Today on the blog we visit Louisiana to explore the colorfully bohemian inspired wedding celebration of Morgan and Zach, the captured by the extremely talented Christi Martin Photography. This gorgeous couple celebrated their love for each other, their faith and Morgan's love of 'Gypsy Chic' styling at, Sainte Terre, a stunning wedding venue that embraces the romance and reverence of weddings and delivers a space that is truly breathtaking! Keep reading as we chat to Morgan and Zach, to out all about the lead up to their wedding, their planning tips and of course take a look inside the all-important wedding day.
Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day?
Style is very important to me. I've been a personal stylist for almost 10 years now at MJ. Redefined, so I had very specific ideas about my over all wedding look. I called the style of my wedding "Gypsy Chic." When it came to color my love of jewel tones made selecting a color palette an extremely simple decision, as the bride I wanted my wedding to express my versatile style as well as incorporate a level of simple elegance. We said traditional vows, sang the Lord's prayer and had the reading of scripture. Christ is the center of our lives, individually and as a couple, so while we wanted the day to be all about us, ultimately we wanted it all to focus and point back to Christ, because without Christ, this day never would've come to be.
Let's talk about wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
I have got to send all the credit across to our amazing wedding designer, Hillary Moss at Sainte Terre! We talked style, shared a Pinterest board and she just rand with it. I wanted candles, hanging floral elements and gold/rose gold detailing that all had a distinctive bohemian feel and I must say, she nailed it!!! I can honestly say that if I were to have done the actual decorating myself there isn't anything I can think of that I would've done differently. I legit tried to figure out a way to smuggle out the amazing emerald green, velvet chairs she had for Zach and I at our dining table. I wasn't too concerned about the ceremony decor. I knew I wanted something to "frame us" as we stood in front of everyone but other than that, to me I was more concerned about the reception atmosphere because that's where we would spend the most time, and let's just be real, floral prices can get so out of hand, so fast! The only real "DIY" project that was done for the wedding and even then it wasn't done by me, was the Macrame ceremony piece. I ordered it online and it came in white, Hilary then died it in a stunning ombre of in white and had it sent to Hillary. She then died it a stunning dark to light ombre and I now have plans for it to be a "headboard" of sorts when we finish redoing our guest room!!
We are huge flower lovers, so tell us, what were the florals like at your wedding?
When it came to florals I knew the colors I wanted and the budget I had... other than that the only specific thing I asked for was if Peonies be incorporated somehow... there is nothing special about them except I just love them! I wanted an over sized bouquet and I loved the hanging floral concept I saw in some inspirational photos I found... other than that I tried not to focus too too much on florals because again, it is soooooo easy to get carried away and while they make the wedding look amazing, at the end of the day you don't keep them.. so as far as florals go I just tried to keep things in perspective.
Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favourite parts of your wedding?
Having our day personalized was one of if not THE most important thing to us. We are from Arkansas so our wedding was considered a destination wedding to our close friends and family. One thing that I will treasure forever is who officiated our wedding. My life long best friend's brother-in-law got ordained in Louisiana so he would be able to marry us. Heath (the officiant) is married to my best friends older sister who for all practical purposes is just as much my big sister as she is Lisa's (my bestie). Heath has known me practically all of my life and he is someone who I respect so much as a man of God. He and Kristi (my best friends big sis and Heath's wife) met with Zach and I a few times before we got married to counsel and pray with us. He was able to take a lot of inspiration from things we discussed in those meetings as well as knowing me forever and incorporate it into the ceremony so it wasn't your "traditional service" but was very personal and I loved that. Another fun detail was at the reception we had an open bar but the venue (Sainte Terre) created a special drink and called it the "Silver Fox", which is the nickname that Zach's groomsmen gave him back in college (the meaning of it is still up for debate, haha!!). I could go on and on about all of the special details but honestly the entire day was just that, special details... the last thing I'll mention that was so sweet and I know meant a lot to Zach was that our lab, John Henry was the ring bearer. He is literally the best dog in the entire world and having him there with us on our special day meant so much!!
