Hitched: Bridal Portraits

I am so excited to announce that my bridal portrait session was published on Wedding Row Charlotte this morning {CLICK HERE}!

Waiting to post these pictures until after the wedding was one of the hardest things ever. So without further ado, I present to you my southern inspired bridal portraits...

Rockstars who made this southern-inspired shoot possible:

PHOTOGRAPHER: Dianne Personett EVENT PLANNING & DESIGN: come+together events FLORALS & PROPS: The Bloom Room & Kristen Cone Interiors VENUE: The Dairy Barn HAIR & MAKEUP ARTIST: Elizabeth Tolley

Hitched: The Dress

I had an extremely specific vision in mind when it came time to go wedding dress shopping...I wanted an ivory dress with lots of lace, taffeta, a big bow, pockets, sweetheart neckline, and a long train with lots of buttons. Sounds like something you could find on a rack, right? WRONG! I wanted to find something I adored off the rack more than anything. But, as my besties pulled dress after dress after dress off the rack, I just couldn't get excited about anything I tried on. 17 dresses later, I was left disappointed and exhausted {getting in and out of a wedding dress is some serious work}!

As we were about to leave the bridal boutique {New York Bride & Groom}, the owner, Krista, stopped us and asked if I saw anything I loved? I sadly replied no, as my friends replied in unison "she is too picky." A few minutes after describing my vision...Krista came running over to me with a size 12, full lace, Paloma Blanca sample dress off the clearance rack. She explained to me that the dress at full price was double my budget...but since the style was being discontinued I should buy it {I was so confused at this point}. She went on to explain that I was buying the dress JUST for the lace fabric, and that her dressmaker, Nacy, would order some taffeta and use the existing lace fabric to hand make my dream dress. And she did just that.  Oh, and if that wasn't enough, she custom made my veil too!

6 fittings later, my dream dress....

They say that finding your wedding dress is very similar to finding your husband - when you know, you know! I could not be more happy with how perfect my dress turned out. I am obsessed with it.

Honeymoon in Paradise

Our honeymoon in Punta Cana, Domincan Republic was just as wonderful as we had hoped. As promised {here}, I have a picture-heavy recap of the glorious week we spent in paradise...

 Of course we needed an airport picture upon arrival!

We were welcomed to our suite with a proud "Honeymooners" banner on our door! As soon as our butler left, I immediately pounced on the bed in pure joy! 

 

 

 

We spent all week back and forth between the beautiful beach and the relaxing private poolside Bali beds. 

You could find us at the swim-up bars pretty much every afternoon...

A few fun shots...

We played with iguanas...and parrots!

And one of my favorite afternoons...we went on a Zipline excursion through the tropical rainforest!

Oh, and we ate {and drank} like kings and queens at all of the restaurants. We even had a few breakfasts in bed!

On our last day, we had an amazing couples massage at the spa and bought some cubans on the beach to bring home!

...and had we not missed our sweet dog, Charlie, so much we may not have come home!