Rarely have a couple touched me as deeply as Emerald & David Wick.  The first time I chatted with Emerald she was so stressed out over planning their wedding that I could tell she was starting to lose the joy and the happiness that should be there throughout the process.  She was so worried and concerned about all the details and wasn't sure what direction she was supposed to be going in, but knew she really just wanted her guests to have a great time.  She reminded me so much of my sister that I simply had to sign her as a client!  I just wanted to reach through the phone, hug her, and tell her every little thing was going to be alright.  I just fell in love with them as clients.  Em & David are so sweet, kind, funny, genuine and very much in love.  They were the kind of people I wanted to be friends with.  

Over the next few months, I'd like to think Emerald and David's wedding planning became fun for them again.  We first decided on a cohesive vision and pulled all of Emerald's inspiration together for their event and came up with "Garden Chic" as their "theme" at Heritage Sandy Springs.  They were going to get married on Good Friday under the Sandy Springs Shelter in their gorgeous garden.  Their colors were dusty shale (like a minty green), gold and light blush pinks.  Once we had their vision nailed down, we started gathering the right vendors to pull off the look.  

I think the flowers and decor were probably my favorite parts of the entire wedding.  Megan Dunlap of Victory Blooms absolutely nailed it!  We decided to hang a 25 foot long garland of greenery and blooms from the Shelter and then reuse it to act as a runner on the estate table.  We used mercury glass all over the place, wine boxes from Emerald's sommelier sister, Chantelle, and got a gray vintage vanity dresser from Crush Event Rentals.  The dresser was a surprise for Emerald and we didn't even tell her we got it for her until the day before the wedding...I'm a really bad surprise keeper and couldn't wait to tell her all about it!  

All of their very personal details just made my heart melt.  They had one of their best friends, Alan, get ordained so he could officiate their heartfelt and total tearjerker ceremony.  The three of them wrote the entire ceremony together and it was just lovely!  I mean, I usually cry at weddings, but this time it was a full-on horrifying Kim Kardashian Ugly Cry.  I couldn't help it!  I especially loved the wine box ceremony during which they added letters to one another and an incredible bottle of wine to a box to be opened and the letters exchanged on their fifth anniversary.  The flower girls blew bubbles down the aisle and we gave the ringbearer a chalkboard sign that read Best Day Ever for him to carry down the aisle.  He eventually went rogue 20 minutes before the wedding so we had to scratch that one, but at least the sign got used all over the place.  Emerald carried her mom's handkerchief in her bouquet that she carried at her own wedding decades before.  Watching her use it throughout the day just made me melt!  Even the date was significant.  David's mother lost her battle with breast cancer before their wedding so they chose her birthday as their wedding date to honor her.  That one kind of sticks in your throat...and in lieu of favors they made a donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

However, our best laid plans were no match for the rain storm Mother Nature threw at us that morning.  It rained all day and all night.  We were so sad that we couldn't do a single thing in the garden but thankfully that vintage dresser from Crush was the perfect thing to use as the ceremony backdrop in the ballroom.  It was quite the challenge to turn a blank slate ballroom into something even slightly resembling the gorgeous garden wedding Emerald and David had been planning, but in the end it came out lovely!

Their First Look went off without a hitch allowing Em & David to breeze through family photos after the ceremony so they could participate in Cocktail Hour with their guests.  I would highly encourage other couples to consider doing a First Look at their own weddings!

Their friends, family and beloved guests danced the night away and partied it up with an amazing bar designed by the bride's sommelier sister, a fantastic DJ and killer photobooth!  And the afterparty was not to be missed!

Emerald & David, thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your wedding and I'm so happy to call you my friends!  I love planning weddings and I adored planning yours.  You've become a part of my life now and I can't wait for y'all to come visit us in Charleston!  Am I sappy, or what?!  Love the hell out of y'all!

love, Sara

vendor credits: planning- sara skinner, scarlet plan & design | photography- achor & eden | catering- sally's catering | cake & groom's cake- confection perfection | floral design- victory blooms | DJ- complete dj's | photobooth- famous william's | mixology- lyghthouse cocktails | rentals-event rentals unlimited, nuage designs, crush event rentals