This lovely wedding has a little bit of everything. A bit of traditional elegance in their stunning venue, Greystone at Piedmont Park. Some whimsical fun in the bride and groom’s glow stick exit and the bride’s amazing gown. Rustic beauty from the raw cotton bolls used for the donation favors. A hint of modern from some beautiful patterned table runners. And their gorgeous mercury glass pieces sit right at the intersection of DIY and vintage — the bride actually painted them herself! Add in the adorable bride and groom, and this wedding is just about perfect. from the hip did a fantastic shooting all of the photos, and you can see them all right here in the gallery!
From the Bride… Nathan and I met at the University of Georgia when we were sophomores. I had noticed him as a freshman while he was running on campus :) and had always hoped that we would “accidentally” run in to each other and hit it off. I just knew there was something special about him! It wasn’t until the infamous University of Georgia/University of Florida game that we truly met and had the “ah ha!” moment that I was hoping for! We have been together ever since, seven years and counting! We got engaged in October of 2011. We had been through four years of undergraduate school, two graduate school programs, one big move to the city and two houses — we knew we were ready! We picked Greystone at Piedmont Park because it was the loveliest venue that we had ever seen. It is right in the heart of our favorite park and a place where we have spent many sunny afternoons since moving to Atlanta. We just knew we had to find a way to get married on the steps of the park — they are beautiful, overlook the skyline of the city that we love and were the place where Nathan asked me to marry him. For us it was a no brainer! October 20, 2012 was also our perfect date — it was exactly a year from the day we got engaged.
It was very important to us that our ceremony reflected who we are as a couple and the things that are truly important to us. We had an nontraditional ceremony that officiated by our good friend Josh. In lieu of a traditional “homily,” he had all of our family members send him their prayers for our marriage and future — he compiled those prayers and made them into one big “family prayer.” He read that out loud to us for the first time during our ceremony, and Nathan and I couldn’t hide the emotion that came from words filled with so much love. We also wrote our vows together before the wedding. We wanted to make sure that what we said up there was a reflection of what we both want for our marriage. It was the most amazing and emotional part of our ceremony for me. We both had tears in our eyes even though we had read those words to each other many times before. We had two of the most important people in our lives give readings during our ceremony. One was an excerpt from one of our favorite books, “Still Life With Woodpecker” by Tom Robbins, and one was a poem called “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”We wanted our reception to continue the theme of our ceremony — personal, sweet and fun. Sun In My Belly provided beautiful appetizers at cocktail hour and a delicious dinner in the dinner hall. My uncle and his band mate played the acoustic guitar and sang during cocktail hour, and we continued our favorite songs throughout dinner. We wanted our guests to have plenty of drinks, food and entertainment!
The inspiration for our entire wedding (the colors, the feeling, the aesthetic) came from a painting that Nathan and I bought at a local art festival. When we were trying to figure out what we wanted our wedding to look like and feel like, we were sitting across from that painting. We just decided that if we could make our wedding look like that painting, it would be beautiful! Our colors were dove gray, winter white, gray-blue and blush. We used mercury glass of all shapes and sizes, lanterns, crystal votives and birch vases to get the look we were going for. Instead of sparklers, we opted to use glow sticks for our grand exit. It was Nathan’s idea and I love the way that the pictures turned out! Also, our photo booth was a huge hit! We spent the year collecting various props and costumes and let our guests run wild. Those pictures will always be displayed in our home — they make us laugh and show us how fun all of our loved ones truly are! Additionally, we used Wedit to capture video throughout the night. Seven of our guests used the Flip cameras to record all of the sweet, funny, meaningful, and wild events that took place!
Wedding Photography: from the hip (formerly smitten photos) / Wedding Venue: Greystone at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia / Wedding Planning: Laura Birney Events / Floral Design: Stylish Stems / Catering: Sun In My Belly + The Varsity / Wedding Cake: Kristen George of The Crafty Cakery / Cupcakes: Camicakes / DJ: Chris Meeks from Pulse DJ Services / Photo Booth: LeahAndMark / Wedding Invitations, Menus, Programs, Seating Cards, Confetti, “Just Love” Sign, Wishing Tree, Dessert Bar, Favors, Photo Booth Backdrop, Cocktail Hour Pillows + Painted Mason Jars: DIY / Wedding Dress: Liancarlo via Fabulous Frocks of Atlanta / Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Bride’s Bracelet: Swarovski / Bride’s Earrings: A Gift from the Groom / Bride’s Hair Flower: Borrowed from a Friend / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Their Choice / Flower Girl’s Dress: From Family / Ring Bearer’s Attire: J.Crew Crewcuts