Fall Issue - Martha Stewart Weddings

If you have not had the chance to buy your own copy of the Fall 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, take a look at the images of our work below.

Cover Page: photography by earl carter/martha stewart weddings fall 2009

Southern Comfort: photography by tara donne/martha stewart weddings fall 2009

Go and buy the issue for a better look - it is filled with wonderful articles, ideas and information!

Also, check out Grace's blog - Design*Sponge for all the details about her wedding. She did a five day post about all the local vendors and the wedding from her perspective.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Thank you to Grace and Aaron - you two were a pleasure to work with!!

Southern Signature Cocktail

Hard Sweet Tea

A Tall Glass (or Mason Jar) of Ice

1/2 Water

1/2 Sweet Tea Vodka

Squeeze of Lemon

What drink is more Southern than Sweet Tea?

Photo from Flickr

Jackie's Wedding Planning Journey - July Weddings bring May Showers...

This past weekend was my first bridal shower! My fiance, Matt's, family hosted a ladies-only brunch for me in Florida - our home state. The food was amazing - homemade chicken salad croissants, fruit, muffins and a dessert table to die for! Matt's Grandma makes Czech pastries, I believe they are called Kolacky, that are filled with apricot, prune, pecan or cream cheese filling. So good that I am willing to admit that I ate 50 of them over the weekend - so much for my pre-wedding diet! I took pictures, but they were with my mother's camera. As soon as I can teach her to upload pictures, I will post them.

When this whole wedding planning journey began, it was strange to think that anyone might want to throw me a bridal shower. I figured I would have one, but that's as far as it went on that subject. "Y'all"....I sure did underestimate Southerners' fondness for parties and themes!Between May 9th and my wedding I have four to attend. I don't know the details on all of them yet, but I will share the next one - which I do know about - and some interested wedding shower themes I have encountered recently as a guest.

Next up for us is a couples shower thrown by my generous friend Tara! She's hosting a low country boil in our honor, which is much more Matt's thing than tea and brunch, haha. I'm excited to have Matt and the guys join in on the celebrations! If you're looking for a great couples' shower theme, try a "Stock the Bar" shower. Each couple brings a bottle of liquor to help the happy couple become well-situated hosts once they are married!

Yum..Low Country Boil.

Whether you search all the blogs for themes, or just use your imagination and information about the couple's likes and personalities, there are unquantifiable variations on the traditional bridal shower to keep the betrothed hopping right up until her wedding, such as...

Monograms and Mimosas - a friend of mine was recently thrown one of these! Everyone brings a gift with the bride's new monogram or the couple's future monogram. This is a great shower for younger wedding guests as the gifts can be small, like cocktail napkins with the couple's last initial, or maybe an LL Bean beach bag.

Around the Clock - guests are given a time of day on their invitations and asked to bring a gift that would be used at that time of day. This is another great couples' shower idea as the gifts can stray from the traditional registry items. The happy couple may receive a subscription to the New York Times or another "morning paper," for an a.m. gift....and, I dunno, a Blu-Ray DVD player or other must haves for a great "movie night" for a p.m. gift. The possibilities are endless with a shower like that.


Readers: Do you have a really inventive wedding shower idea or theme to share?

Low Country Boil...cake!

The universe is strongly urging me to cook a low country boil. I was craving the delicious Savannah delicacy all weekend - probably because it was so hot out. And then there were just LCB's everywhere! On my Mansion bride's dinner menu, catering quotes coming in for a November wedding's Low Country Boil welcome party...really everywhere, I couldn't name all of the appearances.

I thought I'd gotten away from that sneaky pot of deliciousness (I always feel like...the LCB's Waatching meeEEE!) and decided it's been too long since I've peeked at Custom Cakes' blog to see what's new and happenin' in the sweets department...

It's a Low Country Boil GROOM's CAKE! An amazing one at that...check out Minette's actual post for a funny story on how that smudge came to be on the bottom left hand corner.

Ugh, now I'm craving Low Country Boil AND cake...red velvet with cream cheese icing...argh...

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Wedding: Meredith and Mark

Meredith and Mark were married just a few weeks ago on a beautiful April day here in Savannah. I have to say that I am truly going to miss meeting with Meredith and her family! They have the most infectious laughs and when I was around them, I could not help but laugh right along with them. I can tell you that I had no need to ask the front desk where Meredith’s room was that day – I could hear her and her mother laughing and just followed the joyful sounds!

Meredith, her mother, the groom's mother and her maid of honor were getting their hair and make-up done in their hotel room by Savannah Day Spa. They were just enjoying the happy occasion and really taking in the day. Meredith was to wear a new wedding dress, but the veil had a meaningful history. It was the veil that her mother wore on her wedding day, and to add a special touch to the veil then, her mother – Sassy aka Grandma Farrar - had sewn on small pearls to match Meredith’s mother's dress. Following tradition, Meredith’s mother sewed clear sequins onto the veil match the sequin detail on Meredith’s dress.

The couple opted to see each other before the ceremony, and their amazing photographer, Jade McCully, shared these photos with us. They met in Emmet Park and walked around the park and Factors Walk area of historic Savannah.

The ceremony took place in Washington Square and the weather could not have been better - sunny, but not hot. They were wed by the bride's long-time family friend and pastor. Each had just one attendant, and walked down the aisle while the bride’s friend, Anna, played the violin. Her flowers were created by the talented team at Garden on the Square. The men wore classic blue seersucker suits - my favorite male attire for a casual, summer, Southern wedding!

A cocktail style reception took place at the Mulberry Inn. Mollie Stone created a stunning cake for the couple and the guests left messages in a Savannah coffee table book in lieu of a guest book. Everyone ate, drank and truly enjoyed the company of the happy couple and the beautiful April weather.

Congratulations Meredith and Mark, may laughter always be in your life!

Tricia Huddas & Co. Real Weddings - Low Country Boil Rehearsal Dinner

I have been working with Roya, JB and their mothers - Soraya and Kimey - for the past year. We have spent many hours on the phone and sent/received more emails then I can count, but the results were absolutely spectacular - even if we had one of the worse spring storms in the six years I've been living in Savannah roll through!

I took these images of the Rehearsal Dinner/Welcome Reception. JB's parents threw a Low Country Boil, catered by Creative Catering and Whitemarsh Beverage, at the Harper Fowlkes House - a casual but elegant affair!

If you recall our recent post on welcome bags , the featured burlap bag was for this wedding, and they chose the burlap to tie in with the rehearsal dinner decor. Ainsley and I are both huge fans of burlap table linens, which they chose to give the rehearsal dinner a clean, rustic look. The simple yellow and white Gerber daisy flower arrangements by Harvey Designs were in Mason Jars - which the bride and groom use for drinking glasses at home.

Since all of their guests were from out-of-town, serving a low country boil was the perfect way to welcome them to Savannah. If you are not familiar with the meal, it is a kin to y'all yankees' clam bake. Wild Georgia shrimp (and sometimes oysters) are simply boiled with potatoes, onions and sausage. It's a great, casual meal that serves as the perfect contrast to the heavier and more formal fare that you may be serving at your reception.

Creative Catering did an amazing job preparing this traditional southern fare for Roya and JB's 100 guests, but if you wanted to throw a more casual rehearsal dinner in your own back yard, a low country boil is a super simple way to cook for a large group.

The night was a wonderful display of the love shared not only by the couple, but by all of their guests! A slide show of the couple and a few speeches (or roasts) were topped off with the most touching toast from the groom to his bride-to-be, featuring excerpts from letters that they wrote to each other over their 5 year courtship.