Events that tell a story. Your story.

I guess I should begin by introducing myself.  So, hello.  Hi.  Good morning.  Nice to meet you.  I'm Justin, Katy's husband and admirer.  I'm young, but not too young, love to wear jeans and a hoodie, am addicted to mashed potatoes, french fries, sweet potato french fries, really anything fried, and by the age of 13 had invented those tennis shoes with the wheels on them.  Not really. 

But I did graduate with a degree in film from the University of Texas in Austin, have written two novels, worked on the set of some movies you probably have never heard about and some that you've probably seen in the theatre, gotten married in the most romantic place in the world (in my humble opinion), and now am excited to be working alongside my wife making others' events magical.  Seriously, any of you out there that have my wife design your event are truly lucky because she is a true talent.  She amazes me every day.

So most of you now are probably now wondering why I'm blabbing about all of this and wondering if there is a point to my writings, and I assure you there is, and that eventually I will get to it. But it all begins just several years ago.  When I asked my future wife to run away with me.  To quit her job, that she most certainly hated anyway, and to just drive off into the sunrise.  So we did.  She quit the job she most certainly hated and I hung up my hat in the film industry.  And we drove.  And after about a week and three thousand some odd miles later, we ended up in this place that just welcomes you and makes you feel like you've finally made it home.  A place that has  cobble-stone streets and bistros that serve healthy treats at tables that line a steam-boat filled river.  Old antebellum mansions criss-cross streets and the sun sparkles through the canopy of mighty oaks that layer the skies with crisp greens.  And the best.  Walking out upon a pier and watching swans dance across the calm waters as the sun sets on another day.  

Two years later, this would become the backdrop of our wedding weekend with family and our closest friends.  And I guess that becomes my moral of the story.  My point.  My suggestion. 

Make your day yours.  Make your day or event memorable so that you can think back to it years from now and still imagine it as though it happened only moments ago.  Make it comfortable.  Personal.  Fun.  Make it tell a story.  Your story.  A picture worth taking.  A story you tell your kids over a hot cup of cocoa by the fire twenty years from now when they start bringing their significant others around. 

But make it yours.  Own it.  If you are into film and your favorite night of the week is Saturday night because you know it is date night and your lovely boyfriend will take you to a movie at Alamo, make your event reflect that part of you.  Have an outside screening at your event.  Rent a screen and a projector or just put up a simple white sheet and show some of your favorite movies.  Add a candy bar and popcorn machine and make it that much more fun.  Or have us go out and find old film reels and incorporate them as your seating cards.  Use vintage movie posters as backdrops.  But just make it your own.  Feel comfortable at your event so that everyone has a great time.  Because your event is your celebration. 

So today I use this picture from our photographer
at Millie Holloman Studios in Wilmington, North
Carolina to tell our story.  It is a photo that captures
the feel of our wedding.  An elegant charm that subtlety says Old South Vintage. 

I think back to our wedding and how simple and pure, but uniquely elegant it was.  All because we owned it.  We made it tell the story of us.  And a month-long road trip we had taken long ago.