Featured + Real Wedding: Garden Elegance at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

We are over the moon and so thrilled to see Christina + Zach's Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden wedding featured in the pages of The Knot Carolinas!

Working with Christina + Zach last year was such a joy! I loved everything about our time together. This bride is just as sweet as she looks (x's a million!), and the love that they have for each other is so inspiring. Christina + Zach live in Raleigh, but wanted to plan a wedding in the Charlotte area since it was a half way point between their two families. Once they saw Daniel Stowe, they were sold! It was the perfect venue for their elegant garden wedding. When we met, Christina + Zach painted a beautiful picture of a garden wedding where they could bring the outdoors indoors and fill the room with full, lush centerpieces. They also stressed how important it was that they incorporate her Lao and Vietnamese culture into their day. With a color palette of blush, pink, green, and champagne we created a truly magical day for this amazing couple. (By the way, have you seen their inspiration board?)

I can't thank all the amazing vendors involved in Christina + Zach's beautiful wedding enough. It takes a village to pull off a killer wedding y'all, and I'm grateful for the chance to work with this wonderful team of talented vendors!
Planning + Design: The Graceful Host
Photography: Lauren Friday Photography
Floral Design: New Creations Flower Company
Venue: Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
Catering: Best Impressions Caterers
Videography: Crown Alley Films
Entertainment: Split Second Sound
Rentals + Draping: Party Reflections
Hair + Makeup: William Henry Salon
Cake: Wow Factor Cakes
Wedding Dress: David Tutera from Savvi Formalwear in Raleigh, NC
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bill Levkoff from Savvi Formalwear in Raleigh, NC
Stationary + Paper Goods: Elisabeth Rose
Calligraphy for the Invitations: Delighted Calligraphy
Magnolia Leaf Calligraphy: The Graceful Host
Escort Card Calligraphy: Family member of the Bride and Groom

Here are some of my favorite photos from Zach + Christina's big day, thanks to the talented Lauren Friday Photography!

The boutonniere (photo on the right) was made of sweet peas, which is a nickname for Zach from Christina. And the turtle pin is a family heirloom from the grooms family. It's the sweet and special touches that make this wedding so unique and beautiful!

This family Bible has been passed down for generations in the grooms family and is traditionally part of the wedding day. 

 I love that their pup Amos was able to be a part of the ceremony! Mom + Dad are married!

I love all the heirloom pieces - and here's another one! The coop champagne glasses that the bride and groom toasted with are from the grooms parent's wedding day. 

Part of Christina's Vietnamese culture is to welcome each guest with a shot of cognac. Dressed in traditional Laos attire Christina welcomed her family, then changed to welcome into a traditional Vietnamese dress to welcome the other side her family with Zach by her side.

Christina + Zach it was an honor to be a part of your special day! Love you both! 

XO,
A.

Featured: Adriana + Terrell

Unbelievably excited and honored to see Adriana & Terrell's beautiful secret garden themed wedding at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens featured on Ruffled Blog today! I cannot even begin to explain how much it means to see this design featured - this wedding was one for the books, y'all. Adriana and I worked for a little over a year designing each detail and poured hours into creating custom linens and plenty of other extra special touches that would make her vision come to life in such a unique and beautiful way. I loved every single bit of this wedding - including this seriously awesome couple!  This sweet bride had her wedding dress custom made by Asheville-based designer Brooke with Ship to Shore. Y'all, it was beyond stunning! Hands down one of my favorite wedding dresses, and it was so incredibly perfect for the style of this wedding. The entire day was unforgettable - the rain chances were scaring all of us to pieces but mother nature stayed back and allowed for guests to enjoy every inch of the gardens as they were lead through cocktail hour by a mariachi band and served a traditional Mexican cocktail - a paloma - served in adorable red clay pots straight from Mexico. After a delicious meal by Best Impressions Caterers, guests danced well into the night - I'm talking 2am! - with the amazing band Sol Fusion & awesome DJs from Split Second Sound. The details of the wedding were some of my all-time favorite and thanks to the unbelievable talents of Chelish Moore Flowers it was out of this world! Everything came together so perfectly because of all of these vendors - plus the gorgeous and delicious cake by Wow Factor Cakes and fabulously beautiful paper goods by Elisabeth Rose - so that Richard Israel and Timm Young could capture it all with perfection! Be sure to hop over to Ruffled Blog to see the full feature! 

Our incredible vendor team - there are not enough ways I can say thank you to this group of talented vendors!

Photographer: Richard Israel
Wedding Design and Planning: The Graceful Host
Flowers: Church: St. Patrick's Cathedral
Venue: Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens
Wedding Dress:Ship To Shore
Hair and Makeup: Sara Egri
Caterer: Best Impressions
Wedding Cake: The Wow Factor Cakes
Band: Sol Fusion
DJ: Split Second Sound
Stationery: Elisabeth-Rose
Videographer:Timm Young Films

Here are a few of my favorite images from Adriana + Terrell's big day!

