[#7] 11 DAYS OF WEDDING GIVEAWAYS: Free Bridal or Engagement Session by Alexis Sweet Photography

It is so great being apart of the wedding community here in Savannah! We are just over the moon excited for all of our giveaways we have had this week! Today's giveaway is from Cleveland native (O-H-I-O!) Alexis Sweet Photography! We love working with Alexis. She is so fun, so bright and cheerful, and takes amazing pictures. She knows how to make you comfortable in front of a camera, and we always love working with her! Today she is giving away one FREE bridal or engagement session, for one hour, worth up to $400! Anywhere in Savannah you wish (and there are so many perfect places in Savannah!) This is the perfect oppertunity to snuggle up with your someone special, or just have some portraits done in your gown! Enter below to win!

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SIMPLY BRIDAL: Elaya Vaughn Editorial

In celebration of us adding Evangeline by Elaya Vaughn to the shop, we are so excited to post this editorial we did with the amazing Alexis Sweet! Since Kate Pankoke, the designer of Elaya Vaughn, was married at Brockington Hall, we knew that would be the perfect place to shoot. We wanted to capture the elegance and sophistication of Kate's dresses, and Alexis did perfect!

{Vendor Credits} Flowers and Styling by Ivory and Beau // Photography by Alexis Sweet // Venue by Brockington Hall // Makeup by Michelle Royal Makeup // Balloons by Art Pop Balloons // Dresses and accessories by Elaya Vaughn // Lace Appliqué veil + rhinestone juliet veil by Jaclyn Jordan 

SIMPLY BUSINESS: Elaya Vaughn Bridal Editorial with Kate Pankoke at Brockington Hall Behind the Scenes

If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook or here on our blog you would know that we absolutely love doing styled shoots and bridal editorials. I think the biggest reason behind this is just because my obsession with following wedding blogs and looking at editorials and styled shoots is part of what drove me to pursue a job in the wedding industry. And so here I am. Working in a boutique where we do styled shoot and bridal editorials like its our job. Well, it is our job. Because we think its crucial + very important to use these shoots to showcase our style, our gowns, our aesthetic. And we just loving doing it. So it was so awesome to do a bridal editorial with Alexis Sweet featuring the bridal collection from Kate Pankoke, Elaya Vaughn. Kate surprised us by visiting Savannah for the Trunk Show with her collection and it was so great to have the designer in our shop working one on one with our brides!!!! In case you all did not know, Kate was married in Savannah last fall at Brockington Hall. So obviously we had to do the editorial at Brockington Hall. It was obviously a must. Huge thank you to Melissa + Lee for letting us take over their house for the shoot!!! 

Anyway, here are some behind the scenes photographed by our model Sara's sister, Katelyn Finnegan!! Hope you enjoy!!! And for the images of the bridal editorial photographed by Alexis Sweet, head on over to her blog here!!!! Thank you also to Michelle Royal for doing hair + makeup for our gorgeous models!!

{Photo Credits} Photography: Finnegan Photography // Dresses + Accessories: Elaya Vaughn at Ivory + Beau // Hair + Makeup: Michelle Royal // Venue: Brockington Hall // Models: Courteney Boles, Shelby Bittinger + Sara Warren // Balloon: Art Pop Balloons

SIMPLY ENGAGED: Alissa & Michael

I am super excited to share today's couple with you all! Alissa and Michael are the couple I have gotten to spend the most time with since they have come up from Miami a few times for vendor meetings with Layla & I! It has been so fun getting to know them. They are such a sweet happy and funny couple! I just know their wedding at the Mansion on Forsyth Park is going to be absolutely incredible, beautiful and a huge party! 

Engaged:

November 19th, 2011 (Alissa's birthday!)

How & Where They Met:

We met on Match.com..he winked first..lol

The Proposal:

We went for my birthday to Savannah with both of our families and after a long day of sight seeing we went just him and I to have some ice cream at leopolds..by the time we were done my birthday was just about 15 minutes from being over.  We were headed back to the room and when I walked in there was a banner asking if I would marry him and string of lights set up with wedding bells.  I was in shock shouldn't move or say anything.  Mike was like turn around and when I did he was on one knee with the ring!  We kissed and were in shock for like 20 minutes so happy and then we went to the court yard of our Inn and both of our are parents were waiting for us with champagne.  We all hugged and cried it was a perfect night!

Wedding Date:

April 19th, 2013

April the month we met and 19 because it was the date we got engaged

Why Savannah?

We like to be original and no one in our family has had a destination wedding, we also wanted our wedding to be very intimate.  We got engaged here and its special and very romantic city.

What are you looking forward to most on your wedding day?

I am looking forward to so many things, mikes face when he sees me as his bride for the first time and celebrating our marriage and love with both are families.  Since we are doing destination we get to spend a lot of quality time with all our family and friends for a few days not just one night!

Anything else you want to share?

Mike asked my dad for my hand a month before he proposed and had a plan to ask me with a horse and carriage ride but it didn't work out so he had a back up plan.  When we went to get ice cream he had given his mom decorations and the banner as a plan B.  So both our moms decorated the room while we were out so I would be suprised when we got back. :) so sweet!

Congratulations to the happy couple! I am so excited for your wedding!

