As many of you know, we celebrated our fresh, fun and fabulous new issue with an authentic Southern celebration at wedding hot spot, Bridal Bar Atlanta.  We were so honored by the vendors, photographers, readers and well-wishers who stopped by to toast our new cover (Jeremy Cowart, we can't thank you enough for this beauty!), and were beyond touched by the outpouring of support on the blog and Twitter.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Whitney, Emily, Lara and I wanted to share out thoughts from the weekend and to reiterate our gratitude for everyone who helped put together Southern Weddings Volume II.  So from all of us to you, huge hugs and big thanks!

...Thank you to the amazing people that made our launch party possible, from Whitney!

The Southern Weddings launch party was a huge success! Over one hundred of our favorite vendors, wedding professionals, and readers came out to the Bridal Bar Atlanta for a fun-filled night celebrating the launch of our latest issue. The night went by in a blur as I had the opportunity to mingle with some of the most talented people in the business.

Rebecca at the Bridal Bar Atlanta did such an amazing job coordinating everything for the launch party. She assembled a great team of vendors to make the evening absolutely fantastic.

The invitation by the Dressed Caterpillar was adorable and the red velvet cake (complete with "Butter My Butt and Call Me A Biscuit" topper, red wood background to match our cover, bow tie and SW logo!  WOW!)  from Sweet Sensations was to die for. I have literally never tasted a dessert so delicious in my life! Epting Events provided the oh-so-Southern food and it was delectable! (Katharine's Kyle was a particular fan of the ham sandwiches.)

Katharine, Lara, Emily and I had a ridiculously good time in the Smilebooth. The backdrop by Ashley of Dolci Odille was adorable! Seriously, I would love to have a Smilebooth in the office (though I doubt we would ever get anything done)!  Many thanks to Our Labor of Love for all the fun!

I could not be more thankful for all of the amazing people that have enabled us to create this issue of Southern Weddings. Y'all are awe-inspiring. 

...Thank you to our loyal readers and devoted sponsors, from Katharine!

As the official office newbie who had never subscribed to any wedding magazines or followed any wedding blogs before joining Southern Weddings, my foray into the wedding world has been a whirlwind of new faces, projects and terms.  At our fabulous Atlanta launch party on Friday, I had the opportunity to thank two groups of SW supporters that not only helped make me feel wonderfully welcome in such unfamiliar territory but that also are the backbone of what we do.

I’m sure Emily would agree that one of the very best perks of our respective jobs has been our daily interaction with readers, whether online or in print.  Your enthusiasm, suggestions and loyalty is what motivates us to make each day at Southern Weddings better than the last.  This issue was made for you, with lots of love!

While it’s our readers who make us want to publish the best material we can, it’s our advertisers who make Southern Weddings (and everything we do here!) possible.  As the Managing Editor for SW, I’ve been lucky to get a behind-the-scenes peek at the business side of our glitzy mag and, in doing so, it’s become very clear that we have some of the most talented and dedicated sponsors out there!  This year, we’re especially grateful for our print sponsors, namely Big Events Weddings, of Nashville, TN, J. Malahy Photograhy, Asian Bees Photography and Modern Photographers, for sprucing up our inside and back covers.  After you’ve flipped through the November issue, I hope you’ll take a minute to check out our amazing sponsors and visit their websites; these ladies and gents do some of the very best work in the business and it’s always a treat to see the new and exciting things on their websites.  Thank you, also, to our loyal online advertisers, including Dede Edwards, Scarlett Lillian, Our Labor of Love, David Murray Weddings, W. Scott Chester and so many others!

...Thank you to the photographers and vendors who made this issue possible, from Emily!

Katharine, who ended her speech by introducing me as the "wedding guru" (some would say fanatic), gave me the perfect opening for my remarks.  I started by acknowledging that I've subscribed to Martha Stewart Weddings since I was a wee middle-schooler (true story!).  At the launch, it was my "job" to thank all of the photographers who contributed to the issue, either through a real wedding or just a single image.  I put job in quotations, because, in truth, it's anything but -- it's been an absolute dream to get to know and have the pleasure of working with so many of the talented vendors that I've admired from afar for so long.  I finished by offering a personal thank you to Joy Thigpen, stylist extraordinaire, who worked with us on our cover shoot and WaterColor shoots and is a huge part of so much of the beautiful inspiration you'll see once you crack open your copy of the new issue.

...Thank you to the people who have supported us from day one and our special guests, the Mammoth Men, from Lara!

It's a week to give thanks, but we always feel overwhelmed with gratitude here!  As a small office, we can't do anything without the support of so many.  Our launch party wasn't about celebrating just the magazine, but rather, the community of people that has formed around it.  I felt incredibly blessed to celebrate the launch of this new issue in Atlanta where we had our very first premiere event in January.  So many people have supported us and cheered us on from day one: Jeannine, Eliana, Michelle, Joy, Ashley, Khadine, Whitney and Jesse, Sharon, Emily, Kristy, Cristen, Ashley and countless others.  I'm so thankful that Caroline from Paloma's Nest, Cassandre from Fete Festa Fiesta and Kristy Rice from Momental Designs flew in from so far away to celebrate with us. My favorite part of the evening?  Hello!  The CAKE!  Sharon, I'm hereby dubbing you the Southern cake diva!  I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jeremy Cowart for our gorgeous cover and for coming to share in the celebration with us. Thank you to friends who came from my hometown -- I'm so floored by your generosity and good wishes.  It was such a blessing to have my husband and best friend, Sandi, there.  They made my night.  And of course, the party wouldn't have been complete without the Mammoth Men.  Thank you Nate, Matt, Jeff, Kyle, Fred, Justin, Michael, Mark, and surprise last-minute guest Jory for bringing the dance party to Atlanta!  I had more fun than I can begin to explain. Thank you Rebecca, Epting Events, Our Labor of Love, and so many more for making our launch event a true celebration! 

And last but very not least on my thank you list...  to the amazing women of Southern Weddings for being fun in the office and out of the office.  I couldn't ask for a better team to share such great memories with!

Want more party pic action?  Check out all the Smilebooth pics here...

Happy Thanksgiving eve y'all!  We have a very special post coming tomorrow : )