Weddings – Jackie Fogartie

Mint Green Springtime Wedding in Uptown Charlotte: Allison and Joe

February 1, 2017 By Jackie Fo Leave a Comment

Happy New Year friends! After a lovely holiday season in our new home (I hosted Christmas Dinner and it was amazing! But borderline more stressful than planning a wedding – HOW is that possible?!), I’m excited for my 11 weddings (plus always booking more!) weddings I have on the calendar so far for 2017. Last year was filled with so many beautiful weddings and I’m going to start blogging them NOW. First on the docket, Allison and Joe! Where can I even start…

Allison and Joe, in full disclosure, are friends of Mr. Fo and I. Joe works with Stu, and the four of us always have the best time together. When they got engaged in 2015, Allison asked me to be her planner and I didn’t hesitate for a second. While working with friends can sometimes be difficult, I knew just from Allison’s fun, kind and organized demeanor, she would be a total breeze. We had zero issues and became closer because of it. I loved helping them pull of their perfect day, and also loved that I was technically a wedding guest who got to somewhat partake in the festivities after my wedding “duties” were over. Stu was actually in the wedding as a Groomsmen, so I got to order him around which is always a plus in my book. (Just like at home, right honey? Hehe.) I truly enjoy watching all of my clients tie the knot, and having two friends do it on my watch? Well it was that much sweeter.

That’s enough chatting, let’s let the beautiful photos from Tricia Coyne do the talking!

A full vendor list is at the bottom of this post.

Custom skyline invites from Three Little Birds set the tone for a sweet wedding with tons of simple charm. Allie knew she wanted mint green to be a main color and we carried that throughout the wedding design.

This picture of the boys figuring out their pocket squares just makes me laugh. If you want to see a room full of well dressed men confused, watch them figure out how to fold a pocket square. Giggles. Don’t worry, I saved them from their misery.

Speaking of pocket squares and groomsmen, one groomsmen did happen to misplace (aka lose) his pocket square the morning of the wedding. Oh, that groomsman happened to be my husband. Of course. The look of fear in his eyes when he told me what happened was simply comical. Luckily the linen napkins were the same color as the mint green pocket squares, so I MacGyvered a new pocket square out of a linen napkin and took care of that in a jif. (Yea. It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. #igotmadskillsyo)

Here are Allie’s bridesmaids reaction to the beautiful bride as they sent her off to her First Look.

Joe making a big ole show of waiting for his bride to arrive!

Here she is – what a beaut. They had their First Look at the Green in Uptown Charlotte on a perfectly lovely May day. She’s got that pure joy look on her face!

The Bridal Party joined the couple after the First Look for photos. This is one of the many benefits of a First Look – having tons of time for Bridal Party photos and not having to squeeze them in during cocktail hour!

Here come the boys!

And the girls with their pretty bouquets from Pink Petunia:

Another interesting fact about our beautiful bride? She’s a triplet. I. KNOW. So freaking cool. Here she is with her lovely sisters by her side:

The Bridal Party switched locations to get some photos in front of Panthers Stadium (back when we had high hopes for this season…Sigh). Allison and Joe are huge Panther fans so they most definitely dabbed on it.

Here’s Joe contemplating something serious while holding a football.

Now that we’ve taken the photos, it’s time to get hitched!

I think I recognize this handsome groomsmen! Hey honey!

Also, this adorable Bridesmaid? You’ll see Rachel this year when I coordinate her April wedding to the equally adorable Rob!

Allison’s sisters walked holding hands to get in place and watch their sister get married. I thought this was so sweet.

Here’s the bride walking out to meet her dad and cheesin’ at her soon-to-be groom.

As with a lot of Uptown outdoor weddings, we had some unpredictable noises – a verrrrrrry long train and a helicopter to name a few. The best part? The bride and groom were so locked in they didn’t even notice. This is my favorite picture from the whole wedding btw – how could it not be? It’s pure happiness.

Inside, the venue was decorated with mint green, gray and touches of pale pink and coral. Allison was originally anti-pink, but she ended up loving the touches of pale pink throughout the florals.

Allison’s friend Heather did a lovely job with the cupcakes and cupcake display. They turned out great and the display was exactly what the bride wanted!

