Romantic Umstead Wedding Celebrating Stephanie and Harris

Stephanie and Harris were married this past June at The Umstead Hotel. It was the perfect setting for their elegant and sophisticated wedding. We loved every moment planning all the thoughtful and personalized details of their wedding with this family (yes, even Harris!). Their eye for style and design was a true inspiration and their warmth and friendly personalities made it an enjoyable process!

With the wedding being on a Sunday, Stephanie and Harris wanted their friends and family to really have a fun weekend – not just on the wedding day. On Friday, they organized an outing to the Durham Bulls Game, which of course included personalized ballcaps with each of their wedding party names! On Saturday after the intimate rehearsal dinner, they welcomed everyone to Umstead for a Welcome Party. This definitely set the tone for what was to come the following day 😉

The Wedding Day – it was perfect. The weather was just right, the energy was high, and the laughter was strong!

Stephanie and Harris – thank you so much for trusting A Southen Soiree and for the wonderful review:

Working with Southern Soiree, specifically with Gina, was the best wedding planning-related decision we made! I’ve said this so many times to friends recently engaged, but if you can find room in your wedding budget for a planner, it will be the best money you spend! And better yet, if you’re looking for a planner in North Carolina, Southern Soiree is hands down the way to go! After we got engaged, we immediately began looking at venues, and after the number of phone calls, e-mails, and color-coded spreadsheets I made during the venue search, I knew I didn’t have the bandwidth to plan a full wedding.

We started working with Gina immediately after we selected our venue, and I can honestly say the rest of wedding planning was completely smooth sailing! While we faced a few hiccups along the road, Gina never failed to swoop in and save the day. One example is when my mom was in town for my first wedding dress fitting. Upon arriving for our appointment, it was very clear the place was not a good fit for us and didn’t have the skills necessary to alter my dress. We texted Gina, and within minutes she had another appointment scheduled with Just Sew by Renee (highly recommend!), who squeezed us into her busy Saturday and made my dress dreams come true (a few fittings later!).

Since we didn’t have much time to commit to planning, we relied heavily on Gina for vendor, design, and organization recommendations. I always felt like Gina was giving us honest, practical advice when it came to making vendor or budget decisions. We said it time and time again, but the people who Gina and Southern Soiree work with are absolutely outstanding. So much of wedding planning is building relationships so you can clearly communicate what you want, and Gina made it so easy for us by connecting us to vendors who were also extraordinary people.

Planning honestly felt so stress-free with Gina on our team, which meant that we were able to fully enjoy our engagement and wedding day!

A big thank you to Vesic Photography and Twenty-One Films for capturing the beautiful details and the pure joy and love Stephanie and Harris (and their friends and family) have for one another!