1. Real Weddings

Elizabeth & David: A Fall Wedding in Lexington, KY

David introduced himself to Elizabeth the day she moved into a house across the street from his. They became fast friends, but it wasn’t until they we

David introduced himself to Elizabeth the day she moved into a house across the street from his. They became fast friends, but it wasn’t until they went on a double date with their neighbors that they realized they wanted to spend more time with one another. The Bride Elizabeth Sexton, 29, business owner The Groom David Johnson, 35, sales representative The Date June 27 Two-and-a-half years later, while out to dinner at a steakhouse, Dave told Beth he wanted to grow old with her, got down on one knee, and proposed. They went out to celebrate after dinner and soon started making plans for a wedding on Beth’s grandmother’s horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

The couple’s signature green horseshoe logo appeared on many wedding stationery pieces, including their white, tented escort cards.
As a nod to their Lexington, Kentucky, wedding location and Beth’s grandmother’s history of horse racing, the couple included horseshoe details everywhere they could. Even the ring bearer carried one down the aisle with the rings.
As guests arrived at the farm for the cocktail hour, they were served mint lemonade and peach tea from mason jars. The couple even included the drink recipes on tags attached to the lids.
Each guest went home with a keepsake of the horse farm: a cleaned and polish horseshoe worn by a winning racehorse.
Bubblegum-pink colored peonies filled oversized mint julep cups, which are symbolic for Kentucky and horse racing.
Beth’s bridesmaids wore hot-pink J. Crew dresses, which they found on the clearance rack!
Beth and Dave own a photo booth company, so they took different photos for each table number card. On one side of the card, they put their photo, and on the other side they put the table number inside their signature horseshoe wedding logo on the other. And of course, they had a photo booth at the reception for guests to enjoy.
Most guests took shuttles to the reception from the hotel. For the ones who did drive, the couple made sure they wouldn’t have to worry about parking -- valet attendants parked cars in a nearby field and kept keys on a table beside the tent.
Beth and Dave’s white, four-tiered wedding cake had green trimming at the bottom of each tier and was decorated with pink peonies to incorporate the wedding colors. It also had a giant bow to mimic the white one on Beth’s wedding dress.
So guests could dance all night, Beth and Dave put out flip-flops in buckets labeled “foals,” “mares,” and “stallions” to keep with the horse racing theme. Guests were happy to change into dancing shoes in the 90-degree heat that night.
Pink and white polka-dot fabric tied in big, whimsical bows on the chairs finished up the tented reception’s country-chic look.