Let's talk about fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
Ooooooo I love this question!! Ok, I'm just gonna be real honest... Zach didn't have just a lot (if any) real input on the fashion or style of the wedding... he knows it's my thing and I think we do pretty good as a couple knowing when to stay in our lanes and this was one of those times (but I swear as much as it sounds like it I was NOT bridezilla). I knew I wanted my dress to be different and not just your traditional dress. I wanted a Boho look without knowing exactly what it would look like... I also knew I wanted a killer headpiece. My headpiece was hand made by the amazing Kendall Morehart. I loved it as much as I loved my shoes!! Now can we just talk about the shoes??? I found the most perfect magenta, hand beaded with all the jewel tones, Jeffrey Campbell booties. They were so amazing and so different and embodied everything I wanted the day to be!! I still can't decide what I'm going to do with them but I'm thinking some sort of shadow box bc to not have them on display would simply be a fashion tragedy. (I'm not dramatic at all btw ;) ) But back to the headpiece... I knew I didn't want a veil, I just wanted "me" and that's what I did. I've never seen a bride with a headpiece like the one I wore and might even get a little pouty if I did because I love it when I'm able to express my style in a way that is truly unique and not the norm... In my bridal portraits I decked out in all kinds of jewelry from over sized, gold hoop earrings to long pearl strands with my grandmothers gold locket as well as dressing elbow deep in bracelets. I wanted to really overplay the gypsy side in my portraits but toned it down for the wedding. On the wedding day I accessorized with my grandmothers amethyst earrings, my Aunt Vicki's solitaire diamond necklace and my mother's sapphire watch slide bracelet. It' seems very simple if you know me, but the headpiece stole the show. Now the bridesmaids dresses on my gorgeous girls were nothing short of a showstopper... I literally considered wearing one of them myself I loved them so much!! They were the perfect color (emerald green), style (full length, crew neck, long sleeved) and glitz (head to toe all sequence, I'll give you a sec to catch your breath)... When I first saw a picture of them posted somewhere online I was like "DONE", where do I need to fly, boat, swim, climb to get these dresses!! My maid of honor was my little sister, Mallory. She has Down's Syndrome and isn't quite built like my other girls. So we came up with a precious rendition of the original dress that fit her perfectly!! We took the upper part of the dress and made it a top and then added a full length, contrasting green skirt to go with it.. she looked just beautiful. With all the drama in the dresses I finished them each off with black, velvet matching chokers and killer black, Badgley Mischka heels. My flower girl dress was a little more understated. While it was the same color as the other dresses (emerald green, sleeveless, full length dress with black, satin ribbon belt) it didn't have all the glitz and sequence so to jazz it up I added a little, black fur vest to complete the look. I loved it all!! So with all of this going on with the bridal side I thought it best to keep the groom and groomsmen a little more understated. Which you can imagine was just fine with the good ole southern boys. We went with dark charcoal suits although, I did add a slight "whimsical" touch with the silver and black striped ties. I felt the overall fashion of the wedding depicted my personal style to a "T". It was also a great example of the true nature of my and Zach's relationship. I'm colorful, loud and all those things and Zach is basically the calm to my crazy. He is the quiet, more reserved, logical side of our relationship... it's a great balance!
How did you meet and please tell us all about the proposal?
When Zach was 2 years old, his family moved to the small town of DeWitt, AR where I grew up. His family began coming to our church and our parents became fast friends. Zach has 2 older sisters that I still remember playing dress up with at their house. After about 3 years in DeWitt his family moved away and everyone eventually lost touch. It was 26 years later when a friend of mine that I met in college that was working with one of Zach's best friends started discussing who they could fix this amazing guy up with... and being the amazing gal pal she is, my friend nominated me!! She called and asked if I would be willing to meet this guy named Zach because he was so sweet, handsome, a Christian and came from a great family.. I have to say, she sold him well. I told her sure and it wasn't until I did some Facebook digging that I figured out that this "Zach" was actually Zach Tidwell!! I knew instantly who he was!! Later I found out that when his friend mentioned me to him, he remembered me as well... There is so much more to this story but ultimately you just need to know that God was and is all over it.. this was no coincidence... this was a God ordained answered prayer.How he proposed is cute. I did NOT want a big "to do", even to the point that I begged him that if/when he proposed to please not get down on one knee!! We had a joke that he should just toss the ring box to me from across the room and I could just be like "aight".. But he ended up putting a little more thought in to it. The night we got engaged we had plans to go to my family's farm for the weekend. Zach knew that the majority of the time when I was at my house waiting on him to pick me up I would be waiting on my back patio. So as luck would have it that night, that is where I was, sitting on my back patio with my back to the glass french doors just as he was betting, hoping, praying that I would be. He had cut out and stuck letters on the french door glass that spelled out "Marry Me" so when he tapped on the door and I turned around that was what I saw... It was pretty cute... but the best part was that my entire family along with his parents were waiting on us at our farm with a big meal and celebration. It was absolutely everything that I wanted, I'm very blessed.
What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
One moment I'll never forget is when my Daddy walked in to take me to the chapel and saw me for the first time in my dress. I can not even attempt to put in to words how much of a daddy's girl I am or how much that man means to me. My Daddy has been my rock practically my entire life and I'm constantly and overwhelmingly humbled that God blessed me with him as an earthly father. I don't know if there was one anticipated "moment".. It was my wedding day... as a female I've anticipated the entire day since I understood what a bride was ( I may or may not have dressed up as a bride for Halloween at age 4)... The day was perfect. Almost everyone we love most in this world was able to be there, loving on and spoiling the mess outta us.. and I did not mind at all!!
Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day?
Yes!! STAY FOCUSED!! It is not about "the day"... it's about you, your new spouse and God. The details are fun and easy to get lost in but keep perspective... Don't go in to marriage with the mindset of "what will they give me" but of "what can I give them"... this person you are committing to is now the most important person in your life, and you have to choose them everyday... The feelings will come and go, but just know that the feelings aren't love... love is a choice, a verb and you are now committing to choose it and your spouse everyday ... Welcome to the beautiful world of sacrificial love and constantly dying to self... sounds scary and honestly not that appealing when put in those words... but it is meant to be a beautiful sanctification process and true example of the way Christ loves his church.. It's not always going to be easy or fun, in fact there may even be years of "what the H was I thinking marrying you"?! ( just keeping it real).. But hold tight, stay focused, cling to Christ and don't give up. IT IS WORTH IT!!!!
MEET THE TEAM:
Photographer: Christi Martin Photography
Event Designer: Sainte Terre - Hillary Moss
Floral Designer: Meghan Awalt Floral Design
Reception Venue: Sainte Terre
Equipment Rentals: Stache Vintage Rentals
Catering: Sainte Terre - Chef Holly Schreiber
Cake Designer: Sweetie Cakes
Beauty Stylist: Fete la Femme
Bridal Couture: Daughters of Simone
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bella Bridesmaids
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell
Tuxedo and Men's Attire: Mens Wearhouse