{Photo Credits} Alexis Sweet Photography

SIMPLY ME: Love Shoot in a Marsh

I am so excited to share these images! Last Friday the amazing Alexis Sweet of Alexis Sweet Photography ventured into the marsh with my boyfriend & I for a love shoot! I knew Alexis would be perfect for shooting us since she makes you feel so comfortable and she had photographed me before for the Bohemian Styled Shoot. She was awesome and I would highly recommend her! I was real excited she was okay going along with this crazy location and also glad we didn't get my car stuck driving back there. Alexis was able to capture everything so beautifully and I am so happy she got some of my dog, Winnie, looking at the camera! Anyway, for the shoot I knew I wanted to use these old vintage Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper bottles Chris had gotten passed down in the family, and I thought it would be cute to put some tall tapered candles in them. I also love succulents and cactuses so Chris and I bought some and put them in recycled tin cans. We were originally going to do a table and chairs but I figured that would just be too difficult to trek back into the woods, which was fine because we found an awesome blanket and some amazing aztec pillows at Target and the really neat wooden tray with antlers on it. I love how everything turned out, although I must say the candles did burn my hair and that did not smell very good haha...! Anyway, thank you so much Alexis! You are amazing!

{Photo Credits} Alexis Sweet Photography

{Sneak Peak} SIMPLY WED: Melissa & Antonio

Last weekend's wedding was a really great wedding! I was so excited to finally have my first stationary project and was actually the designer of the escort cards and the ceremony programs! I loved putting them together and coming up with designs for the couple using the bride's Pinterest board for inspiration! The ceremony took place at Whitefield Square in downtown Savannah and the reception was at the Richmond Hill City Center. It was such a lovely wedding with one of my favorite color combinations, navy and orange. The decor was really cute with burlap table runners, lace overlays, and vintage candlestick holders. The amazing florals were done by Layla Mayville, previous owner and she did an absolutely amazing job! I cannot wait to see the professional photography by Alexis Sweet, the same photographer from the Bohemian photo shoot I modeled for! I think my favorite moment of their wedding was their last song! It was seriously adorable... the couple danced in the center of everyone holding hands. In the middle of the song Antonio held up Melissa and they danced in a circle. I am not going to lie, it was so cute I was definitely holding back a few happy tears. It was such a special moment and I feel so lucky to have gotten a chance to witness it. I would love to have a last dance like theirs. You could feel the love for the couple in the room and it was just... too precious for me to ever be able to describe fully. Congratulations to the lucky couple! And thank you so much for choosing Simply Savannah Events! Here are some sneak peaks of their big day with some photos from my iPhone via Instagram!

{Photo & Video Credits} All images taken with my iPhone // Ceremony Location: Whitefield Square // Reception Location:  Richmond Hill City Center

{Featured} The Oceanside Bride

We are soooooo excited to be featured today on The Oceanside Bride! Thank you to Meleesa for sharing our styled shoot that we did at Tybee Island. Melessa is also a fellow TWIPS member. 

{Real Wedding} Jenny & Robin

Jenny & Robin's wedding was very sentimental for many reasons, they were one of the 1st clients that I signed, I helped them and Alexis for their engagement pictures, and they had one of the most personalized sentimental wedding ceremony that brought tears to many there. These first images are a sampling of their engagement pictures by Alexis Sweet. I have become good friends with Alexis as she is the one who I worked with for the boho beach styled shoot. For their engagement session we walked through downtown with their two adorable corgis and I was the "dog handler extraordinaire". Their doggies are very important to them and had to be part of their special day. Aren't they adorable!!?

Jenny & Robin's wedding was very intimate with around 20 friends and family who traveled from Florida and all over, even London, England! Alexis captured the first look in Forsyth Park and luckily the Fragrant Garden was open for them, which you can see in the first 3 pictures below. Their ceremony was held at Wormsloe Plantation around sunset, then the guest departed for dinner at Moon River Brewery. Here are the vendors who helped make this wedding happen:

Ceremony location: Wormsloe Plantation

Reception location: Moon River Brewery

Wedding Planner, Florist, and Stylist: Simply Savannah Events

Photographer: Alexis Sweet Photography

Officiant: Savannah Dan

Cake & Cake Pops: Addy B

Makeup: Beyond Beautiful by Heather

Rentals: In Any Event 

Eco-friendly details: supporting etsy and small business owners, favors for guests from local stores, incorporated family heirlooms and vintage items, non-diamond engagement ring, flowers bought directly from wholesaler, reused glass containers for flowers, stayed at a dog friendly vacation rental, and "green" wedding photographer.

The Details!

Many of the details for this wedding were bought from etsy vendors or items that Jenny & Robin already had or my vintage chic collection. They had a rustic honey, "Love is Sweet" theme which included their banner, honey sticks, jars of honey, bee necklace, bee stamped burlap bags, etc. Nicole, my assistant, and I had a great time setting up their 2 tables with all these fun decor items. Plus I did all the mason jar flower arrangements, the bridal bouquet, and groom's boutonniere. Jenny and I had been working together to figure out the best color combination and which flowers she wanted to include. Don't you just love her choices!? After their ceremony they brought the mason jar flowers to Moon River, cut their cake, and ate dinner. Look closely at their wedding cake toppers, it's personalized characters of Jenny, Robin, and their 2 doggies! When I've been working for so long with couples and the wedding day finally approaches, and then they're happily married, I get a huge satisfaction of knowing we helped make their day beautiful, but then I get sad that it's over since I'll miss them. 

Best wishes to a happy marriage, Jenny & Robin and keep in touch <3