Real Weddings September 2008
Sarah Marie Johnson and Hilary Herbert Henderson, IV
May 31, 2008
Ceremony: Canterbury Methodist Church
Reception: Country Club of Birmingham
The Back Story
It started out as an ordinary night out on the town in Birmingham late in 2006. Sarah and her friends ran into Hilary and his friends. Introductions were made and a little spark turned into a date the following week at Jackson’s in Homewood. Suddenly, a romance was born. After months of dating, they started talking marriage. After several trips to look at rings, Sarah got the feeling that a proposal was only days away. But just when Sarah thought Hilary was going to pop the question, he invited lots of friends to join them for weekend at the lake and a football game at Auburn. With all of the activities, Sarah figured the proposal wasn’t going to happen. Little did she know that the friends weren’t coming--- it was all part of Hilary’s plan. And while they were sitting on the dock, watching the sunset, Hilary popped the question catching her completely by surprise.
The Planning
Since there had already been talk of rings and marriage, Sarah already had an idea of what she wanted for the wedding and hit the ground running. Once they had some of the details down, they turned to wedding planner Beverly Andrews and her team from Engaging Celebrations to help pull off her plan. According to Sarah, Beverly was wonderful and put her mind at ease. She and her mother were able to really enjoy planning and the wedding because they were confident that Beverly had it all under control.
The Details
Sarah’s a graphic designer so she designed a monogram that was used for the wedding invitations she designed and throughout the wedding décor. She got a hand with the event design from Vince at Flower Stems—check out his signature gobos and unique flower arrangements. They really transformed the space into a personal reflection of the couple’s style. Sarah told Vince to “think outside the box” so she didn’t end up with something too traditional. She felt that the details were what her guests would notice most. For example, she loved the tiny button detailing on her gown so she used the same detailing on her cake. For Hilary’s three tier cake, they selected his favorite flavors of chocolate and cherry and used the monogram as decoration. The groom and his gang wore classic black tuxedos from our partner Mr. Burch Formal Wear in Mountain Brook. with a link to Mr. Burch.
Favorite Moments
According to Sarah, there were lots of cherished moments but a few things really stood out--- her first dance with Hilary to Paul McCartney’s “This Never Happened Before” was something she’ll never forget. Hilary really insisted that the couple not see each other until the wedding so they both wrote letters to each other that they read in private before the ceremony. Another special moment was when Sarah opted to give her sister the bridal bouquet instead of tossing it.
After it was all over, the couple jetted off to Carlisle Bay in Antigua, West Indies for their honeymoon and are at home in Birmingham enjoying all of the beautiful gifts they received.
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