Tiffany Blue and white flower girl dress of the year

Our first Flower Girl Dress and Wedding of the Year

Our bride Melissa did such a wonderful job with her wedding that we have named her's, our first, Pegeen Wedding of the Year. Send your photos in after your wedding of your children wearing our fashions - announcements every month! Melissa choose style 394 in ivory & tiffany for her dresses, ivory knicker & tiffany vest for her ring bearer (style 267) and her Junior Bridesmaids Dress in Tiffany Blue with Ivory bustle (style 383)

Our Wedding Day really was a dream of mine that came true. Family and friends gathering in a beautiful white church, all adorned in hues of Tiffany Blue and ivory, and me, marrying the man of my dreams. It was one of the most angelic moments I’ve ever seen.

How is it that one color can inspire so much creativity? I’m not sure why it has had such an affect on me, but it has! I’ve simply just always been mesmerized by this color, just ask my now husband. We could be in any store; I could spot this color from a hundred feet away and immediately drop whatever I was doing just to check this Tiffany Blue item out. It was love at first sight, the color that is….no matter what the item . My love for the color didn’t just start in this past year, it dates back to when I was a young teenager. I bought a bottle of lotion for my Mom for Mother’s Day just because it had a Tiffany Blue ribbon on it. That small piece of fabric would stay imbedded in my mind as my color of choice, I just knew it would be used for my wedding one day. (I later asked my mom if I could have her ribbon  to save….I still have the faded thing somewhere!)

So, when I began to be asked the question, “what color (s) would I be using for my wedding”, there was never a doubt in my mind….tiffany blue and ivory. When I think of weddings, I think of white, purity, heaven, angels….so ivory was a given to match up with my Tiffany Blue desire. There was just something about these two colors put together that would give me goose bumps and still do!

Planning my Tiffany Blue and ivory theme was certainly no easy feat, but it was worth every minute! Looking back, I think I came pretty darn close to accenting with this color. I would search for hours on the internet, fabric stores, and bridal stores alike just to find that perfect shade of Tiffany Blue! I had every vendor I was working with living and breathing Tiffany Blue too! I must have bought every single roll of Tiffany Blue ribbon from every Nashville fabric store in the year of 2007. The week of the wedding there was simply none left in Nashville, so my aunt had to have it special ordered in from Florida….and we took all that store had too! Of course now that I’m writing this, I’m quite amused and think that I might have been a little obsessive about Tiffany Blue…..but then again, I still am. That’s how I know it’s true love!

But I can’t totally take all the blame for loving this color so much. My husband bought me my dream ring from my favorite store, which shall remain nameless….only feeding my love for the color even more! I remember when he proposed to me in Chicago; it came in a black ring box. After I said yes, my first question was….where’s the blue box?! He couldn’t bring it along with us without giving it away….so I retrieved it as soon as we returned to Nashville! Thinking about it now, it would have been a little awkward to have a small blue box hanging out of his pocket on the carriage ride….that would have been a sure dead give away!

Now that I think I’ve given a proper introduction to my history with this color, back to the wedding day! When a girl finally is engaged to the right person, there’s nothing more than you want to be married and have that perfect day. In all seriousness, this day and union symbolized to me God keeping His promise to bring me the right one. It also symbolized His covenant with His people, and the start of a new family by uniting two others. So, of course I wanted to put my all into it, a day that we both we forever remember along with our families and friends.

There wasn’t one element of the wedding that wasn’t important to me, from the vows to the music, the flower girl dresses, the flowers, and the food. It all was special to me. I wanted to keep it classy and elegant, yet with a southern sweetness and of course decorated in Tiffany Blue. But uniting all of these things was not easy. I loved the sleek chicness of the New York style Tiffany but also loved the country setting. It was like joining the city with the country, sometimes not so easy to do. So, I took pieces of the two to create my own Southern Chic Sweet wedding.

