The Providence Cotton Mill Dreamy Wedding in Charlotte NC

A romantic and dreamy wedding at The Providence Cotton Mill.

The Providence Cotton Mill — a beautiful wedding day destination.

“(We are) still in awe of what a stunning job Elizabeth did. She captured our day perfectly! Her energy is exactly what you want on your wedding day, and I couldn’t have picked a more perfect photographer!” -Caitlin, the bride

THE VENUE:

What dreamier place to have a North Carolina wedding than at the Providence Cotton Mill? Full of natural light, an indoor / outdoor feel, and stunning architecture, the Providence Cotton Mill is the perfect wedding day venue. When Caitlin and Daniel asked Elizabeth Sellers Photo to capture their day, it was an immediate YES!

CAITLIN + DANIEL

Instead of trying my best to tell you about Caitlin and Daniel’s special day, I’m going to let them tell you themselves!!

THEIR STORY:

Tell me the story of how you guys met…

Caitlin: We both went to the same high school. It was a small private school, so we knew of each other but never went out. Daniel thought I was cute, but he never asked me out. Fast forward, Daniel decided to message me on Instagram. He asked for my number, and we texted back and forth for quite a few months. He thought he was friendzoned, and I thought he wasn’t interested. During that time, I got my wisdom teeth out, and while on the laughing gas I hit on him. That was the encouragement he needed, so he asked me out. We’ve been together since. August of 2022 made 4 years together.

THEIR ENGAGEMENT:

Ok so… how did Daniel propose?

Caitlin: On our first date, we went to 7th Street Public Market. He showed up with my favorite flowers and my favorite drink- Dr. Pepper. We got food to go, and we had a picnic at First Ward Park. It was really special to me because I had always told my friends that my perfect date was a picnic. I had mentioned to Daniel one day texting that my favorite birthday was when my mom and sister surprised me at my college with a picnic. He planned our first date to be a picnic after learning that.

For our proposal, Daniel told me to get dressed because he was picking me up for a surprise. He drove me to the 7th Street parking deck. We walked over to First Ward Park where he had a picnic set up with my favorite flowers and chocolate covered strawberries. He had written a letter which he read to me and then proposed. He had a photographer and family hidden away that surprised me after.

THE WEDDING PLANNING:

Tell me about the intentionality behind planning your wedding:

Caitlin: Funny enough, I was never a kid who planned my wedding. In college, I had created a wedding board on Pinterest of my ideas. That board was all very targeted to a Boho trend. When I went wedding dress shopping, I actually fell in love with this ballgown. I felt like a princess, and I knew the Boho look was not going to work or be what I wanted. After I got the dress, I decided I needed to start from scratch. The number one thing that was important to me was that our wedding reflected us. I didn’t want to do things just because it was what was done. I wanted it to be something we loved and made sense for us as a couple.

COLORS:

I actually went to Lowe’s and grabbed every single paint swatch I liked. I went through and paired them until I came to colors I liked — dusty blue and dusty pink.

INSPO:

I then went through Pinterest, magazines, online, books, and even Instagram to get ideas. I created an actual mood board on my apartment wall of all the things I had seen that I loved and looked for common themes. The first thing I noticed was antique furniture, which was sweet because Daniel and I love to go antique shopping together. I also noticed I loved invitation suites and started looking into those. This was fitting because Daniel and I love writing letters to each other. It made sense to make this a special detail.

The deeper I got into looking at those aspects, I learned that I loved chinoiserie and French toile. It went perfectly with the colors I picked. This helped me finalize how I wanted to execute my day. I wanted it to have a vintage touch, but I didn’t want it to be like rustic. We went for the antique look that you would want in a house that transitions well even into today. The goal was vintage in a very romantic and classic way, and we tried to incorporate it in every aspect. I ended up getting a custom designed invitation suite that we used as a guide.

FOOD:

Another very intentional choice was the food and how we had food served. We love brunch. We also love having meals with our friends. Food is very much something we love. Some people want their wedding to be a big party, but we really wanted to incorporate having a meal. We chose to do a plated meal and have brunch food options and donuts.

