Interview with Scarlett

By Meredith Corning

Scarlett and Dusty were wed on May 19th, 2018 at Hillwood at Davies Manor in Memphis, Tennessee. Their style was classic with a touch of rustic and romantic features. The day itself was relaxed and was a perfect reflection of them as a couple. Scarlett and Dusty focused their attention on providing wonderful entertainment to their guests which came in the form of a live band that Dusty had previously been a member of. Guests danced the night away before the couple departed on their dream honeymoon to Jamaica. Read Dusty and Scarlett's story and learn more about their Memphis wedding, below.

Q. How did you meet?

A. Dusty and I met online! He sent me a message and since I was receiving several messages a day (from some hit or miss single guys), I forgot to respond to him after viewing his profile. A few days later, he sent me a second "last chance" message...the rest is history.

Q. How did he propose?

A. Dusty proposed to me after we dated for two years. He had complained in the past about how cliche proposing at Christmas is, so he totally caught me by surprise when he proposed two days before Christmas. I had just come home from work, and I decided to be funny by getting on one knee and asking him...if we could have hot wings for dinner. I still remember his face! We had hot wings for dinner then shortly after, he went into the hallway for something. I was sitting on the couch surrounded by our dogs when he came back, got on one knee, and explained to me that he didn't want to wait any longer. After freaking out so much that I hardly heard what he actually said, I said yes when he asked me to marry him.

Q. Can you describe your wedding design and style?

A. I was inspired by a picture of him (sleeping on the couch with the cat), and I decided to go with "romantic" colors for our wedding - burgundy, navy, gold, and mauve/dusty rose. Since we had a spring/summer-time wedding, we tried to be careful and use the dark colors sparingly. As far as style, Dusty made fun of me for calling it rustic elegant. We chose a venue with an old Southern plantation and lots of outdoor nature areas - we felt like the surroundings were beautiful enough that we didn't need many decorations. Inside our reception hall, we used gold mason jars with burgundy and cream roses, blush astilbe, and greenery on rich colored books as our centerpieces. The gold tealight candles and the twinkle lights provided the most perfect soft lighting for the evening.

Q. Did anything interesting or funny happen that you would like to share about your wedding day?

A. Well, my mom decided to take her hair completely down with five minutes before the start of the ceremony, so that didn't help my nerves (although it still turned out cute). Then it almost rained. My veil whirled around and the bridesmaids' dresses were flapping in the wind! We were so sure that it would rain right after our ceremony that we decided to skip family and bridal party pictures and went straight into our couple portraits (we didn't have a first look). The sun was just right for our pictures. During this time, we were notified that our four-tiered fruit-filled wedding cake was, you know...about to fall over. I couldn't believe we were thinking about cutting our pictures short to cut (and save) the cake! We decided to let what happens happen and keep taking out pictures, since we will have these pictures forever. The caterer took the top two tiers off so that we had two wedding cakes and not a single cake all over the floor! We asked our families to come back outside from cocktail hour so we could finish our pictures. It all worked out just fine!

Q. What is your favorite memory of your wedding day?

A. It has to be the ceremony. The part that mattered the most. There is so much planning and preparation and fret that goes into a wedding, it was humbling to slow down and really enjoy why we were there in the first place.

Q. Do you have any budget saving tips or advice for other brides-to-be?

A. Weddings are so much more expensive and elaborate than they used to be - everything is expensive. We had to decide on what was really important to us and what wasn't. We decided to splurge on photography, videography, and a day-of wedding planner. We researched the prices on everything then tried to find the best quality for the best price. We cut corners on our flowers and food - they were still beautiful and delicious! We spray painted our mason jar centerpieces, had a friend help with signs, and used a lot of "S's" and photos from our house as decoration. We also made fans for use during the ceremony. Don't be afraid to get crafty to save money! The time spent is worth the money saved.

Q. What was your biggest worry and how did you overcome it?

A. There were so many! I was worried about getting everything done in time. And I felt very anxious about being the center of attention all day. I quickly realized that day was about Dusty, me and our happiness. From the time I finished my vows, all the way until I fell asleep that night, I was the happiest girl in the world. My anxiety faded away when I realized YES we were the center of attention, but all of these people were our good friends and family and we were right at home to be as happy and as expressive as we desired. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many loved ones celebrating our most special day ever.

Cozy and Cute

Scarlett + Dusty’s Davies Manor Plantation

Interview with Scarlett

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