A Little Time Out

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. I've been in bed, under the weather {that's putting it mildly...a trip to the ER happened early Monday morning. Not to worry, I'm fine}. As soon as I'm back to my old self, wedding recaps will resume.

But I will tell you what's ahead...

Pictures of our wedding invitations, images showcasing our fabulous dessert bar, photos of the Nigerian attire that we changed into, some of our favorite images that we took together on the big day {as well as some individual photos}, a close-up of the stellar shoes that I bought my bridesmaids, and a few other highlights that are bound to get a post!

In the meantime, I leave you with a pretty picture of an oh-so-lovely bouquet.

photo seen here

Our Wedding: The Favors

I knew early on that I wanted us to give our guests a unique, elegant favor to remember our wedding by. And I knew that with some research I would find exactly what I had in mind - and I did : )

Mr. Wonderful and I undoubtedly believe that we were brought together by God, in His perfect timing. And I wanted to have a favor that reflected such.

After three rounds of negotiation, we purchased beautiful crystal clocks from a vendor through Amazon...for about $6.50 each. We gave one clock per couple. Naturally, single guests got their own and didn't have to share!

We placed favor tags underneath the ribbon that we tied around the boxes. The tag, that correlated with the meaning of the clock, said "Brought Together in God's Timing" followed by our names and wedding date.

The exquisite crystal clocks were certainly another element that added to the splendor of our wedding.

photo credit: My Husband!

Advice for Future Brides:

• If you are in the midst of planning your wedding and are approaching the favor stage, I strongly encourage you to order a sample of the wedding favor that you intend to give your guests, to ensure its quality. As pretty as the clock was online, I wanted to feel the weight of the crystal in my hands, and see its beauty in person. When I did, I was sold. Don't make the mistake of proceeding with ordering boxes of favors, instead of a sample first, to be potentially disappointed when your entire purchase arrives.
  
• Essentially we spent $3.25 per guest and we got a beautiful favor for its cost. In most cases, just an iced monogram cookie cost more than that. Do your research, and then negotiate to get your dream favor at a price that you want!

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When posting any of my wedding images seen on this blog please reference An Atlanta Bride, with a link back to this site - and please give proper credit to the photographer, Karen Nickel, unnless otherwise noted. Thank you!

Our Wedding: The Cake

When we walked into the ballroom where our reception was held, it was breathtaking for many reasons. One of the gorgeous elements that couldn't be missed was our beautiful cake...

We met with a lot of cake bakers leading up to the wedding and we had our fair share of cake tastings. As I've said before, Georgia sure isn't California when it comes to a large pool of vendors. I wasn't keen on enlisting a baker who made cakes from their home and although some bakers showcased a portfolio of beautiful cakes, they were somewhat standard. I wanted a cake that was classic and regal - one that I had never seen before, rather than one that would be replicated {or has been time and time again}. I wanted something that matched the richness of our venue and was a visual beauty. Mr. Wonderful just wanted it to be square with a fondant overlay.

Our vision definitely came to fruition with our decadent couture cake {made by a talented executive pastry chef at one of Atlanta's fine pastries restaurants}...

Notice...no topper! I went back and forth with wanting the top tier to have flowers on it. In the end, I opted to not add them and am glad that I went without the additional floral. Sometimes less is more.

I purchased the below vintage frame {from ROSS for $5.99} and displayed our 3 different cake flavors inside of it. The frame sat right next to the cake letting guests know in advance what flavor{s} of cake would be served.

The intricate embossed scroll work on the cake truly was a work of art...
The bottom tier of the cake showcased a bevy of blooms comprised of both sugar paste and real flowers. The combination of flowers was simply gorgeous...

When the time came to cut the cake, it was a bitter-sweet moment. We couldn't wait to eat it, but we were also about to sever its loveliness...


We each grabbed just enough cake to fit between our fingers to feed each other...

And I "may have" put my share on Mr. Wonderful's nose...

With Michael Buble's upbeat version of "How Sweet it is to be Loved by You" we reached for our champagne flutes, gave each other a short sweet toast, and down the bubbly went...

And last, but not least, we sealed the moment with a kiss...

photo credit: Karen Nickel Photography except for images 1, 2 and 12

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When posting any of my wedding images seen on this blog please reference An Atlanta Bride, with a link back to this site - and please give proper credit to the photographer, Karen Nickel. Thank you!

Our Wedding: The First Dance

In the last few months leading up to our wedding, Mr. Wonderful and I took dance lessons. We wanted to do more than just sway while out on the dance floor so we sought out a professional instructor to teach us a few moves. He was great! But I gotta tell ya, that dress of mine got in the way of ensuring that each of our steps went seamlessly. But we didn't care. Besides, no one knew what our steps were supposed to be but us so I guess we didn't mess things up too bad! Ha! All in all, we were beaming through the entire song, and simply having a sweet, memorable time in each others arms.

Initially, our first dance song was going to be "This Kind of Love" by Sister Hazel. We absolutely loved the lyrics but the song itself lacked the "oommff" we wanted. Then....Seal came out with his newest album "Soul" and his rendition of "Stand By Me" was phenomenal {click here to have a listen}. When we heard it, we both looked at each other and said "this has to be our first dance song". And so it was.

We concluded with a dip - and thankfully I wasn't dropped!

photo credit: Karen Nickel Photography

Our Wedding: My Shoes

Allow me to show you a close up of the beautiful shoes that adorned my feet prior to the start of the ceremony....

photo credit: Karen Nickel Photography

If you've been a reader of my blog for quite some time, than you are well aware of the shoe dilemma I had leading up to the big day. If not, you can read all about it here.

