Brittany Thompson & Matthew McCollister: A Mountain Brook Wedding

May 13, 2017

How We Met: We met at Furman University and dated for a year, and we reconnected three years ago and dated across three states (Colorado, Georgia and Montana). Early on we both knew the other was the one we wanted to marry, but it took countless hours of phone conversations, miles upon miles of driving and expensive plane tickets before admitting it.

The Proposal: Matthew proposed to me (Brittany) with the same ring his grandpa had asked his grandma to marry him with when they were 16 and 18. I got to surprise Matthew with his grandpa’s matching wedding band on our wedding day.

Favorite Moment: We wanted to spend part of our wedding celebration doing what we love the most, playing outdoors, so we planned a picnic on the Cahaba River with our guests before the wedding. The river is one of the few areas in the world where you can see the Cahaba lily, and the river shoals were covered in its delicate white blooms.

Favorite Details: Matthew’s mom provided us a dream setting with her home and garden for a small, elegant and romantic ceremony surrounded by our very nearest and dearest friends and family, including our squirrel dog, Hoke. From the delicious wedding cake designed by Matthew’s stepmom to the stunning flowers by our family friend that included foliage from both of Matthew’s parents’ gardens to the custom cocktails mixed by our brothers, we felt very loved with a wedding more beautiful and personal than we could have imagined.