We are taking you back a little bit this Wedding Wednesday to Abby and Layne’s beautiful wedding at Race & Religious in New Orleans in October 2015! Their special moments were captured by a group of photographers which included Chris Granger, Tyler Kaufman, and Layne Murdoch (the groom’s father).

The Proposal:

While I was going to grad school for occupational therapy we had a one week break in between the spring and summer semester. Layne and I decided to head to New Orleans for a week of tasty eats, fun, parades (it was around St. Patricks Day), and of course my favorite- snowballs! When I was younger my family and I lived in New Orleans and Plum Street Snoballs was our favorite. On the last full day of my spring break March 22, 2014 Layne and I decided to grab a snowball before he had to work the Pelicans game that night. We drove down St. Charles windows down with the warm breeze streaming through admiring what a lovely day it was. When we got to Plum Street I sat down under the sign and Layne went to place our order. Moments later he walked back and handed me my snowball half mango, half coconut cream, AND a beautiful ring on top! At first it didn't register and I just stared down trying to figure out what it was. Then I exclaimed, "Is that a ring??!" As I looked up I realized Layne was kneeling and he asked me if I wanted to eat snowballs together for the rest of my life as his wife. YES! Moments later Layne pointed across the street and his dad and good friend had been hiding in the bushes capturing the whole thing on camera. Best snowball of my life!

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Wedding Day Prep:

Abby and her bridesmaids got ready for the big day at their house right down the street from Race & Religious, then they got dressed at Race & Religious.

Verde Beauty Studio did the hair and makeup for Abby, her mother, and 3 bridesmaids. Team Verde created stunning looks with their updos and makeup. Pistil and Stamen created hair clips for all of the ladies in the wedding party on the bride and groom’s side.

Abby and Layne had a mixed wedding party on both sides, so for the ladies they gifted them gold bracelets from BHLDN and the guys were gifted bow ties from NOLA Couture.

The Details:

What made you choose where you got married?

We knew that we were moving to New Orleans after I finished grad school so we decided it would be a great location to get married and looked at venues all around the city. One day my husband and my father in law were biking around town and they came across Race & Religious. Layne facetimed me so I could see the place and I thought it looked gorgeous. Since we met at camp and spent our summers outdoors nature is very important to us and we wanted to incorporate it into our special day. Race & Religious seemed like it would be a perfect place for us to get married because of all the natural beauty it contained.

What were your special details or parts of the wedding that were specific to you?

The camp director that hired both of us to work at camp the summer that we met in 2007 served as our officiant for the ceremony. She has been a special friend and an amazing mentor throughout our relationship.

For my wedding gift Layne made me a wooden sign with our wedding date. Each piece of the gift was from the camp where we met including numbers on the tents and signs from the buildings. Our camp ended up selling the property where Frontier camp was at the end of 2015 so he was able to collect the pieces to make my gift. My wedding gift to Layne was a black and white painting I made with the musician from our wedding invitation with the words "And darling I'll love you all of my days".

Since we got engaged at Plum Street Snoballs we hired them to come serve snowballs at the reception.

Layne's wedding band was his grandfathers. The diamond in my engagement ring is from Layne's grandmother. She and his grandpa have been married over sixty years.

We both studied abroad in Italy and visited Assisi. We loved the town and church. During our ceremony we recited the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi together as a declaration for how we want our marriage to be.

We included both males and females on both sides of the wedding party. Layne's three sisters stood beside him and my brother and best friend from high school stood beside me.

What did you choose to do as your favors? The handkerchief from our second line with our names and wedding date printed

Did you incorporate any wedding traditions from you or your partners families? Since we met at camp we incorporated a couple traditions from there. Before eating dinner at the reception we sang the grace "Johnny Appleseed" that we sing at camp before meals. Every Thursday night at camp we have a dance out on the basketball court under the stars. At the end of the night everyone circles up arms around each other while the song "This Time of Year" plays by better than Ezra. At our wedding we played the song as our last dance and everyone circled up while Layne and I danced in the middle. During the song I leaned over to Layne smiling so big and said, "I think this is the best moment of my life!"

One of our favorite movies is Wet Hot American Summer- a movie about camp counselors. After our officiant pronounced us husband and wife we danced down the aisle to the theme song from that movie- Jane by Jefferson Starship.

The Attire:

Your Attire:

I wore a white satin gown with a beaded overlay. It had a vintage feel to it.

Where was it purchased from?

BHLDN in Houston. I loved so many gowns from this store. They have a very earthy, natural, and beautiful style to them. My mom was the one that first saw the gown I ended up choosing. I wasn't sure about it when I saw it hanging up in the store, but once I tried it on I loved it!

Your accessories:

I wore light green earrings that were a gift from my mom for completing occupational therapy school. During the reception I wore a flower/succulent crown made by Pistil & Stamen.

Your Partner's Attire:

My husband wore a blue suit with suspenders and a light blue snowball tie. The tie was an anniversary gift to remember our proposal at Plum Street Snoballs.

Where was it purchased from?

Suit from Men’s Warehouse in Dallas and tie from Nola Couture in New Orleans.

Your partners accessories:

Layne wore a watch from his father.

Advice for Future Brides:

What is one thing you wish you would have known pre-wedding?

I wish I would have set aside more time for pictures before the ceremony so we didn't feel rushed. By the time we did our first look and started pictures it was later in the day than we planned so we weren't able to get all the shots that we had hoped for. The day was still amazing and we have wonderful pictures, but it would have been nice to have had more time to capture certain moments that we wanted before everything started!

Did you rock a #hashtag?

NOLALikeCampLuh

Words of Advice for future brides?

During the ceremony and reception take a moment to stop and look out at all the loved ones that are present so you can soak in the moment. When I walked down the aisle it felt so magical because there were people from all parts of our lives that would normally not all be in one location together. But here they were- all together in this special moment in time to celebrate with us as we became husband and wife. Being surrounded by so much joy and love is a feeling I will never forget! My best friends sister told me before we got married to make sure I purposefully paused at least three times during the day and night to take it all in and it was wonderful advice.

Also, have someone make a plate for you and your spouse featuring every food item at your reception so you can have it together at the end of the night.