-Proposal Story

The beautiful game started us down the road to this beautiful love. We met under the lights on a soccer field in Brooklyn - a sweet Georgia peach and a New Yorker by way of Michigan. The attraction was immediate, even though the availability wasn't. (Karl left the country twice within the first six months of dating.)

That absence made our hearts grow fonder. On a trip to Boston soon after Karl returned from India, we sat on a bench in the setting sun watching old men playing bocce and agreed that it was time to make our relationship official.

Over the next two years, we managed to play on a travel kickball team together, survive a hurricane in Puerto Rico, continue traveling the world together (and separate), move apartments, start new jobs, make new friends, welcome new family members, and remember loved ones.

Through it all, our hearts grew fonder...er. On a trip to Atlanta soon after Lindsay returned from India, we gathered on a warm, sunny Christmas Day, surrounded by family and agreed that it was time to make our relationship official...er.

-What was your overall vision was for your wedding/Why?

We really just wanted to have a big party. New Year's Eve seemed like the perfect night to celebrate with the people we love and it fell on a Thursday - so we could could have a long wedding weekend! Ideal.

Our vision came from a variety of places. I'm a floral designer and knew that I wanted the arrangements to be rich in color and sprawl as much as possible. I was able to pull in that deep marsala with an abundance of peonies. I’m a sucker for greenery and chose specific places for "green moments". My favorite being the fern walls that flanked our ceremony alter.

Karl and I live in Brooklyn so bringing New York to our Atlanta wedding was important to us. Our guestbook was a coffee table book of black and white images of NYC. Our programs were mimicked after a Broadway playbill and our guests received "tickets" upon entering the ceremony which displayed their seat assignment for dinner. About 45 minutes before the wedding ceremony began we had a cabaret put on by my dear friends that I studied musical theatre with. You'll see in our "playbill" that the cabaret was act one and our ceremony was act two.

-How you chose your dress/Why?

To start, I would like to say that I knew I wanted to have a headpiece from Hushed Commotion. I didn't know which one, but that was a definite. So, every dress I tried on I tried to envision this imaginary headpiece.

After trying on a slew of dresses at various boutiques I found myself being pulled towards one dress in particular at Lovely NYC. I went in to buy "the dress", but upon putting it on for the final time I just wasn't 100% and I could tell my mom wasn't REALLY feeling it either. So, I tried on a few more. To be completely honest, at this point I had tried on so many beautiful gowns and just wanted someone to tell me what to pick. When I tried on a dress from the Rosa Clara Soft line I felt some butterflies. I had the Hushed Commotion ‘Adair’ headpiece with me to try on and a gorgeous veil that my sister-in-law wore in her wedding. So there I was, the complete look. My mom was smiling from ear to ear. My best friend shed a single tear and my consultant at Lovely looked shocked - she liked this one even more than the one I came in to buy! This was the one. I'm not trying on another one, don't want to see another one and I want to buy this one right now. Quick! Before someone changes their mind!

-Did you do something old/new/borrowed/blue - and if so, what was the significance behind each item?

I didn’t plan to do this, but parts of it happened organically. Nothing old or blue, but I did borrow my sister-in-law’s veil. This wasn’t a tradition that I felt HAD to happen. On that note, there weren’t a lot of traditions that we felt pushed into. We definitely aren’t anti tradition people, but if we weren’t feeling something we simply skipped over it.

-The special details! Anything and everything that made your day unique.

Karl had few requests for our wedding day, but his ideas were some of my favorites from the day. We did all our photos prior to the wedding and had a little unexpected extra time before the ceremony. So, we hopped on a shuttle bus and drove to Waffle House. It’s hard to describe the reaction of the WH staff when 15 of us walked through their doors in black tie attire at 4 PM on NYE. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the peak hours of a Waffle House - they are about 12 - 4 AM and people are typically in a less sober state of mind. So it’s not that they weren’t expecting a crew like ours - I think we were just about 8 hours earlier than they planned.

The restaurant was completely empty so Karl and I sat at the bar, ordered hash browns smothered, covered and chunked and devoured them. I was that silly bride who hadn’t eaten all day- DON’T BE LIKE ME! I made up for it and have pictures to prove it:) Our bridal party plopped down in booths and went to waffle heaven. We are beyond thankful that our phenomenal photographer, Meredith Bacon, followed us to Waffle House and captured our fancy pre-wedding meal perfectly.

A couple other fun additions that were added by my creative, awesome husband was a balloon drop at midnight and a Spotify playlist that guests could subscribe to on our wedding week.

I think one of the most unique things about our wedding was the ceremony. As I mentioned earlier, we had a cabaret for about 45 minutes before our ceremony began with 12 singers who are some of our closest friends. I just love the environment that this created upon our guests arrival into the venue. Love, entertainment, excitement, talent, laughter and joy.

We were beyond honored to have my brother marry us. The personal touches he added to our ceremony really brought this “traditional” part of our wedding day to life. We all laughed and cried, listened and prayed together. I thought these moments would be a blur, but instead they are some of the most crisp memories in my mind. Karl and I wrote our own vows. We also had 20 of our friends and family stand together and recite blessings that were inspired by the seven blessings in Judaism. I saw this done at a dear friend’s wedding and fell in love with the sense of community and support that i felt it brought to their wedding ceremony. Karl and I were able to turn around to face our beloved guests and look them in the eye during this 5 minute portion of the ceremony. For me, this was the greatest moment of our wedding day. I still feel a giant wave of joy flow over me when I think on this instance. I have found my partner in life and am declaring to devote my life to him and all of these people are supporting us in the journey. Typically, your back is turned towards these important people for almost the entirety of your ceremony. I can’t fully express how thankful I am that we were able to look out on our loved ones for an extended period of time to hear, see, feel and absorb their love and support for us.

VENDORS

Photographer: Meredith Bacon

First Look/Bridal Party Pictures: Piedmont Park

Coordinator: your Nuptial DOC

Make-up: Becca Whittinghill

Hair: Linda Margarita

Paper Goods: H azel Paper Co.

Hand Lettering/Calligraphy: Fleurish Design Co,

Flowers: Lindsay Rae Design

Bride’s Dress: Rosa Clara

Bride’s Headpiece & Earrings: Hushed Commotion

Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka