Photos by W&E Photo Graphie
Birmingham’s Julia Israel was quite the beautiful bride – her gown from Ivory & White, her flowers, her jewelry, and of course her handsome groom, Cory Vaughn, all set against the background of Lake Martin and The Stables at Russel Crossroads made for a most stylish Southern soiree. We asked Julia to tell us about how her whimsical wedding with the help of Mariee Ami came to fruition.
How did you meet the groom? I had actually had a crush on Cory, the groom, for an entire semester at the University of Alabama. He was in my Honors Chemistry course. It was a small class, maybe 15 people, perhaps 4 girls. I just knew he had noticed me but was too shy to speak. So when I met him at a date party in February of the next semester, I said casually, “Of course, you were in my Honors Chem class last semester”. To which he replied with true shock, “Really??? I never noticed you!” Talk about embarrassed! But that meeting being not so “smooth” kind of spells out the rest of our relationship, not always “smooth” or conventional, but perfect for us.
How did you choose your gown? I went into Ivory and White in Crestline Village and spoke with Molly their wonderful bridal consultant. I told her everything I didn’t want and then kind of left it open. She told me the things she thought would look good on my body and showed me the things they had in the store during a trunk sale, but I didn’t think I liked the style lace. I tried on 3 dresses and wound up choosing the first dress I tried on- with the consent of my wonderful style consultants my mom and older sister Sarah. The dress I chose happened to be everything I said I didn’t want- the lace of the trunk sale I said I didn’t like, strapless, and fitted through the hips!
How did you choose your bridesmaids’ dresses? I joked that this was harder to pick than my own dress. It was hard to find dresses that would suit everyone’s budget, style, and body type. So, my mom actually found a dress in a J. Crew email and sent it to me and I was able to allow my bridesmaids to pick their own styles and cuts that they felt comfortable in and that they felt suited their body best. I think everyone was happy in the end. And I was happy with the beautiful gray-blue/green color!
What did the groom and groomsmen wear? Cory: The Groom and groomsmen wore a slim-fit two-button grey suit with a slim black tie. Our shoes were black lace-up oxfords with wooden soles. The entire suit was ordered from blacktux.com.
What flowers and greenery are included in your bouquet, you hair? Mom: Julia wanted the flowers to really stand out against the soft colors of the dresses and because the interior of the barn was dark. There were peonies, hydrangeas, roses, etc and they all looked like they were picked from a lovely Southern garden and tied together with ribbon!
Tell us about any unique details. Cory (the groom) was in a Sock-Em Boppers Commercial when he was a child, and someone found the commercial he was in when we were in college. So, I told him I had a surprise for his groom’s cake but wouldn’t tell him anything else. As we walked up to the groom’s cake to cut it in front of all our guests, he saw the commercial playing against the white tent behind the cake on a loop, then he saw that the groom’s cake was two Sock-Em Bopper’s Gloves. That was one of my favorite surprises for Cory at the wedding. We also got to drive off in one of the brand new Mustangs from my dad Bill Israel’s dealership Adamson Ford which was really fun too!