Describe your wedding flowers: We wanted flowers that would mesh with our Southern-style wedding, so we used wildflowers in everything from the bridesmaids’ bouquets to the groomsmen’s boutonnieres.
Describe your wedding cake: For us, it was more about taste than looks. We didn’t want a traditional three-tiered cake, so opted for a simple chocolate cake for photos and lemon and pecan bars for our guests to enjoy. Since we got married on my father’s birthday, there was a birthday cake for him, too!
What was our favorite part of planning the wedding? We loved the decorative details, many of which were our own handiwork. We used leftover invitations to make the bird ornaments that decorated the reception space, printed our programs on brown paper bags filled with dried lavender for our guests to toss. Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? Yup, we wrote our own. The best line came from Jeff. He told me, “I promise to maintain my hotness.” Everybody got a good laugh out of it.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  What’s next? Hopefully a dog!  We still haven’t gone on our honeymoon, so are really looking forward to that.

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  The boy from Oklahoma and the girl from Boston met in Austin, Texas. We both went to the University of Texas and shared the same group of friends. Right before sophomore year ended, Jeff asked me for my number so we could talk over the break.  I declined, so he had to settle for Instant Messenger conversations, instead. At the end of that summer, he asked me out on a date (on IM, of course!) and I accepted! That kicked off our six-year dating relationship.
Describe the proposal. Jeff and I had been dating long-distance for four years while he was in Texas and I in Boston. In 2009, Jeff bought a plane ticket to visit me and emailed me a fake itinerary showing his arrival for February 6. Little did I know he was actually flying in the day before to meet with my parents and ask for their permission to propose. Sneaky, sneaky! I didn’t suspect anything until Jeff met me at work on the 6^th. He had supposedly come straight from the airport, but had no luggage with him. Suspicious. Later that night, he cooked dinner together at my apartment. As an after-dinner treat, he pulled out a ring and proposed!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Jeff says his favorite part was watching me walk down the aisle on my father’s arm, and I loved hearing Jeff say his vows. 

P.S. The very high quality photos here were shot on a Nikon CoolPics camera by a friend of Ari's.  Yes, this was before Lara had a million photographer friends.

P.P.S.  Touching as these portraits are, the talented Jessica Claire has offered to take some professional photos of the couple this May in Raleigh.  Talk about an anniversary present!  If you haven't read the story of how Lara and Jessica first met via email, read it here.

As a special treat, Ari + Lara have taken the time to fill out our standard real wedding interview together, with Lara's thoughts in italics.

First of all, I cannot beleive I am sharing these pictures!  Y'all know I love you since I'm doing this, OK?  OK.  This was us getting our marriage license at the famous Clark County Courthouse.  I'm pretty sure everyone in line with us had just met the night before.  Classy.

The right page is me getting ready at the Bellagio.  A friend was there to take pics for me.  I was really nervous.  Even though I knew I wanted to get married, I kept thinking, "What am I doing!?  VEGAS!?"  I'm pretty type-A, as is Ari, so this was very out of the norm for us.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story.  Lara was working as a trainer at the gym that I went to while stationed in Pensacola, FL for flight surgeon training. I had watched the movie An Officer and a Gentleman several times before coming to Pensacola and thought it would be really neat to try and pick up one of the local girls while in town.  Insert Ari’s dry humor.  I don’t know, though… maybe he’s not kidding. I noticed Lara at the gym because I have a thing for redheads. False. He’s never dated a redhead. We made eye contact several times while I was lifting and she was training, and a few times I winked at her. False again. I knew by the way she blushed that she was really into me and my biceps.  Again, false. The blushing part.  I did like his biceps, though.

I approached her one day in between skull crusher sets and asked her out to dinner. He came up to me during a cable crossover set and asked me for workout advice. She told me if I kept my elbows in during my next set she might consider it. I barely was able to finish the set using correct form, but I really wanted a date with this girl. She was hot! Oh my. Please don’t post this.

Sure enough, a few days later, we were sipping Irish Wakes and reciting dirty limericks at McGuire’s. We walked into McGuires and walked right out because it was Ladies Night and it was packed.

Why Vegas? It was on the way to California.  Seriously.

Describe the proposal: Lara had decided to join me in California after I was transferred there. One day while plotting the route for our cross-country drive, I turned to Lara and said, “We’re going to be passing through Vegas on the way to California. You wanna get married? If we did, you would be able to shop at the Navy Exchange and they have discounted Coach bags.”  Naturally, he omitted the part about him staring at a computer screen while “proposing.”  I told him he needed to re-do that.  He did.  The re-do was amazing.  Valentine’s Day, surprise dinner. Surprise real proposal. It was magical.

