Hank and I first met in Chapel Hill while undergraduates at The University of North Carolina. It was our first day of class, freshman year, and I always say, “He had me at hola!” Our Spanish professor paired us up as partners, and it truly was love at first sight. I would say the story of how we fell in love very closely parallels that of our wedding planning… Every detail was love at first sight, too.
We wanted our ceremony and reception to take place where we fell in love, Chapel Hill. The heartbeat of Chapel Hill is Franklin Street and both our church and reception site were located at the center of this street. As for the reception site, we were captivated by the rich history, exposed brick walls, and vaulted ceilings of a recently renovated space that once housed the Carolina Theatre dating back to 1942, The Great Room at Top of the Hill.
The theme of our wedding was 'love is a journey'. This was first introduced on the invitations and carried throughout various pieces at the reception. The custom art depicting our journey was created by a coworker and friend, and it illustrated where we met, where we were to marry, our honeymoon destinations of Paris and Rome, and finally, our happily ever after, home. You can find this art to your right. We also had corresponding signature drinks at the reception allowing guests to tastefully drink their way through our relationship.
Hank and I are both quite creative, so we enjoyed doing as many DIY projects as time allowed. I designed and printed all pieces of our wedding stationary. We worked together one night to seal all of the invitations with wax. After the holidays, I picked up sparkly Eiffel Tower ornaments, replaced the ribbons and used them on each of the reception tables paired with a postcard of a place special to us. I also turned to Etsy many times for my customized dress hanger, hairpiece, guest book pen, signs for our chairs and a monogrammed centerpiece for our sweetheart table which was hand-painted in Charleston.
Every detail told our story. We had an ice sculpture of our college mascot. It lit up the buffet table, giving guests something lovely to look at while waiting in line. The only goal we had for our wedding was for it to be fun. The twin flower girls, drinks, band, delicious food, wedding cupcakes, and love-to-dance guests all made our wedding day dreams come true.
