thankfully, Kristi Odom Photography was on hand to capture every swoon-worthy moment and fill our gallery with pretty. Join me there for even more!
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From the Bride… One small thing that ended up having a huge impact on our planning was a pitcher of hand-picked wildflowers from his mom the day we got engaged. We got engaged on a yearly vacation that he has gone on with his family ever since he was born, and back then, it was already a 25 year old tradition. This was the second year that I went with him, and a couple days in is when he asked me to go out on the boat so he could show me around the lakes and little islands he had found over the years. Of course I agreed, not suspecting a thing, and even inviting everyone I passed on the way to the boat. I was playing with the settings on my camera to try to make it capture the trees in the vivid green I was seeing, and he said, “Take a picture of this…” This is where the slow-motion replay feeling kicks in; I turned around, expecting a bug or bird perhaps to photograph, but instead saw him down on one knee with a picture perfect little treasure in his hands. When we got back to the dock, his whole family (28 I believe) were there to greet us with champagne and congratulations. We went back to our cabin shortly after and found a card with our names on it and a pitcher of hand-picked wildflowers from his mom. It was just the inspiration we ended up using to put together much of our wedding.
When meeting with the florist, there weren’t many instructions; no classic rose bouquets, and think “wildflowers.” The centerpieces were all constructed of various old vases and cloth covered books I traveled far and wide to find in thrift/antique stores and we made the table numbers and place cards to give them a crafty yet dainty appearance. Being that the venue was somewhat spread out, we needed a way to direct our guests from place to place. So as not to do any damage to the venue, the day before our wedding, Ryan and our awesome (and helpful) wedding photographer assembled the signs using flower pots as the bases, that we then filled with rocks for support. My dress was a sample gown that I had altered down 8 sizes to fit like a glove and it was honestly the best dress I could have found. One of my favorite details, that wasn’t even seen by our guests, were the personalized hangers I had made by two amazing ladies on etsy (Emilie and Anna) of LilaFrances. I knew I wanted to buy one of their hangers for the legendary dress picture, but when I came up with the idea to surprise Ryan with a hanger that said “oh baby” inside his tux as he suited up to get married, they were so helpful and rushed the order to get it to me in time.
There was one thing in particular that we had done about a year into dating, but sounded like even more fun now, so I pitched the idea to Ryan and hoped he’d say yes. The idea was to have pictures taken, of us just having fun, to remember this time in our lives. The first time around, it wasn’t really as it sounds though… it wasn’t a planned out fun-loving photo shoot, but rather a favor to me one day when I was doing modeling and needed a “fiancé/groom” to pose with. Now that we were actually married, I really wanted to revisit that experience and have fun with it this time around. About 2 weeks after our wedding, when I found out Kristi would be in town for another wedding, I threw out the idea and asked her what she thought about it. Kristi did some research and found a farm with llamas, zebras, pigs, a wallaby, and best yet, Camels! I didn’t even know there were Camels in Georgia! I immediately called and left a message for the farm owner. When she called me back I told her the idea we had, she was more than happy to help us bring it to life. It was official, we had rented camels and I cannot tell you how excited I was that this was really happening. The morning of the shoot finally came after what seemed like forever, and at just past 5am, we were on our way to go play with camels. When we pulled up to the farm, it wasn’t some big commercial looking farm, there was no parking lot, and we were greeted by the owner’s son, who would be handling the animals for us that day. Not 100 feet from where we parked, there was a very subdued fuzzy camel, just hanging out and watching us get everything together. Once dressed in our wedding attire again, we started walking down the dirt road that led us to the animals, it was breathtaking.
Wedding Photography: Kristi Odom + Thu Tran + Christopher Yost of Kristi Odom Photography / Save the Dates: The Bride (Design) + Postcards.com (Printing) / Wedding Invitations: The Bride / Wedding Dress: Blu by Mori Lee via Bride Beautiful / Bridesmaid Dresses: CoralieBeatrix / Earrings: Belcanto / Bracelet: Macy’s / Hairpiece: cassandralynnestudios / Veil: Bella Bridal Veils / Bride’s Shoes: Nina / Girls’ Jewelry: elegantcostumejewelry / Personalized Hangers: LilaFrances / Tuxes: Savvi Formalwear / Ties: Macy’s / Wooden Signs: SweetWeddingDetails / Programs: The Bride / Flowers: Flowers From Us / DJ: Lou Guzzo from Spectrum Entertainment / Wedding Venue: Brasstown Valley Resort / Event Coordinator: Renee Beebe of Brasstown Valley Resort / Wedding Cake: Cakes By Darcy / Hats: eBay / Glasses: the-bestdealmarket + Shades of Fun / Sparklers: Sparkle / Table Numbers: The Bride / Guestbook: ModernShabby / Thank You Tags for Favors: Couture Cuts / Favors: Kate Aspen