An intimate wedding at a historic bed & breakfast nestled high in the Appalachian Mountains…um, sounds just about perfect to me!  Today’s couple was lucky enough to have this exact wedding, hosted at the Mast Farm Inn, a historic mountain farm turned quaint bed & breakfast.  It proved to be the perfect spot for their destination affair, surrounded only by their closest friends and family, just how they wanted it.  Captured in all it’s gorgeousness by Jade McCully, it’s hard for me to pick a favorite shot.  But if I had to choose, I think it might be the  long black and white with the couple at the alter in the incredible, 1 room St. John the Baptist Chapel.

I love the expression on Mandy’s face in this photo as she approaches the alter and her almost-hubby!  It’s equal parts excited, giddy & nervous.  So pure, I love it.!

So much love in these images, it’s amazing!  Thank you so much Jade for sharing these with White Thread!  See more of Jade’s work on her site and blog including Matt & Mandy’s recent reception at Ford Plantation where the hosted a larger group.  And of course, congrats to the happy newlyweds!

I hope you all had wonderfully relaxing, button-busting Thanksgivings with your friends & families. I took a few days off to travel up 95 north with the rest of humanity it seemed but it was well worth it. Uninterrupted time with family and food…it just doesn’t get better than that.

Today I’m back with a magical wedding from Kellie Kano. Yes, I am loving me some Kellie Kano lately.  And can you blame me?  I swear everything she capture is perfection.  Today’s real wedding is certainly no exception.  I fell in love instantly when I recognized so many identifiable landmarks from around the Carolina campus.

Robyn + Jordan’s wedding was held at The Franklin Hotel, located in the heart of campus on Franklin Street.  A newer hotel with more modern amenities, this is the first wedding I’ve seen hosted there.  But given how incredible the space is and how well designed it seems to be to capture light (and subsequently INCREDIBLE pictures), I really hope it’s not the last.

Robyn + Jordan’s wedding was an afternoon affair.  To fully document the magic of the day, the couple did the smartest thing ever…they hired Kellie for an additional hour of private, one-on-one portrait time after the reception.  Candid portraits of you and your new hubby are a must but they are of course always rushed and sandwiched in either before the ceremony when nerves are high or after the ceremony when you’re hoping to get to your cocktail hour.   If you can swing something like this for your own wedding, I promise you will not regret it.  The relaxed love just oozes out of these images. And the couple had time to explore some of their favorite campus spots for some awesome shots.  I know you Tar Heels out there recognize some of these spots!

A reception where a full Thriller dance party breaks out…um, yes please!  How hilarious is that?  Everything associated with this wedding looks so effortless and beautiful, exactly what every bride wants right? 

Kellie, you have done it again! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this gorgeous day with White Thread!  And of course, a huge thanks to Robyn + Jordan as well for letting us all spy on their day.

Following that picture perfect ceremony, the couple welcomed their guests to a tented reception on the property.  I absolutely adore how the farm’s silo and barn elements become the perfect “decor” elements themselves with just some strategically placed lighting.  Such a brilliant idea.  Otherwise, night would fall and these beauties would disappear with it.  Instead they take center stage.  Assorted wildflowers and “farmhouse chic” containers complete the tent’s lush look.

From Genna:
My aunt collected wildflowers from her farm in Bladen County which we combined with organic flowers from from Fishing Creek Flower Farm, out of Edgecombe county. We used lots of zinnias, gerber daisies and golden rod, and my aunt and two of my mom’s friends arranged them instead of hiring a florist. Everything was displayed in her collection of dozens and dozens of old pitchers, watering cans, mason jars, beat up galvanized tins, etc. that she’s acquired over years of flea market scouring. We even used some old stools and ice cream parlor chairs for flower stands.  We did however use a great florist out of Louisburg, Flowers by Henry, for the bouquets and boutonnieres.

And now for what is DEFINITELY my favorite part of this wedding – the “guest” appearance by the bride & groom’s basement band, the Funk Ninjas (yes…you read that correctly).  I’m sorry, but this is just hilarious!  Bravo Genna + Clark for going the extra mile to entertaining your guests AND having fun with it.

From Genna:
Clark and I lived in Asheville, NC for a little over a year, and we formed a little “basement band” with our best friends, Zack and Willy. Once we got engaged, we decided we’d have to perform a couple songs at the wedding to surprise our guests! So we practiced for a few months, named ourselves the Funk Ninjas, asked my friend Nick to play drums, and performed “Ease Back” by the Meters, “Use Me” by Bill Withers and “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. The guys all wore hilarious ‘fros, and the crowd LOVED it!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this wedding as much as I have!  Genna has been so gracious and open with all her background info!  Check out her and Clark’s latest venture – FindMeSpecials.com a great site that let’s you find, rate and share unique specials and deals happening now in your city (or any city for that matter).  I totally found like four things I need to check out (anyone want to join me for $5 mimosas at Alivias in Durham?)

And of course a great big THANK YOU to Poiema Photography for sharing this wedding with White Thread.  This was truly a special event!

We’re celebrating a gorgeous at home wedding today and there was just too much goodness for one post. So I’m back with more!

