After six-years of long distance dating, this cute-as-can-be couple tied the knot at Atlanta’s Summerour Studio. The bold, bright + blingy wedding was the brainchild of event designer, Buzzy Craftery, and the super-creative bride who worked together to create a totally Pin-worthy event! Lucky for us, the entire fête was brought to life through the lens of SMITTEN Weddings. There is so, SO much more to see in the full gallery!
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From Ashley Buzzy McHugh of Buzzy Craftery… The bride and groom in this lovely affair are Ashleigh and Jeff. From the first moment we connected with Ashleigh, we knew she had been dreaming of this day for a long time. She was focused and clear about what she wanted the wedding feel like, but with a joyfulness and creativity that made it an exciting project to work on from beginning to end. More than anything, Ashleigh wanted the day to feel festive, colorful, bright and fun (without getting so casual that a little “sparkle and bling” would look out of place!). She wanted to incorporate some handmade and vintage pieces without going overboard on a theme. In the end, we agreed that using punchy colors, sparking glitter and lots of candles would be a winning combination.
The day of the wedding, our team couldn’t help pulling out our phones to Instagram a detail here and there — it was more beautiful than even we had imagined. The groom came with some friends to set up a masterfully-engineered lighting scheme and a giant framed screen they had made to display a slideshow during dinner! This bride and groom were so handy and creative that many times I thought about offering them jobs working on our future weddings! As soon as the ceremony started, there was a sweet happiness that filled the room. Ashleigh was a picture-perfect, glowing bride. We were so privileged to share in this day with Ashleigh and Jeff!
From the Bride… People are always surprised to hear that Jeff and I endured a six-year, long-distance relationship, but to me, it was easy. We both wanted to complete masters degrees and respected each others’ choice to pursue education and put our own relationship on hold. We racked up a lot of cell phone minutes and Skype dates and anxiously awaited the next face-to-face meeting for weeks or months at a time. There were rough times, but it never mattered when we finally were together again.
Jeff proposed on New Year’s Eve 2010. We both relocated to Atlanta (me from DC and Jeff from Illinois) and started planning our wedding immediately. The vision for the wedding changed probably 25 times. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and wedding blogs and almost had too many ideas to choose from when thinking about our wedding. We knew we wanted the wedding to be comfortable and far from stuffy. We wanted pure merriment and a room filled with love and happiness, so we tried to choose all the details we thought would facilitate those feelings. Jeff was totally hands-on during the entire process and designed all the lighting, which included a big white chandelier and twinkling lights throughout the room. We also collected vintage dinner plates during the year and a half before the wedding to give to our guests as wedding favors. We went on several road trips just scouring thrift stores for beautiful plates! We also collected vintage teacups along the way, which Jeff turned into hand-poured candles for the decor. Some of our favorite aspects of the wedding were the beautiful flowers, candles, lighting and just the feeling in the room. It felt casual and celebratory, yet still important and emotional. All of our vendors were amazing and really gave us our dream wedding, and the best part was having all our friends and family in one place. It truly was a big love fest, which is exactly what he had hoped for the entire time.
Wedding Photography: SMITTEN Weddings / Wedding Venue: Summerour Studios in Atlanta, Georgia / Event Director: Holly Parks / Wedding Design + Styling: Ashley Buzzy McHugh of Buzzy Craftery / Floral Design: Lindsay Coletta Designs / Catering: Soiree Catering & Events / Wedding Cakes: Henri’s Bakery / DJ: Hollon Yarborough of Ampd Atlanta / Lighting: DIY by the Groom / Vintage Plates: Collected by the Bride & Groom / Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston (Now Closed) / Hair: Drybar / Makeup: NARS / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Donna Morgan / Groom’s Suit: Banana Republic