With pies baked by the Bride’s mother, her horticulturist father involved in the flower arrangements, and food catered by the couple’s favorite deli from their college days, this wedding was, as the Bride put it, “So special [because] we could look around and know that every detail had a purpose and reflected some piece of our relationship.” See all the special moments from Graham Terhune in THE VAULT!
From The Bride… Alex and I wanted every detail from our wedding day — from the food to the escort cards to our individual vendors — to be meaningful and personal to us. Merry Hill Farm was the perfect venue because it was not only beautiful and charming, but it also gave us the flexibility to bring in our own style. We were also thrilled to be getting married near Chapel Hill, NC, which is where we met almost 5 years ago while students at UNC-Chapel Hill. One of our favorite places to eat together when we were students was Mediterranean Deli, an amazing restaurant in the heart of Franklin Street that serves healthy, fresh, authentic Mediterranean and Greek style foods. They were the first (and only!) place we looked to select our caterer. After our wedding, we had dozens of people tell us that it was the best food they’d ever had at a wedding! We had to agree. :) For dessert, we wanted to do something a little less traditional. My mom is a wonderful baker, and one of her specialties is homemade fruit pies. We knew it would be a huge undertaking, but she was honored and thrilled when we asked her if she would make pies for our wedding. In all, she made 25 fruit pies (apple, peach, & blueberry!), which we served with vanilla ice cream from our favorite local creamery (Maple View Farms). For our bar menu, instead of having a signature cocktail, Alex wanted to showcase some of his favorite craft beers. In addition to four of our favorite wines, Alex picked out 11 different craft beers, including two from our favorite local breweries.
One of my favorite details from the wedding was the flowers. My dad is a horticulturalist at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, and I knew I wanted him to be involved in picking out flowers and designing our arrangements. He helped me find a wonderful independent florist (Theo Roddy) who he frequently works with at the Gardens. (Theo also did the flowers at my sister’s wedding!) Theo and my dad worked together to design the table arrangements and select the flowers for the bouquets. I wanted the arrangements to have a free, effortless style, and I could not have been more pleased with how they turned out. The bouquets were stunning! My dad also put my aunts and uncles to work making wildflower arrangements to place throughout the venue. My favorites were the arrangements in old watering cans! Among some of my other favorite decorations were my family’s tandem bicycle (which Alex and I also used in our engagement photos) as well as the bicycle-stamped escort cards, which we hung out on mini clotheslines. (Can you tell we like bikes?)
Our wedding was magical. And, part of what made it so special is that we could look around and know that every detail had a purpose and reflected some piece of our relationship. We also could look around and feel an incredible sense of gratitude, knowing that we were only able to pull everything off with the support of so many family members and friends.
Photography: Anagram Photo | Floral Design: Theo Roddy | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Donna Morgan | Catering: Mediterranean Deli | Hair And Makeup: Kerri Nicole Artistry | DJ: Bunn DJ Company | Groomsmen Attire: The Tie Bar | Groomsmen Attire: Nordstrom | Venue: Merry Hill Farm | Pies: Bride's Mom
