{Real Wedding} My Intimate Wedding

With a deployment date set for fall 2009, Chris and I quickly planned our intimate local wedding before he left for Iraq. Our ceremony was at a historic square and the reception was held where we had our first date. When we found out that his deployment date was moved up we realized that we should probably plan our wedding sooner than planned. We did not want to wait a year to plan our wedding especially with Chris being in Iraq, nor did we have a big budget, so instead of doing a court house ceremony we planned an intimate gathering of friends and family. My first choice was to have our wedding at Tybee Island, but The Last Song was being filmed on the beach and logistically it would have been a nightmare. Instead, we decided to move our wedding to downtown. We also found out that the Moon River Brewing Company, where we had our first date, had a cellar downstairs available for small events that was just right for our size wedding and small budget. Thankfully no ghosts joined us for our wedding since a ghost named Toby haunts the billiard room and other spirits lurk according to Zak, Nick and Aaron from Ghost Adventures. Some of our family and friends were able to come to our wedding and one of my dearest friends was our photographer. It was a perfect intimate wedding that was surprisingly planned in less than a month!

Our simple invitations, programs, and bamboo fan tags all handmade by ME

We also did a great job of cutting the cake!! Somehow no chocolate cake got on our clothes!!

Date: Saturday, July 2, 2009
Ceremony: Warren Square
Reception: Moon River Brewing Company's cellar
Reverend: Joe Wadas
Photos: Nicki Bursae Photography
Acoustic Guitar: pachelbel's canon in d by Will Cady, bride's brother
Hair: Chellie Heckman at Rob's at Drayton Tower
Makeup: bride's friend
Cake: Bakers Pride
Dress: White House | Black Market
Veil: The Gingerbread House Bridal
Wedding rings: Anderson Jewelers, Engagement ring heirloom
Alterations by Vera
Something Blue: garter handmade by groom's mother
DJ: iPod
Wedding planner, Invitations, Programs, Flowers & Guest Favors created by Layla

Eco-friendly details: flowers bought directly from wholesaler, handmade invitations and programs, engagement ring is a family heirloom, supported local businesses, and "green" wedding photographer.