Dorie and John’s wedding at The Inn at Hunt-Phelan in Memphis was nothing short of amazing. You may remember them from their rehearsal dinner, featuring an Elvis impersonator. Obviously this wedding was destined to be a good one, right?
What I loved about this wedding is Dorie and John weren’t afraid to do things their way. They didn’t follow any traditions unless they wanted to, and in fact, they even made up their own. The details of the wedding were a lovely arrangement of vintage elements mixed with beautifully-crafted DIY projects. Needless to say, this wedding was a dream to photograph.
There is just so much I wanted to share about this wedding, keep reading and you’ll understand why I had a hard time cutting this post down. Everything looked so great!
Dorie and John both got ready in separate quarters of The Inn at Hunt-Phelan. I say this over and over again, but it’s worth repeating: photographing a bride and/or groom getting ready for their wedding is one of my favorite parts of the day. Dorie’s beautiful hair flower was made by JMG Jewelry Design.
Dorie wore three strands of pearls – each of them handed down from a different woman in her family. Wedding jewelry just doesn’t get any more special than that, does it?
I just adored the details of Dorie’s dress, and she looked absolutely gorgeous in it.
Meanwhile, our happy groom was getting ready for his day, and looking pretty snazzy, too.
Dorie and John chose not to see each other before the ceremony, which was just fine because their ceremony started early enough so we had plenty of amazing light to work with afterward. It was fun sneaking around the grounds taking solo portraits of them before the ceremony.
So, here is something wonderful. The only fresh flowers used at this wedding were for Dorie and her Maid of Honor’s bouquets. That’s it. The boutineirres were made out of folded maps and were purchased from Hope and Joy Studios on Etsy. I thought this was an amazing idea and the lack of fresh flowers phased absolutely no one. Love this! But, I think we can all agree at the fresh flower bouquets were quite gorgeous in their own right. They were provided by Gesture Gifts.
A vintage brooch from Dorie’s mother was pinned to her bouquet.
John runs an online music community called SongFight! and to propose to Dorie he enlisted the help of some of his SongFight friends by having them each write a love song for Dorie. When he posted those songs online, he showed them to Dorie and stayed nearby with a ring while she listened to the songs. So sweet! Those same songs were played during the ceremony and made into a mix CD called “Super Secret Love Maneuver”, which was given out to the guests as a favor. The amazing programs were designed by Dorie’s friend, Sara Jackson.
This cute ring plate was made by Elm Studios – another Etsy find!
Dorie was walked down the aisle by both of her parents, which is something I love to see.
Now here’s where the new traditions come in. Dorie and John decided to literally “tie the knot” during their ceremony. They used two pieces of rope – one from Dorie’s family, and one from John’s family – and tied the two ends together. I thought this was a beautiful idea and I fully expect it to catch on and see it in other weddings!
Hooray, they’re married!
The grounds at The Inn were beautiful and perfect. I stole these two away after their ceremony and had so much fun photographing them. I think they had fun, too. 
Never has sun flare in a portrait been more appropriate. You Are My Sunshine sign made by YeeHaw Industries.
Here are even more amazing details from the reception. I think i squeed a million times checking out all the craftiness that was put into this wedding.
These beautiful (and yummy!) cupcakes were provided by Sugar Bowl Cupcakes. The birds cake topper was made by Dorie and embellished with a piece of Dorie’s mom’s wedding dress and some old modeling clay of John’s – making it unique and special to them.
In lieu of the standard floral centerpieces, beautiful lanterns adorned the tables and guests were invited to take their favorite ones home. Now that’s what I call a wedding favor!
And of course there was a photo booth. This one was from Party Booths, and it was an absolute hit.
The rest of the night was one big dance party, naturally. These are people who know how to have fun. I will leave you with these sweet images of Dorie and John’s first dance as husband and wife.
There are a million more images where these came from, but I must stop here! Stay tuned for another post featuring this couple’s Day After session on Beale Street. Yes! You are excited! So am I.
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