Emily Taylor Conrad and William David Mueller had a very “The Office” moment when they first met: Emily was a receptionist while David was an account coordinator for the Lowe’s team.
Dave proposed to Emily over her birthday weekend in April of 2010. They had dinner with some friends at their favorite Mexican restaurant in Charlotte, N.C. At dinner, Dave surprised Emily with an iPhone, which she was dying to own.
The following day, Emily and Dave went to Sapphire Valley, N.C., to spend the weekend at the Muellers’ mountain home. The two planned to have a relaxing weekend hiking and enjoying the outdoors. Emily was so distracted by her new iPhone that she wasn’t suspecting Dave to give her another amazing gift. The two went for a hike up White Side Mountain. When they stopped to rest and enjoy the views from the top, he proposed. Now, when the couple hosts friends at the mountain house, they bring them on that same hike to show them their special engagement spot.
On October 2, 2010, Emily and David married at The Pavilion of Two Sisters at City Park in the Camellia Garden at 6:30 in the evening. Since Dave is a New Orleans native, Emily wanted to have their wedding here. Beth Mueller, Dave’s mother, set up appointments for the couple while they were in town for Jazz Fest, and they decided on the same favorite location – the Pavilion of Two Sisters at City Park – because they wanted to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue.
Emily wore an ivory dress with a ruched bodice, trumpet skirt and sweetheart neckline. She purchased the dress along with her veil, shoes and jewelry at Poffie girls in Gastonia, N.C. For her “something old,” she wore Dave’s grandmother’s crystal bracelet purchased in Europe, her mother’s David Yurman ring and her great-grandmother’s wedding band. Her bouquet was composed of ivory roses; and Keith Noonan Salon did Emily’s hair and makeup for the wedding.
Emily brought her bridesmaids to the Bella Bridesmaid location in Charlotte, N.C., so the girls could get fitted and try on dresses in varied styles, but in the same color and silk fabric. The navy silk fabric was offered by two of the store’s designers – Coren Moore and Simple Sillouettes – and the dresses were purchased from one or the other depending on which style the bridesmaid preferred. Their shoes were champagne colored open-toed heels purchased at Shoeffle in Covington.
Emily’s two best friends, Lucille Whiten and Eleanor Wilkins, served as her maids of honor.
Both were Phi Mu sisters of Emily’s from Western Carolina University. (Emily stood in Lucille’s wedding a few months later in March 2011.)
Dave wore an ivory vest, shirt and tie to match his bride. He also had an ivory rose and orchid boutonniere. His groomsmen wore traditional black tuxes and ties, with orange orchid boutonnieres.
Emily and Dave had soloist Victoria Reed sing a special song for their mothers. Emily lost her mother in 2007 and it was really important to her to have a special moment of remembrance. Emily chose “On My Way to You” by Barbara Streisand, a favorite artist of her mother’s.
Diane Mouton of Fat Cat Flowers created all of the flowers for the wedding and reception. Emily wanted warm, fall colors, so Mouton combined vibrant fall flowers including orange roses, yellow dahlias and red anemones. Emily also asked Diane to incorporate orchids into the men’s boutonnières.
The Pavilion of the Two Sisters catered the wedding reception. They served a steamship round of beef with assorted sauces and rolls and Creole pasta with sautéed shrimp and crawfish in a sundried tomato-basil cream sauce tossed with rotini pasta. There was also a gourmet station of fruit and cheese, praline brie en croute and crawfish cheesecake. There were also plenty of delicious hors d’oeuvres that were passed around such as tea sandwiches, shrimp remoulade, salmon and chive barquettes, crawfish and tasso croustades, cheese stuffed mushrooms, mini muffulettas, fried catfish, herb-crusted tuna, baked crab cakes, fried shrimp, Cajun spring rolls and rockfire shrimp queso.
Haydel’s Bakery created a three-tiered praline filled ivory wedding cake decorated with fleurs-de-lis. The surprise chocolate groom’s cake was also made by Haydel’s and themed around Dave’s favorite NFL team, adorned with a festive Saints helmet laying on top of a football field.
The Victory Six Band was created especially for Emily and Dave’s wedding reception through The National World War II Museum. The couple’s first dance was to “I’m Alive” by Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews. The artist George Rodrigue gave the couple a framed and personally signed “Newlyweds” Blue Dog print, which they displayed at their rehearsal dinner and at the wedding reception.
Melissa Quijano of MQ Photography was in charge of photography for the ceremony, reception and candid shots of the bridesmaids and her getting ready at the Ritz-Carlton.
Emily and Dave displayed framed photos of those who could not be with them on their special day. These photos included their grandparents and Emily’s mother.
After the reception, Emily and Dave honeymooned at the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui in Wailea for eight days and seven nights. They currently live in Charlotte, N.C. Emily is the Foundation Coordinator for The Dale Jr. Foundation – NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s charity – and Dave works in Sports Marketing at GMR Sports Marketing as an account manager for the Lowe’s Team.
