A Preppy Country Club Wedding in Pinehurst, North Carolina, With an Epic Patterned Dance Floor

After postponing their wedding three times due to COVID-19, Sumner and James were finally able to celebrate their wedding amongst the pine trees of North Carolina at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst. Their preppy wedding day included an epic patterned dance floor, greenery-covered chandeliers and a dramatic exit amid a cascade of metallic confetti. In light of all of their postponements, the couple's main goal was to have lots and lots of fun, and all of their festive details helped them do just that. Sumner's father even got on stage during the reception and played a drum set to keep the unforgettable party going. 

"I never grew up fantasizing about my wedding or what it would look like, I just knew I wanted good music and my friends and family surrounding us," explains Sumner. "My inspiration came from several chats with my incredible planner, Alex Austin, and lots of different mood boards. Alex used the picture of the dancefloor pattern on one of those mood boards to get us thinking about color but I just fell in love with it. When we made the decision to use that design for the dance floor, I gave Alex full creative license and she just built around it and my only requirements were that there be lots of boxwoods and white flowers, specifically peonies and lilies."

Sumner goes on to explain that her and James' wedding was one of the first times since the onset of COVID-19 that "all of our friends and families could be together. My favorite part of the wedding was being on stage and looking out at all of our loved ones and just having an overwhelming wave of emotion come over me that we came out of the last year on the other side and everyone was just really happy. We also had several couples in attendance that had to either cancel or slim down their weddings so it was important to James and me that we acknowledge that fact. So we wrote a short and sweet speech to recognize our friends that came to support us on our day that did not get to have their day the way they originally planned. While our wedding was very much our day, we wanted it to be a celebration for those couples as well." 

Given that Sumner and James' wedding was a reunion of many people who hadn't seen each other in a long time, it was important to them that the day feel festive and joyful. "It was really important to me that we had a dynamic band," explains Sumner. "Our band was super interactive and came out onto the dance floor and they never stopped. Additionally, my dad has been playing the drums for almost 50 years and he traveled around eastern North Carolina at the age of 14 playing drums in a band. At the weddings of several of our loved ones, he has been asked to play the drums and I knew that on my day, I absolutely wanted him to play for us. He played with the band for two songs, one being "September," by Earth, Wind and Fire, and that was such a special moment for James and me to be on stage with him while he was playing. Everyone loved it and he knows how to get the party going! He had even been taking lessons (even though I don't think he really needed them)." Looking back on the day's joyful festivities, Sumner encourages current to-be-weds to remember on their own wedding day to "spend your time on the dance floor with your family, friends and new husband or wife and just take a moment to look around at all of the people that are there for you and your spouse."