Real Wedding: Whitney + Steve, Part II

Whitney + Steve's "Jessica Simpson" inspired reception at {The Carolina Inn} was perfectly pink and covered in pink roses by Lyn Graves at {Fresh Affairs}.  It looks like {The Maxx} band, out of Atlanta, put on a wonderful show.  I love the picture of the Whitney + Steve taking the mic!   I am currently drooling over those perfect little cupcakes created by {Sweet Memories Bakery} in Apex, NC.  Perhaps I should take a little road trip to go get some for myself. Cigar bar by {Coastal Cigars}.  Thanks again to {Joey Seawell} for sharing this special event! Be sure to take a look at event planner, A Southern Soiree's {Blog} for more details.

The weather on our wedding day was: absolutely beautiful!

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? As corny as it sounds, Jessica Simpson’s.  I wanted candlelit, light pink roses, and romance!

Favorite design element of your big day: I loved every bit of it!  From the initials lit up on the wall, to the cigar bar, to the enormous arrangements of pink roses on top of the candelabras. 

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: It was the 5^th one I tried on!  Only took about 2 hours – I knew it was the perfect dress! 

Describe your wedding flowers: that’s easy….pink roses!  Yes, every one – and there were A LOT!

Describe your wedding cake: Simple is best!  It was a five tiered white cake with edible pearls throughout.  Each layer was outlined by black ribbon.  A few pink roses (I know, a surprise!) were sprinkled on top. 

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Steve said the cigar bar.  I’m torn between two: the milk and cookies they served as the reception was coming to an end and our giveaways.  They were cupcakes made by Sweet Memories.  However, they were very special because the recipe that was used was that of the New York famous, Magnolia Bakery.  These were very special to us, as the first year we dated, Steve lived in New York City while getting his masters at NYU.  Every time I would go up to visit him, we’d always have to make a trip to get a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery (even if the line was wrapped around the building!)

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Where to have it.  Steve’s from Fayetteville and I’m from Advance (near Winston-Salem).  We considered Bald Head Island, but it wouldn’t hold enough for us.  So we ultimately decided on my Alma Mater (Steve’s law school Alma Mater) where we could have room for all of our friends and family, be with in walking distance of anything you wanted, and be right in the middle of Fayetteville and Advance.

Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? Steve wanted me to have the blusher over my face; although not a family tradition, he likes the old school style.  We did follow all of the old school traditional traditions: something old, new, borrowed, blue; no seeing each other after midnight the night before the wedding; having a stand in for the bride during the rehearsal.

Scariest moment? There weren’t any scary moments…well I take that back, I guess a button falling off my dress as I was getting into it at the church would count.  However, again, my fabulous wedding planner found a glue gun and had that button back on in minutes.

Funniest moment? My veil fell off walking down the isle – and the only thing Steve had requested was the blusher over my face!  Thankfully, however, just days before I decided to add a hymn into the ceremony.  So, while we were all singing the hymn, my fabulous wedding planner and her assistants ran down the isle and put my veil back in.  They did it with such grace, all the guests thought it was all a “planned revealing”. 

The most unexpected event on our wedding day was: I can honestly say, thanks to all of my wonderful vendors, it went just as planned….Steve however, may not have expected that I would actually smush the cake in his face when it was my turn to feed him!

Three adjectives that describe the day are: The BEST, unforgettable, FUN

Did you write your own vows? No, we’re very traditional.  In fact, we even found a more traditional version that even our minister offered us.

What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Remember what the day is about.  It’s not a production, it’s not the perfect dress, it’s ok if the cake happens to show up late, or your shoe strap breaks – because it’s about you and your best friend getting married.  And as long as he and the minister show up, nothing else matters.  Enjoy yourself!

Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration:   I will never forget a woman telling me a few days before the wedding, “Whitney I hope your wedding turns out as magical and perfect as you’ve always dreamed”.  I just thought that was so sweet!

Fun details: Our out of town goodies bags were my favorite details of the wedding!  I made a welcome booklet so that everyone would have important numbers, the schedule, and things to do around town.  Inside we had a bottle of wine with a blue Tarheel foot on the label, a bottle of water with our monogram on the label, pink homemade heart cookies from mom, a bag of pink M&Ms, peanuts, and craisins, and finally a small bag of pink popcorn – are you seeing a pink theme?  I really liked having a cocktail hour on the front lawn on the Inn with the signature drink of spiked pink lemonade and a jazz band in the background.  It was so much fun riding up in the horse and carriage and seeing all of our guests enjoying themselves outside.  I loved that, thanks to my dad, our entire family, bridal party, and some close friends all stayed at the Carolina Inn.  So we got to spend a lot of time together!  One last thing that I really enjoyed was having a brunch the morning after the wedding, I wore a white sun dress I had made with my new initials in pink!  Oh yeah, and the honeymoon was a surprise!  I didn’t have a clue where we were going, (just knew it was Caribbean) until we landed in Miami and Steve gave me my ticket to Aruba!

What's next for you as a couple? Right now, we’re just really enjoying being married!  We wake up, make each other laugh, go to work, Whitney goes to the gym, the grocery store, and cooks dinner.  Then Steve comes home, we eat, watch TV, kiss each other good night, and the day starts again.  We try to find the simple joys in life each day, and are just happy we have each other! 

Congratulations Whitney + Steve.  We wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Comments

[holly hatam]

this feels like such a cozy wedding!

[Dina]

Amazing dress...who's the designer please?

[Hnou]

I was wondering who the designer of her dress was as well (!)-- It's gorgeous!

[Cara Zuehlke]

The dress designer was Vera Wang :)