For me, anything labeled "fraternity" immediately evokes thoughts of stale beer, dingy houses and men in sports swag. So when this bride submitted her wedding and explained her theme was "Fraternity Chic" I wasn't quite sure what to expect. To my delight it's just as lovely as a pastel country affair could be with a dash of tastefully presented college pride. It's a unique balance of the college sweethearts' personalities and it all simply seems to work: the laid back cool of family style dining, red solo cups, and a bonfire mixed with the girly sophistication of beautiful blooms, a guilded cake, and a soft color palette. Speaking of the cake, the couple found a cute and (again, tastefully) subtle way to tie in the theme. This happy collegiate celebration was held on the most beautiful of Seattle summer days surrounded by a few hundred beaming friends and family and it was all captured by Jeanne Phinney Photography.
From the bride and groom:
"Many of our 250 wedding guests who attended our wedding would describe the theme as "Fraternity Chic". My husband and I met when we were freshmen in college in the Greek system. We purposefully tried to have our wedding decor match our personalities and relationship. Our guests drank beer out of red solo cups-college style, and the signage was done freehand by the groom as he majored in Fine Arts in college, complete with our school mascot peeking out of our chic chevron wedding cake. The "chic" part of the wedding-aka the bride's personality- included all white hydrangeas, a beautiful desert table and mismatched bridesmaids dresses. Our grandparents brought old traditions to the wedding as a surprise which was a nice top-off to an already perfect day. The groom wore his great-grandpa's cuff-links which he had worn in his wedding and the bride's grandmother brought ladybugs to release for good luck- a tradition they had been doing together since the bride was a child. Probably the most special gift received was from the maid of honor and groom's sister. She had the head coach at Washington State University (the college the bride and groom attended) send his well wishes in a framed picture with his signature which she read during her speech. It was such a special moment for two die-hard Coug fans! Our personalities were perfectly captured in our decor and scenery and it could not have been a more special day for us."
