For today’s wedding, we’re heading over to Latvia thanks to photographer Bret Cole. Darja and Konstantin were married on perhaps the most heavenly wedding grounds I’ve ever seen, those of Rumene Manor. The day that followed was straight out of a storybook romance, with a ballroom reception out of every little girl’s dreams!
From the bride, Darja: It was an exciting and touching moment! That day was significant as such, but it was even more special due to the fact that we married on the 5th anniversary of our relations. Everything was so beautiful, we were encircled by wonderful people, the day was full of emotions, impressions, but now full of fond memories!
Oh winter, how I love your deep rich tones, your golds and browns and burgundies. This shoot, photographed and styled by Ashley Dru is winter at its finest: lots of snow, deep amber bottles, and a stunning redheaded bride to tie it all together. We love Ashley’s idea of painting the tips of the balsa flowers with gold paint, adding a little extra pop to an already stunning tablescape!
From the photographer and stylist, Ashley Dru: Winter landscapes in the Midwest can either be white snowy wonderlands or miles and miles of brown wooded areas. Both are beautiful in their own ways! So I decided to create a winter inspiration shoot that combines those two extremes into one amazing theme full of warmth and everything we love about winter time! The backdrop/venue for the shoot was at the beautiful Farmhouse Weddings in Nappanee, Indiana.
Using balsa wood flowers and dried flowers can be a great way of using the readily available resources in the dead of winter when fresh flowers are scarce. The possibilities are endless with colors and you could even dry your own flowers to cut down on cost! You can also add your own personal touches to the white balsa flowers like painting the tips with metallic gold paint :) Small touches like sequin glitter balls and wood twigs for a table runner can add to the overall winter theme!
There is nothing better than a warm drink in the wintertime, so why not create a dessert table that is full of dunkable treats. You can even make your own chocolate dipped spoons for an added touch to those warm hot drinks! Edible glitter on the chocolate doesn’t looks so bad either :) Hot chocolate favors can keep the winter spirit alive for guests even as they are back home in their cozy homes!
We love today’s wedding from Laura Ivanova for many reasons, least of which is the relaxed air and easy-going vibe. Not to mention the amazing vintage green pickup truck that belongs to the bride’s grandfather! Keep an eye out for the boutonnieres on the ringbearers, adorned with cute phrases like “marvelous” and “wonderful”!
From the bride, Tiffany: We wanted a wedding that felt more like a big gathering of family + friends who just happened to be in the center of a care-free, easy-going wedding celebration versus a formal “normal” wedding reception. It was important to us that our guests felt comfortable, relaxed, and could feel the love we have for one another through the handmade and hand-me-down pieces we pulled together for our wedding. We wanted our wedding to be timeless + personal, with many DIY details. We wanted guests to feel surrounded by thoughtful details, appreciated, welcomed, a part of what made our day beautiful, and to leave full on delicious food + drink.
Thor grew up in Riverhead, Long Island. We were home visiting for Christmas and decided to take a look around the area: vineyards, farmland, waterfront… so many options! We drove past Jedediah Hawkins Inn and it was absolutely gorgeous. We stepped inside and ran into his old high school classmate who is a very successful chef (he was the White House chef for the Clintons!) and knew that the food would be amazing. Walking around the property, we knew we had found our venue. As soon as I saw their wrap-around porch, I could picture Thor + I saying our vows there with our friends sitting in the lawn. I could picture our first dances on the front porch. It was “us”. We were hoping for not just a site but an experience and knew this venue would provide just that for our guests: Jamesport, NY.
I used watercolor paints to paint each wooden sola flower for everyone’s place-setting (sola flowers from save-on-crafts.com). Chalkboard painted monster truck toys for our ring-bearer and flower girl gifts and decaled their names on them (they are REALLY into trucks right now). I made a “Here Comes the Bride” banner for one of our wedding party kids to carry. He walked out right before my Dad and I did. He was also the 1st to walk back down the aisle, the reverse of the sign said “Mr. + Mrs.” Thor made a wooden backdrop screen for our DIY photo booth. I painted it with chalkboard paint and hung a “Just Married” banner from it, which we later hung from my grandpa’s 1934 Ford truck! We made pennant flag props with sayings on them for guests to hold.
I collected frames with a vintage feel to them from places like World Market + Homegoods. I then bought black contact paper and covered each glass insert with them. I rubbed them with chalk, erased, and then used a chalk-paint marker to draw banners on the “chalkboard” to use as signs for our wedding. I now reuse the frames in our home, contact-paper free, to hold wedding photos. I collected white shells from the beach across from our home in NC. I found a clear glass pear-shaped container at Homegoods and had each guest intial the inside of a shell in lieu of a traditional guest book.
Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Give yourself the time it will take to accomplish your DIY visions! With so many great ideas out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the task. But you’d be surprised how much you can accomplish with the help of friends and family and a little time-management. Most importantly, remember to enjoy your moment. Stress will pop up, families will disagree, more than likely a few things will not happen the way you thought they would, but at the end of the day you are marrying the love of your life. Remember that and be thankful!
Wedding Music:
Processional: “In My Life,” The Beatles
Recessional: “All You Need is Love,” The Beatles
First Dance: “To Make You Feel My Love,” Bob Dylan
Mother-Son Dance: “What a Wonderful World,” Louis Armstrong
Father-Daughter Dance: “Lean on Me,” Bill Withers
Wedding Location: Jamesport, NY / Wedding Photographer: Laura Ivanova / Second shooter: Amy Rae / Wedding Venue: Jedediah Hawkins Inn / Dress: Galina, David’s Bridal, #WG3438 / Flowers: Fifty Flowers / Bridesmaid Dresses: JJ’s House and For Her For Him / DJ: Brian Bauers / Caterer: Keith Luce created our amazing menu using local Long Island ingredients, many coming from the farm + vegetable garden on property. Our menu included sweet corn soup with toy box tomato garnish, entree options: organic chicken breast with farro risotto, peconic bay fluke with summer squash and tomato broth, or steak frites with farm stand veggies. Our cocktail hour included appetizers like lobster ravioli and stuffed mushrooms / Wedding Cake: cake by Sugar Sugar Bakery and strawberry-rhubarb pies by Briermere Farms / Wedding Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas / Transportation: bride’s grandfather’s 1934 Ford pickup truck complete with “AWOOOOGAH” horn and wooden floorboard.
