by: Beautiful couple, Hilary and Andrew, were married on a sunny southern fall day. And their unique wedding theme is simply exquisite ... a French style wedding inspired by Beauty and the Beast. I don't know about you, but this lover of the story and movie about fainted when I perused their wedding photos and heard more of the details.
You can't help but just LOVE all the elegant details of their wedding day ... the rich palette of teal and metallics, silver candelabras, maroon and peach flowers ... it's perfectly elegant French romance. Hilary and Andrew ordered a lot of their wedding stationery (we're talking invites, programs, menu cards, table numbers, and place cards!) from MagnetStreet. If you're looking for how to coordinate your various wedding stationery pieces throughout your big day, this French style wedding provides the perfect inspiration.
Check out our Q & A with the lovely bride, and see all the luxe details of their French style wedding!
How did Andrew propose?
On April 30, 2017, Andrew was baptized at our church, FBC of Newnan. I had prayed for this for years and couldn't believe it was happening. Little did I know this wasn't the only time Andrew would make me cry that day. After the baptism and lots of pictures, Andrew and I went to Papa John's to pick up pizza for everyone before driving to my house. It had rained that morning and the humidity had made my curls fall completely out. When we arrived at the house, I ran upstairs to re-curl my hair ...
After touching up my hair, I came back downstairs and we had everyone go outside for a picture on the porch. My dad blessed the food and Andrew wanted to thank everyone for coming to celebrate his baptism, but that wasn't the only thing he had planned. He pulled me aside, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him! I was completely surprised and I'm still not sure how he managed to keep this all a secret. Of course I said yes!
Did you have something borrowed, blue, old, and new?
Something Borrowed & Old: My great grandmother’s brooch
Something Blue: My bridesmaids’ dresses wore blue, and I also wore a blue topaz ring on my right hand that my parents bought for me while we were on a Caribbean cruise. We were on the cruise with the same cousins that introduced Andrew and me.
Something New: My necklace and earrings Andrew gave me as a birthday gift a few months before our wedding.
Tell us how you met
Andrew and I met on December 27, 2014, at our family’s annual Christmas party. My cousins, Devin and Dyer, had been trying to introduce us for months, but Andrew had been traveling around the country completing his clinical rotations for medical school and I had just moved back home from Atlanta. I still remember standing in my parents’ kitchen and hearing an unfamiliar voice of someone introducing himself as they came through the front door. As he made his way into the kitchen, I was one of the final people he met. We had a short greeting and then he quickly went upstairs to the game room. I later learned that he was nervous after he met me and scolded Devin for not telling him how pretty I was. Little did he know that I was downstairs saying how cute I thought he was, too.
After we ate lunch, Andrew and I began talking about his final clinical rotation coming up in New York. I told him I was going to see college friends there for the New Year and he gave me advice on how to get around the city. He also told me I had to eat at Junior’s Cheesecake, which was the best advice. We continued talking the rest of the afternoon and he asked for my phone number. We met for lunch at Newk's the next day and we sat on a park bench talking until I had to leave for my 3pm shift. The following morning, I flew out to New York. Andrew called or sent me a text message everyday while I was there and made sure I was having a great trip. On January 4th, Andrew asked if I would like to help him decorate his house he had just finished painting. We had so much fun hanging pictures and talking about the places we love in New York. After we finished decorating, we decided to watch a movie. We were both so nervous that neither of us remember the title of the movie, but Andrew asked me if I would like to be his girlfriend and we have been inseparable since.
What is your favorite memory of the day?
The best part of our day was hands down our first look! I will never forget his face when he turned around to see me and we loved sharing our vows with each other without a mic and without all our wedding guests. Your wedding day will be BUSY, no matter how well it is planned out. For a few sweet moments, it was just the two of us sharing what we love about each other most.
Tell us about finding your stunning wedding dress!
I knew I wanted straps, lace, and beading, but I was lost after that. We picked out several different styles of dresses to try on, but Meesha at J. Andrew’s Bridal + Formal knew exactly which dress I was going to love. I ended up choosing the Martina Liana dress she picked out for me and I loved that it came in ivory with a cafe underlayer that complimented my skin tone perfectly. It meant the world to me to have my mom, now mother-in-law, Mema, two maids of honor, two matrons of honor, great aunt and cousin there with me when I said yes to my wedding dress! I had the best yes to the dress squad!
How did you land on your French style wedding theme?
If I had to explain the decor of our wedding, I would say that I found my inspiration from the Beauty and the Beast movie with Emma Watson and from traveling to Versailles the summer before Andrew and I met. Our reception took place in the McIntosh Ballroom at the Newnan Centre, and it was filled with magnificent silver candelabras with flowers and greenery overflowing from the center of the candelabras. Our wedding colors were gold, silver and teal. I chose teal because it is such a rich sophisticated color and I have always loved the calming properties of blues. I also wanted to use peach and maroon flowers in our bouquets to play off the fall season and teal compliments those colors very well.
Royal Emblem table number cards by MagnetStreet
Let's not forget about that cake ...
Our wedding cake was absolutely as beautiful as it was delicious! Each layer was a different flavor so our guests could choose if they wanted vanilla, strawberry or chocolate. I loved the idea of keeping the traditional white color, but mixing circle layers with hexagon layers to add a more modern twist. So that is exactly what Mrs. Cindy made for us and it was a show stopper of a cake!
Royal Emblem wedding place cards by MagnetStreet
How did you choose MagnetStreet for your wedding stationery?
Your stationery is the first thing your guest see and it sets the tone for your entire wedding. I searched website after website for the perfect wedding stationery, but had a very hard time finding something that would fit our theme and came in the color scheme of our wedding. Then I discovered MagnetStreet and learned you could customize their items in almost any way imaginable. I found a few different items from the “Royal Emblem” collection that I really liked, and asked if they could be combined into a single invitation. An editor for MagnetStreet completely reworked the design and made exactly what I had been looking for! Plus everything could be made to match our teal, gold, and silver color scheme. I am absolutely thrilled with how beautiful all our wedding stationery turned out and so thankful I found MagnetStreet!
Do you have any advice for other couples?
Try to avoid getting stressed out and overwhelmed. We had about a year and a half to plan our wedding. It helped to have that much time to book vendors we really wanted, but we also felt overwhelmed at times with the amount of things that needed to be done before the big day. Whether you have 2 months to plan or 2 years to plan, try to stay as organized as possible while still having fun and enjoying the process. Make lists and deadlines for different things: Things to buy, things to make, things to pack for the honeymoon. Put reminders in your phone for when payments are due and when you need to submit timelines to your vendors. The more things I crossed off my list, the more prepared and relaxed I felt as the wedding day inched closer.
There are so many fantastic vendors to credit for Hilary and Andrew's French style wedding!
Ceremony: First Baptist Church of Newnan Georgia / Reception: The Newnan Centre / Photography: Rebecca Cerasani Photography & Leigh Wolfe Photography / Cinematography: That Wedding Ninja / Hair: Headlines Hair and Nail Salon / Make-up: Intensify by Patience / Bridal Dress: Martina Liana from J. Andrew's Bridal + Formal / Bridesmaid Dresses: MORI LEE from An Affair to Remember / Suits: Celebrate Tuxedos / Florist: Pam of Bedazzled Flower Shop / DJ: Steven Allen with Atlanta Mobile Sounds / Cake: Cindy Rose / Reception Decor: TLC Rents Event Rentals & Production / Customized Paris Skyline Guestbook: Macanaz on Etsy