She thought about it for a second and said “Sure.” And then I asked her if we could have an Elvis at the ceremony and she said no. True.

Three adjectives that describe the day are: Warm, fancy and Vegas. I’m gonna go with intimate, fun and perfect.

What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Sweet Memories.  We got married at the Special Memory Wedding Chapel.  He always forgets and says “Sweet Memories.”
Favorite design element of your big day: The Gazebo. It doesn't get much better than twinkle lights and red bows.  Come on.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: Jean Pierre.  The best part of the wedding was the guy who married us.  He had a beautiful French accent.  It was lovely.  His name was Jean-Claude.  It reminded me of my mom who speaks fluent French.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Randy Fenoli designed my dress for Diamond Bride.  I loved it.
Describe your wedding flowers: $25  False. There were no wedding flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: Tiramisu at the Wynn.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Finding cash to give to the limo driver so that she could get several bottles of cheap champagne while the ceremony was going on. True story.

Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding?   Waving at passing traffic as we first walked together as man and wife.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Being mistaken for the Bellagio valet. Even better: when Ari went inside our honeymoon suite at the Bellagio to put his jacket down before coming back to carry me over the threshold, he locked us out!  We had to wait in our wedding clothes for an hour in the hallway before security came.  People kept passing us in the hallway and giving us the funniest looks.  I still laugh about that.  I got him back by locking his keys in his BMW on our "honeymoon" at the Navy Lodge the week after.  But, not on purpose!

Celebrating the day after in the Bellagio Gardens...

Best advice or most memorable comment someone made to you during the wedding celebration. “Are you sure you don’t want an Elvis?”

OK, I was in a joking mood when I answered these questions, if you couldn't tell. But Lara and I are sitting here on the couch on the eve of our fourth anniversary getting a good laugh out of it. Most of it is true: Pensacola, the gym, Elvis, the gazebo and Jean Pierre, I mean Jean-Claude. I love my wife and I'd marry her all over again. That is very true. Me, too. I love you more today than yesterday.  I know that sounds cheesy, but the fact that we still laugh and look back on our wedding day with huge smiles makes me really happy. We've been through so much - moving across the country, you deploying to Iraq for an eternity, failure, loss and big changes - but through it all we've laughed and loved each other deeply.  And, for the record, I'd never want another wedding.  I'd love to prance around in a Vera one day, but I'm perfectly content with our (little) big day.

What's your best marriage advice? Very simple: be good to each other every day. After you've been married for a while -- and especially with our busy schedules -- it's really easy to fall into a routine and forget to do sweet things.  We've found that daily positive encouragement and taking time to do nothing but just be thankful to have another day to love and be loved is the key to a happy marriage.  I'm so grateful for that.  I love you, Ari.  I love you, too.

Congratulations, Lara + Ari!  Here's to four more great years!

Unfortunately, while Lara wouldn’t let me have the day off to partake in the local pub-crawl (a girl can dream right?), I’ve entertained myself by making a list of things I can do to celebrate my non-existent Irishness.  Yes, I get paid to do this.  Just don't tell my boss.

Here goes:

1.  Turn Abby Kitty Pants into the office Leprechaun by dyeing her tail (and the rest of her) green.

2.  Choreograph a traditional Irish step dance for Emily.  For those of you new to the blog, you may not know that our Art Director, Emily Ayer, used to perform with a troupe of other steppers.  One word to describe her dancing career?  Illustrious.

3.  Collect every type of green candy currently on the shelves at CVS.  Wish-list: green Sour Patch Kids, green Gobstoppers, green Airheads, green Skittles, green M&M (both peanut and regular) and Andes mints.  Got any suggestions for me?

4.  “Southernize” the traditionally Irish holiday with clever turns of phrase, like "Slainte, y'all!"  (Cheers, y'all!)  See how easy that was?

Despite having to celebrate within the confines of an office - and despite the fact that Whitney's the only SW gal with true Irish heritage - we're still feeling pretty lucky.  So, in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day:

Lara: I'm lucky to be celebrating my 4 year wedding anniversary tomorrow, to have a family that cares for me unconditionally, work that inspires me, a staff that I adore, laughter, a kitty who makes me laugh, red hair so I don't have to wear green today, and DayQuill.  I have strep and a fever today and am working in a different room than the lovely ladies listed here so I don't get them more sick.  OK, Katharine and Sandi are sick, too, so we're trying to keep Emily from turning green - though that would be a particularly apropos color today!  I'm lucky to be loved and have the opportunity to love another day.  There's no greater gift. 

