A Wedding “Test Run”? Best. Idea. Ever.

Dawn Strong
August 4, 2016
Categories: Photo Shoot, Wedding Style
Tags: Southern Wedding

It’s not every day you get to gear up for your big “I do’s” with an amazing inspiration sesh with some of the best vendors around, but for this stunning Tinder-loving duo (they met on the app!), that’s exactly what happened. Together with the likes of My Floral Bliss, Lemiga Events and Simply Sarah Photography (just to name a few), they’re showing us what city chic style looks like. (Hint: It’s gorgeous.) See their wedding “test run” in THE VAULT.

From The Bride… As cringe-worthy as it is to say out loud, Daniel and I were love at first “swipe”. That’s right folks, we met on the infamous Tinder app. Daniel joined Tinder mostly for the entertainment since his fraternity brother/roommate joked about it all the time. But I was a bit naive and didn’t realize the then-new app was notorious for hooking up, not dating. Thankfully fate quickly took over when Daniel and I matched. We chatted via text for 2 weeks before deciding to go on our first date soon after the holidays (my 10th first date in a year!). You know how everyone says love finds you when you’re not looking for it? Well I had decided if that date with Daniel didn’t go well, I’d quit dating until I turned 30. Luckily, we hit it off and have been practically inseparable ever since. We moved in together just 9 months into our relationship and bought a home together at the 1.5 year mark.

As a wedding photographer who is happily in love, I adopted a “why rush forever?” viewpoint on marriage. Of course we’ve discussed marriage and I know it’s important to Daniel (his parents set a wonderful example with over 40 years of joyous matrimony), so I let Daniel take the reigns on when he was ready for that life-changing step. I already had the man of my dreams in a beautiful home with 3 adorable fur babies. Marriage would simply be the icing on the cake (no pun intended). But on March 20th, after I finished the Georgia Publix Half Marathon, Daniel gave me the surprise of a lifetime when on bended knee he asked me to be his wife. I had NO clue this proposal was coming. He bought the ring completely on his own so I was none the wiser. He still nailed it by slyly finding my literal dream ring in my Pinterest boards! We’re now planning our intimate San Francisco City Hall wedding for early 2017 and loved getting to “test-run” the big day with a stunning shoot from Lemiga Events and Simply Sarah!

From Lemiga Events…We collaborated with a talented team of creatives to produce an elegant summer wedding inspiration for the bride who is looking to have a romantic city chic wedding. The venue, Four Seasons Atlanta, provided a park like setting high above the skyline of Midtown Atlanta for our vignette.

My Floral Bliss created a gorgeous ceremony piece that floated over the altar area with lush white floral, and floating orbs attached to sand-blasted manzanita and accented by greenery. It was such a lovely way to add softness to the ceremony area without taking away from the dramatic skyline and architecture of the space. Our bride and groom recited hand written vows calligraphed by Sass and Frass which were held in custom vow books from Wedding StoryWriter.

Our beautiful bride wore a gown by Monique Lhuillier “Jade”, belt Jenny Yoo “Mischka”, and veil Cha Cha “Imperial”, all from Fabulous Frocks. Jewelry worn from Perfect Details. Hair and Makeup by Scoobie West. Wedding garter designer La Gartier, styled her garters with shoes and accessories from Jimmy Choo for a glamorous touch. The groom was dressed in a tan summer suit by The Modern Gent.

The stationery suite by Sass and Frass featured calligraphy on gold edged paper. Custom acrylic table numbers and escort cards by Host and Toast mimicked the paper with gold agate details. The stationery was displayed on a hand-crafted driftwood grey tray with genuine leather straps from Host and Toast. A hand-made Vow Book with custom silver and gold marbled paper finished the suite.

We love incorporating fun surprises into our wedding designs. We think guests would have a blast with the Cult Cart, where they can select their own organic flavor of cotton candy. And Cult Carts goes above and beyond to customize the experience for clients by making color coordinating cones and toppings to accessorize the cotton candy to match the wedding design.

For cocktail hour, the escort card display was set in the middle of the Four Season’s herb garden. Manzanita branches held acrylic escort cards in an agate design with names in gold calligraphy. The Four Seasons provided hand-crafted refreshing Summer cocktails – the “Lady Victoria”: Hanger One Vodka, Lemon Juice, Cocchi Americano, Rosemary

Michelle Gainey of Lemiga Events designed the reception display with crisp whites and mixed metallics. White metallic linen from Nuage Designs provided a clean base for silver rimmed chargers and gray Lucca dinner plates from Classic Party Rentals. Silver dupioni napkins and romantic calligraphy menu cards edged in gold, finished the place settings. Mixed metallic containers held candles, soft white floral, and painted succulents, creating a beautiful table display perfect for a summer reception.

It’s A Sweet Life Bakery designed our wedding cake with white floral accented by metallic gold. The cake was displayed on a custom white and gold stand made by Host and Toast.

Sarah and Will of Simply Sarah Photography captured all the beautiful details of the day and the sweet love shared between our bride and groom. All in all our vendors came together to provide a perfect summer day in the city and gave our couple some beautiful imagery they will cherish for years to come!