Holy gorgeous wedding.  If I were giving out awards for weddings that knocked my socks off, this one would definitely be in the running.  Not just because of the gorgeous venue, decor and amazing photography by Motion Picture Co. but because the couple, Britany and Sean, are seriously the sweetest thing ever.  Britany sent in the most thorough, heartfelt interview I’ve ever received from a bride which brought tears to my eyes… twice.  From their initial meeting at work,  to the dinner where Sean asked Brittney’s parents if he could have her hand in marriage, to the one-on-one “blue moon under the moon” evening Britany arranged at The Georgian Terrace Hotel‘s rooftop pool the night before their wedding, you can certainly tell whose numero uno in their lives.  This is exactly how weddings, strike that… love stories…. should be.

The ballrooms at The Georgian Terrace are breathtaking and quite traditional in nature.  After Britany visited the room above she knew this venue was the one and that her wedding was going to be bigger than she planned.  The style and theme of the wedding was inspired by the hotels architecture and vintage feel.  Plus, her traditional dress she found at Bridals by Lori helped too.

So tell us how you met! Love at first sight, blind date, friends forever, we want the particulars!
When I graduated college in TN and moved back to Atlanta, due to the whole economy downfall, I couldn’t find a good job, so I took on a position at my parents company as the marketing director. Sean had been working there for several months before me, and we were just friends for the first several months I did work there. I was very guarded…thinking surely he wouldn’t be interested in dating the boss’ daughter anyways and all the complications that might bring. He ended up going to a industry party with me, because my dad couldn’t go and I had to attend. This was the first time we’d ever been anywhere away from work together….and at the party we ended up outside in the garden, ignoring the rest of the event and just laughing and talking. When he dropped me off at my house I asked him if he wanted to come in and see the house (I just bought my first house that week)…and it was almost awkwardly obvious that we wanted to kiss each other really bad. I still didn’t think he ever would because of our work relationship, so I was absolutely shocked when he leaned in for the ‘good night kiss’. A few weeks later he talked to my dad and said that he respected him so much he would never want to cause a ‘conflict of interests’ at work….but that he thought I was really special and that we had been seeing each other out of work. He told him he just wanted his approval for us to take things to the next level and start dating seriously. My dad said of ‘of course’ …and just that he didn’t want it to interfere with work stuff. Ever since the first kiss we’ve been inseparable…we spent the next year together every minute we possibly could. We enjoyed doing pretty much ALL the same things….and doing those things TOGETHER just made every day seem so easy and so complete.

Now for the proposal . . . details!
I knew Sean was first thinking of proposing at Christmas. It was our first Christmas since we had been dating…but I told him I would be doing stuff with my family most of the time on Christmas day and that I could see him later that evening. He says he realized then that he did NOT want to spend another Christmas morning without me. He started dropping little hints that he had been looking at rings. We went to Chicago right after Christmas, and he kept asking if I was happy…like with him, and at dinner one night he said, ‘I love you…and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you’. I thought he was gonna propose then, but I think he was just feeling me out lol.

In February we were working a show together, and over lunch he just randomly asked, ‘ do you wanna get married?’…I was like, ‘ya, uh like now?….1 year, 2 years, next month, what?’….He was like, ‘well, I wanna ask your parents next week’. I was shocked. I knew he wanted to get married, but we had only been dating about 11 months, and I thought he would need more time. Sure enough, he took my parents to dinner the next week. I wanted to be a fly on the wall so bad, but my mom said that it was the sweetest thing she ever heard when they first sat down to dinner and he immediately got teary eyed and choked up telling them how much I mean to him and that I was his best friend.

About 2 weeks after that, March 6th, it was a beautiful, sunny Saturday…and after a stressful week for both of us at work we booked a fun day getting massages, a nice lunch, walk in the park, shopping, etc. I had been begging him to take me to the Glenn rooftop bar…its my favorite view in Atlanta and I had been there with girlfriends but not with him. After a year of begging though, I still didn’t get suspicious he was gonna do it that night when he said ‘we’re having such a good day…lets just get a room at the Glenn and stay downtown.’ We had brought clothes/toiletries because of our massages, so we checked in. He ordered some good wine to our room while we were getting ready, and then we walked through centennial park to Ruths Chris. We had a very quiet, relaxing dinner…but I thought he seemed very quiet. We walked back to the hotel and we wanted to go to the rooftop, and the staff told me it was closed, which he had pre-arranged with them. He asked if we could just go up for just a minute….someone walked us up there, and he asked them if we could just have a minute alone. Then he asked ‘how much do you love me’….I tried to think of something really big, and the best I could think of was ‘to the sky’. …He laughed and said, ‘Well I love you more than anything, you are my best friend. You are the most important thing in my life, and I can’t imagine it without you. I want to grow old with you and have babies with you. Will you marry me?”…and went down on one knee.

