Keri + James

Mint and coral REAL WEDDING. ​Plus, some super snarky quotes about marriage, because that’s the mood I’m in apparently :)

​“Marriage lets you annoy one special person for the rest of your life”
 
Maybe that’s why I love real weddings so much – because I couldn’t wait to bug my own guy for-ev-er. FOREVER. Sucker. And now I’m passionate about helping other people exasperate each other until one of them dies or eats that last piece of chocolate cake without asking. Whichever one comes first. But I’m thinking it’s usually eating the last piece of cake first, followed by a swift, merciless death. My husband would know. Just ask him about the time he ate my homemade Mac n’ Cheese leftovers :( He’s still breathing and bringing home a paycheck, but only just barely.
 
I loved getting to be a part of James and Keri’s special day (and Preslie – cause we mustn’t forget James’ sweet daughter!) and I can’t believe that I’ve waited this long to share it with you. Like, embarrassingly long because between their wedding and now, they’ve had a son and he is celebrating his 1st Birthday. So you know, it’s only been about three years. Oh dear. This is an entirely new level of procrastination and overall lameness.
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All photos courtesy of: Tracy Hill Photography

 “Being married is like having a best friend who doesn’t remember anything you say”
 
James and Keri met online. Keri had great legs from figure skating and an equally great sense of humor, so James knew they had to meet. And for Keri, James was totally good-looking, intelligent, and an amazing father. They dated for a little over a year before getting engaged. I love these distressed, urban engagement photos!

​“The longest sentence you can form with two words is: I Do” –H.L. Mencken
 
Keri chose a color palette of mint and coral with accents of white and grey. I loved these gorgeous pastels and how she incorporated them throughout the wedding with beautiful details like a mint sash on her tea-length dress and stunning mint pumps.
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Wedding Venue: Sleepy Ridge

​The bridal bouquet is made up of pale coral roses, succulents, Queen Anne’s lace, dusty miller, and seeded eucalyptus. The texture of the succulents is such a beautiful aspect to the bouquet!

The bridesmaids are carrying the same flowers, just in a smaller scale and James and his best man have boutonnieres of coral roses and dusty miller

Our flower girl/daughter of the groom is decked out in baby’s breath flower crowns that looked so sweet with her flowing flower girl dress and mint sash!

I seriously can't get over this amazing Daddy-daughter combo!

​For the ceremony, we filled vases with baby’s breath, Queen Anne ’s lace, and curly willow and lined the entire aisle with them. It was very soft and romantic! James’ daughter Preslie – our #1 flower girl today – walked down the aisle sprinkling handfuls of pale coral rose petals.

​When we switched over from the ceremony to a luncheon and reception, this same aisle décor became baby’s breath centerpieces for the luncheon, banquet, and sign-in tables.

​“When I said I do I didn’t mean Laundry”
 
Even though James “doesn’t like cake” (I don’t even know what that means), we won him over with our classic vanilla cake and from-scratch raspberry filling! This small, two-tier wedding cake is frosted in a beautiful mint-colored ombre, although looking back, I really wish I had graded the second color better. The jump from light to dark is too drastic. Too late now, but I definitely adjusted it for future ombre cakes!

​“They say marriages are made in heaven, but so are lightning and thunder” –Clint Eastwood
 
Before we knew it is was time to toss the bouquet… (but a separate one made of larkspur and baby's breath because Keri couldn't stand the thought of chucking her beautiful bouquet to the hordes of feral children wanting to tear into it :) And yes, the picture on the right is my daughter trying to rip the bouquet out of Preslie's hands, even though Preslie caught it fair and square)...

...​And head on out of there! How perfect is this bubble send off?!?! I've honestly never seen those teensy-tiny bottles of wedding bubbles work so well. Normally when my clients want to do a bubble send-off, I recommend having a bubble hurricane machine placed strategically for the photos.

​My favorite part of this whole wedding was seeing how Keri and James created not just a new marriage, but a new family and shared their special day with their daughter Preslie. Keri may not be Preslie’s biological mom, but I know Preslie feel so lucky to have “her own Keri” and I loved how these two showered each other with love and affection throughout the entire wedding planning process and on the wedding day. It can’t be easy sharing your Daddy when you’ve been his only girl for so long, but Preslie made it look delightful.

Congrats Keri, James, and Preslie (and now baby Jamen - I'll just hang my head in shame that this took so long)