Emily: I’m lucky because I have a family that loves me, a boyfriend that loves me, and two ridiculously adorable cats that tolerate me (though they prefer the boyfriend).  Also, macaroni and cheese: I am lucky macaroni and cheese exists.

Katharine: I’m lucky to have a job – especially one I love – in a tough economic climate.  I’m lucky to be happy + healthy, to be living close to my family and to be marrying my college sweetheart in 6 short months!  (I’m also lucky that no one can ever make fun of me for being an Irish step dancer like some people in this office…)

Whitney:  I'm lucky that I am very, very, very Irish (though I've yet to find a pot of gold).  I'm also lucky that I look good in green, if I do say so myself.  I'll leave you now with an extremely true Irish saying: "There are only two kinds of people in the world: the Irish and those who wish they were."

All in all, it's been a pretty good St. Patrick's Day.  And, worse comes to worse, I can always sneak out mid-Irish step dance performance and hit the local tavern...

xoxo,
Katharine

P.S.  Naturally, I forgot to wear green today.  Fail.

Take One:  Bright, oversized flower accents, big hair and a pink pedal bike (on loan from Bella Bridesmaid!) were a throw-back to the 1960’s, but we love how in-the-moment these two lovebirds are. Shannon + Matt’s South Carolina photo op was, in many ways, a dress rehearsal for the main event this August: the bride wore the same frilly fuchsia pumps (courtesy of Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse) her bridesmaids will don in a few months and the groom gave the slim-cut Express necktie a test drive before he passes the look onto his attendants.  Something that won’t be making an appearance at the couple’s North Carolina nuptials?  The vintage tiered frock on loan from New York Bride and Groom.

Take Two:  You can’t go wrong with cowboy boots, and we like that Shannon + Matt turned to their favorite pair for their engagement pics.  The bride was a modern-day June Carter in a red Anthropologie dress, especially next to her guitar-playing groom, and the galvanized “XO” letters – also from Anthropologie – leant some sweet Southern charm to this look.

Our favorite part from this engagement shoot?  The nearly-weds look equally in love in both takes, and we really love that!  Which look is your favorite?

Paloma's Nest is dedicated to creating modern heirlooms -- pieces for the home and for the heart. Each piece is designed and individually hand-crafted with care, pride, and passion. From the beautiful ceramic ring-bearer bowl to the line of stationery and gift accessories, each piece is made from pure natural products and recycled materials.  You can see all of their pieces (and now make purchases!) on their site right here.

To Enter: Paloma’s Nest was built on the idea that simplicity is powerful. What single word means the most to you? Reply to this post with your "power word" and why it is important to you for the chance to win.

Win: If you win this contest, you are most definitely in luck -- you will be able to pick ANY piece from Paloma’s Nest as your prize!  Your selected piece will even come wrapped in the new Heirloom Packaging -- a hand crafted slide-top wooden box, paired with a wooden Heirloom Tag.  Read more about Caroline's special packaging options here!

This contest will end at midnight on March 23. Good luck, everyone!

How did the two of you meet?  At a bar!  Not very exciting, but it was a chance meeting as it was Luke’s last weekend in town before heading back to school in NYC and I was still in college at LSU. We never thought we would meet anyone in our hometown, but it’s funny how things work out. I just so happened to be moving to NYC that summer, so we stayed in touch until we could meet again. The night we met I went home and told my roommate I had met “the one.” It does happen!
Describe the proposal. The good thing about living in NYC is that you can ring shop in the most amazing stores. Luke surprised me one day after work with a detour from our usual route home.  Instead, we had a nice dinner at the Lever House Restaurant where Luke had a fabulous bouquet from Takashimaya (where he worked) for the table.  (I definitely knew something was up.)  After a delicious dinner, we stopped at a bakery to pick up a few cupcakes before retuning home to our apartment.  Once home, Luke got down on one knee.  So sweet, and the ring was gorgeous – and designed by Luke himself!  We celebrated our engagement with the cupcakes we had just purchased.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The second line umbrellas that my mom made to look like a flamingo and peacock! Those were definitely the hit of the party!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: When I was living in NYC, one of my bridesmaids and I went to Kleinfeld’s to dress shop.  Surprisingly, the first dress I tried on was the one I bought in New Orleans with my mother several months later.  My mom knew it was the right dress the moment I tried it on.
Describe your wedding flowers:  Ikebana-style centerpieces with magenta and lime orchids and kiwi branches. The arrangements were very sculpted and minimal, and proved to be the perfect backdrop to the unique architecture of the tea room. My bouquet (which I loved) was a ball of cymbidium orchids with fresh lotus pods.
Describe your wedding cake: We wanted something other than the traditional white cake so opted for chocolate – which was perfect since I am a chocoholic. Our cake had three tiers with truffles decorating the sides. I bought wooden toppers that were hand painted to look like us from Etsy. So cute!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? We were blessed with perfect weather and the surprise second line band my mom had come in at the end.

