Wedding dress designer Heidi Elnora is no stranger to the spotlight. The Alabama native got her first taste of fame as a contestant on reality television show Project Runway in 2005. Nine years later, she starred in her own show called Bride by Design on TLC. This month, after years designing for the wedding industry with her Heidi Elnora Atelier in downtown Birmingham and Build-A-Bride sister shops, she reached another milestone in her incredible journey. On October 1, Elnora debuted a fifteenth anniversary collection at legendary department store Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. 

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The sweets are sprinkled with smiles for visitors to Unless U Scoops, from the person who greets you at the door to the ice cream shop, to the fellow who serves your order, and the woman at the cash register. The employees are students at Unless U Academy, a non-profit that provides long-term education and training for adults with special needs including autism, Down syndrome, and traumatic brain injury.

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Home-grown food engenders deep pride in Alabama. Restaurant menus name-check local farmers and fishers, and scores of local pop-up markets connect home cooks with the people who actually grew the family’s dinner. Alabama dogs can also do the eat-local thing, with biscuits, cakes, jerky, and other treats made in the Yellowhammer State, often from locally produced vegetables, eggs, and honey. We’ve fetched a few for you, and for the good booooy! or good girrrrl! in your life. 

It’s Saturday morning and while most of downtown Birmingham is still waking up, Pepper Place District is a few steps ahead. One hundred white tents line the couple blocks between 2nd and 3rd Avenues South and 28th and 29th Streets. Live folk music provides the soundtrack to a bustling farmers market where thousands of people meet to buy the area’s freshest bounty and a variety of locally made goods. 

In a nondescript warehouse on 3rd Avenue North in Birmingham, strips of LED lights hang from the ceiling, glowing pink and purple. Music plays in a room behind a large glass window. I step inside the room and it smells like…lettuce? Yes, that’s right—this isn’t the city’s newest club or trendy restaurant, it’s an urban hydroponic farm growing greens and herbs for consumer sales and restaurant distribution.

The tiny Alabama town of Gee’s Bend is known for two things: its isolation and its quilts. Located 45 minutes south of Selma, deep in Alabama’s Black Belt region, Gee’s Bend (officially known as Boykin) is surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River, making it something of an inland island. The town dates to 1816 when Joseph Gee established a cotton plantation on the land. Today, most of the town’s 700 inhabitants are descendants of the enslaved people who worked on the plantation.

Southerners have always had a thing for antiques. A keen interest in the thrill of the hunt—that moment when you unearth a gem hidden beneath piles of forgotten history—has been passed from generation to generation. Family heirlooms and well-loved finds are woven into the fabric of a community deeply entrenched in tradition. There’s perhaps no better example of this time-honored tradition than Southern Accents Architectural Antiques in Cullman. 

In its nearly 175 years, The Grand Hotel in Point Clear has seen its fair share of history. It has overcome fires, floods, hurricanes, and dozens of renovations to retain its twin titles of Alabama’s oldest hotel and the Queen of Southern Resorts. Following the completion of its most recent renovation in 2018—a $35 million three-year endeavor that included changes to all 405 guest rooms, its spa, pier grounds, pool, conference spaces, and restaurants—the queen’s crown is shining brighter than ever. 

Calling all proud plant parents! If you want to bring glorious greenery into your favorite indoor spaces, these Alabama specialty plant shops have you covered. Having indoor plants has many benefits: air purification being top among them, but seeing that pleasant green color in your home is also a mood booster. For those whose thumbs aren’t quite as green, all hope’s not lost. Just ask a store associate for an easy-to-care-for plant and watch as your tiny budding collection blooms into a flourishing indoor oasis.   

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Nothing brightens up a room like a vase of fresh flowers. If you don’t have a green thumb and you’re looking to support your floral addiction with something a little more sustainable than Trader Joe’s, look no further than these 8 Alabama flower farms. Offering everything from U-pick weekends to delivered flower CSAs, these local farmers are guaranteed to keep you in bloom all summer—and beyond—long.  

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Alabama summers can be brutally hot and humid, but embracing summer décor can be an easy and inexpensive way to beat the heat. The goal is to incorporate nature-inspired colors, […]

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When temperatures start rising, do you hear lake breezes whispering to you? Beckoning you to the water’s edge for relaxation? If you’re looking for a summer lake getaway, River Rocks Plantation at Lake Guntersville is a hidden getaway. Located in North Alabama between Bridgeport and Guntersville, River Rocks Plantation offers vacation rental homes as well as homes and lots for purchase along Alabama’s largest lake. Here’s what to do on a weekend there:

When longtime wedding professional Christina Sloan noticed a major gap in the wedding industry, she realized she couldn’t waste time waiting for someone else to fill it. After witnessing countless […]

A 30-minute drive from downtown Birmingham transports you to another world. At Stone Hollow Farm, you’ll trade high-rise buildings for clear blue skies. Swap the rush of a workday commute […]