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Our Story<br />
A BRIDE’S PERSPECTIVE<br />
BRIDESMAIDS’ LUNCHEON:<br />
My mom’s precious friends hosted my bridesmaids’ luncheon at<br />
one of my favorite restaurants in Auburn, Lucy’s! It was the perfect<br />
introduction to our wedding weekend, and I loved how our wedding<br />
planner, Lisa Thorne, was intentional with every detail and<br />
flawlessly wove our story into every aspect of the weekend. One of<br />
my favorite details of the whole weekend was our guestbook. I had<br />
spent what felt like months looking for a guestbook that I loved, but<br />
couldn’t find one that I just loved. Then one day I came across “The<br />
Book of Flowers” coffee table book. It was the most beautiful book of<br />
botanical prints that I had ever seen and was HUGE. I immediately<br />
knew that it would be our guest book. We displayed it at the bridesmaids’<br />
luncheon so that all my bridesmaids would have a chance to<br />
sign it. We also bought the mini version of the book as hostess gifts<br />
for my mom’s friends who hosted the luncheon. Another huge part<br />
of my bridesmaids' luncheon was, of course, the cake! I am an avid<br />
baker and love to make cakes, so when it came to my bridesmaids'<br />
luncheon, I knew that it had to be a focal point. I made a two tier<br />
lemon elderberry cake with swiss meringue buttercream, but my<br />
favorite part was the Southern tradition of the cake pull. I attached<br />
charms to ribbon and placed them under the bottom layer of the<br />
cake. Just before cutting the cake, each of my bridesmaids took<br />
turns pulling a charm from the cake for a glimpse of what’s to come<br />
in their future. My mom did this at her wedding, so it was special to<br />
carry on this tradition.<br />
REHEARSAL DINNER<br />
The rehearsal dinner had the perfect flair of Louisiana, and<br />
we loved every part of it. Avery’s mom and Lisa had an amazing<br />
vision of a “Southern cocktail” crawfish boil, which was the<br />
best mix of casual and formal. We started the night out on the<br />
front lawn for cocktail hour, while a fantastic musician played<br />
the saxophone the whole night. Avery had made two games of<br />
cornhole, painted pastel, of course, and we had even made pastel<br />
bean bags to throw! From cocktail hour, the saxophone led<br />
us into dinner in the courtyard. I loved how the whole night<br />
felt and the comfortable atmosphere that Pebble Hill provided!<br />
Pebble Hill was an especially special place to our hearts because<br />
Avery’s grandmother, Leah Atkins, was the founding director<br />
of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and<br />
Humanities at Pebble Hill. We had two long tables for everyone<br />
to sit at, and we wrote on lemon leaves to serve as escort<br />
cards. Lisa even had a mini tabasco at every place setting. They<br />
are made at Avery Island, after all! Our friends and family prepared<br />
the best speeches that brought laughter and tears. We left<br />
the night feeling so loved and ready for our wedding day as we<br />
reflected on our time together with all of the people who were<br />
part of our story.<br />
EAST ALABAMA WEDDINGS 25
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