Now it’s time to party:

Stu once again made an entrance into the reception and made me proud:

Allison danced her face off as did everyone else at that wedding. Once we passed out the giant glo-sticks, this turned into a Par-TAY.

Allison wanted a big group photo on the dance floor and Tricia delivered!

I was so excited to be a part of this wedding, as both a friend and a planner. I loved every second of it and wish my friends the very best! Love you both!

Fun, Modern and Blue: Sarah and Steve’s Foundation for the Carolina’s Wedding!

January 6, 2016 By Jackie Fo Leave a Comment

First and foremost Happpppppppy New Year! Was Monday as rough on everyone as it was on me? Turns out that 2+ weeks of going to bed late, eating copious amounts of food and partaking in many glasses of wine makes for a sluggish Jackie. Who knew…oh wait, I knew. And I did it anyways! We capped off the last day of the “break” with a Panthers win, solidifying our team as masters of the football universe. Playoffs here we come!

For my first post of 2016, I’m here to prove to you that good things come to those who wait! I kicked off a busy wedding season in the fall of 2015 with Sarah and Steve’s late August nuptials. Sarah and Steve’s infectious love for one another and smiling faces combined with a beautiful uptown venue and great vendors made for a one of a kind wedding! Dare I say it was one of my most favorite weddings ever? Oh I do dare.

Let’s take a walk down Sarah and Steve’s memory lane! Photo credit goes to Amy Terrell with Simple Moments Photography. Full vendor list at the bottom of the post!

Let me just brag on Sarah and Steve for a quick sec…they are both so genuinely sweet and both care so much about one another; they are truly a great couple. We became fast friends and I know we will be seeing each other well after their wedding! You can tell just by looking at their photos that they are a blast as was their fun wedding party!

Sarah and Steve picked the beautiful Foundation for the Carolinas venue located in uptown Charlotte. The modern venue has a beautiful lobby filled with unique artwork and the event room is walled by windows and overlooks Charlotte’s bustling uptown streets. Both their ceremony and reception were held there. Their wedding had so many unique elements, and the ceremony “altar” and programs were two of my favorites.

With a custom designed pipe and draping from Party Reflections and floral by Bloom Room, the “altar” was stunning! Small glass globes with candles were hung from the piping and made for a beautiful ceremony backdrop against the wall of windows.

In the ceremony chairs were two-sided programs custom created by Three Little Birds. One side had all the ceremony info and on the other side were words of congratulations like “Yay, Congrats and Yippee!” Guests were instructed to hold up their congratulations when the couple walked back down the aisle as man and wife. Genius! They also made for fun props for the wedding party photos!

As I mentioned, Foundation for the Carolinas has so many beautiful aspects. Their lobby makes for the perfect place for wedding party and bride and groom photos.

I also love the “living wall” that’s on the outdoor deck/patio area. It made the perfect backdrop Sarah and Steve’s First Look…

…and for one of my favorite pictures from the wedding, Sarah and her Grandpa. Isn’t this the sweetest picture? I love her bouquet too…

…Speaking of flowers, my gal Lynette with Bloom Room totally rocked out Sarah’s florals. Sarah knew she wanted blue and green, and in case you are wondering, there aren’t tons of blue flowers! Using an eclectic group of containers including mercury glass and blue glass, as well as a wide variety of flowers, the floral design on this wedding was a showstopper that every guest commented on!

I loved the long head table with tall bunches of Belles of Ireland making a statement.

You might have noticed those custom designed table markers on each table. Three Little Birds knocked it out of the park again with location-themed table cards. Each card had a custom drawing of a landmark in a town up closer and personal to the couple. Not only that, on the backs of each table card, there was a description of why that city was important to Sarah and Steve. Can we say creative much? There was a custom seating chart as well so guests could find their table. This is a great example of how to make a wedding personalized and unique!

When it came to food and dessert, of course we made that creative too! Each food station (catered by the always great Best Impressions) had a regional theme, like this Philly-Jersey Station.

And of course there was no regular ole’ wedding cake, it was a beautiful and unique cupcake display using clear acrylic boxes and topped with a sweet “LOVE” topper. Amy from Wow Factor Cakes and I had fun designing this cake display!

There is absolutely NO doubt in my mind that Sarah and Steve are going to be dancing their way through life together…

…and I wish them so much happiness and love!

I can’t wait to share the rest of my Fall 2015 weddings with you over the coming weeks!