I am so in love with Genna’s choice of bridesmaid dress from Butter by Nadia.  I’ve been seeing these dresses more and more in weddings recently and with good cause!   They come in some fantastic colors and of course, the DIY custom element is a big winner.

From Genna:
I thought the eggplant color would be “unexpectedly” fall and would allow the girls to stand out against the white background of the Home Place.  I also loved how they could make the dress their own by tying it whatever way they liked best.  Some girls even switched it up at the reception, which was so cute and saucy of them!

The ceremony took place on the front steps of the Home Place on the property.  If I were to close my eyes and imagine the perfect farmhouse, at home setting for a wedding, it would look EXACTLY like this.  A big white house with an inviting front porch full of rockers?  Check.   Nestled among the shade of hundred year old trees?  Check.  A perfect brick pathway for you to use as an aisle?  Yup, check.   It really doesn’t get much better than this.

Genna shares some details about her wedding wardrobe:
I got my dress from my sister-in-law’s store, Vermillion, in Raleigh, NC.  and it was the first dress I tried on! I just fell in love with the pattern, and I knew I did not want something stark white, but I surprised myself by not getting a strapless dress. My shoes were a TJ Maxx steal for $10!  I originally bought some Louboutins but worried I might mess them up, so I wore the Delmans from TJ Maxx instead. My jewelry was a hodge podge of many special items I have collected over the past year. Clark’s mother passed away in February, and we were already engaged when she left us, so luckily I got to spend some great times with her. Clark’s father gave me her earrings to wear with my gown, which was so incredibly special and personal. The hair clip was actually an old brooch that I found at a vintage costume jewelry store in Wilmington, NC called a.muse Gallery. Jan Wutowski, who owns the shop, turned it into a hair clip for me. I wanted minimal hair adornment since the pattern on the dress was so beautiful, and I didn’t want to compete with it.
Back in a bit with reception details, including a hilarious “guest” band appearance.

I have been SO excited to share this real wedding since I laid eyes on it.  Casey Chapel and the team at Poiema Photography are responsible for all of these incredible images and honestly, I’m just giddy about them.  This is going to take several posts so stay with me all day!  It is no coincidence that there are a number of “at home” weddings showing up on White Thread over the last couple of weeks.  I have a soft spot in my heart for these uber-personal affairs and the fall season seems to bring a lot of them.  Today’s wedding falls into both categories (fall & at home) and it is, in a word, PERFECT.

Genna + Clark were married at Jumping Run Farm in Franklin County, NC.  The property has been in Clark’s family for over 200 years.  It was an all day affair, starting with a lovely breakfast that was hosted on the property for guests before the ceremony.  Once a working dairy farm, the couple worked hard to incorporate its heritage into their wedding day decor, working with their stationers to create a “cow monogram” that showed up everywhere from their invitation suite to koozies and napkins.  But perhaps my favorite touch — instead of being showered with birdseed or rose petals when we they left their reception, Genna + Clark’s guests rang hundreds of little cowbells.  TOO CUTE!!!

A bit more from Genna on Jumping Run Farm:
Clark’s great-grandparents and his grandmother lived in the Home Place (the white house on the property), and ever since my first time visiting the Farm, I knew I wanted to get married on the front steps of that house! We wanted to stay true to the farm setting and just embrace it for what my Mom called “Farmhouse Chic.” We played up the rustic elements of the Farm by keeping the barns and the silos exactly as they were but using a lighting company to accent their natural beauty. We were also inspired by North Carolina itself, using many “hometown” vendors for our flowers and food from counties where we frequent.

Because I am a total paper freak, I was particularly taken with this next series of images.  I love that Poiema took the time to capture these on the wedding day!  And how INCREDIBLE is that piece of art that incorporates the invitation?  Please, please, please Genna give us details on what that gorgeous thing is!

{UPDATE FROM GENNA:}
I am happy to tell you about the artwork featuring our invitation! There is a lady out of Greenville, NC named Betty West who does these amazing pieces of art, and I had seen her work at my friend’s house who got married last August; I just loved the idea of turning our invitation into something we could truly use to decorate our house and to commemorate our special day. Mary (my friend) noticed my extreme interest and gave Betty a copy of our invitation to paint around; it was given to us as a wedding gift the weekend before the wedding so that we could display it at the reception! An even neater fact about this whole thing is that Betty asks what flowers you are using in your bouquets as to coordinate the flowers she paints with the flowers from your actual ceremony – so thoughtful!

A bit more from Genna on their stationery:
Our invitations were my favorite part of the whole wedding! A friend of ours had used Giddy Ink out of Ohio for her invitations, and we were so majorly impressed. The girls at Giddy Ink basically interviewed me via telephone and asked me about the feel we were trying to create with the wedding, our personalities, our hobbies, the history of the farm, etc. Somehow in our conversation about the invitations, I brought up the first present Clark ever gave me, which was a hanging star paper lantern. The border of our invitation was inspired by the laser cut detail on the lantern, which was totally Giddy Ink’s idea! Instead of having an enveloped RSVP card, they suggested we do a vintage “postcard” with one of Clark’s photos from the Farm on the front! So unique, and it saved us money as the postcard stamps were only 28 cents!

I’ll be right back with some adorable bridesmaid pictures and the rest of this wedding!