THE THEME + DESIGN:

Tell me about the design of your wedding (colors, theme, etc):

Caitlin: I was very particular in picking the design. I first picked my main colors, knowing I wanted dusty blue and dusty pink and compared it with others because we wanted a palette with undertones. I did this to decide on silver or gold for things, and looked at TONS of photos of my venue to make sure even the undertones wouldn’t clash with The Providence Cotton Mill. My venue had a lot of exposed brick and neutrals like tan and brown. I knew that any colors I liked needed to go with this.

Every choice I made from then on I kept that in mind. This went into suit choices down to flatware. I chose to go with gold. We used gold for flatware, plates, candle sticks, and the stands for the flowers. I gave my dad and Daniel color options for the suits based on it. Their options were light blue, tan, light brown, burgundy, or light pink. Daniel chose light pink, and my dad chose light blue. I coordinated their ties and pocket squares to have the French toile look. I got them off of Etsy. The napkins were French toile. Our place cards were hand torn to give that antique look. Following the details of the invitation suite helped guide a lot of the design. We incorporated our crest in all kinds of places. I had the cheese cloth that was the table runner hand dyed to match the invites.

FAVORITE MEMORIES:

Can each of you tell me your favorite memory from your wedding day?

Caitlin: My favorite memory was walking down the aisle. Daniel and I love the song Love Someone by Lukas Graham. Daniel really wanted it played at the wedding, but I had told him no because it didn’t match the vibe. I really wanted to find a way to incorporate it, and had found a string quartet cover of the song on YouTube. Our DJ found a way to play it and I surprised Daniel, a moment that felt so magical and special for us.

Daniel: I think my favorite moment from the day was right after the ceremony and pictures when we could just sit and soak in the moment. The entire day is so chaotic and the quiet moments were the ones that meant the most.

WEDDING PLANNING ADVICE:

Do you guys have advice for other couples planning a wedding?

Daniel: My advice would be to try to prioritize. Everything seems so urgent and important but try to focus on and prioritize the things that you’ll remember five or ten years in the future.

Caitlin: I would say to really think if you want something or not. Prioritize what you want and not what everybody else does. Cut out things you don’t care about. There are all these things that you feel like you have to do, but if it’s your day, you should have stuff that represents you.

THE PROVIDENCE COTTON MILL:

Why did you choose The Providence Cotton Mill as your venue?

Caitlin: I wanted to have the feel of being outdoors without actually having to be there. I’m a planner, and I hated the idea of planning a wedding to be outside and then have rain. I wanted to have a naturally beautiful venue, so I didn’t feel like I had to do too much to the space to make it work. The open windows really just ticked all the boxes for me. I loved that it came with tables, chairs, etc. It was also within a close enough distance to Charlotte to use vendors from there. I’m a teacher, so I really couldn’t be regularly traveling to meet with vendors. Having them close to me was important.

CAKE + DONUTS:

Your wedding desserts were pretty special. How did you choose those?

Caitlin: Food is a big deal to us as a couple and our family. I tried A LOT of different cakes. I did multiple tasting boxes and went to multiple bakeries. For me, I wanted something unique. For our wedding cake, we went with raspberry champagne and strawberry filling. It tasted so fresh and light, was dreamy, and went perfectly with the brunch food. I loved cakes with floral design. Brandy did an amazing job with it and matching our colors. Daniel’s mom handled the groom’s cake. She got the design to be of Daniel’s favorite soccer team Wolverhampton Wanderers.

For the donuts, this was a detail I was adamant about. Daniel and I love donuts. I wanted to find a way to have them without them just sitting out and going stale. Daniel and I actually went to a donut festival in 2020. They had an apple cider donut stand there who had brought the machine. They were hot and fresh. I remembered that, and I knew there had to be something like that out there. I came across State Fair Mini Donuts, and they were it. They came in little bags and guests could pick what flavor they wanted.

THE DRESS:

And your dress… absolutely stunning! Any details?

Caitlin: It was designed by Sassi Holford. She’s a British designer who made the dress for Princess Anne’s son’s bride for their royal wedding.

READY TO PLAN YOUR WEDDING?

Whether your wedding day is at The Providence Cotton Mill or across the world, I’m ready to hear all about it! Make sure to reach out so we can talk about how Elizabeth Sellers Photo can help capture your beautiful day.