Ladies Who Lunch

Since the wedding ceremony wasn't scheduled to begin until 6:00 PM, I originally planned to have a small brunch/lunch for all of my bridesmaids earlier in the day, before we started getting ready. Then, two of my aunts asked what they could do for me, as they wouldn't be able to throw a shower (due to logistics). They took over my luncheon plans and they exceeded all of my expectations!

The lunch was held at the Inn on Biltmore Estate, on the terrace you see below. The view and the weather were both perfect, and the food was completely delicious. Our photographer arrived early enough to take some pictures, and he got some wonderful shots of my favorite ladies. I have included a few below. I only wish he had gotten there before my big sister and niece left!

Our only gentleman guest: The son of my honorary bridesmaid.

My aunts got everyone these julep cup favors with the date on one side and the guest's last initial on the other. They make a perfect little vase as well.

This was such a splendid way to begin my wedding day, and I am so grateful to those who put it all together and those who attended.

Welcome!

Since everyone who came to the wedding would have to travel, we wanted to be able to do something for them on Friday night. I had originally wanted to have the wedding itself at Biltmore's River Bend Barn, but Mike vetoed it as being too casual. We decided it would make the perfect location to have a Friday night Welcome Party, instead! I asked our wedding photographer if he would come out for a few hours to take some pictures, and he did an amazing job. This isn't even half of the pictures I love from the event. I think the best part about Eric is his ability to take candid portraits. You may not know my family and friends, but I promise that his images capture them perfectly.

All the food and drinks were served in the stalls of the old barn!

Since we had fewer people attend than our minimum for the wedding, Biltmore catering made up these welcome bags for us with Biltmore water and a frosted cookie in the shape of the house! They were a big hit.

I will explain: Mike's love of penguins + work on construction sites + Clemson Univeristy (orange) = a groom's cake! I thought it made more sense to have it at the Welcome Night party that at the wedding, where there would already be a cake. There were a lot of raised eyebrows, but Mike loved it, so it was worth it.

I am not going to go into a lengthy explanation here, but know that there was a custom musical number (courtesy of my step-mom and little sister) that called for audience participation. 'Nuff said.

It was a great night.

PS: You might notice there aren't a lot of pictures of me. Apparently, I made some poor wardrobe, hair, and visible-tan -line decisions, so I hate all of the pictures of myself from the party. Fortunately, the next day I had professional hair and make-up, so I was much more presentable.

(note: Eric sent me all raw files, so these have minimal processing. I can't manage much more than cropping and Some color adjustment!)

Well, we bit the bullet.

We went ahead and purchased our digital negatives when our photographer, Eric McCarty, offered them at a lower price. Yes, we had already purchased some prints, and yes, we are still going to have him make an album for us, but it still seemed like a good idea. After all, I can only fit about 120 images in the album, and there are nearly 1600 to choose from! I am going to have to cut out all of the pictures from the welcome party and the brunch, and dozens more that I just happen to really like. And if I tried to order prints of all of those from Pictage, it would cost a fortune anyway. This way, I can have a stunning album made by Eric - which is one of the reasons we chose him - and I can make my own albums from all of the other images I love. It also means that I can share more pictures here on the blog! So stay tuned for an avalanche of wedding-y goodness.