1. Real Weddings

Amanda & Drew: A Blue Wedding in Darrow, LA

Amanda and Drew met in eighth grade at McKinley Middle Magnet in Baton Rouge. “We sat next to each other in algebra class,” Amanda says. “I had a crus

Amanda and Drew met in eighth grade at McKinley Middle Magnet in Baton Rouge. “We sat next to each other in algebra class,” Amanda says. “I had a crush on him from the very beginning, but I was too shy to do anything about it!” Years later at a high school dance, the crush bloomed: “On the dance floor, Drew asked me to ‘be his girlfriend,’ and we have been together ever since,” Amanda laughs. The Bride Catherine Amanda Ross, 24 The Groom Drew Richard Petersen, 23 The Date June 10 The inseparable duo attended college together at Georgia Tech, but suffered a painful separation when Amanda was involved in a dangerous car accident. While Amanda recovered from serious injuries at her parents’ home in Ohio, Drew made frequent eight-hour drives to visit her, and as soon as Amanda was well, Drew popped the question. While finishing up school in Georgia, Amanda and Drew planned a wedding in their childhood home of Baton Rouge, with the help of Amanda’s mother in Ohio. “Even though we had over two years to plan, it was still difficult being in two different places and so far from the location,” Amanda remembers. “Hundreds of phone calls and emails later we had everything just how we wanted it.” The couple was married in a southern garden saturated with blooms and decorations in Amanda’s signature color, blue.

“Being the movie fans that Drew and I are, we wanted the location to be very Gone with the Wind,” Amanda says. They found exactly what they were looking for in the spectacular riverside grounds of Houmas House, where the evening ceremony took place on the plantation steps under 100-year-old oaks. Rows of chairs were decorated with cream-colored roses, blue hydrangeas, and blue silk ribbon, while a four-foot wreath of blue hydrangeas and ivory and cream-colored roses hung on the plantation door, just behind the officiant.
Amanda’s four bridesmaids wore blue satin gowns by Alfred Angelo, with a draped strapless bodice and floor-length skirt.
Amanda and her bridesmaids carried bouquets of cream roses with blue hydrangeas, and the men’s boutonnieres were a single cream-colored rose with a sprig of blue hydrangea.
Flowers in the signature wedding hues included blue hydrangeas, blue delphiniums, and ivory and cream-colored roses. Wreaths of hydrangeas in blue and white were hung at the ceremony and reception.
Perfect for a southern garden wedding, Amanda chose favors that were both sentimental and fragrant. “Our favors were lavender sachet bags, displayed on a silver tray. The lavender was grown by my mother, and each bag was wrapped with ribbon and a blue rose,” Amanda explains.
Amanda and Drew served up their three-tiered wedding cake with cloisonne silver pieces that matched the swirled icing patterns.
The chocolate and peanut butter groom’s cake was covered with matching swirls and chocolate shavings, and bore Drew’s initials in icing on the top.
Amanda wore a champagne-colored, two-piece gown by Oleg Cassini with a lace-up corset bodice and embroidered detailing. She also wore a pearl necklace with a blue sapphire pendant and a sapphire cocktail ring, both given by her mother.
After the reception, Amanda changed into a traveling dress in her signature hue, and guests cheered with blue ribbon-wrapped sparklers as she and Drew slipped into a baby-blue Mercedes-Benz.