XO,
A.

Just Married: Mia + Alex

I'm thrilled to share Mia and Alex's sweet spring wedding. These two are are so amazing - I seriously just can't get enough of them! I met our lovely bride, Mia, while she was in town visiting family in Charlotte. We talked and talked and talked about how she and Alex first met while working at Carolinas Medical, about his sweet proposal in a hot air balloon, and about her dream garden wedding at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. Watching Mia and Alex together is really something special. They are so in love and the way they interact with each other is truly refreshing. Not to mention the fact that Mia is an absolute doll and Alex is such a gentleman!  In just 8 short months we planned the entire wedding, all while Mia and Alex were living in Baltimore, Maryland. I work with many, many brides who are busy with grad school; or have demanding work schedules; or who are living out of state and seek a wedding planner to help manage the planning process. Mia was without a doubt one of the busiest brides I've ever worked with due to her intense and inflexible schedule as she completes her residency at Johns Hopkins University. I am so grateful for her sweet spirit, calm demeanor and unwavering trust in me with each decision made. I'm sincerely honored to have had the opportunity to meet with this sweet couple, and to be able to provide her with a stress-free planning experience. I loved bringing her beautiful ideas to life! It was important to Mia to incorporate the traditions of her Chinese culture and the jewish traditions of Alex's family within the wedding. The color red is a traditional wedding color for Chinese culture and - lets be real - I was so excited to be able to work with a brighter color! The beauty of nature was a major inspiration for this whimsical design. With a color palette of neutral tones and ivory mixed with pinks and reds accented by gold, we created a dreamy and elegant garden wedding. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't want to cooperate with us and we had to change plans! The temperature that weekend dropped suddenly and the rain refused to let up all day. It's always sad to deal with the reality of a rain plan, especially when we had such a gorgeous plan for an outdoor ceremony. But, even though we had to quickly change plans due to the uninvited weather, Mia never stopped smiling all day! She kept the bigger picture in mind and was just so excited to marry the love of her life in front of family and friends that travelled from as far as China. This is why I love this bride - she just wanted to marry her beau and at the end of the day it didn't really matter where that sweet ceremony took place.

Just wait until you see the amazing photos from Lauren Rosenau Photography - I'm so in love with each one!

Mia and Alex - Details 10

Aren't these two so adorable?! Mia was an absolutely STUNNING bride! I mean that dress, y'all - I'm still dreaming of that gorgeous lace detailing. Each detail was near and dear to my heart, and I loved how everything came together for this amazing couple.

Oh, and don't forget to check out this incredible video by Carisle Films:

Mia & Alex from Carlisle Videography on Vimeo.

Wedding Planning & Event Design: The Graceful Host
Photography: Lauren Rosenau Photography
Floral Design: New Creations Flower Company
Videography: Carlisle Films
Venue: Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens
Catering: Best Impressions
Rentals: Party Reflections

Cheers to you, Mr. & Mrs. Fertman! Lots of love and big hugs to you both!

XO,
A.

Anniversary: Danielle + Sam

One of the most adorable couples are celebrating one year of marriage today! Working with Danielle and Sam was so much fun - what a couple of sweethearts! Their love for each other is really beautiful.  I fell head over heels in love with the results of our garden-inspired Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden wedding design! Everything came together even more beautifully than I could have ever imagined.  Danielle & Sam actually lived in Chicago while we were working to plan for their big day.... Which means an extra layer of stress for most couples.  I am grateful to Danielle for putting her faith and trust in me to ensure that everything would be okay and to bring her vision to life.  And it is still one of my favorite weddings to date! Happy first year of wedded bliss, Danielle & Sam! PS. If you haven't seen their wedding featured on Southern Weddings and Loverly, be sure to check it out!

Cheers you two!

XO,
A.

Just Married: Sarah + Scott

A rainy day couldn't keep this gorgeous bride from beaming on her wedding day!  I am completely in love with Sarah + Scott's Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden wedding captured beautifully by Love Shutter Photography. It was so incredibly difficult to narrow down the number of images to blog because Sarah's smile is so amazing - and so infectious!  Seriously... just try not to smile looking at this gorgeous bride! I feel in love with this coulple from the moment I met them.  Sarah is easily one of the nicest people I've ever met, and Scott - well he's from New Orleans.  Enough said!  Even though Mother Nature brought their garden ceremony indoors, it didn't dampen the spirits of this party.  Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Lipps! Thank you so much for letting The Graceful Host be a part of your big day!

Ceremony and reception location: Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens Photography: Love Shutter Photography Floral design: The Graceful Host Entertainment:  Split Second Sound Entertainment Cake: Cheesecake, etc. Caterering and rentals: Best Impressions Inc. Hair and Make-up artist: Kenna Ehman at Modern Salon and Spa Stationery: Three Little Birds Ceremony Musicians: Elegant Ensembles Wedding Planner: The Graceful Host

XO,

A.