Congratulations, Kimberly + Mark!  Thank you for sharing your sweet wedding with us!

It was nearly impossible to choose just three finalists, as there were SO MANY wonderful entries!!  We did ultimately choose, however, and here they are, in no particular order:

1. Meet Sarah + Ryan, getting married in December in Tennessee:

"We are getting married in an intimate evening ceremony in the stables of the Belle Meade Plantation, with an elegant 'barn party' reception to follow in the carriage house.  The ceremony will highlight the natural beauty of the wooden stables, with magnolia garland, numerous candles, and an iron and candle chandelier.  The wedding attire will have an earthy, vintage feel.  The flowers will be a lot of greens, ivories, and some winter berries.  The reception will feature a bluegrass band playing in the carriage house, and will be decorated with a ceiling strung full of lights.  We're using antique harvest tables to display the buffet of home-style Texas and Tennessee favorites, as well as winter desserts, including large jars full of cookies with small burlap sacks stamped with horses, hearts and 'I Do' for guests to take as favors.  The tables will be filled with candles as well as vintage vases and apothecary jars full of winter flowers and berries.  We also plan to have baskets displayed of pine cones, clementines, and berries.  And, in the hallways, vintage benches with cozy plaid blankets draped across them."

2. Meet Trisha + Jason, getting married in September in Carmel Valley.

"We have decided we do not like conformity.  We don't have "colors." We aren't having bridesmaid dresses (all of the bridesmaids are unique and beautiful, and we like the fact that they will be wearing something that reflects their own sense of style).  Boutonnieres and bouquets will coordinate with what they decide to wear.  The ceremony will be in the Carmel Mission Basilica, which was founded in 1770 and is so beautiful.  The dinner will be in a vineyard, actually IN it, surrounded by ripening grapes and hopefuly while the sun is setting.  We have requested picnic tables and a live grill for the feast.  We are bringing in galvanized tin tubs for beer and beverages.  The table decor is undecided thus far, but I have purchased different sizes of mason jars to fill with olives, flowers, and candles.  We want to keep the decor simple since the landscape speaks for itself.  Cake and dancing will be in a wine aging room surrounded by oak barrels, Jason's dream."

3. Meet Whitney + John, getting married in June near Asheville.

"Our wedding will be an expression of our love for one another and our families, and a reflection of the place where we have chosen to celebrate.  It will take place on a farm outside Asheville, and be full of natural, simple, vibrant things, like hand-sewn fabric banners, locally-grown flowers arranged by the bride and her friends (all lovers of flowers, if not all green-thumbed!), and wreaths of branches found in the mountains.  We will serve locally-sourced, really delicious barbecue, with all the real Southern sides, like fried okra and crumbly cornbread, and (of course) sweet tea in big Mason jars.  And instead of cake, we will have loads of berry shortcake and s'mores (Whitney's childhood favorite).  We want to evoke the atmosphere of a big, happy, extra-special backyard barbecue, with an incredible bluegrass band, lots of dancing, and lots of love."

The polls are now officially open, ladies and gents!  Please vote for your favorite couple by commenting below.  The comment section will remain open until next Friday, March 19. PLEASE only ONE vote per person! We can and will easily track IP addresses and delete over-voters.

Best of luck to our finalists, and another HUGE thank you to Mr. Brion Hopkins!

UPDATE: Comments for this contest will close at 11:59pm on Friday, March 19.  Let's keep things fair, guys + gals!

PLEASE NOTE: WE CAN SEE YOUR IP ADDRESS, SO IF YOU COMMENT MORE THAN ONCE IT WON'T COUNT.  Save us the trouble and just comment once, please!

The deets:

We'll be meeting up for lunch at Foster's Market in Durham.  Expect lots of wedding chat, super-cute name tags, and fun for all!

The place: Foster's Market, 2694 Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, Durham, NC.  Foster's doesn't take reservations, so Emily and Katharine will be arriving early to snag tables in the back or outside, weather depending.

The date: Saturday, March 27, 2010

The time: 11:30am-1:30pm -ish

If you'd like to join us, please RSVP on the Eventbrite page!  We can't WAIT to meet y'all!