Elegant Garden Themed Wilmington Wedding

Overflowing gardens make me so happy; add in a gorgeous wedding and I’m downright giddy. This garden themed Southern celebration is bursting with beautiful blooms by Salt Harbor Designs and the ceremony alone at Airlie Gardens captured my heart… and got my Pinterest habit going once again. Theo Milo snapped every perfect petal and these photos are a breath of fresh air during these winter months.

Colors

From Theo Milo Photography… Beautiful garden themed wedding! Her veil was a family heirloom. Her father is a 2 star general for the military. Lots of pretty floral detail and an invitation suite that is breathtaking!

From The Bride… Wes has always planned incredibly classy dates. On our third date, we went to Airlie Gardens for a jazz concert under the Live Oak tree. From then on, Airlie was a special place for us. We went back regularly for a picnic or just a stroll. So when we got engaged, the Pergola Garden at Airlie was the obvious venue choice for our ceremony. When we started looking for reception venues, we wanted to find somewhere with just as much meaning to us. It was interesting how easily the Brooklyn Arts Center fit in with our vision. Not only did the venue have the classy yet rustic look to it that we wanted, but it was located three blocks from where Wes lived when we started dating and was the location of another date!

After choosing our venues, we decided on a garden themed wedding to tie Airlie Gardens in throughout the entire day. Since we had over a year and a half to plan our wedding, we opted to do all of the planning ourselves and stick with just a day of coordinator (I say “just” but she was phenomenal!). Initially we wanted to incorporate a lot of DIY projects, but found it to be logistically difficult since we were planning from New Orleans. Still, my mom made the cotton lace linens, my sister painted our seating chart, and we hand picked many of the antique decorations. We put a lot of thought into buying things that worked for the wedding and that we could reuse afterwards. It’s so nice to see the wedding decorations in our house now. The most special decorative piece was the veil I wore. Wes’s great grandma’s sister first wore it in 1927. Since then his great grandma, grandma, and mom have worn it.

The wedding day itself was incredible. A harpist played during the ceremony and cocktail hour. Hearing some of our favorite classical music in the gardens leading up to the wedding was so magical. I walked down the aisle to Clair de Lune, a song that has been meaningful to Wes and I for a long time. It was one of those surreal moments that literally took my breath away. Laughing with my dad as we walked down the aisle was one of my favorite moments from the day. I always thought I would be a crier! A second favorite moment for Wes and I was walking into the Brooklyn Arts Center for the reception. The roar of all the people we loved combined with the faint floral aroma was so memorable.

To us, the aspect of wedding planning that made our wedding the most special was the integration of flowers, music, and smells that will always bring us back to that day. We can’t look at peonies and garden roses, smell confederate jasmine, or listen to Clair de Lune without being swept back into a wedding memory.

Photography: Theo Milo Photography | Wedding Coordinator: Kickstand Events | Florist: Salt Harbor Designs | Wedding Dress: Amy Kuschel | Cake: Imaginary Cakes | Ceremony Venue: Airlie Gardens | Reception Venue: Brooklyn Arts Center At St. Andrew's | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Monique Lhuillier | Makeup: Chelsea Sule | Hair: Jennifer Schoff | DJ: Active DJ Entertainment | Tux: J.Crew | Harpist: Christina Brier | Rentals: Rent A Tent | Wedding Dress From: Wedding Belles