Alma + Mark

Alma and Mark came all the way from New York City to have their wedding on the gorgeous Bald Head Island.  Many of their guests, though, came from even further-- Australia, Germany, Sri Lanka, Brazil.  So many different countries were represented that Alma and Mark wanted to honor the diversity of culture present on that day.  We came up with a slightly nautical travel theme, naming the tables after the home countries of their guests and using maps, compasses, and lighthouses throughout the design. 

Millie Holloman Photography blows me away every time.  You would think that every photographer must take a few bad photos.  NEVER happens with Millie!  Every wedding is breathtaking!  Not sure how she does it. 

The ceremony took place in the chapel at Bald Head overlooking the marsh.

 

Programs contained an image of the Bald Head Island Lighthouse.  We tied them with twine and tucked them in an old trunk.

Aisle Markers were a very natural combination of grasses and millet, secured to the pews with twine.

Alma wanted her bouquet to be inspired by her mother's wedding bouquet, a cascade of white orchids.

 

Alma had sent us a disc of photos to frame for the reception, so we shrunk down a few and enclosed them in a locket on the bouquet handle. 

 

Bridesmaids bouquets were a combination of green orchids, scabiosa, hydrangea, lisianthus, and millet.

Alma and Mark wanted to include small touches that may not be noticed by guests, but that they would appreciate as significant.  The guest book included rice paper (inspired by Alma's mother's culture) where guests could write the couple messages. 

Mark's mother wanted to include Jordan almonds as a part of their family's history.  We boxed them in small brown boxes and tied them with blue bows.

Escort cards were pinned to an antique map and guided each guest to thier country (table).

 

 The centerpieces were hydrangea, millet, lisianthus, and orchids. 

We framed the table names in these great wooden frames and used the compass as a watermark. 

We attached this sign to the couple's golf cart, but Jane Roberson (our wedding director extraodinaire) snuck it into a photo ahead of time! 

Millie's truthboothis always a hit, but these guests has a BLAST!  We brainstormed with Millie to come up with cute nautical props!

Thanks so much Alma and Mark for letting us be a part of your day!

Great Blogs!

We are so lucky to live in an age when such an abundance of talented people are networking across cities, states and even countries.  10 years ago, we would never have been able to see what great wedding vendors were doing on the west coast while we were working on the east coast.  Now it is at our fingertips.  Recently, another great blog has been developed right from our own North Carolina!  White Thread is doing such great things, providing exposure for southern vendors and inspiring brides all over the country!  Today we, along with Millie Holloman, were featured on the blog.  Thanks Dina from White Thread for thinking of us!  Hopefully, it will be the start of great things to come!

Check out the full post by clicking here!

More from Katy & Ryan's Day

We love it when photographers send us a disc of images from weddings we do!  Whitebox Weddingsjust sent us a great one full of extra images from Katy and Ryan's big day! Click here to view our first post of the wedding back in April. 

These two were absolutely smitten with each other! 

   

The programs from this wedding were one of my all time favorites...

Katy and I developed a timeline of the ceremony instead of the typical order of service in a list form.  

 

Cocktail Hour was an old-fashioned picnic, complete with lemonade, mason jars and mini picnic snacks!

 

 Escort cards were hung from a tree we constructed of curly willow and greenery.

Tables were named after important places in Katy and Ryan's lives.

 

We created a story wall, on one of the many great wall spaces at The Balcony on Dock.  Katy brought us framed black and white photos of the places that represented important steps in the "Story of Katy and Ryan"...the place they first met, the place they first kissed, the place he proposed. 

    

Favors were the couples favorite snacks and drinks.

 

Thanks Whitebox for being such great photographers and to Katy and Ryan for giving us such great material to build a wedding on!

Featured on South Weddings Magazine

Today, Salt Harbor was featured on SWS Magazine's great wedding blog!  Katy and Ryan's wedding continues to be one of my all time favorites.  The couple was just amazing!  Check out the full blog post by clicking here.

Storybook Farm Wedding

Rhonda and Wayne own an absolutely gorgeous farm in Shalotte, NC, so finding a venue for their wedding required no search at all.  Rhonda invited Millie and I out to see the farm to get our opinion, and we both instantly said, "You HAVE to have it here!"  It took a little convincing, but Rhonda eventually charmed Wayne enough that he agreed. 

Sunflowers are Rhonda's favorite flower, so the couple spent the next few months planting sunflowers everywhere.  It ended up perfect!  AMAZING photographs by Millie and Company at Millie Holloman Photography!

  

Rhonda kept emphasizing that while she wanted a farm feel, she also wanted hints of elegance.  So while sunflowers were incorporated in the centerpieces, ceremony, and cocktail hour, we took her bouquet in a slightly different direction, using cymbidium and catalaya orchids, scabiosa, billy balls and scabiosa pods.  We still wrapped it with some rustic twine and placed brown buttons on the handle.

 

Bridesmaids wore bright blue dresses and carried sunflowers, fern curls, millet, maple leaves and scabiosa pods.

 

The ceremony was set on a hill planted with millet.  Normally the millet is used for dove hunting season, but Wayne was nice enough to mow a path to the top of the hill and then mow a huge circle in the millet.  The ceremony took place in the round under a arch Rhonda pieced together from old railings.   

Hay bales were used as seating and in keeping with the rustic elegance, we tucked white fabric around each bale...

and lined the aisle with lanterns.

   Cockail hour could be held no where else but in a barn!

 

When we were hanging these lanterns in the barn ceiling, the horses kept getting curious and tapping the glass with their noses.  When one horse tied to pull at a lantern, we had to move them all closer to the center and out of reach.  Notice that the bistro tables are positioned just enough away from the stalls as well.  Who knew horses were such trouble makers!  I always say that you never know what you will encounter in this industry.  Live animals were a new experience! 

Hard lemonade was a must for this warm August wedding! 

Warm is probably an huge understatement.  August on a farm is HOT!  Luckily, Rhonda and Wayne were smart enough to make air conditioning a part of their budget!  After guests sat through a warm ceremony and cocktail hour, they were trilled to find the reception tent was plenty cool.  This made dancing in August much more manageable!   

Rhonda had been collecting antique colbalt vases for years and wanted them to be included in the design, so we used them as vases with a combination of orchids, sunflowers, and billy balls.

Rhonda's family gathered up their picnic tables and brought them for seating.  They made great tables for the reception!

The cakes were unbelievable!  I worked with Monique from Sugar Confections to develop a look for the three cakes, and she blew me away with the final product! 

 

  

 Rhonda had prepared the farm with some adorable touches like this one!  

 

 

Canned preserves were the favors, handmade by Rhonda and her sisters!

 

And for the departure, you have heard of the limo, vntage car, even bicycles, but how about a tractor?!  PERFECT!