The guests received a preview of the wedding in the mail. The invitations were a classic ivory paper, announcing our wedding in classic calligraphy. My stationer, Sara, worked so hard to help me find the perfect one. The whole invitation was hand written by our precious calligrapher, Ms. Betty, and printed on the cards. She then hand wrote every single address and name on each of the envelopes for me. They were beautiful! Just before sending them out, I hand tied all the invitations with a Tiffany Blue ribbon, so that it appeared as a gift when the guests opened them.

The day of the wedding, we had a perfect September day. It was breathtaking, not a cloud in sight. The wedding itself was very regal like…or so I thought. The beautiful tall white church was decorated in ivory roses with Tiffany Blue ribbon, hydrangeas, and candles, all thanks to our dear florist, Sherry. Her talent to create is impeccable. The center aisle was adorned with a beautiful aisle runner, one of my favorite accents of the wedding. It displayed our own unique monogram that was designed by our calligrapher just for us, all hand painted in Tiffany Blue. The runner totaled some 100 feet or so I believe. The aisle runner itself was line on each side with ivory rose petals (thank you Sherry)….it still takes my breath away. Our mothers came into Ave Maria, sung by one of the most talented operatic musicians I’ve ever heard. And then there was my cousin Dennis’ song, one that he wrote and composed just for us. He used his relationship with his daughter (also a bridesmaid) as an inspiration as well as my relationship with my dad. It was beautiful and made me cry the first time he played it for me. What a beautiful wedding gift. Of course, I can’t forget the duet of “The Prayer”, by friends Hope and Juan, accompanied by a string quartet. I still get comments on their performance today. I came into “Trumpet Voluntary”, played by a talented organist, what a sound it was! I was wearing my favorite dress that my Mom helped me pick out, accompanied by a cathedral veil that was exquisitely adorned with beads and jewels at the bottom. There was just something about this that made me feel like a princess.

Our wedding was certainly a family and friends affair. We were supported by four of our best friends in life, our parents. Their unending help and love throughout the year of planning and the day itself was immeasurable. My Mom of course was there to hold my hand and support my unending nerves; my Dad there to hold me as he always has and walk his little girl down the aisle. Words can’t describe what having them there meant to me and Chris. Chris escorted his Mom down the aisle with his Dad following, what a special moment for them as a family. They both are so dear to us as well. We were surrounded by family and friends alike in our wedding party, made up of our brother and sister, cousins, and friends dating back from childhood to our adulthood. They are all so special. And, who could forget my Aunt Debbie, another special bridesmaid! Oh how she helped in so many ways preparing for this day! The girls were dressed in the perfect Tiffany Blue silhouette, accented by an ivory sash. The boys all decked out in white tie tuxedos…..how they loved that! We couldn’t have done it without our bridal salon! And then there was the smallest unit of our wedding party, our “sweeties” aka “flower girls”, five of them all together and our one ring bearer. This little band of adorable troops were our nieces and cousins. The girls were an ivory tulle dress with silk tops, accented by a Tiffany Blue sash. Our little guy wore the cutoff britches,with white high socks and a Tiffany Blue vest. Our junior bridesmaid matched the bridesmaids but wore a dress made just for her. They were dressed in the cutest dresses and little suit I’ve ever seen all thanks to Marg and Pegeen! My uncle married us with a beautiful, instructive sermon and my grandfather, a minister now of 58 years, offered one of the most beautiful prayers that still rings in my heart today. Our grandmothers watched us from the pews so close behind, offering us their support and blessings. We had countless other family and friends that came in for the day, traveling from all around; we were just so truly blessed.

