Project Wedding Blog

With the holidays less than a week away, we thought we’d celebrate with Emily and Chase‘s cozy winter wedding in Atlanta.  The space and décor elements were styled reminiscent of time Emily spent as a child in her grandparent’s cabin in the Northwoods.  Earthy and organic accents added rustic beauty, while the chocolate, mocha and ivory palette was warm and inviting.  Special thanks to Nadia D. Photography for sharing these absolutely exquisite photographs with us!

See the full album in our Real Wedding Gallery…

Photos by Nadia D. Photography

Event Coordination by Peachtree Weddings & Events

Bridal Gown by Winnie Couture

Flowers by The Flower Post

Venue: King Plow Arts Center

Cake by Frosted Pumpkin

Music by The Symphony Crack Orchestra

From the Bride: Throughout the planning process, our goal was to have fun, keep it simple and focus on the important things, like family, friends and faith. Even though the wedding was not at a church, we wanted it to be centered on our faith and the beginning of our life together. I think weddings are an opportunity to celebrate a new beginning and the focus needs to be on the couple making a life-long commitment to each other. Not to say the details aren’t fun and important too, but in the end, no matter what happens at the wedding, the marriage is what is significant.

Chase and I love winter weather and being outside. We wanted the wedding to feel warm and inviting while capturing elements of our favorite style, something we started calling “rustic elegance”. Both of our families are down-to-earth, outdoorsy types so we wanted the wedding to reflect that. I grew up in the midwest playing at my grandparents’ cabin in the Northwoods and farm in Ohio so there were lots of elements drawn from those places… the farm table and flower box on the alter, the old antique bottles and the cake stand that was actually made by my grandfather from an old tree at their cabin. It made the 20 hour trip to Atlanta just for the wedding!

My gown was nothing like what I had originally said I wanted, but when I tried it on it was as if it was made just for me. It was by Winnie Couture and had Swarvoski crystal beading- like I had never seen before- all around the top and along the train. The best part about it was that it matched my family’s heirloom veil perfectly. I was the 12th bride to wear the 80 year old chapel length veil and all twelve of those marriages were, or are, “till death do us part”. We had pictures of all twelve brides at a table on display and four of the brides were at the wedding.

We did a lot of DIY: The invitations, the centerpieces, the save-the-dates, the programs, and the cake stand, among a few other things. My mom and I had the time of our lives planning this wedding together and we had so many wonderful friends who pitched in to help us. It was amazing because we were like, “Oh, we have a friend who does this, and one that does that, and can help with this…” so it was a team effort. We were very blessed in that respect.

Looking back, there is not one thing I would change about our wedding day. The things that didn’t go exactly to plan made the night memorable and added to the fun, and the things that did go right were better than I could have ever hoped for. It was the perfect party for celebrating with my family and friends. I wasn’t nervous at all until right before my dad and I started to get ready to walk down the aisle and it all felt real. During the ceremony, our two pastors, Kevin and Russ, asked both my grandfathers to stand and give a few words of advice. Both sets of my grandparents have been happily married for more than 50 years and are an incredible testament to a marriage founded in faith and love of God. It was a total surprise and it was the only time throughout the whole ceremony that I cried. Looking at them and knowing some of what they had been through together, knowing how much they still loved each other, it reminded me of what marriage was really all about and helped to put our vows into perspective.

Another unforgettable moment was when our pastor left out “you may now kiss the bride” and we didn’t know what to do so we started walking down the aisle when Chase’s aunt yelled “KISS HER” and others joined in. He planted one on me right in the middle of the aisle amongst cheers and cat calls. It’s the unexpected moments that make it memorable!

For the food, we tried to re-create a meal that Chase and I had when we were at a vineyard in Chianti wine country in Tuscany. We had Italian meats, cheeses, roasted vegetables and homemade breadsticks in a big Mediterranean display in the center of the cocktail hour room. Then the guests moved in to the reception room where we had stations set up with made-to-order pasta and Italian roast beef, salad and mashed potatoes. For dessert we had a coffee and hot chocolate bar with homemade Italian biscotti, and wedding cake, of course!

Our entertainment was incredibly unique and talented. They are such gifted musicians and played classical piano, violin and guitar for the ceremony, transitioned to the electric violin, guitar, and keyboard to re-mix popular songs for the cocktail hour, then deejayed our favorites during the reception. I had so much fun on the dance floor with my family and friends and Nadia, our photographer, got lots of pictures to prove it.

At the end of the evening, guests saw us off with bubbles and sparklers and Chase and I rode off in his big old red truck, a throw back from when we first fell in love in college.

Tags: chocolate, Christmas, cozy, holiday, mocha, rustic, winter