I haven’t posted in a while–been enjoying the dog days of summer reading on the deck, taking long walks while listening to Italian instruction on my iPod, and teaching myself how to read Tarot cards–yes, that’s true.

I’m back with a “Meet the Bride” post introducing the wonderfully sweet Margaret and her darling groom Jason.  Margaret found me a while back and called me to discuss hydrangea themed wedding stationery.  We became fast friends through our correspondence–she just oozes southern hospitality and even invited me to come down to the wedding!  Oh,  I wish I had–this was a party to beat all parties!

Margaret and Jason got married on May 30th, 2009 in the chapel on the Frost College campus, and then had a stellar reception for 500 of their nearest and dearest on Jason’s huge horse ranch.  I’ll let Margaret share some of the details below, in her own words.  Wait til you hear about the engagement!

All of these amazing photos are credited to Jason Spruill.  You can see a slideshow of images here.

Hi, we’re Margaret Ellen Thompson and Jason Marion.    We met on a blind date in February 2008.  I am an ob/gyn and he is director of human resources for a large company.  Neither one of us thought we would ever get married.  We were engaged in 7 months and married 15 months from meeting.  My proposal was unique:  Jason is an avid bow hunter, specifically of deer.  We rode his horses to a nearby lake where he had carved a heart in a large tree and had fired his bow into the heart, such that the arrow was sticking out of the heart and my engagement ring was hanging on it from a pink ribbon.  It was the most special day of my life at that point and I was stunned at the unique and very “Jason” way he did it.

We got married in Rome GA at the beautiful Frost chapel on the Berry College campus which looks like it is straight out of the English countryside, sitting on a gorgeous hill.  We had beautiful weather.  Our main goal for the wedding and reception was for everyone to have just a really good, fun time.  I would call the style, rustic but classy.  Highlights included an outdoor reception at his farm, a beer wagon with several taps that people served themselves beer in a mason jar, a three dimensional deer groom’s cake for his favorite past time which was an absolute hit because of how unique it was but it was delicious too (made by Kate White of Honeymoon Bakery in Rome GA)!

We wanted really good food with a casual atmosphere so we used Cowboy Grill from my hometown Tallahassee, Florida that serves fresh gulf seafood they fry on premises.  We also had local BBQ so it was good food with a variety.

Advice I could give, would be to splurge on the food.  It is something that everyone remembers and to me, worth it.  We also had a coordinator, Rudy Childs whom we could not have done this without.  He is immensely creative and worked tirelessly to help make our vision of a wedding and reception become a reality.  It is more effort to do your own reception at an original place rather than at a venue where they do everything for you, but it was so worth it to have it at a place truly our own.

Our photographer could not have fit the theme better either.  Jason Spruill of Atlanta is a documetary photographer and so laid back and fun to be with.  He put no pressure on us and just kind of “went with it”.  He was awesome. Anyone in the Atlanta metro area or really in the southeast should know about him.

The inspiration for colors and theme was the simple flower hydrangea which is my favorite flower.  we used all shades of blue hydrandgeas mixed with wild flowers for all arrangements.  This theme started with the most gorgeous hydrangea wedding invitations that I found online by Mew Paper Arts.  The thing I liked about the invitations was that they were simply different.  they spoke elegance, uniqueness and fit with our theme of rustic charm.  We have received countless compliments on them.  My dad is an artist and he addressed them all in his calligraphy which was a huge benefit and saved money.

A very memorable moment of the day was a simple one.  On the way to our reception which was just me and Jason in his big Ford pick up truck, he said ” I am so excited, I can’t stand it”.  I assumed he meant he was excited about our reception we were headed to so I said “abo
ut the reception?” and he said “About our future together”.

Congratulations Jason and Margaret, and thanks for sharing the details of your beautiful day with us!

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