Being blessed with the thought of so many wonderful family and friends, I can’t help but think of one person that couldn’t be there with us that day but certainly was there in our hearts, my Great Aunt Esther. Spending many moments with her growing up, of course it was no surprise that she would inspire my wedding planning. There were two things that she loved so much, her roses and her gardens. I spent many summer days outside with her, just walking around and viewing the roses she had labored over. It was her favorite flower. It’s no surprise that it is mine as well. I wanted to honor her memory by displaying ivory roses everywhere, so that’s just what I did; at the church and the reception. Oh how she loved her gardens too. Her husband, my uncle Thurman, who just turned 90 this year, is still raising gardens. She canned green beans, tomatoes, corn….you name it, she canned it! Needless to say, I had no problem knowing what a mason jar was. So, she inspired another element of my wedding, the centerpieces at the reception. They were made up of mason jars, ivory roses, all delicately tied with Tiffany Blue and ivory ribbons. We did these ourselves; my husband’s mom, her best friend, Wanda, and Aunt Frances, all heading the project and teaching us along the way! My Dad and Chris’ Dad even helped by cutting the rose stems, it had to be such a wonderful moment for them. I can’t say how blessed I was to see them cutting flowers and transporting them to buckets of water all day. I must have had close to 1800 roses stored in my house for 3 days, it smelled like heaven! And who could forget the favors and bells displayed at the reception, all hand tied by my Mom with Tiffany Blue and ivory ribbons. I think total there were like 600 of them! She did it with absolutely no complaining, just with love in her heart for us. She’s amazing! The favors were mason jars filled with ivory Jordan almonds, displayed with our wedding date and names. The bells, too, were decorated in the same way.

The reception itself was amazing, set in the beautiful countryside of Nashville, TN. We were wisped away in an Antique White jaguar from the church to it. I couldn’t wait to see my white tent all decorated. There was a sea of tables, all exquisitely decorated by friends and family, Lisa, Erin, Aunt Frances and cousin,Todd. We had ivory and Tiffany Blue linens everywhere. Our dance floor was a black and white checkered print, backed by our 8 piece band that played big band music all night long! They were the best, I loved the lead singer….his energy was just what we needed for our day. Our first song was “Unforgettable”, truly fitting for the occasion. It was so much fun!

Our cuisine, created by our very skillful caterer, Pam, was classy southern food. Southern fried chicken breast tenderloins and a trio of sauces, honey pecan butter, red pepper marmalade barbeque, and spicy dijon; tossed romaine greens with sautéed bosc pairs, spiced pecans, gorgonzola and poppyseed vinegrette; herb infused grilled flank steak with onion marmalade, praline sweet potatoes with crispy pecan and brown sugar marmalade; penne pasta with cream, butter and cheese….Macaroni and Cheese but certainly glorified (my Grandma said it wouldn’t have been right if I hadn’t had it, since it still is my favorite food; warm buttery yeast rolls; southern fruit tea infused with orange, pineapple, and lemon; and fresh brewed coffee. I’m making myself hungry just reminiscing. It was delightful and certainly cooked up by one of the sweetest, most wonderful caterers in the world! The best part about it was that my caterer and florist are sisters, what a dynamic duo. We laughed, cried, and celebrated together in countless meetings that lasted for hours. They are so special to me!

Writing all of this certainly takes me back to a special day and it was all captured by our amazing photographers, Eric and Laressa, and our videographer, Andy. Their work certainly speaks for itself.

With all of the hype over the wedding, I certainly can’t forget two of my most important anchors during this whole process, God and my husband. God certainly allowed us to have this beautiful day and Chris was my best friend through all of it. His countless hours of listening to wedding prep only increased my love for him more. I can’t say how many ideas he listened to, shades of Tiffany Blue he looked at just so I could find that perfect one, and countless tears he let me cry on his shoulder. After all, any bride knows how stressful it really can be at times. There was only one thing he wouldn’t let me do and that was dress him up in a Tiffany Blue suit, I was sad but I got over it. After all, he was standing at the end of the aisle waiting on me, taking me as his wife.

In looking back, our hearts and souls went into marrying each other and certainly planning this day. We couldn’t have done it without each other, everyone involved, and certainly the color of blue, tiffany. Thank you to Marg and Pegeen for letting us share our story with you and for choosing us as your Wedding of the Year. We are truly grateful.

Melissa Patton