Outdoor June Wedding: Lauren & Matt

Exactly one year ago to the Saturday I was setting up for another client's June 14th wedding at The Inn at Carnall Hall. While we were setting up, this stunning blonde came by to check things out, and I just so happened to give her my business card that day. One year later, I had the wonderful opportunity to send that blondie down the aisle to marry her sweetheart!

On June 13th of this year, Lauren (a fellow Pi Phi) and Matt (a childhood friend of my sister) tied the knot on the most perfect June day for an outdoor wedding on Old Main Lawn. This bride and her mother brought me in early in the planning process to help execute each detail along the way. We had the pleasure of working with the Inn's awesome staff, the uber-creative Pam from Flora, and a new photog friend Sarah Bussey Adams(who, might I add was 9 months pregnant!) and her assistant Mitzi. All in all, it was a wonderful day! Check out some of these fun details (all photos by the talented Sarah Bussey Adams team)...

First, Lauren's gorgeous bridal gown was TO DIE FOR! It was made up of beautiful lace details, and was so wonderfully feminine. Check out the Jimmy Choo's too!



Lauren & Matt made the wise decision of seeing each other prior to their ceremony. I have a thousand reasons why this is a great idea, and one of those is that you have plenty of time to get great portraits together like these.



Next up, we were super grateful for the program fans {designed by Amy Hannon of Sincerely Yours Paper inc} during the portraits. Here are the bridesmaids in their classic, mature black dresses from J.Crew keeping the bride nice and cool. (Great tip: Lauren let the girls choose the dress of their liking, which they all appreciated & looked great in!)


One moment I loved during the day was when Lauren's mother and her siblings walked out to the sidewalk just past the ceremony area to find their own mother's name on Senior Walk. (If you don't know about this University of Arkansas tradition, it is one of my favorites and I am proud to have my own name donning the sidewalk twice!) They surrounded her name with their cute feet and Sarah got this picture that they will all cherish. I love it!


The Class Act String Quartet performed the ceremony music on the Lawn.


Here is a sweet shot of the ceremony on Old Main Lawn. We hung white paper lanterns in the trees for a very natural, simple look. It was stunning...of course the best Old Main Lawn ceremony I have ever seen!


This crowd was definitely ready for the reception! The Travis Kidd Band rocked the reception and kept the crowd dancing all night long...even after the bride & groom left! Lauren & Matt enjoyed their first dance together as husband and wife with everyone outside under their charming tent.


These lush centerpieces, created by Flora, adorned each table inside and outside of the Inn. The peonies were dreamy!


We continued the look from the ceremony by incorporating white paper lanterns, this time lit and in varying shapes, in the reception tent.


After about 30 minutes of the reception and a broken bustle (that just wouldn't stay put despite our pinning & rigging), Lauren snuck upstairs and changed into a cute party dress for dancing. The black belt worked perfectly with the other black and white details. Can you spot her in her new dress?


The night continued with hours of dancing, but to top it all off we brought in 50 (yes, 50!) warm, delicious pizzas for the guests to enjoy as a late night snack. If you want to make about 100 new best friends really quickly, just carry a giant stack of pizza boxes through a reception close to midnight. I just didn't know how much I was loved until then! :) After the bride & groom got their 2 cheese pizzas "to go" we sent them off in style.


Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs! It was a wonderful day, and I want to say thank you again for allowing me to be a part of the planning process and making it all happen on your wedding day!