Matt and Madison met in college. She was in a rock band singing a Led Zeppelin song when she spotted him from the crowd. After meeting, they started a band called Hay Sugar and played shows throughout their college years together. After graduating, they moved to Asheville and soon after Matt proposed. They wanted to make their wedding to be all about family and to have a "down home" celebration where all their friends and family (most of them live in Pennsylvania) could explore their new hometown in Asheville.
Matt and Madison are really big into DIY projects. They made their own program fans, decorated their own candy table (they used glassware for her grandmother's attic), created a photo table of loved ones who had passed on, a photo wall of all their friends and family (used clothespins and twine to make it more "homey") and created their own seat assignment signs out of old records they found at a local thrift store. Madison's grandparents gave them their vintage cake topper from their wedding in 1954 to use on her cake, which consisted of a top tier for them and multi-colored cupcakes for their guests. Madison's parents and Matt's aunt brewed and bottled wine to hand out to guests as favors and they labeled them "Love Potion #9" and "Eat. Drink. Love." For their flowers, Matt's cousin, Laurie, and her sister, Leslie (a florist by trade), made the floral arrangements on the table.
Favorite wedding day moment:
Madison: We woke up early that morning to decorate the venue, and had an army of people helping us. It was such a great start to the day. While I was setting up my table of pictures, I had a moment of peace as I looked at each one of the pictures of the loved ones who I wished were still here. While I was getting ready later in the day, my sister, best friend and I danced and sang in the dressing room while my mom did my hair. When I walked down the aisle with my father, we had a moment where we both just looked at each other and nodded like, “Okay, this is really happening.” The ceremony, while surreal, meant so much to us. Matt’s brother and father played the ceremony music on guitar and mandolin; it was beautiful. My grandfather officiated, and did an incredible job. It is truly moving to have so many people that you love celebrating such an important moment with you. After the ceremony, my husband, my brother-in-law, Paul, and I performed a few songs. My husband and I met in college and played in a band together. We moved to Asheville to keep the music alive. Playing at the ceremony was so much fun—we definitely had to take advantage of a large, captive audience ☺. When Entice took the stage, everyone immediately started dancing….and didn’t stop….except for dinner, cupcakes, or to refill their drinks. I kept my 4-inch heels on all night and changed into a mini feather dress to put my ‘party clothes’ on. My mom bought glow sticks, Mardi Gras feather masks, glitter sunglasses, and beads--so fun! It felt amazing to dance with everyone you love on the dance floor at the same time. During dinner, Matt’s father and brother performed a song that they wrote for us. It was a really special moment. As we left through a tunnel of sparklers (which was hilarious, as people all of a sudden became pyromaniacs), I thought- wow. This just happened. And it was AWESOME. We got on the school bus, drove back to the hotel, and then took a cab to the nearest hoagie place... because we were starving.
Matt: My hands down favorite moment was playing “Not A Dollar” with Madison and my brother after the ceremony. During our vows, Madison told me about how she wrote this song about the man of her dreams and how that man was me. It was truly a special moment to play this song with Madison, who is an incredible singer, and my brother Paul, who is an incredible musician. The icing on the cake was that during the song I was able to look out of the large windows at the venue and watch the sunset over the mountains.
Describe how you felt when you saw each other for the first time that day:
Madison: As I was waiting with my father for everyone else to walk down the aisle, it was becoming more and more real. This was it! I told my dad, “Dad, I can’t look up.” I knew I would cry if I did. He said, while gripping my arm tight, “I got you. Let’s do this,” and together, we walked down the aisle. When I saw Matt, it was like a montage off everyone’s faces looking at me combined with all of the amazing moments that led up to this one. I let out a deep breath and couldn’t have been more certain that this was the moment I had been waiting for all of my life.
Matt: The moments leading up to seeing Madison seemed to last forever. Although I wasn’t nervous, I was so anxious to see her. One after another, people walked down the aisle: different family members, the flower girl, the ring bearers, the bridesmaids and best men. The first glimpse I caught of Madison was her extremely colorful bouquet that her grandmother had made out of ribbons. The next thing I saw was her looking at her father has she turned the corner. Whenever we caught each others eyes, it was like it was only her and I. The anxiety of the moment had turned to comfort.
What was the most special moment for you two?
Madison: The whole wedding seemed to be filled with special moments for us. My grandfather got ordained just to do our ceremony; he is the best speaker, and we both immediately thought of how special it would be if he married us. Then, we were able to play a few songs for our guests, which was so much fun and meant so much to us. We sang the song that my Maid of Honor and I wrote in college about our ‘dream man.’ In my vows, I explained that I had been singing that song about Matt all along. To sing it to him and everyone else that I love was awesome. Also, we had a ‘photo wall’ of photographs that I had been collecting all year of family and friends, and a “Wish you were here” table for all of our loved ones who had passed on. These things helped us to show everyone how much we love and appreciate them, as well as how happy we were that they were a part of our special day.
Matt: The time that I spent with my brother Mike on the way to the wedding was really special. Mike is a natural comedian, and he kept me laughing the entire way to the venue. He flew in for the wedding and so he had a rental car for the weekend. Our other brother Paul, the other “Best Man”, was already at the venue getting set up for the music that he was going to play with my Dad for the ceremony. Yes, there were two best men. So Mike drove me to the venue. He was peeling out around turns in this little car on the way to the venue while we were listening to ridiculous music and just laughing and having the time of our lives. He kept me calm and helped me to put things into perspective on that big day.
What advice can you give to couples planning their wedding?
Do it your way and make your own rules. I wanted my sister to be my “Best Woman,” because when we were younger, we always joked about how there should be a Best Woman and a Best Man. We also wanted to make sure that we made our wedding unique, with our stamp on it. We spent many-a-weekend and late nights practicing our songs and making handmade seating charts, save-the-dates, programs, name tags, wine favors, a cupcake stand, signs for each ‘station,’ candy table arrangements, and so many other things that we envisioned for our wedding. It was worth every second (and every extra cup of coffee, hot glue gun burn, and trip to thrift stores and Michael’s).
Vendors:
Photography: Blue Frame Photography
Venue: Crest Pavilion
Videographer: Asheville Videography
Caterer: M7 Events
Florist: Laurie Curl
Cake: West End Bakery
Entertainment: Entice
Wedding dress: Unique Vintage
Wedding shoes: ASOS
Jewelry: Grandmother's
Hair Accessories: Chantel Eveleen
Bridesmaids dresses: ModCloth
Groom's & Groomsmen suits: Hunter and Coggins
Invitations - Minted
