Stephanie and Harry’s lakeside wedding in Georgia had so many charming details: a half human, half dog wedding party, a cake tree filled with assorted flavors of cakes, a handmade wedding dress (Stephanie’s grandmother made it), and surprise fireworks following their boat sendoff! Eliza Morrill Photography captured their special day.
A gorgeous lakeside wedding with charming details in Hamilton, GA
The Proposal
Harry wrote an original song (lyrics and chords) to perform in front of Stephanie’s entire elementary school. He coordinated with one of Stephanie’s coworkers and principal to surprise her during the school’s weekly community meeting. With 500+ students, faculty, and family present, Harry emerged with a guitar and played the song describing our 13 year journey.
About the Wedding & Attire
Our wedding was held at the Averett’s river cabin, which has been in the family for decades. It was important to both of us to have a simple, family-oriented wedding at the cabin. That’s why we chose family members to help us with the dress, cakes, hair/makeup, flowers, etc. Every detail of the wedding is connected to our family or friends in some way.
Stephanie’s dress was made by her grandmother, Maureen Pearson. The design for the dress was created by Stephanie, pulling inspiration from multiple different dress styles. The bridesmaids chose infinity wrap dresses so they could play with the style and personalize it, which was important because Stephanie’s 11-year-old niece, Maddy, was also a bridesmaid. Each bridesmaid picked a color that suited their taste, which is more or less where our wedding colors came from. Men’s suits were picked to match the maids. The ring bearer, Sammy (doggo), wore a wingtip collar and bow tie also created by Stephanie’s grandmother.
Favorite Moments
One of our favorite memories from the ceremony has to be having our dogs on the dock with us. Anyone can tell you that our lives are centered around our pack of mutts, and it was important that they were a part of the ceremony.
The reception happened so fast, it all kind of fades together, but we are grateful for our cousin, Phillip, and his wife, Marcie. They followed us around with a plate of dinner and scoped out a quiet spot away from everyone and made us eat. We were so busy running around talking to everyone, if it weren’t for Phillip and Marcie, the only thing we would have had to eat all night was our first bite of cake!
Our favorite part of the wedding was the surprise fireworks over the river as we left in the boat. Harry’s father, Hal, surprised us with a send-off in a family friend’s vintage speed boat. He also had a neighbor on the edge of the cove set off fireworks as we sped away. It was like a storybook ending!
The Cake
We had lots of different family recipes on one cake tree. Harry’s Aunt Betty and family friend, Verna, made the smaller cakes. She used Harry’s late grandmother’s secret family recipe for the caramel cake. The cake tree has been used in all of our family weddings.
Artists
- Photography: Eliza Morrill Photography
- Ceremony Venue: Lake Harding
- Reception Venue: Private Residence
- Floral: Wayne Tisdale
- Stationery: Gina Averett
- Hair & Makeup: Salon Xscape
- Groom’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse
- Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal
- Submitted via: Matchology