Outdoor Garden Wedding at 1920’s Mansion by Project Duo Photography: Claire and Antonio

When Claire and Antonio graduated from Howard University, they not only left with a degree, but they also left with the foundations of a beautiful romance that would turn into a life time commitment. This gorgeous couple met their Freshman during a Chemistry Lab class. Claire immediately noticed that Antonio was handsome, but she was really mesmerized by Antonio’s funny personality and sweet thoughtfulness.  Antonio pulled off a romantic engagement that he secretly videoed and streamed live over the internet to all their family and friends.  Their “Southern Elegance” themed wedding was executed perfectly by Michelle Gainey of Lemiga Events. Their romantic nuptials and the breathtaking charm of their vintage venue were captured by Courtney and Zahra of Project Duo Photography. When you are done swooning over their pictures, please watch their wedding highlight film shot by White Dress Media. It’s so romantic. Plus, there’s much more beauty in the full wedding gallery here.

• Bride:  Claire Kendall- Pediatric Resident/Physician
• Groom:  Antonio Bush- Management, Rental Car Company
• Date of Wedding: 05/05/2012
• Location: The Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA

How They Met

We met 8 years ago during our Chemistry laboratory class my first year at Howard University. I remember seeing him during the first day, and I went home and told my roommate there was this cute guy in my class. We did not actually end up talking for another few weeks. Antonio is a very funny guy, and would often joke around with me in class and whenever we saw each other on campus. We later became friends on Facebook and for my birthday a couple of weeks later, he sent me a message saying “It’s a beautiful day, for a beautiful girl!” And, the rest is history…

The Proposal

I had just finished for spring break during medical school. We had planned to drive to Atlanta to visit our families for Easter and were planning on flying from there to the Bahamas for a week. I was busy packing for our trip, when Antonio came home from work and stated we had to go to his house to get something he left there before we left for our trip. When we got back to my house and walked through the door of my apartment, it was covered in rose petals. My best friend was there and one of Antonio’s fraternity brothers who is a photographer. Antonio got down on one knee, and spoke so sincerely about our relationship as he asked me to marry him. After I said yes, he said that it was also being watched live on the internet by all of our family and friends. It was so cool, being able to share it live with everyone we love.

Description of Event

For our wedding, we had a “Southern Elegance” theme. We are both from the deep south, and although we met and lived in Washington D.C. for most of our relationship, we wanted to get back to our roots. We had a wonderful wedding planner that helped us develop and execute our ideas. We started the planning process soon after we were engaged so we had about a year to plan the wedding. It was at times difficult to plan the wedding long distance, but our wedding planner and my family were very helpful, and I think our theme was carried out beautifully.

Wedding Style

To go with our “Southern Elegance” theme, we wanted a venue that was very symbolic of the south, so we choose to get married at the Atlanta History Center Museum, on the lawn of the Swan House, which is one of Atlanta’s most recognizable old estates. We also wanted a vintage flare throughout, which was done perfectly with our attire, our flowers, our linen and other accessories. I wore a Lazaro ball gown, with ornate lace and beading on the bodice, a platinum colored sash with crystal applique and organza layered skirt from Bridals by Lori. It was one of the first dresses I tried on, and I bought it my first day of shopping. I absolutely fell in love with the gown! My groom, wore an ivory dinner jacket with black and ivory dotted bow tie, with black tuxedo pants from Guffey’s Menswear in Atlanta. Our southern elegance theme was topped off with our ornate southern food. We had a shrimp and grits station during happy hour, along with corn muffins topped with goat cheese and raspberry purree, fried macaroni and cheese bites and a lemonade station with multiple flavors. We served blackened catfish and maple glaze chicken to our guest, with sides of pink eye succotash, peach green tomato relish, sweet potatoes, and haricot vert. I think our wedding hit the mark perfectly of what we wanted, and of our southern roots.

Incorporation of Culture 

As two southern people, who grew up in South Carolina and Georgia, it was important to incorporate our southern culture in our wedding theme. We especially wanted to incorporate this in the food, which is so symbolic of the south.  We wanted to serve recognizable southern comfort food to our guests in a new unique way. We also were very interested in jumping the broom at our wedding, as a tradition and as an ode to our ancestors. My mother-in-law made a beautiful broom for us to jump that we also now have as a keepsake.

Most Memorable Moment

The entire wedding day was absolutely amazing from beginning to end. Although very difficult to choose, I believe the most memorable part of my day was walking down the aisle with both of my parents, surrounded by all of our family and friends, on my way to meet my groom. It was such a loving environment, filled with our love for each other and the love of our family, friends, and biggest supporters. We felt absolutely blessed to be in that moment and so excited about our future.

You Make Loving You So Easy

From the Groom…The one thing that I love about my wife is that she is a very loving person. Claire always makes me feel special and always finds ways to show her affection for me. Whether it be hugging me to forever calling me some variation of “honey”. She always goes the extra mile to ensure that I do indeed feel the love from her.

From the Bride…I absolutely love my husband’s sense of humor! It was the one thing that drew me to him in the beginning of our relationship, because he would always joke with me in class before we really knew each other. His sense of humor has made every day since our first day, 8 years ago, lots of fun. We are constantly laughing with each other, and I believe it keeps our relationship fun and entertaining.

Their wedding video is so dreamy!

[vimeo url=”http://vimeo.com/43422487″ width=”600″]

View the full wedding gallery here.

• Wedding planner, Michelle Gainey, Lemiga Events
• Bridal Gown Designer, Lazaro Bridal
  
• Bridal Shoes, Badgley Mischka
• Bridesmaids Dresses, Bari Jay
  
• Ceremony and Reception Venue, Atlanta History Center
  
• Grooms Attire, Guffey’s Menswear
  
• Photography, Project Duo
  
• Caterer, A Divine Events Catering
  
• Videography, White Dress Media
  
• Linen, I Do Linens
  
• Lighting, Unique Events
  
• Bridal Hair and Makeup, Scoobie West
• Bridesmaids Makeup, Farrah Brown with Capture Makeup
• Florist, Jackson Durham
  
• Favors, No 9 Candle Co.
  
• DJ, One Sound and Entertainment
  
• Harpist, Lyrika Holmes
  
• Photobooth, OMG photobooth
• Stationery, Foglio Press
• Wedding Cake, Sweet Sensations