Black & White Atlanta Wedding

Honestly, where to begin with this wedding? I could start with the hanging umbrellas over the dance floor, the incredible photography from Our Labor of Love by Heidi, but I really think I need to stick to the showstopper: bride Sarah’s incredible wedding gown with a surprising pop of pink ruffles tucked away. Talk about personality!

From the bride, Sarah: Zach and I met at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, a liberal arts school in a teeny tiny town, with not much to do on the weekends but dress­up for themed parties.To make a lot of long stories short, we had more fun getting ready for a party than actually attending.

Because we are no longer in college, and because we knew we would invite all sorts of friends and family of different ages, we knew we should be a bit conservative with our theme, and settled on a simple dress code. In our invitations, we kindly asked our guests to look fabulous and dress only in black and white.

I am in interior design, and I often like to work in a fairly monochromatic palette, which really allows space to showcase simple pops of color. I sort of took the same approach with our wedding. Zach and I started out with black and white, and gradually (first with my dress) hints of champagne pink started to make appearances. The dress code turned out to be so beautiful! Some guests decided to go all out with black and white costumes (the family lawyer came dressed as Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas) and masks, others wore glamorous hats and gloves. Some dressed way up in white tie and tails, while others dressed comfortably, but the common thread throughout was that everyone in attendance created this gorgeous monochromatic backdrop that was really the basis for our reception’s decor. It was fantastic!

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Our biggest, stand­out decor element were the umbrellas and lights we strung across the backyard. Zach wanted one large decor element to really stand out in our guests minds even after they left the wedding. In searching around for ideas, a lot of which came from Pinterest, of course, we saw a photo of umbrellas strung in a piazza in Italy, we knew that white umbrellas were it.

My advice to engaged couples is try to think of a place where you can hold the wedding that you can have access to for multiple days, if not weeks in advance. One of the big reasons we chose to have the wedding in Zach’s parent’s backyard was because we could start decorating months in advance. We didn’t have much money, but as a designer, I felt some pressure to have something people would remember, so we were DIY everything. We started six months in advance planting bushes and flowers that would bloom white in late October. Zach and his father hung the umbrellas and Italian light strands one week before for the wedding. Our list goes on and on, but what was really amazing about having access to the yard was that we could always visit the space when an idea popped into our head. I was able to meet the chef and the band at the house weeks before the wedding so they could tell me where they would prefer to set up the food and the music. It just made the planning a lot less stressful.

Wedding Music:
Processional: A Kiss to Build a Dream On
Recessional: “Georgia,” Louise Armstrong
First Dance: A Kiss to Build a Dream On (by the full band)

Wedding Location: Atlanta, GA / Wedding Photographer: Our Labor of Love by Heidi / Wedding Venue: Private Residence / Invitations: DIY by bride and groom / Florals: DIY / Wedding Dress: Mae Couture / Bride’s Shoes: Marmi Shoes / Hair + Makeup: Sweetgrass Bridesmaid’s Earrings: Kristi Hyde / Band: Blair Crimmins & the Hookers