Around Christmas time, I spotted the above beauties in an Aldo store at a local mall. I resisted buying them because I was still on a hopeless mission for cute low heels. But after seeing those all-too-lovely pretty shoes, I couldn't resist. They spoke to me from the shelf that they were sitting on. They were saying "buy me, buy me". I swear, they said that. And as gorgeous as they were, they were surprisingly price tag friendly. But I left them in place. When I went home, I had separation anxiety. Mom and I went back to the store a few days later to admire them up close again, and when asking the sales woman if she had them in an 8 1/2, she came back with one box - the last pair in my size. Surely it was a sign, yes? Mom bought 'em for me right then and there and they made for some pretty pictures on my wedding day.

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When posting any of my wedding images seen on this blog please reference An Atlanta Bride, with a link back to this site - and please give proper credit to the photographer, Karen Nickel. Thank you!

Our Wedding: Ring Boxes

Today I planned on posting about the beautiful wedding toasts that were given at our wedding - but then I thought that a video would be even better. The hubby is meeting up with our videographer hopefully this week to get the entire days footage on a hard drive. As soon as we have it on our hands, we will do some editing and upload the toasts for you to see and hear! How does that sound?

So although I'm going out of order a bit, I wanted to backtrack and show you the pretty little boxes that I purchased to hold our wedding bands in. While planning our wedding, I saw these ring boxes on a wedding photographers blog. I had to have them. So I did a little google research and found the company that sold them. For cheap {3 for $16}. When they arrived, I placed our wedding bands in them where they sat pretty all the way up until our wedding day....

photo credit: Karen Nickel Photography

Our Wedding: The Reception, Part 2

Following the prayer that was said over the meal, the jazz band that we hired got into full swing. We looooved them!!! Guests literally clapped after each song they did. The keyboardist also played during our cocktail hour.

The jazz's band manager was an absolute pleasure to work with. Just a few days before our wedding, I called her up to see if the band would learn the music to a few songs that I wanted to surprise my mother with. Although this was a last minute request, the band pulled it off. The unexpected songs really touched my mother and it was another way that I wanted to make sure that my fathers presence was felt on our wedding day. The songs that I chose were ones that I used to watch my mom and dad dance to in our livingroom as a child {Lady in Red, by Chris DeBurgh, When A Man Loves a Woman by Michael Bolton and If You Don’t Know Me By Now by Simply Red}.

If you've been a reader of my blog for quite some time than you've seen the beautiful bridal shower that my friend Jennifer threw for me. She and her husband came from California to attend our wedding and I wanted to give her a little surprise too. So I also requested that the jazz band play Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley. It was her first dance song at her wedding. Yes, she cried when she heard it come on. Love you Jenn!

Below is a picture of my Aunt Janice {left} and my mom {right}. I love this picture of the two of them. I've known Aunt Janice back when I was two feet high, had pigtails and still sucked my thumb. Although she isn't blood related {in case you were wondering!}, she has been there through all stages of my life and when my dad passed away, there was no one who was there for us more. She has been an incredible Aunt. I love her immensely. And you all know how I feel about my mom...there's not enough paper in the world to express how much I love, admire, and respect her.

After prayer, and as the jazz band started up, guests were released by tables to head to our buffet where both American and Nigerian cuisine was served.

Guests who remained seated were given a salad to hold them over until it was their turn : ) This was a last minute decision that I made as I didn't want any of our guests to sit hungry {although we did have a good amount of passed hors' d'euvres going around during our cocktail hour}.

After Mr. Wonderful and I took enough bites of food to hold us over, we started making our rounds to talk to our guests. We broke this up into two sessions so that we weren't on our feet for 30 - 45 minutes. So we visited with one side of the room first, and then following toasts and a few more bites of food, we visited with the other half of the room. This worked SO WELL. I would encourage other brides and grooms to do the same.

Here I am with my dear friend Kara, who is a law student in Michigan. I am so happy that she will be moving to Atlanta in August!!

Although this isn't a pro shot, the below picture shows you how gorgeous our back lighting looked.

As we continued to make our rounds, thanking guests for coming to our wedding, we mostly did so with our arms around eachother...

Needless to say, our wedding reception had come together beautifully. And we relished in every minute of it.

Up next...the {most amazing} toasts.

Our Wedding: The Reception, Part 1

The moment we visited The Biltmore Ballrooms, we knew it was the venue for us. Dating back to the early 1900's, its grandeur was visually appealing and both ballrooms matched the opulence that I was envisioning for our wedding day. Simply put, the space was beautiful. We wouldn't have chosen any other venue to get married, and have our reception at.

Here are a few pictures of the ballroom before guests entered...

Everything got even more beautiful when the sun set, and the uplighting became prominent.

The estate table was set for 32 people which included Mr. Wonderful and I, our bridal party, our parents, our officiant and his wife, aunts and uncles who are close to us, and very close family friends.

The estate table was decorated with high and low floral arrangements that were lush and absolutely beautiful. There were also sixty tall hurricane vases that were filled with candles that lined the center of the table. Wanting to glam up the table with the extra pretty element of candlelight, I personally bought all the hurricane glass vases and the candles...{both at just $1 each}.

Gold beaded chargers also graced the table...

Each wine glass had a name placed along the rim so that guests knew their seat assignment at each table {an easy DIY project that I did}...

When we entered the ballroom, we were absolutely blown away at how gorgeous the room looked...

We took our seats and looked forward to the night ahead!...

When we sat down, Mr. Wonderful's parents were right there to greet us...

I remember turning to Mr. Wonderful when we sat down and asking him, "are you taking all this in?!" He absolutely was; we both were! As we sat next to each other, we shared lots of winks, kisses, loving whispers of admiration, and shared bites of food.

More reception photos to come!