“When your best friend gets married, and you’re a wedding planner who also owns a bridal boutique, you know your friend’s wedding is going to be awesome. Rachel and Jonny’s wedding took place at Pineola Farms, a gorgeous farm in Georgia that was the perfect backdrop for their southern and handmade wedding. They got married outside, with oak trees surrounding them, and bubbles as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife.

Rachel wanted the wedding to have special touches of things dear to her and Jonny, like cats and succulents. For the centerpieces we made terrariums with gold painted cats, and the table numbers were cat cutouts. Each table also had a frame with song lyrics and poems that they each loved. This made each table unique! Rachel even had a kitty cat in her gown! She had our seamstress sew in a blue kitty cat made of her father’s shirt. To tie in their love for Harry Potter, Rachel wore custom Tom’s, and their cake topper said “Always”. To bring in Jonny’s love of cigar’s they had a cigar bar set up outside, and it was a huge hit!

Not only did we help plan, but we also did her flowers! For her bouquet we kept it textured, with succulents, roses, and seeded Eucalyptus. The bridesmaids had baby’s breath flower crowns instead of bouquets, and each wore different gowns in the color navy. The men’s bout’s were made of cotton, to bring in a touch of southern.

For her gown, we had so much fun helping her pick it out from our boutique! She went with a blush gown by Rebecca Schoneveld, that had so much flow and movement. She wore one of Rebecca’s 3/4 sleeve overlay, and had a blue sash from Jaclyn Jordan. Her look was so romantic and soft, and so perfect!” –Ivory & Beau

What is your favorite wedding day memory?

We had song request lines on our RSVP cards and my 78 year old Memaw and her boyfriend requested “Rockin’ Robin” by Bobby Day. When the song came on, I was outside with some of our guests when someone ran outside to tell me I had to come in because my Grandmother was “getting it” and it was awesome! They weren’t kidding. My Memaw and her boyfriend were dancing their hearts out! It was so great! All of our friends and family had made a circle around them and were just cheering them on! The look of pure joy on my Memaw’s face are some of my absolute favorite pictures! Here we are almost eight months married & our friends still talk about my amazing dancing Memaw!

What did you DIY for your wedding?

99% of our wedding was DIY! Some of my favorite people own Ivory & Beau {a one stop wedding dress shop and wedding planning business all rolled into one} and they did such an amazing job on everything! We wrote our own vows and my Step Father’s best friend made our cake display from a real tree stump! The ladies of Ivory and Beau did the rest! From the terrariums and framed quotes from our favorite songs to the books displayed on each table, to all of our small kitty details, all was awesome!

Did you have a something old, new, borrowed and blue?

My something old was a beautiful pair of earrings my Father had bought my Mother many years ago and she gifted them to me! My something new was my dress. My something blue was akitty silhouette my seamstress sewed onto the bottom underside of my dress from one of my Dad’s blue shirts. I didn’t have a something borrowed.

Any advice for brides currently in the planning process?

My best advice is to have fun! Planning a wedding does not have to be stressful! Something I learned early on was that there were some things Jonny could care less about and that’s okay! I would ask his opinion on everything and if he had one {the caterer and baker were the main things he cared about}, great! If not, that’s why you have Bridesmaids! There’s no need to fight about things or think he doesn’t care if he doesn’t have an opinion on the types of flowers you’re trying to decide between. We had so much fun planning our wedding! I have heard so many horror stories about how stressful wedding planning is and this couldn’t have been farther from the truth for us. I am also extremely organized, so I made myself a timeline of tasks to accomplish by certain dates so that I didn’t get overwhelmed jumping from task to task. This helped prevent a lot of anxiety! -Rachel, the bride

Event Credits

Photographers: Rach Loves Troy // Wedding Planners: Ivory and Beau // Venue: Pineola Farms // Bride's Attire: Rebecca Schoneveld // Bride's Gown Sash: Jaclyn Jordan // DJ: Out and About Entertainment // Flowers: Ivory and Beau // Catering: Cabana Catering // Cake: Pam's Cakes and More