Where, oh where do I start with this wedding from Finch and Farrow… maybe the stunning Bride, Lindsey, the super cool typography signs she MADE, the wildly beautiful bouquet from Philosophy Flowers, or the donut bar (yes, donut bar!) from Joe’s Doughs. Just for starters. There’s even more waiting for you right here, and might I suggest reading the adorable story below on how the Bride and Groom met via Instagram!
From The Bride…My husband and I met on Instagram in Feb 2014 and were married just one year later in March 2015. We are freelance graphic designers & photographers, and when he found my profile his very first comment to me within seconds was, “We should get married and start a creative studio.” We fell in love instantly, dated long distance from Nashville, TN to Wilmington, NC, and were engaged six months later. We now reside in Charlotte, NC where we both work as creatives- I run a freelance business for design & styling, and he works as the Lead Digital Designer for Elevation Church.
Prior to my freelance business as a designer and meeting my husband, I had photographed weddings with Millie Holloman Photo for almost 10 years. I had witnessed so many stunning events, but I just hadn’t seen anything that felt like my style- minimalistic and refined, with the right touch of fresh and modern. My husband and I share the same style- our loft is all white, with small touches of black and gold, and all of our furniture and decor is inspired by Scandinavian design. We knew we wanted our wedding day to reflect our personal style- in our design work, personalities, and our home- and this would mean keeping it very simple, and adding in a few DIY designs to incorporate our work. We searched for months for the right venue for us- open floor plan, industrial loft style, with high ceilings and large windows. We wanted a very raw space. When we found 701 Whaley with raw cement floors, giant windows, lofted ceilings, exposed textured walls- we knew it was it. We kept our palette white and black to keep it modern, added in touches of gold in the table elements & silverware for a hint of vintage, and chose a wider range of muted colors in our florals to let them speak loudest.
When I started searching for a florist, all I knew was I wanted someone who could create a wild, rambling bouquet with very uncommon flowers and shape (I am such a lover of wildflowers). I stumbled upon Kelly Perry of Philosophy Flowers and knew the second I saw her arrangements that she was the florist for me. Every single arrangement she made was so different from the next, and I could truly see myself in each one. She paid careful attention to who Corey and I were as individuals, artists, and together, and created that in each flower choice. We knew we wanted very little on our tables, so we went with large floral centerpieces and TONS of candles, and for a main element we had our floral designer create a 22ft. garland of dark greenery that draped across our banquet table with candles mixed in. She tucked unique florals throughout it, and it was an absolute dream.
Another main element that I loved was a DIY chandelier we hung over our banquet table. I found an old, giant, brass chandelier on the side of the road and decided to freshen it up with some white paint. We hung it over our table with thick white rope for a modern feel, and simply added candelabra bulbs. It was a simple touch that we felt was a great accent with the lofted ceilings. We knew we wanted to make our personal design and love for typography a big part of our day as well, so we designed and printed our wedding invitations ourselves and came up with an idea to hand-letter giant flags and hang them throughout the space. For the invite suite, I wrote our names in ink and had it printed onto vellum. We overlaid the vellum on top of the final invite design with a simple brad. It saved us so much money to do them ourselves, and we loved the outcome! We made two 6ft tall canvas flags with our favorite lyrics on them for our ceremony centerpiece, and one 4ft wide canvas flag for over our cake table. The flags were so special to us, because we came up with the idea on our own since we had never seen it done before, and they were the truest expression of ourselves in our wedding day. We now have them hung all around our loft, and they are constant reminders of the most incredible day of our lives.
In our original planning, I had fallen in love with the idea of tapered candles for our reception, but most venues (including ours) have a policy against open-flame, so we found two weighted, large brass candelabras we could use for the ceremony only, and were able to have a small touch of the romantic taper look in the midst of a raw space. It was so simple and intimate. For our food we knew we wanted something very fun and not formal or stuffy at all. Corey and I both LOVE tacos and eat them multiple times a week, and we originally looked into a taco food truck… however, after one visit to Columbia to see the venue and a lunch stop at Cantina 76 on Main St. we HAD to have their tacos and delicious sides at our wedding. We created a custom taco bar with the help of their incredible catering team, and had giant bowls of chips and salsa on every single table (a crowd fave) for cocktail hour munching.
Another crowd fave was our donut bar! Corey and I frequent NODA (Charlotte’s Arts District) where we have fallen in love with so many amazing small businesses. We found Joe’s Doughs donuts being sold at a local coffee shop in NODA, and knew it would be the perfect touch to the cake table, and a way to support local and bring a little bit of Charlotte to Columbia. Not only does Joe’s Doughs have almost 60 flavors to choose from- everything from Goat Cheese Raspberry Balsamic to Maple Bourbon Bacon- but he created mini versions of each donut for us so guests could have multiple flavors. We kept our cake small and decadent- a layered chocolate cake soaked in raspberry, with espresso ganache (major coffee lovers) between each layer, and edible gold paint splattered onto the top layer.
We kept our bridal party simple by each having our one sibling as our maid of honor and best man. Corey and I wanted the classic look of “bride and groom” with a twist of our personal styles being reflected in both of our outfits. I am very relaxed and went for a bohemian style dress with a simple nude ankle bootie, and he mixed and matched his slim suit pants and blazer from H&M, finished off with brown wing tips. Our flower girls dresses were paired with simple greenery crowns, and they each carried a flower to our mothers for the ceremony and threw confetti poppers for our kiss.
As a final fun touch, we decided to skip the classic guest book and went for a photobooth! We kept a simple backdrop and hung an all-white tassel banner with a few extra large 38″ white balloons. It was the best guest book we could have ever asked for! We absolutely love looking back on our day, mostly because the simplicity of everything helped us focus on what the day was truly about- each other, and our vows for a lifetime ahead. We were able to have our dream loft wedding with a small budget and stress-free planning by focusing on the details we loved most, creating a few key DIY elements ourselves, and skipping out on things that have been over-done or are traditions that didn’t feel like “us”. We are so thankful for every vendor, family and friends, that made it the most amazing, peaceful, laid back, beautiful day for us, and most of all, for our AMAZING photographers who captured it all.
Photography: Finch and Farrow | Floral Design: Philosophy Flowers | Wedding Dress: ALVA Bridal | Cake: The Noshroom | Invitations: Lindsey Pruitt | Ceremony Venue: 701 Whaley | Reception Venue: 701 Whaley | Groom's Attire: H&M | Bridesmaid Dress: ASOS | Donut Bar: Joe's Doughs | Flower Girl Dresses: Monsoon | Rentals: Party Reflections | Taco Bar: Cantina 76 | Typography Flags: Lindsey Pruitt