Thanks to all the amazing vendors that helped make Sarah and Steve’s wedding happen!

Complete Vendor List:

Lauren and Peter: Intimate Outdoor Wedding

November 18, 2015 By Jackie Fo Leave a Comment

And that’s a wrap folks. I’m talking about my 2015 wedding season. I had my very last wedding of the year this past weekend. If you’ll allow me to induldge for a moment, 2015 has been my most successful year yet and I keep thinking back on all the fun weddings from the year. The fall wedding season nearly killed me (Read: Exaggeration level high) but it feels amazing to work so hard and produce so many beautiful weddings for kind, appreciative and happy clients.

As I shift focus to start preparing for 2016 weddings, I’m going to spend the next couple weeks sharing my fall weddings with you on the blog. First up is Lauren and Peter, and I’m so excited to share these gorgeous photos from Smith Photos & Ink. Photographers Jessica and her husband are from Charleston and were an absolute pleasure to work with! A full vendor list is at the bottom of this post.

Let me start by telling you a little something about our beautiful bride Lauren. After meeting Lauren for 5 minutes, I knew I would love to work with her. She was so laid back, fun and knew exactly what she wanted for her big day. Oh, and have you seen her hair? Luckily she picked me and a friendship was made. I see many shared bottles of wine in our future!

Lauren and Peter’s wedding was an intimate affair held at a family friends home. To clarify, it was an absolutely stunning home with a magazine-worthy backyard. The wedding was to be held in said stunning backyard, but unfortunately Mother Nature had a different idea that involved rain, rain and more rain….all the live long day.

Pause blog for a Wedding Planning PSA: When planning an outdoor affair, there has to be at least one conversation about the possibility of rain and a rain plan must be sketched out. No one wants to talk about the dirty “R” word, but it has to be done.

Luckily, Lauren and I and my fab friend Lynsey from Party Reflections had previously come up with a rain plan (see above PSA) so we were able to implement this plan once we saw the weather report. A tent was put up in the driveway, cute clear umbrellas were purchased and we rolled with it. Lauren, being Lauren, was calm and trusting. With a little extra planning, we laughed in the face of this rainy day and had a badass wedding anyways. In hindsight, the tent plan worked out wonderfully and the yard had enough covered space to accommodate everyone. Lauren and Peter were so darn happy it just didn’t matter what the weather was and a grand time was had by all. Let’s take a look at their happy day, shall we?

First off, Lauren’s dress was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen to date. And as you can image, I’ve seen a lot of wedding dresses. Can we talk about this train/long veil combo?

As they say, “I literally can’t even…”

Guests patiently waited for the festivities to begin!

Lauren and her dad had a few steps to walk down to get to the ceremony. The ceremony was held in a beautiful stone pavillion on the property which was then flipped into a dance floor for the reception.

Lauren’s handsome groom is waiting for her!

Now that’s a first kiss!

I love the happiness in this picture. And also, I can’t neglect to mention the chandelier which is also amazeballs. The whole ceremony setting was perfectly cozy. There was even a fire burning!

After the knot was officially tied, guests enjoyed a cocktail hour (including mini biscuits and Bourbon Slushies, umm yes please) on the beautiful double decker porch.

After cocktail hour, guests were escorted into the tent for dinner. Farm tables and beautiful linens complete with simple florals and lots of candles created the perfect cozy ambience.

Instead of a traditional cake, Lauren and Peter opted for a donut truck from Sugar Handmade Gourmet Donuts. People were loving this cute purple truck… and the donuts…OMG. If you’re in Charlotte, I highly suggest checking out their Maple Bacon Donut, especially when it comes warm right out of the fryer. Don’t blame me when you’re addicted.

After everyone was pleasantly stuffed with warm donuts, they took to the dance floor.

And because it’s college football season and the groom is a Studio Host for Espn’s SEC Network, you know the crowd would find a way to watch a little football.

Unfortunately the night had to end, but it ended with a fantastic sparkler send off.

I can honestly say this was one of my most fun weddings to date! From the setting, to the happy couple, to the guests, everything was simply perfect.

Lauren and Peter, you were such a joy to work with and your happiness is evident from the big smiles on your faces! I wish you many sunny days ahead and a lifetime of laughter!

Vendor Credits: