Happy New Year SMP-ers! We hope your weekend celebrations overflowed with confetti and kisses. And maybe a few diamond rings? We are welcoming what is sure to be a fantastic year with this adorably colorful and sweet fete by Ali Harper Photography. It’s the perfect combination of style and spunk, filled to the absolute brim with all things pretty. And total, crazy, head over heels love. Just the way we want to ring in the New Year. Click here for even more goodness.
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From the bride…Marty and I met in high school and were great friends through our senior year. We ended up at the same college and drifted apart a bit, but we always found time to meet up over the holidays when back at home in Augusta. After college Marty moved to New York and I to Atlanta. Year after year, we would be home, often with whoever we were dating at the time. Finally one year, we were both home, both single and both at a point where we were interested in a bit more than just being friends. I came up to New York to visit him the following Spring, and we kept it going long distance for a year and a half before I moved up to New York.
When we were planning the wedding, our ultimate goal was to bring all of the people from our lives, from down south to up north, young and old, together for a fantastic celebration. We wanted everyone to feel relaxed and free to be themselves; dress as they please, drink and eat and party as they please, and avoid any of the stuffy staged things that can often come along with a wedding ceremony. The first place we thought of was on the Savannah River in Marty’s mom’s neighborhood. It’s such a beautiful setting and is so natural and wild, we thought it would really set the tone for the whole shebang. And it did! We had people stomping to the music, parading to the reception and waving streamers in celebration!
During our ceremony, we had two of our friends from high school read what we wrote in each others yearbooks 11 years ago when we were just friends. We didn’t read the messages beforehand and it was a great moment to hear it read aloud in front of everyone. You could tell that even back then, we really cared for each other. The messages were priceless, mine even ended in “call me sometime babe” with my number!
From the invitations to the decor, we wanted it all to be bright and fun as that’s what we’re all about. A lot of things came together on the fly, like the haikus marty wrote for the terrariums that we had on each table. He whipped those out the week of the wedding and each one had me rolling on the ground in laughter. Loved it.
We put a lot of trust and responsibility in all of our vendors. Everyone was a friend or a friend of a friend, and they all came with immense talent and a unique perspective. We gave everyone an overview of what we were aiming for but ultimately, they really interpreted it as they saw fit, from the music to the flowers to the actual ceremony, which was written and read by our dear friend Melinda, everything came from our friends’ hearts and they pulled from their relationships with us for inspiration.
Caterer: Silver Palm Catering / Dress and shoes: BHLDN / Accessories: On loan from Bride’s mother / Groom’s Pants and Shirt: J Crew / Groom’s Jacket: Tommy Hilfiger / Groom’s Tie: on loan from brother / Vintage Tie Clip and Shoes: Gilt / Bridesmaid dress: J Crew / Flowers: Flowers by Crystal / Location: River Island, Evans Georgia / MC: Derrick Avent / DJ: Jerome Tanksley / Invitations: Bride / Letterpress: Angela Stewart / Photographer: Ali Harper Photography / Coordinator and Planner: Dawn Gahan / Ceremony Benches: Bride’s Stepfather
