Donna & Charles wed at the Historical Dekalb Courthouse in downtown Decatur, GA this past spring and it was such a treat. Everything about the day had their stamp firmly on it. From their adorable and hilarious vows {hers written in a Captain’s Log and his somehow written inside a fortune cookie} to the performance with their marching band – the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable – to their late-night snack/wedding cake stand-in, the Waffle House food truck… everything was them. 

Getting Ready

The day began with Donna and Charles preparing with their friends and family. Charles got ready at their house. I loved walking in to see the banner from their proposal still hanging on the wall. Everything was really getting real but I know that Donna & Charles were just so happy it was their wedding day! She got ready with her mom and sister and borrowed a sparkly purse from her family that was her “something borrowed” for the day. I actually loved all of her sparkly details! They were fun to photograph all day long. After both Donna & Charles were ready, they met for a first look outside the Dekalb Courthouse. 

What were you most anxious or nervous about regarding your wedding day and how did it turn out?

Other than COVID wedding planning being just a stressful mess….We DIYed a ton of aspects of our wedding and we were a bit nervous about getting everything done that we imagined. Life can definitely get in the way of wedding projects. For example, the ring box was a detail Charles had been working on for a while, however, his 3D Printer wasn’t really up to the task for it. He found himself sanding and spray painting on the wedding day itself till he got the ring holder sizes and sliding smoothly down. It worked out perfectly and our ring bearer carried his treasure box down the aisle. When it came down to the day of the wedding, we had to trust that our vendors would handle everything. Spoiler alert – we didn’t get all of the things we imagined completed BUT they didn’t end up being needed.

First Look & Portraits in Decatur GA

After the emotions and excitement of their first look subsided, we explored the beautiful Decatur Square for their portraits. There were so many incredible murals to photograph them in front of {and you know how much I love color in photos!} before we circled back to the courthouse for more photos out front. I’m all about including your venue in your photos that way! 

What advice would you give to other couples planning their wedding?

1. Don’t get so caught up in wedding planning that you forget to celebrate being engaged and getting married! Take time for date nights, binge watching TV shows and celebrate being together. 2. Your wedding isn’t going to be perfect. Things will go wrong. Hiccups will happen. But at the end of the day, all that matters is that you are getting married to the person you love and the people you love are there. As long as your loved ones see the two of you love each other, that will be perfect.

Wedding Ceremony

Their ceremony was sweet and lots of fun. They gave bouquets to their moms and grandmothers, which was lovely. And, it had plenty of funny moments too. Donna used a blue Captain’s Log for her vows and somehow, Charles got his to fit inside a fortune cookie. Once he opened it, he crumbled the rest of the cookie which was just hilarious to all of us! As they left the ceremony, their guests rang cowbells and everyone was having a blast. 

Most memorable moment from your wedding day?

For Charles – Seeing Donna walk down the aisle in her gorgeous wedding dress. It was perfect weather, and the natural lighting from outside really made her so beautiful.

For Donna – Seeing Charles read the vows he had written during our ceremony. I had been pestering him about writing his vows and he had been cagey about it. He ended up pulling out a fortune cookie. He broke the fortune cookie and ended up unfolding his vows from the fortune. It was so sweet and just wonderful. Runner up moment – slow dancing to “Cover Me Up” by Jason Isbell at the end of the night before the final songs. It gave us a quiet moment to let everything sink in and realize we were married.

Wedding Reception

Once the ceremony was over, we were definitely into the really fun parts of the night. Donna & Charles met because of the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable, so their friends came to perform before the reception. It was perfect – because they were part of their engagement and proposal, too! I loved watching Donna & Charles do their thing {and so do their guests!}. They finished the night with a great dance party and a Waffle House food truck for dessert! 

What did you love about your venue/wedding location?

We got married at the Historic Dekalb Courthouse. The big windows made the space feel really big and open. Accessibility was our biggest concern with wedding location. We wanted to make sure that there were multiple ways of getting to the venue, and make getting from the hotel to the venue as easy as possible. The Courthouse was also accessible to those guests with mobility issues so it worked out perfectly. An added bonus – because it was on the Decatur Square, when we played with our marching band, the public got to enjoy the performance. Overall it was the perfect space for our wedding.

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

There are three aspects we would change. We would have rented table linens so we wouldn’t have had to deal with them and launder them afterwards. Second, we would have made time to meet with our incredible day-of-coordinator, Carly, the week of the wedding to confirm details including that we had actually given her a revised seating chart not just dreamed we had. (She pulled off set up without anyone realizing we hadn’t given the proper chart.) Finally we would have added in more buffer time to the schedule. Raven was incredible about helping us pivot when things were running behind our ideal schedule but we do regret not adding an extra hour on to our venue rental.

Any tips for future couples on how to prepare for their wedding photos?

Do not listen to the Pinterest lists that tell you all the photos you “HAVE TO GET.” Throw that out in the F It Bucket. Trust that your photographer will capture your day without having that cliched list of things you have to have. Trust that even if you don’t get every formal photo you imagined, it will be ok. – Emotional advice – if you are a type A person like Donna is, realize it is ok to let go and be in the moment. It’s a whirlwind of emotions and feelings. It’s ok just to let yourself not worry about everything you think you have to do. – Physical advice – avoid the sun and don’t play paintball a few weeks before the wedding so you can avoid being sunburnt or bruised.