Real Weddings: Jennifer & Crosby

July 7, 2012: The Duke Mansion

Marine Corps veteran Crosby Culp met his bride, Jennifer Murphy, an auditor for Deloitte, when she was a senior in high school and he was stationed near Charlotte. He took his shy girl to her prom and, during college, proposed to her in a room full of candles and white roses.

Jennifer is a self-described “pink girl,” and her colors—hot pink with bold yellow and bold orange—made for a bright and joyful summer wedding. Lily Greenthumb’s Wedding and Event Design delighted her by creating mounds of colorful pink tulips and red, orange, and yellow roses for the bouquets; and colorful orchid boutonnieres for the groomsmen, who wore gray Calvin Klein tuxedos and pink ties from Men’s Wearhouse. The bridesmaids wore pink and yellow tea-length, silk gowns by The Dessy Group from Bella Bridesmaid.

Planner Jane Daniel styled the Duke Mansion reception with pink chair bows, yellow center-pieces of roses and mums, white linens with pearl chargers, pink napkins, silver settings, and hurricane lanterns with candles and orchids.

Guests feasted on beef, salmon, and vegetable napoleons before the couple cut a Wow Factor cake in vanilla with raspberry swirl. On their honeymoon in Italy, the exuberant groom dragged his bride on full-day excursions through Rome before she made him relax on the beach with four days on the Amalfi Coast.