We want to know all about the wedding details! Was it the small and intimate setting or the big traditional?!
Sean and I originally said we wanted something very small…which is hilarious in retrospect considering we more than trippled our budget and had 200+ guests. We didn’t really know what things costs typically so we didn’t have much to compare too either. Probably what started us on the ‘big traditional’ track was that the first venue I looked at was Georgian Terrace, and I immediately fell in love. They’ve just done a huge renovation and its so romantic and vintage but now has a modern/hip twist too. It is beautiful. We always had season tickets to the fox growing up, so I’ve been there with my mom and sister hundreds of times…its just a happy memory to me.

The bridal suite was also to DIE for. Once I had such a grand, large ballroom though…we couldn’t skimp on upgrades without it looking ‘undone’ to us. Walt, the event manager, worked generously with us on price. We were very nervous because he seemed very busy and sometimes difficult to get a hold of, but in the end he delivered perfectly. My dress also kinda set the tone for the event….I started with saying I wanted my hair down and something very classic and simple….but ended up with a HUGE, layered dress with a big veil….and loved it. Try on everything.

Was there a theme or inspiration behind the décor?
The Georgian Terrace has its own vintage, old south ‘theme’ to me….so we tried to really play that up. Our flowers and décor was very soft. We used some mercury glass, crystal, and candlelight. That combined with lace, chiffon, and blush and ivory roses created the perfect ‘vintage’ enhancement. Our color scheme was a platinum silver, ivory, and blush tones.

What were your playful twists that made your wedding unique?
It was really important to me that even though our event had become really big, that Sean and I didn’t lose each other in all the chaos. The night before the wedding Sean thought we weren’t going to see each other anymore after the rehearsal dinner, but I had created a little surprise for him and invited him to ‘blue moons under the moon’…we love blue moon…so I reserved the rooftop pool and got some blue moons and we took a little late night swim. We were both very nervous, and the wedding had become so formal, so it was nice to just take a breather, unwind at the pool, and have some drinks. The only bad part being that made it even harder to say goodnight of course. But I had to get my beauty sleep.

We saw each other before the ceremony…I didn’t realize that Sean was below me though. I knew I was gonna go down the staircase to see him…but we didn’t know it as like right then…so the photographers got some GREAT shots moments before we saw each other and we didn’t even know we were inches away from each other.  After the reception we did a carriage ride. It was very hot, but so sweet. Definitely one of my favorite moments just being alone with him and us being so blissfully happy.

What was your splurge?!
The photographers were a must. I really really wanted Motion Picture Co. to do my photography. I had seen other work they had done and seen them interact with other brides….and just did not want to even hear of using anyone else. They were pretty pricey….but I knew they would do a great job. It was probably also very high because they photographed so many events….they did my engagement party, my engagement pictures, the ‘blue moons under the moon’ thing, and then 10 hours on the wedding day. Kinda ridiculous I know :-).  I got my dress at Bridals by Lori. Honestly I didn’t really like the other staff there, but the associate I was so lucky to have was Flori…and she was great. I really just had to have my dress I found there…even though it was twice what we wanted to spend.

What was the best wedding advice you received?
Say the pledge of allegiance right before you walk down the aisle. My wedding was very emotional. My dad is 6’4 300 lbs…and was crying so much before we were walking down the aisle. Its sweet…but I really really had to try hard to not sob before I was walking down the aisle. I said it right before, and it really did help to keep me not as emotional. When I saw Sean though …I was calm as a cucumber…and the whole room disappeared. At the altar it was sweet, and I got a little teary eyed…but at least I was able to keep my composure and get through the vows :-)…it wasn’t an ugly cry.

Photography:  Motion Picture Co. |  Venue and Catering:  The Georgian Terrace Hotel |  Event Planner:  Janice Blackmon Events |  Floral:  Eventscapes |  Invitations:  Sandi Spells Design |  Wedding Cake:  Sugarplum Visions |  Entertainment:  Spectrum Entertainment |  Dance Floor Rental:  Peachtree Tents and Events

**The Georgian Terrace, Sandi Spells Design, Peachtree Tents and Events and Spectrum Entertainment are advertisers of Occasions Magazine

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