Sara + Brandon

Today’s focus is on fall florals. This lovely Alabama wedding, coordinated by Mary Sumner, and captured by JKDallas Photography a few weeks ago features some amazing fall colors presented among a variety of different flowers.
We want you to enjoy these beautiful photographs and hope that you might find some autumn inspiration for yourself!

Hanging on the and chairs at the ceremony are Nerine Lilies and Red Rover Disbuds.

The bridesmaids’ bouquets had seeded eucalyptus, orange, pink and red roses, antique hydrangeas, different fall colors of Cala lilies and the Red Rover Disbuds.

Attached to the “newlywed car” were bronze mums, hydrangeas, and disbuds.

Featured on this tablescape are red grapes, acorn and butternut squash, pomegranates, Rome apples, Cremini mushrooms, and Cymbidium orchids.

Cala lilies, mums, Kangaroo paws, and nerine lilies.

Other flowers/elements that were used included: Mini amaryllis, white crane kale, hypericum, rose hips, fiddlehead ferns, asclepia pods, millet, and large cattails. Another way to get creative and save money is simply by looking in your back yard, or around the edges of wooded areas for seasonal wildflowers. They can make a great addition to fall floral arrangements with a woodsy, earthy feel.

Congratulations Sara and Brandon!

Also a major thanks to the floral design team at Epting Events for these incredible arrangements and tablescapes.

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Look Ahead: 10.30.09

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Organic News…

On the topic of local and organic foods being used at events, Epting Events will be co-hosting the 2010 Georgia Organics Conference, which is to be held at the Classic Center. With guest chefs from around Georgia, and a menu of local and organic foods created by star chef Hugh Atcheson of Five and Ten Restaurant. It is scheduled for March and we’ll keep you updated on all the happenings!

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Beth + Rick: All Things Local

With all of the “green movements” that are swirling around us these days, why not dive into it for your wedding? Keeping “green” in mind while planning your celebration will not only help reduce your final bill, but it will also help reduce your carbon footprint, so your wallet will be happy, as well as the environment. When Rick and Beth were planning their wedding, they really wanted to focus on using locally grown foods for their menu. Of course this means they had to understand that they’d be eating whatever was in season, therefore if you do decide to use locally grown foods, its important to keep and open mind for your menu.

Beth and Rick selected produce from local farms, keeping their fingers crossed that everything would grow despite the drought. By using locally grown food, they were able to cut down on the cost of shipping and environmental impact, while supporting local farmers. As appetizers, they had fresh blueberries, toasted pecans from Madison, GA, bread and butter pickles, bread from Luna Bakery in Athens, and cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, GA. For the shrimp and grits, they used shrimp that came in from Savannah, GA and grits from a nearby farm.

For the drink menu, Beth and Rick picked drinks created with fruit from Athens farms and beer from Athens’ Terrapin Brewery. Fresh sangria and a watermelon, blackberry, and mint cooler kept the guests feeling refreshed as they danced the night away.

Instead of using commercially bought cut flowers, Beth and Rick chose local flowers, grass, and tree branches to be artistically arranged for their decor. They also used biodegradable bamboo plates for their 200 guests, conserving water that would have been used in the midst of a drought to wash plates.

Beth and Rick both maintained a relxed mindset throughout planning their wedding, which is necessary if you choose to have a “green” wedding. You can never be 100% sure of what exactly to expect, but you can be absolutely positive that you will have a unique, fun, and environmentally friendly wedding that you will never forget.

Photography by Wingate Downs.

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Look Ahead: 10.23.09

Look on Friday for a casual yet elegant wedding at The Hill in Athens, GA including an all local-foods menu, bare feet, a fun get-away, and lots of dancing!

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Eden + Eric: Underwater Wedding Part 2

The Monday morning before the wedding was when the Parks family in Newnan, GA realized they’d have a problem, but decided that they wanted to keep the wedding at their home. Mrs. Parks (mother of the bride) called Eden (bride) to tell her about the flooding, and Eden thought it was a joke.

