Stephen and Kristen's gold and white wedding was simple, intimate, elegant and FUN! Their romantic garden wedding ceremony was held under the beauty of rustling leaves. They exchanged vows set against the backdrop of a wooden cross which Stephen made, adorned with soft peach and blush blooms.

Kristen's good friend did her make-up while family members helped set up the decorations which Kristen had made. "My mother-in-law did all of our flowers, a family friend from church was my wedding coordinator and my pastor from my youth performed our ceremony."

The gorgeous couple had a small-ish guest list of about 75 people: "This helped make the ceremony so sweet and intimate." It also made their white and gold wedding reception so much more fun because they had lots of time to dance and hangout with our guests!

Enjoy this beautifully elegant gold and white wedding at the Woman's Club of Portsmouth, captured perfectly by Audrey Rose photography.

Love Story: We initially met in our church small group in the spring of 2015. Our small group would hang out pretty frequently together, which allowed us to really learn and appreciate each other's character, humor, and friendship. When I was heading home for Christmas, Stephen decided to make his move and very casually, offered to show me around Baton Rouge, where I was to be living the next two months. After hanging out for 12 hours with non-stop laughter, talking, and fun, I said yes to an official date, and have been saying yes ever since!

The proposal took place September 17, 2016 at the Omni rooftop overlooking a beautiful sunset over the New Orleans skyline, followed by a carriage ride around the city. When I put on my lace Maggie Sottero wedding dress, I immediately fell in love. Because I didn't want to wear a strapless dress I ordered extra lace to match the dress. My amazing seamstress Elvia created my sleeves and keyhole back. I could not believe how beautiful the finished product was! My bridesmaids wore long capri dresses from David's Bridal with all-white hydrangeas as their bouquets. I had white hydrangeas with some white and light pink roses, ranunculus, and garden roses in my bouquet. I'm so thankful for my mother-in-law, who did all of the bouquets, which looked absolutely fabulous! Stephen wore a black Vera Wang tuxedo and the groomsmen wore slim-fit tuxes from Men's Warehouse. Click here for a romantic spring barn wedding We had an outdoor ceremony decorated with white hydrangeas and a beautiful cross that Stephen built us using wood that had been my Grandad's before he passed away. My pastor from my home church, who I've known for several years performed our ceremony. I used to babysit his daughters! We took communion together during our ceremony. I walked down to Cannon in D, which was probably the wedding detail I planned at the youngest age. I just love that song! Walking down the aisle and the ceremony were so much more emotional than I expected. As I was walking down the aisle, at least 70% of the guest were tearing up, along with myself, my dad, and Stephen!

Check out this gold wedding at Casa Romantica

Elegant White and Gold Wedding Reception Decor

Our tables were decorated with gold vases, white hydrangeas, and vases filled with sugar, gold beads, and pearls!

I made our seating chart. It was a large picture frame on which I wrote the names in gold on the glass, then painted the back white so you could see them!

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Wedding Planning Advice:
If it becomes stressful planning details, just let those details go! So many things I had planned didn't happen or weren't executed the way I envisioned - and I didn't care AT ALL on my wedding day! I was just so happy to be marrying the man of my dreams and celebrating with our closest family and friends! Gold and white wedding vendors:

Photographer Audrey Rose // Venue Woman's Club of Portsmouth // Bridesmaid Dresses + Bride Shoes David's Bridal // Dress Maggie Sottero from Olivier Couture in Mandeville, LA // Brides Hair Studio CK // Brides Make-up Jackie Dixon // Flowers Jenny Simon // Cake Carolina Cupcakery //Music Susan Voss // Stationery Minted // Wedding Weekend coordinator Debbie Hoffius