A Traditional Southern Wedding in Savannah With Subtle Boho Flair

Lauren Megerdichian
January 31, 2019
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

This is just a universal wedding truth – Southern weddings are the sweetest. They are charming, romantic, nostalgic.. we could go on for days. Today’s gorgeous wedding in Savannah is the perfect example of why we love Southern weddings so much. Emily Burton Designs knew exactly what to do when her bride came to her with a dream of combining her two loves – boho decor and southern tradition… and boy is it stunning… The Happy Bloom captured every must-see moment. Just wait until you catch a glimpse of Amy Osaba’s unreal floral arrangements. Don’t miss out on this major dose of southern sweetness!

From Planner, Emily from Emily Burton Designs… When Hannah originally reached out for me to plan and design her wedding, she was obsessed with all things boho. She went dress shopping and all of the Boho dresses she thought she’d end up “saying yes to the dress” to.. Just weren’t the one. When Hannah said yes to her very formal Anne Barge dress, I knew I had a challenge ahead of me (merging the Boho look, which was very casual, with her now very formal and timeless wedding dress.). So I came up with the theme, “Southern Plantation Boho-Pottery Barn Bride”. Hannah loved all things pottery barn, so the vision of cement flower pots, dough bowls massive wood tables, and organic linens popped in my head.

The Flowers:

I wanted a pottery barn floral concept, with “like flowers” in little urns and cement pots. Like flowers are when you place one variety in a pot only, this gives the look of a little more structure and formality, but the cement and wood textures help to balance out the formality with the casual vibe.

The Bridesmaids Dresses:

We found the perfect mixture of Southern + Boho in the bridesmaids dresses, the lace on top was nod to the plantation feel, while the skirt was flowey and gave way to more of the boho vibe.

1) How was your wedding perfectly “Southern”? From the bride, Hannah… Where to begin?! From the live oak drive guests came down (while riding in a Savannah trolley, of course) to the Spanish moss dripping from every tree in the venue to the menu packed with southern favorites, every bit of our day was perfectly “Southern.” Our wonderful catering team served delicious low country shrimp and grits, blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream, sweet potatoes filled with brown sugar and so much more. My dress was an off white ballgown which just seemed to be traditional southern to me. Kyle wore an ivory jacket, a feather bowtie and his favorite black cowboy boots (the boots took a lot of convincing on his part). The tent was filled with southern accents included in our beautiful signage, the greenery dripping from the woven chandeliers, and elegant flowers at every turn! I just loved how our wonderful planner/designer, was able to create a perfect, southern wonderland inside our tent!

2) What was your vision for your wedding day? What made you choose certain colors or decor? My vision was to create a perfectly elegant, just slightly boho, low country ‘garden’ wedding. I wanted flowers and greenery galore, wanted to play up on the beautiful trees and Spanish moss which covered the property, and wanted my guests to have the most fun! I wanted to include darker, richer tones as we were getting married in November. After lots of debating, we decided on merlot, oxblood and dusty blue for our colors. Although I couldn’t find pictures online or in magazines of weddings which had used the colors, I just loved the combination of deep, rich fall colors with the lighter dusty blue/greys. I frequently told my planner that I wanted a mixture of bohemian and elegant and provided her with about a million ideas I had come up with. Thankfully, Emily Burton is a design genius and was able to turn my rambling into beauty. The tent was exactly what I had envisioned but had been unable to articulate all along!

3) What is the moment you remember most about your wedding day? This is a tough one because so many moments were so absolutely perfect, but if I had to pick one moment, it would be standing at the back of the aisle with my dad, getting ready to walk down the aisle to the love of my life and give him ‘my forever.’ As I stood behind our guests and looked ahead to my handsome fiancé, my beautiful bridesmaids and all of our sweet family and friends who drove hours to celebrate with us, I was absolutely overwhelmed. That’s the moment tears started flowing. I held it together for most of the day, but in that moment, my heart was racing, my hands were shaking and I truly was stunned at the outpouring of love standing in front of me. I would have never made it down that aisle if it weren’t for my dad holding onto me. The sun was setting just behind Kyle and our wedding party, the breeze was blowing the girls’ dresses and the silk ribbons hanging from their bouquets, and my fiancé looked more excited than I had ever seen him. Everywhere I looked there were faces of people that I love, and I remember telling myself to always remember that moment. I can still see that beautiful image in my head… It was the sweetest moment!

4) What’s next for you and your husband? We are finally settled in our new home on Skidaway Island and we are loving every minute of living in the low country! We are looking forwards to warmer weather so that we can spend our evenings and weekends on the water. We plan to enjoy married life, just as the two of us, for a year or so, and then… Bring on the babies! We are also planning a trip to Europe in 2019 with my family, so that is our next big adventure! In the mean time, we will be burning dinners and figuring out this marriage thing!