Seymour Wedding | Raleigh, North Carolina

I cannot believe fall wedding season is almost in full swing and I have yet to share the absolutely gorgeous images from Sydney + Josh’s wedding this past April at the The Barn & Gardens of The Little Herb House!

Sydney and Josh have a really great wedding story:

Josh and Sydney first met when she was only 14 and he was 18 at the local YMCA where Sydney’s older sister Brooke worked. She immediately thought he was cute, but her sister said stay far away! Throughout the years their paths kept crossing, and Sydney lovingly began referring to Josh as her stalker because he always seemed to be everywhere she was! After just one date at a little Mexican restaurant in Raleigh, Sydney knew Josh was the one for her.

These two also have the cutest proposal story which happened to take place in their living room. Josh had called to tell Sydney they were heading to dinner with friends so that she would start getting dressed and ready for a night out. When Josh arrived home, he had their daughter Payton bring Sydney a letter that said, “Mommy will you marry me” and when she looked up Josh was down on one knee with a ring – of course Sydney said yes! I love that Josh included their sweet little girl in the proposal and made sure that Sydney was feeling beautiful and not dressed in her pajamas!

Their vision for their wedding was for a rustic elegance – laid back but still elegant! They had 250 guests and a very unique ceremony. The venue was simply perfection from the barn with babies breath wreaths to the old church pews with burlap cushions and bows! Both Sydney’s father and step father walked her down the aisle which meant a lot to her and her family. The best part of the wedding ceremony was having Josh & Sydney’s little girl walk down the aisle!

The reception kicked off with a bang with the couple walking into the venue to “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix, which is the song ECU football plays when they take the field. It was extra special when Payton had a special dance with her Dad – there was not a dry eye in the room, it was super sweet! It took a little bribing to get Payton to dance but luckily one of the groomsmen had a mint! Sydney’s grandmother, Peggy Thomas, made the most beautiful wedding cake. With just a few suggestions of a rough outside and cream icing, Peggy ran with Sydney’s inspirations and created a very unique and sentimental cake for the couple, which meant a lot to the newlyweds. Peggy’s suggestion for getting cream icing is by adding a little PET milk instead of regular milk!

Sydney carefully picked all of the florals for the wedding so that they stuck to her rustic elegance theme. She was also able to use items from their family farm, mason jars and coke bottles, as decorations. Sydney’s grandmother from Tennessee brought sugar molds to hold the baby’s breath on the tables and Eddie (Floral Designs by Eddie) did a spectacular job on the baby breath wreaths on the front of the barn door – they really looked amazing!

Huge THANK YOU to all of the vendors you came together to make this wedding such a huge success: