I am so super excited to share this gorgeous southern wedding from Rustic White Photography, complete with some words of wisdom from the bride! It is absolutely sure to bring a smile to your face!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

I was very blessed to have my mother, Sherry Cox, owner of Details Design Center, and her head designer, Maggie Gilstrap, to help me with the planning process every step of the way. I work in the wedding business, and I see so many beautiful ideas all the time that inspired me. Mom and Maggie were able to bring my vision to reality and embellish it with their fabulous designer details!  

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

Our wedding was out of state, so trust was a huge factor when hiring our vendors.  We are from a very close-knit community and we know many of the local professionals, so many of our vendors were dear friends! The Ashford Manor is on the same street as my mother’s house so the venue owners are our neighbors, our best friend, Jose Zambrano, was our caterer, and our pastor was my childhood youth pastor! We were truly blessed to be able to include our community and friends in our wedding services, and all the vendors I chose were professionals that I felt I could truly trust to bring their expertise to our day so I would not have to worry!

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

Inspiration for my wedding design was our families! My husband and I realized in our pre-marriage counseling that the deep bond that we share is how much we care for our families and our desire to create our own family.  In light of our family history, I wanted our design to be timeless and classic with vintage details of pearls, lace and bling! Everywhere we could we included details about my late father, our grandparents, our parents and siblings.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

Our ceremony was my favorite thing about our wedding, because Brendan and I chose to write our own vows.  We had everyone in tears! My pastor helped us create a beautiful ceremony that captured our true feelings for one another and our family theme. My mother walked me down the aisle and we incorporated Brendan’s family heritage with an Irish hand fasting ceremony. 

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

My best piece of advice for brides is to make your wedding about you and your husband and what bonds you together as a couple. It will help you keep each other grounded through the journey of the planning process. Your wedding will set the tone for your marriage so find what is the core of your relationship and embellish it into a beautiful story that you and all your guests will experience, enjoy and remember! 

So much amazing advice! I love so many of the things this bride had to say: trusting your vendors is SO important, make sure your wedding is about you and your relationship as a couple, and who can resist her details!? [And if you’re like this bride and you want to find some vendors you can trust, head on over to Every Last Vendor and take a peek at the incredible wedding pros we have here on ELD!]

Brides, tell me- how are you making sure your wedding (from the ceremony to the decor) reflects you and your relationship as a couple? I can’t wait to hear!

Cheers!
Samm

Vendors who made it all happen…