Margaret and Vincent's Fall Cemetery Wedding in Georgia by Krisandra Evans Photography

Today I am taking you to Georgia for this gorgeous autumn wedding that took place in a cemetery! Margaret and Vincent were married on 11th November at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. It was the most perfect Fall wedding inside the most historic cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. A place where people continually declare their love to love ones for eternity. The rain, the fog, the colours and all the personal touches from the couple. The ceremony included a welcome song sung by the entire gathering, readings from family with a dried flower toss finish! The couple was down for anything! including getting her dress dirty for the most stunning photos which were taken by the wonderful Krisandra Evans Photography

The proposal
I moved to Atlanta to attend nursing school in 2016 and it’s been a great fit for me. Vincent’s parents met when his South African father was placed on an engineering assignment in Germany. His mother worked as a translator for the US Army in west Germany. The family moved to the US over 20 years ago for another work assignment and found it was a great fit for them as well. Vincent and I met online 9 years and 1 week before our wedding day. Our early dates were in metro Atlanta breweries for the beer tours and “complimentary beer tastings” followed by walks in green spaces. Favorites are Red Brick Brewing (RIP), Three Taverns, and Burnt Hickory. We moved in together a year before the COVID pandemic, survived, and Vincent proposed around year 7 or 8 on a beautiful Atlanta spring evening at home, over a meal he had made, with some very sweet words and the most beautiful custom emerald ring that he had very sneakily been working on for months.

Outfits
All the men needed were “Hobbit Vests”, which means waistcoats. Fortunately Guffeys of Atlanta has everything and amazing sales associates and tailors.
I tried on dresses at multiple stores in Los Angeles, my hometown of Fresno, CA and at the superb Sentimentalist bridal store in Atlanta. I was pondering it all, when I found a beautiful A-Line Katie Yeung (NZ designer) sample dress at a bridal consignment store in Nashville on a Brandi Carlile concert weekend with my best friend. It fit shockingly well, had several fabric types with a chiffon bodice, velvet skirt, lovely fluttering sleeves, pearls down the back, and a mini velvet belt around the waist. My wonderful bridal alterations queen at White Orchid swapped the white velvet for a forest green.

Theme or colour scheme
Our wedding day, like our lives, was a beautiful hodgepodge. We hoped it would feel and be remembered like a feast at Bag End on The Hill in Hobbiton – abundance, good food and drink, and fellowship were our goals. Our guests came in from all over the country, and our officiant was one of the bride’s graduate school professors from Philadelphia. While a rabbi, she performed a secular ceremony but we snuck in some spiritual elements during the planning. We love travel and learning about new places, so it was wonderful that the Oakland docents could offer their cemetery tour during our cocktail hour.

Decoration
A Victorian cemetery’s bell tower rather did the heavy lifting on decor for us – combined with our wonderful floral pieces, very little extra was needed. Day of, our dear ones prepped white luminaries, strung white paper lanterns and outdoor lights on the dance floor and set up our DIY “Loteria” dress up photo booth. We used gold-flecked votive holders scattered amongst the florals, and repurposed our old wine corks into holders for the table cards. Loose pieces of fruit like persimmons and pomegranates (thanks be to Costco) added to the colors amongst the greenery. We used bamboo plates and cutlery and prepped them with rental napkins

Flowers
Given the Victorian cemetery setting, it was a given to tie in botanical elements with lots of symbolism, like rosemary, olive branches, persimmon and pomegranates. That gave us the color palette as well. Lupins & Lava did an inspired job with creating a floral meadow at our altar, lots of little floral and greenery moments around the reception bell tower, and creating beautiful sprays to rest on the original fireplace mantles inside the reception space. They treated me to the most beautiful chocolate slightly pink roses in my bridal bouquet.

Personal touches
Because I’m a string musician, music played a big element in the day. I got my musical start playing in string quartets at weddings while in high school – so we found a GREAT foursome to do the same. We also insisted on using a live band for the same reason.
Vincent’s parents speak 5+ languages given their birth places and education. Our ceremony was self-indulgent to say the least. 5 family/friends read a “blessing” in a language of their choosing. A trio of my friends sang a beautiful a cappella version of the CSNY jewel “Helplessly Hoping” as a sixth. A friend’s student arranged the main theme of a video game for the groom and his party to walk in with. And the bridal party and I processed in to the quartet playing an arrangement of “Concerning Hobbits”.
We had a remembrance tablet dedicated to the loved ones that couldn’t be with us in person that day. Our awesome bar team “The Alcohol Heroes” served a “his” painkiller (guests loved the toasted coconut garnish) and a “hers” tamarind whiskey sour, and ran out of Alsatian spiced apple cider given the unexpectedly chilly and damp evening.
Delbar’s Persian menu was a the perfect call for the evening, and they served tea after dinner in the most beautiful hammered copper dispensers along with the cake and the potluck-style dessert table. Vincent’s mother made an incredible German black forest cake that was devoured.

Special Moments
The most UNANTICIPATED part of the day was the rain and the MUD. The cemetery was doing a major interior road renovation and it was months behind schedule. Our wedding fell on the one rainy weekend in November that year. Everything turned to glorious Georgia red clay mud. Our friends and family worked so hard to make the outdoor ceremony work when we had to move the location from a public ground to near the reception belltower, getting heating lamps for the musicians and their instruments, my father in law used his own supply of landscape cloth to make our altar and pathway for the ceremony (he changed into his suit in his car!), and rescuing folding chairs when the cemetery equipment truck got stuck in the mud. Our photos are so misty and magical, and my dress readily absorbed the red and the hem became a glorious ombre. It’s such a memory.

Advice for other couples
Unless someone like a close friend or relative is gifting you the service for free and you’re happy to be working with them, spend the extra $$ to work with a GOOD wedding planner. At the very least, a good “day of” planner that preps with you and understands the details will make you, your weekend and your bridal party much happier. I went budget and it is truly my only regret.