Real Azazie Wedding | Lauren + Matt

Bride Lauren is definitely one smart cookie when it comes to budget wedding planning. In addition to finding her wedding dress on consignment for just $29, she chose palette-perfect flowers that were even better than budget-friendly – they were free! We are thrilled that this savvy Southern bride chose to pass the savings on to her bridesmaids by choosing Azazie for her special day.

We sat down with Lauren to ask her tips for making sure your day is just as special as hers was! All photos are courtesy of Lauren Housemeyer.

Q: Where was the wedding held?

“The wedding was held in Albemarle, NC (just outside of Charlotte) at Dennis Vineyards – I really wanted an outdoor wedding with an indoor facility for dinner, and it had both. I also love nature, so this was just perfect!”

Q: What was your wedding theme and/or color palette? Is there a story behind your color choices?

“My theme was simple elegance – the only flowers were the hydrangea bouquets mostly made from my mom’s bush, and the petals thrown by the flower girl. My colors were light blue (or Carolina blue – I went to UNC-Chapel Hill), light gray, and white. We mixed in some slightly darker shades of blue as well. My color choices were pretty much just that I love blue and I love Carolina.”

Q: Why did you choose Azazie for your bridesmaid dresses?

“I chose Azazie because after doing a lot of online research, I realized nothing else was as good a deal for as good of quality. It seemed from the photos that the quality of Azazie’s dresses was good. I liked the Azazie dresses so much I ordered one for myself for the reception.”

Q: Were there any special moments that you’d like to share about your wedding day?

“Our wedding day was absolutely perfect on so many levels – great weather, light breeze, fluffy white clouds – and all of our bridal party looked stunning. I was really just blown away by how beautiful all my friends looked. We had such an amazing day – and lots of fun dancing. I was Ballroom Club president at UNC Chapel Hill, so dancing was a big deal for me. Obvisouly, I couldn’t dance the night away in my giant princess dress, so using the Azazie bridesmaid dress in white for my reception dress was great! I danced for 3 solid hours.”

Q: How did you like the wedding planning process?

“I enjoyed the majority of the wedding planning process.  I’m a natural planner, so I really liked seeing my vision grow and develop. I had no idea what I wanted to start with, other than an outdoor wedding. When I found the venue, my vision sort of grew to fit that. When thinking about colors, Carolina blue just felt right on so many levels, and I was really happy to find that Azazie offered so many different colors and styles. I didn’t have much of a theme to my wedding – it was more of a color scheme – and so finding the right color available in dresses that would look good on every girl really helped. Once the colors were decided upon, everything else was fun additions, answering the question, ‘How do I make this a beautiful day I will never forget?’ I wanted the day to feel like I was a princess in a fairytale – and it really did.”

Q: If you could describe your wedding in one word…

“Perfect.  I know that sounds silly, because everyone always says something goes wrong – someone’s dress doesn’t fit at the last minute or it rains or someone gives an embarrassing toast – but honestly, for me, it really was perfect. All the planning I put into it paid off, the weather was marvelous, and everyone and everything looked just as I’d envisioned it. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding.”

Q: Any advice that you’d like to impart to brides-to-be?

“Brides to be use Azazie for your dresses! (But be sure to do the custom measurements – a couple of my girls who didn’t heed my advice on that front had to exchange theirs). On the day-of, try not to stress out. There will always be something that goes wrong, but in the end, all that matters is that you are celebrating your marriage to the love of your life and you are surrounded by people that love you. Dance – and wear comfortable shoes! I had two dresses and two pair of shoes at my wedding, and it was the best decision. Plus, my wedding dress still looks great because it wasn’t trampled by dancing feet or spilled on.”