A Grand Wedding with a Southern Charm

David and I have been together for almost 10 years, so we were excited to tie the know.
There was a chance of rain the entire weekend of our wedding to start. The night before, we decided to rent out Angel’s Envy Distillery and have a rehearsal party for anyone in the wedding party and out-of-town guest since Kentucky is known for our bourbon. They had an excellent bar, gave distillery tours, and we had heavy appetizers. Everyone had a lot of fun, and we gave all of the men involved in the wedding engraved Angel Envy Bourbon bottles. That night it poured rain all night.
The following day, I arrived at the club, and they had the chairs set up inside, which was fine. Hurstbourne Country Club has a beautiful outdoor chapel that features items part of an old church in Europe, so we thought it would be nice to get married in that setting. However, we were fine having it inside. Jessie, my photographer, stated that she looked at a map, and it appeared that there was a perfect chance that the rain would not be in our area until after the ceremony. Since the groom was sleeping in, I decided to make an executive decision, move the chairs outside, and gamble with the weather. Worst case scenario, if it rained, we would have to have the wedding in the club foyer inside, and everyone would have to stand for the ceremony. Throughout the day, things went smoothly; however, there was a lot to do as usual. David texted me when he arrived, asking to move the ceremony back inside since he was optimistic that it would rain and it was a little muggy. At this point, I decided to stop looking at my phone 🙂 and stick with the outdoor ceremony plan. All of my vendors showed up throughout the day, and they were all AMAZING, which made things easier for everyone.
Our families mean the world to us, so we involve them as much as possible. My sister was my maid of honor, and the groom’s sister and a friend were my Bridesmaids. David had his best friend from college, Jim Setzer as his best man. Then we had all five of his nephew’s groomsmen, Michael, Timmy, William, Christian, and Luke (for most of them, it was their first wedding)!
We also had a floating engraved candle in honor of David’sDavid’s father, Dr. Edward Haick. We had two giant ferns at the chapel that were in memory of both sets of our grandparents that the mothers took home. Ruth Ann Driggers and Caroline Gwaltney are mother & daughter and are like family to me. They read scripture and a Lebanese poem since the groom is Lebanese.
Throughout the ceremony, it was cloudy; however, it did not rain. The wind blew a little, but it felt good since, after all, it was June which is known to be a little toasty in Kentucky. Next, Jessie took us on a golf cart to take a few more pictures before going inside for the reception. As soon as we pulled up from taking those pictures, we started feeling raindrops and ran inside. It immediately started pouring rain and lasted the rest of the night, so David reminds me constantly that I lucked out!
Our band played jazz music for our cocktail reception. We had framed old wedding pictures of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents in the large hallway on display. We also had people sign a frame that had a Bible verse as our guest book. When the guest went into the bar area, they could grab a black, white, and gold cup at the candy bar or an appetizer from one of the waiters. Inside the bar, which is beautiful, we had the groom’s cake, a bourbon barrel cake on a golf green that included UK items since the groom is a UK fan. Guest could also grab a drink of their choice or pick the Bride’sBride’s choice, a Lily, or the Groom’sGroom’s choice, an Old Fashioned. The entire night in the bar, we had a LIVE painter, Heidi Schwartz paint her version of our wedding day, which everyone raved about. The picture is now hanging up in our house. In the main dining room and ballroom, we had tables set up as guests could pick from 4 different food stations, including a Bluegrass Food Station. Also, there were four different styles of copper and silver insulated cups at each place setting with either Derby themes or bourbon theme sayings. Inside the cup was a wrapped homemade bourbon ball with a note from the bride and groom.
Next, after taking pictures outside, David and I walked into the ballroom to join the food and fun. My father said a prayer before eating, and then shortly afterward, the band started playing fun dance music. At one point, the band took a break, and all five of our nephews went up to the microphone. They had prepared a speech for us, which meant a lot since we are close to them. Afterward, everyone danced the night away, including both mothers.
At the end of the night, we decided to hang around and thank the vendors that were still there. We went back to our hotel and met up with some of my coworkers at the hotel bar in my dress. The following day, we had family and friends meet for brunch at the hotel. It was a magical night spent with close family and friends. We would not have changed anything, and I will remember everything for the rest of my life.

I went to every store in Louisville and couldn’t find a dress I liked. I traveled for work and visited Dallas, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and Nashville stores. Finally, after many people recommended going to Reading, OH, I decided to make a trip with my sister and visited Bridal and Formal along with two other shops. I was shocked at how many options there were at the store. I found one that I ““liked.”” Everyone was so patient with me. We had to cancel another appointment since I saw things at Bridal and Formal and took up the entire time limit of my appointment (which I had been going to stores and leaving in less than an hour due to not finding anything that I liked). I had to decide since the date was getting closer and decided to make one more trip up to the store during the week by myself. Again, everyone was lovely and helpful, and a new lady helped me (see below, I can’t remember her name, but she was GREAT). I grabbed a few dresses to try on and the one that I ““liked”” from my previous visit. However, I LOVED the first new one that I grabbed and tried on. I said that I was finished, this was the dress! I didn’t even want to try the previous one that ““I liked.””
Iris was PHENOMENAL! I loved dealing with her, and it was like she was reading my mind. Iris wasn’t pushy at all and was honest with me, which I appreciated. I wish I had a reason to deal with her again since she was a pleasure to work with! All of the staff at Bridal and Formal did a phenomenal job…again without being pushy. Everyone went out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

Wedding Location in Louisville, KY
Ceremony and Receiption Location at Hurstbourne Country Club
Bridal Gown by House of Wu, style 15615 and in the Ivory/Ivory/Silver color.
Bridal Veil by PARIS by Debra Moreland, style Impatience and in the Ivory color.
Photography was taken by Kriech-Higdon Photography.
Other Vendors:
Rehearsal Party- Angel’s Envy Distillery
Wedding Coordinator- Michelle Oller
Wedding Invitations- Minted
Florsit- J. Elizabeth Designs (Jill)
Cakes- Louisvillicious Cakes (Melissa)
Rental- Reliable Rentals
Band- Artie Dean Harris Wedding Band
LIVE Painter- Paint Your Event by Heidi Schwartz
Makeup- Rick Bancroft
Hair-Joseph’s Salon & Spa
Men’s Suites- Jos. A Banks
Alterations- Michelle Thomas Alterations
Transportation- R&R Limousine
Gift- Davis Jewelers (Erica)