Rainy Day Georgian Wedding at Belle Terra
On a rainy day in Rome - Rome, Georgia, that is - Mondo wed his beautiful bride, Peach. Despite the weather interfering with their original plan of an outdoor wedding at Belle Terra, this easy-going couple took the last minute changes in stride and moved the festivities to a reception hall. With a glass ceiling and windows instead of walls, Peach, Mondo and all of their guests to enjoy the natural beauty of the outdoors while remaining dry.
They kept the decorations simple with rustic ceremony arch along with burlap and floral accents that fit in perfectly with their natural surroundings. Head to the full gallery here to see more of this rainy day Georgian wedding, all beautifully captured by Justen Clay Photography.
From the Bride:Our wedding day turned out to be far more magical than I could have ever planned (partially due to the rain). I had never really thought about my wedding day prior to getting engaged, so in the beginning it was hard to come up with a "vision" to start working towards. I knew one thing for sure, I wanted it to really represent my fiance and I. We are both pretty laid back, creative people and I feel like our wedding was true to that. We wrote our own vows, which was my favorite part of the whole evening. We made all of our own decorations. I did my best to avoid doing things I had already seen done and looked for inspiration in my past art projects. I cut strips of fabric and draped them on the ceiling, they created a magical and soft feeling.
Lavender was the central theme throughout the wedding; we assembled mini lavender bouquets and placed them on each place setting. The bridesmaids' bouquets were made up completely of dried lavender. I had lavender stems included in my bouquet and flower crown.
We had planned to have an outdoor ceremony by the beautiful gardens and pond, but because it was pouring rain all day we were forced to have the ceremony inside the reception hall. The "backup" space at Belle Terra is absolutely stunning. It somewhat resembles a greenhouse, with a glass ceiling and screened in sides. It really felt like we were outside. The natural light and the rain pouring down on the ceiling made the ceremony all the more magical and romantic... even more so than our original outdoor plan.
I also designed fun pamphlets that were handed out to everyone at the beginning of the ceremony. The pamphlets included information about the wedding party and gave our thanks to the guests, as well as an activity book to entertain the guests during the "cocktail hour." The activities included a "Mondo and Peach" themed crossword puzzle that Mondo developed, as well as fun games like "Draw Mondo's Hair" on a bald cartoon version of him and a maze getting us from Atlanta to our new home in South America.
Long ago weddings were community affairs, where the entire town would pitch in and help pull together the celebration. Coming from a tight community, I wanted that for my wedding. My friends helped out with the flower arrangements, my mom's friends helped cook a delicious Cuban meal, my brother helped build our arbor, my friends helped with all the day of decorating and hanging of lights/fabric, different people brought all sorts of cakes and pies for the dessert bar. I was shown so much love by my friends and family on my wedding day, not just through their presence or gifts, but because everyone really pitched in to help put this celebration together. It is one of the things I treasure most about that special day.
Check out the wedding film from Anchor Heart Films below to get a closer look at this rainy day Georgian wedding!
https://vimeo.com/70744784
Read on to see how much this rainy day Georgian wedding cost. Please note that costs change as the years go by, and prices are subject to change. This is just one couple’s breakdown to give you a rough estimate on how much a wedding like this may cost you.
Note: Some of the vendors gave us a discount because they are our friends, and a lot of things were also given to us free of charge. All of our desserts were homemade and gifted to us by friends, our very talented friends played the music for the ceremony for free, we bought fresh flowers from Publix and had a friend put together the centerpieces and my bouquet, a friend of mine that owns a printing company didn't charge me to print the pamphlets or the invitations (which I designed myself) and a friend of mine that used to own a catering company loaned me most of the dinnerware (I did have to buy a few extra sets). So many people wanted to bless us and give us their time and resources. I just wanted to give you an idea of what kind of things we were able to avoid spending any money on.
We ended spending about $7,100. Here is the breakdown:
Venue (included chairs, tables & tablecloths): $2,500
Bride's dress & shoes: $550
Groom's suit & shoes: $200
DJ: $300
Flowers: $120
Invitations: $80
Decorations & Supplies: $400
Dinnerware: $250
Food: $500
Hired Help for Serving: $200
- Wedding Photographers: Justen Clay Photography
- Bridal Boutiques: Carrie's Bridal Collection
- Cinematography: Anchor Heart Films
- DJ: The Disc Jockey
- Groom & His Men: Macy's
- Hair, Makeup, Flowers & Stationery: DIY | Coordinator: Family | Cake: Homemade Dessert Bar | Caterer: Homemade Cuban Meal
- Musicians: Molly Parden
- Musicians: Thomas Lockwood
- Officiant: The Rock
- Venue: Belle Terra