Today’s wedding is definitely a near and dear. In a way, I’ve kind of watched the bride grow up. And turn into one of the sweetest, most beautiful girls I know. You see, I met Leonora 10 years ago when her sister (dark hair, bridesmaid below and the queen of all things fab) when we became besties at Vanderbilt. Leonora was a baby back then. A holy cow beautiful baby, but a little girl none the less. Over the years, we watched her graduate from high school, head off to college, move her super smarty pants to NYC and fall in love with a very cute boy. And now we get to see the day that she become a Mrs. So without further ado…here is our Leonora’s perfect Savannah wedding. And PS…there is so much more in the galleries. And PPS…her sister Court (my bestie) is the owner of Glow MedSpa and Beauty Boutique in Savannah who just happens to be a LBB member and does THE best wedding day beauty on the planet. Shameless plug, but totally true. xoxo, Abby
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From the Bride…Brian went to UNC and is a huge “Tarheel” fan, so we decided to have a blue and white color scheme! Our wedding coordinator was helpful in directing us to vendors but in terms of styling the wedding, my mother and I did all the planning. We wanted everything about our wedding to be very personal so we used friends as vendors as much as possible. We had my high school English teacher design our wedding invitations. They were hand-written calligraphy and engraved. We chose our family friend, John Davis, to design our flowers. Our good friend Mollie Stone made our delicious wedding cake.The wedding ceremony was at St. John’s Episcopal Church, the church I have attended all my life. The reception was held at the Savannah Golf Club which is almost home away from home for my family, as they are all golfers and my mom recently helped with the interior design of the new clubhouse.
At St. John’s Church, I got dressed at our Parish House, the historic Green Meldrim House directly next to the church. It was very special dressing in the same room my mother did thirty years before when she married my dad. I did not want to see Brian before the wedding so we arranged to always be in opposite areas before the service. It really added to the anticipation before the ceremony. The flowers in the church were all white lilies, hydrangeas, peonies and roses. Pew markers lined the aisle and the smell of the arrangements was wonderful. There were candles in all of the windows and the church simply glowed in the afternoon light. After the service we took our photographs across the street in Madison Square. The beautiful oak trees framed the pictures with the church. Brian and I also took more photographs on the golf course at the reception.
For our flowers at the reception, we used large manzanita branches decorated with white roses and hydrangea. For the main entrance into the ballroom, our florist designed a beautiful archway using the same flowers. I think my favorite detail was the incredible eight foot ice sculpture holding another huge flower arrangement over the middle of the raw seafood bar. We had a vodka and champagne ice luge set up on the back veranda that was a popular attraction throughout the evening. Rather than a seated dinner, we passed tomato sandwiches, fried oysters, and cajun chicken salad on endives. And we had stations of our favorite foods: a raw seafood bar with shrimp and crab claws, beef tenderloin, pasta, mini-slider burgers (Brian’s favorite!), fruit and cheese, and fried chicken (a Southern staple!). Our wedding cake had seven tiers and was almond-vanilla flavored. It was decorated with a diamond pattern of ecru icing. For the groom’s cake, we had a chocolate cake in the shape of the UNC basketball court. All of Brian’s UNC friends loved it!
The whole wedding came together perfectly…It was the most fun night of our lives!
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Thank you so much to Leonora and Brian for sharing their beautiful wedding with us! We love you so very much. And a big, hearty hug to all of the Victors…Bubba, Barb, Jason, Cameron, Ellie the dog and everyone else. WE HEART YOU!!!
Wedding Coordinator: Tricia Windom / Wedding Invitations: Calligraphy by Sophia Caparisos / Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet via Bleubelle Bridal / Bride’s Shoes: Manolo Blahnik / Bride’s Make-up: Glow MedSpa and Beauty Boutique / Bride’s Hair: Salon Eden / Bridesmaid Dresses: Lela Rose via Bleubelle Bridal / Floral Design: John Davis Florist / Wedding Photography: Nate Henderson Photography / Wedding Cake: Mollie Stone Cakes / Groom’s Cake: Kerry O’Connor Cakes / Reception Location: The Savannah Golf Club / Rentals: Savannah Special Events by Ranco + Classic Party Rentals / Photo Booth: Dreamweaver Photo Booth / Trolleys: Old Savannah Tours