This Couple's Backyard Celebration in Georgia Felt Like a Family Reunion and Wedding in One

Nicole and Bryan technically met on Bumble, but a week before they matched on the app, they actually crossed paths at an early morning gym class. “Bryan loves to mention that I arrived late and left early, so he did not have an opportunity to ask for my phone number,” Nicole says. When they had their app-induced first date, they laughed and talked for three hours straight (needless to say, this time around, no one was late and no one left early).

Exactly a year after they met at that fated gym class, Bryan proposed to Nicole at Duke Gardens, a botanical garden on Duke University’s campus. “Bryan, fully aware of my love for flowers and my people, gathered my immediate family and closest friends and had them strategically placed around the garden and popping out of corners as a surprise,” Nicole says. “As we walked through the gardens, my friends and family each shared a few words before he led me to a staircase lined with both our families and popped the question.”

Nicole always envisioned getting married at her childhood home in Bogart, Georgia, so the couple invited 110 guests there on March 18, 2023, to celebrate their nuptials. “We both loved getting to welcome our family and friends into a more intimate environment with no curfew where we laughed and shared family photos and stories all weekend,” Nicole says. “It felt like a family reunion and wedding in one.”

First and foremost, they envisioned a celebration that honored their parents, lineage, and Black culture through food and music. "Every aspect of the planning process was an opportunity to think about our families and the legacies we hold within us. We wanted to honor those who were not present through our food or song choices and also be fully present with those who surrounded us on that day," says the bride. "It was a storytelling design project that was something out of a dream." The couple's vendor team was also part of that story. "We very intentionally chose vendors and creatives who were women and people of color. We sincerely wanted to showcase that talent that’s so prevalent in the BIPOC community, but not as often highlighted in the wedding industry," notes the bride.

The couple’s wedding planner, Joy Proctor, worked with them to develop a unique theme ("at home in the garden") for their backyard wedding day, which was captured by Radian Photography.

Nicole and Bryan worked with Joanna Matanga from Safari Calligraphy to customize their invitations and paper products for the big day. Their color palette consisted of muted pastels—mostly dusty blue with hints of pale yellow, green, and ivory. The blue invitation suite featured a floral border and a custom illustration of Nicole’s family home, where the wedding would eventually take place.

Nicole went wedding-dress shopping in Atlanta with her little sister and ultimately chose a strapless fit-and-flare mikado Antonio Gual gown with a scoop neckline. “It felt like me the moment I tried it on,” she says. “I wanted something that was formal to honor the occasion but still comfortable enough to wear throughout my backyard for photos.”

The bride worked with stylist Saschelle King to curate secondhand items to accessorize her look. “I love wearing items that tell a story,” Nicole says. She wore a veil that was a custom collaboration between designer Lakisha Bouchereau of LABOU and Saschelle King and secondhand beaded earrings. She wore baby’s breath flowers in her hair as an ode to her mom’s own wedding day look.

As for how she felt getting ready at home on one of the most monumental days of her life?“I loved being able to stand in my mother’s room and get ready as I had done for so many important life moments before my wedding day,” Nicole says.

Nicole asked her three sisters to be her maids of honor, while two friends stood in as bridesmaids. The ladies wore silk blue floral patterned dresses from Reformation. “They had all the vibes of 'at home in the garden,' and were floral, beautiful and comfortable,” Nicole says.

The bride and her attendants held bouquets full of local blooms. “Seeing my bouquet brought on my first tears of the day,” Nicole remembers.

Bryan wore a blue suit from NY Bride and Groom, based in Charlotte. “My favorite color is blue so we built the base of the color palette off of that pastel blue,” he says. “My suit was a more concentrated color that we contrasted with the groomsmen's light gray suits.”

The groom accessorized with a tie that Nicole gifted him and his father-in-law’s watch. Before the wedding day, he visited his friend and barber, Quinton Hall, for a beard treatment.

Nicole and Bryan shared a first look before the ceremony so that they could spend as much of the day together as possible. “Once we had that special moment together, it was only up from there,” Nicole says. The couple read personal vows to each other privately. “We also got to just talk and laugh and take in a moment of slowness,” the bride says.

The couple’s ceremony took place in Nicole’s parents’ backyard, where a willow tree Nicole’s father planted when she was a child served as the focal point. Guests were seated in a semi-circle around the couple.

When the couple decided to host their wedding at Nicole’s childhood home, their planner, Joy, had tons of ideas. “After she came to visit my parents home in Bogart, we began workshopping ideas on everything from how to sustainably include plants grown by my father to how to DIY the drapery we hung from my parents’ pavilion,” Nicole says. The ceremony aisle was decorated with planted baby’s breath.

Nicole’s father walked her down the aisle while the couple’s friend, Garry Grant, sang Nicole’s grandfather’s favorite hymn, "Having You There." "It’s a hymn about how having you there made all the difference. It reminded us of our faith and the depth of our community that surrounded us that day,” Nicole says.

The couple asked a few friends to share readings, including a poem by Morgan Harper Nichols with a nod to the tree they were standing under. Nicole’s mother officiated the ceremony. After exchanging traditional vows, Nicole and Bryan recessed back down the aisle to “Just Want to Praise You” by Maurette Brown.

Guests found their escort cards inside Nicole’s grandmother’s china cabinet, which also displayed various photos of the couple’s family members. “It all felt so personal being at home, but one thing that stands out is all of the family photos that we had placed around the home of both of our families,” Nicole says, noting that the duo also set up a gallery wall, as well.

The reception took place inside Nicole’s parents’ pavilion, where floor-to-ceiling windows and an angled ceiling created a blank canvas for the couple’s planning team, who added fabric and drapery from the rafters to soften the space.

A mix of long and round tables were set with floor-length dusty blue shantung linens, peach taper candles, and a variety of organic floral centerpieces with pops of yellow and blue throughout. The place settings included crystal glassware and textured plates with a blue floral border reminiscent of the one seen on the couple’s invitation suite—plus vintage linen napkins that the bride thrifted for the occasion.

Nicole and Bryan shared their first dance to Lauryn Hill’s “Nothing Even Matters” before the bride swayed with her dad to Marvin Gaye’s “You’re All I Need to Get By” and Bryan danced with his mom to “Three Times A Lady” by the Commodores.

Guests enjoyed the couple’s lavender bourbon lemonade signature cocktail—and the Southern style charcuterie with candied bacon, pickled okra, deviled eggs, and pimento cheese crackers was a huge hit on the menu. For dessert, the newlweds enlisted their dear friend, baker Khadijah Monroe, to create a tiered white strawberry cream cheese pound cake. The confection was decorated with fresh flowers and foraged branches.

Nicole and Bryan asked their photographer, Radian Photography, to grab a group shot of them with their guests at the reception—the party doubled as a family reunion, after all.

When the couple’s DJ played “Atomic Dog,” Bryan and his Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother did their traditional dance (or “hop”) to the song—one of the party's highlights, notes the groom.

Nicole changed into a white cowl neck dress from DISSH paired with bow tie Loeffler Randall heels and drop pearl earrings from Untamed Petals for the reception. “I wanted to look like myself, but with a touch of glam, so we went with big loose curls that I could toss in a ponytail by the end of the night,” she says.

Guests enjoyed more dancing and desserts (including mini bundt cakes from Uncle D’s Sweets) to round out the celebrations.

The pair spent their honeymoon in London, Paris, and Lucerne, Switzerland. To couples planning their weddings, they recommend aligning on your priorities early. “Then you have a reference point to circle back to when you need to make a decision,” Nicole says.