Intimate Weddings

Two weekends ago, Julie and Jeff were married at the Mansion on Forsyth Park.  An unusually warm and sunny day for mid-January, everything went smoothly and I was impressed by how calm, personal, and intimate their ceremony was.  Apart from the beautiful weather, the couple was surrounded by their closest friends and family, an intimate 25 guests, giving everyone the chance to be close to the bride and groom as they said their vows. Even before the ceremony, all attendees met for a group photo, with everyone fitting easily into a single frame, sharing laughs and hugs before the bride left to get ready for her walk down the aisle. 

The organization of this event made me appreciate and remember what I love about small, intimate weddings. Everyone attending has a chance to feel an involvement in the ceremony that you just can’t have when there are so many people. I’ve attended many beautiful weddings where the bride and groom spend the first couple of hours after their ceremony "making the rounds" through the room of guests in order to say hello to everyone. It seems challenging to enjoy yourself on what should be one of the happiest days of your life, and also give your thanks to a huge room full of guests for attending your wedding!

Intimate ceremonies give more creative power to the bride and groom, with more freedom to customize every aspect of the day.  A small guest list can also open up more potential small venues and of course save a few bucks. Many couples choose to have a small wedding in order to splurge on the things that really matter to them, like an open bar, unbelievable dinner, or special wedding favors.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Burson! 

Thanks for the photos from Matthew Kent! 

Real Tricia Huddas & Co. Wedding Featured on Southern Weddings

Cori and David's November Savannah wedding at the Mansion on Forsyth Park was the culmination of a weekend of Savannah fun for their close friends and family that traveled from all over the country to spend Thanksgiving weekend with this fantastic couple.

Cori put so much care into both the details, and a luxurious, welcoming experience for her guests that I was mostly just jealous I wasn't one of them. As a bride that used blogs for some of her inspiration, I'm so glad that her wedding - in turn - was featured yesterday on Southern Weddings Magazine's blog!

Check it out! Real Georgia Wedding: Cori + David

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Savannah Wedding: Julie and Pat

I had the pleasure of spending a few days with this Wisconsin couple in August to pick out the low country venues for their destination wedding. They were interested in exploring both Hilton Head and Savannah. I am so happy they chose Savannah for the intimate affair because their Owens-Thomas House Garden wedding ceremony and Olde Pink House reception were beyond charming. Julie's whole look was so perfect for the historic venues - Tricia and I ogled over her whenever we had a free minute. There's just something extra-special about a bride whose dress and style completely fit the venue...

The beautiful flowers by A to Zinnias. Julie's favorite flower is the Gerbera Daisy, and I was so happy to see my first fluffy pink peonies of the season.

The Owens-Thomas House Garden is reason enough to have a small wedding!! It's so beautiful, but the space works best for an intimate affair.

Guests enjoyed cocktails during a trolley tour of historic Savannah, ending at yet another historic venue, the Olde Pink House. It is my favorite restaurant in Savannah and they really take care of wedding parties. Guests started in the Study and had dinner in the Master Bedroom.

What we've been up to...

There is just no excuse for our lack of blogging! We've been busy, of course, but so are our readers. I guess we have our New Year's resolutions cut out for us, huh?

If you need a break from last-minute online shopping, coordinating endless social gatherings, baking...all of the stuff that we love and loathe about the holidays...sit back and enjoy these slideshows from some of the recent Savannah weddings that have been keeping us on our toes this fall.

Denise and Erik's classic Savannah wedding was featured on the popular wedding blog, Perfect Bound, which is a great source for fresh and stylish wedding inspiration - or just fashion and design inspiration really. Their photographer, Jade McCully, is just the greatest at finding the perfect spots and shots around Savannah - click here to see a slideshow of some of the best.



Jade McCully was also the photographer for Amanda and Chris' vintage-styled, intimate wedding that took guests from one historic venue to another with a Davenport House ceremony and dinner reception at The Olde Pink House. It was all-around-lovely, but the flowers by A to Zinnias really took my breath away that day - keep an eye out for them in this slideshow!

And, no photo teaser here, but this is a must-see slideshow. Cori and David's Thanksgiving-weekend, Mansion wedding was full of details and personality - just like the bride. And who better than Tim Willoughby to photograph it - magic happens somewhere between his eye, the camera's lens and the subject...that's the best way that I can think to describe it.

Enjoy.

Loving these Kate Spade Place Cards...

This weekend was one of the cutest intimate weddings I've seen at the Mansion on Forsyth Park. The bride, Kristin, wanted her 16 guests seated in the round, at the center of the courtyard so that she and Rob could get married under the lovely chandelier. She ordered close to a ton of rose petals from an online wholesaler, and they did a nice job of helping to form our ceremony in the round. I will share some pictures once I get them, but I was really excited about her place cards that she had for the intimate dinner to follow the ceremony.

I have never seen these Kate Spade Word Place Cards by Cranes before this weekend. My favorite, of course, is "Playing Footsie is Encouraged." If you chose the right girlfriend to use that one for...and sat them across from an appropriate bachelor, you could really get something going, huh?

Real Wedding - Rachelle and Mark

So I misspoke when I said that Lizzie and Olin kicked off our wedding season, because the true start to a new year would come from the January 2 nuptials of Rachelle and Mark. Rachelle and Mark married at the Mansion on Forsyth Park with one of their intimate wedding packages. They all gathered on a beautiful January afternoon in Savannah – one of the reasons I love planning in Savannah! We can still have an outdoor wedding in January - it might be slightly chilly, but no snow plows required!

Classic and elegant is how I would describe Rachelle. She was gracious and excited like any other bride, and stunning – just look at how beautiful she is! She kept it all very simple peony bouquet by Harvey Designs, one of my favorite wedding flowers! That bouquet is simple, but elegant! Rachelle and Mark had a guest that was celebrating a birthday on their wedding day, and they wanted to make sure that their guest was included in the celebration since they were giving up their birthday to be with them. She had Custom Cakes create a cake that would pull double duty! It is in the style of an intimate wedding cake, but it was chocolate, her and her guest’s favorite flavor!

Photography provided by Denise Gonsales Photography.

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Weddings - Lizzie and Olin

In January Lizzie and Olin kicked off our wedding season at the Mansion on Forsyth Park with a sweet intimate Savannah wedding. They had all of 15 guests joining them, small and simple is just the way to go for some brides.

Lizzie's wedding was a true reflection of her personality - sweet! From lollypop chair ties, to candy favors and candle holders, her personality shined in pink! She was even able to convince her groom, Olin, to wear a pink tie! But who could resist Lizzie? Check out her pink Kate Spade shoes - my favorite wedding shoes to date - and her beautiful bouquet by Garden on the Square.

The images were provided by Memories n' More photography.