I met T through mutual friends while we were both freshmen at the University of Florida (Go Gators!). We dated for the next four and a half years and T proposed while we were on vacation in Lake Tahoe, California. We spent the next year planning our wedding and got married in June at Wolf Mountain Vineyards in Dahlonega, GA.
T and I went wine tasting in Dahlonega after he first moved to Atlanta and we knew it was someplace special. Dahlonega is a small town an hour north of Atlanta and is home to several vineyards set against the North Georgia mountains. When we went to Wolf Mountain Vineyards, we were immediately in awe of the beauty of the property. The vineyards set against the mountains is breathtaking. T and I love hiking and being outdoors so we knew we wanted our wedding to be outside to take advantage of the natural beauty of North Georgia.
After we found our venue, we started researching and meeting with the rest of our vendors. We decided to forego a wedding planner to save money and because Wolf Mountain’s owners serve as expert day-of-planners. We knew we wanted to stay with Wolf Mountain’s theme of rustic elegance but since we didn’t have a planner, that meant I had to stay constantly aware of our vision and make sure all of our decisions fit within that vision. I made a vision board where I posted all of our stationary, bridesmaid dress material and pictures of everything from our cake to our venue and flowers.
For the flowers, I wanted the flowers to have a “wild” look as if they were picked from a field. I worked with Corinne from La Petite Fleur and she made my vision come to life. I loved how they looked wild yet refined. We used silver dollar eucalyptus because the leaves had a blue tint to them which would pick up the light blue in the bridesmaids dresses. I wanted a statement flower in my bouquet and we decided a queen protea would look amazing mixed in with the other neutral colored roses.
T and I tried to keep in mind the comfort of our guests when making decisions. For example, our programs were fans to keep our guests cool since we knew it could get pretty hot in June. We wanted food that fit our southern Georgia theme so we included pimento mac and cheese, grits, biscuits, a southern salad and fried okra to accompany our salmon, chicken, and ham. We served our favorite red and white wines from Wolf Mountain’s winery as well as local craft beers. We also had a shuttle transporting people to and from the venue so people could enjoy themselves without having to worry about driving or getting a cab. We had a strict budget, so I will be sharing a separate post going into detail about how I was able to cut costs in different ways while still achieving our dream wedding for all you soon to be brides out there!
We are so happy we were able to celebrate our marriage in such a beautiful place surrounded by the people we love so much. T is the kindest, funniest, hardest working, and most loving person I know. I wake up (almost) every day feeling so happy and blessed to be married to my best friend. Our wedding was the best day of our lives so far and we can’t wait for many more years together.
Photo Credit: Cottrell Photography