Because the road to the Parks’ home was completely flooded, when Eden arrived early in the week she had to ride on a fire boat.  Neither she nor or her bridesmaids flinched at the sight.  “They just kept on, cooking and cleaning”, said Mrs. Parks.  Their son had to kayak 2 miles to get to the house, with groceries and dog in tow. Thursday, Mr. Parks took the mother of the bride down to the rescue boat, so she could get across and go to Atlanta to get her hair cut for the big weekend, but the water had gone down so much that it was unsafe for the boat, but still too deep to drive or walk through. Despite the water troubles, friends and family came together to make it all work.

The whole week was a whirlwind. They didn’t get much sleep.  When they realized they’d have to have it at the home as opposed to the fields out back, Mrs. Parks and her husband thought back to all the work that had been put into preparing for the wedding throughout the entire summer. Pick Parks (father of the bride) actually installed an attachment for his tractor to make the pasture more like a lawn, but cutting the grass really short for the wedding.  They recalled hours of labor since May- painting, pressure washing, planting things.

Tuesday before wedding

Muddy field- day of wedding (old location of tents, etc.)

They ended up using a church for parking lot space last minute, and the kind church employees even offered to drive the guests in buses from the church to the reception. Originally 330 guests accepted, and even after the flood close to 290 showed up!  The guests had to park 5 miles from the reception location, with 8-min shuttle ride. Enterprise in Peachtree City heard their story, and was able to get shuttles last minute for the guests. What a true testimony to the couple and their love on that special day.  “Everyone just got in the spirit of it all.”

Our innovative design team moved the entire reception site up near the house. The garage was transformed, and a tent was added off the side for the ceremony.

While the last of the ceremony decorations were completed, the wedding party was getting ready in the Parks’ home.

After the beautiful ceremony, the Epting team quickly turned the ceremony site into a reception area complete with tables, dance floor, food, bars and florals.

HUGE thanks to the Parks family for being such good sports throughout the week, and to Wendy Allen who coordinated the wedding (and re-worked the entire layout in 3 days!). Also to Jen Hunt for capturing the amazing turnout.

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Look Ahead: 10.16.09

The Under Water Wedding was a success! Even with the 100-year flood, look how happy this wedding party is. I’ve got some great images from photographer Jen Hunt to share on Friday–so be sure to check back to see the party pics!

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Trammel + Ryan

This September wedding (photographed by Michelle Ashe) in Georgia had a beautiful farm setting. Farm weddings are a great way to keep the atmosphere casual, but as you will see in the pictures below, there are many ways to make an empty space such as a field or a barn unique to the wedding celebration that you want to experience.

Guests and the wedding party arrived in this old fire truck. Make your transportation fun and different for your guests and it will surely be more memorable.

Natural colored burlaps were used for the table linens, and Epting Events’ signature heart pine table tops were placed on these for the ultimate chic/rustic look.

An overhead view of the simple yet elegant tablescapes.

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Unique Station: Late Night

After a night out, everyone loves grabbing a late night bite to eat with friends, so why not at your wedding? Your friends and family will more than likely be dancing the night away, and as the busy bride and groom, you probably didn’t eat much at the buffet… let’s be honest, you will all be hungry.

A Bryan Photo

Enjoy your favorite, non-traditional wedding food as a late-night snack. Most late night items are miniature, which makes them even more fun to eat. Also, your guests won’t feel like they’re eating another full meal.

Does the groom love hamburgers? A great menu could be mini 21 club hamburgers with 21 sauce, mini grilled cheeses and a mini order of fries. On the sweet side, chocolate chip cookies with shots of milk are easy to do, and this is a fun DIY opportunity to show off the bride and groom’s favorite kinds of cookies. Another late night sweet snack idea: a variety of doughnuts, which are always a huge hit with guests. If you don’t want to have a whole station featuring late night items, consider having them as a passed hors d’oeuvre.

Serve these with your cookies or doughnuts

Shannon Bailey Photography

As always, the possibilities are endless and can be tailored to fit the bride and the groom.

Written by Abby Buss

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Look Ahead: 10.9.09

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