From the bride, Jen: Jeff and I joked that we had a theme for our wedding “stuff we love.” It was fun for us when guests would point out different little details we put in that dealt with aspects of our individual personalities and us as a couple. I discovered our venue on accident and fell in love with the space immediately. At Terrain we could have an intimate wedding with hand crafted and worn vintage touches that Jeff and I love so much.

We served dinner family style because the food there was so great we wanted everyone to be able to try everything. To help keep costs down I did a lot of DIY projects, including the place cards, fun signage, our wedding cake and hand stitched programs. I went to flea markets, yard sales, and second hand shops like a mad woman searching for quirky details for the wedding. From the antique keys, which I have been collecting for years, to the mason jars and beakers (which are a nod to my science nerd background).

From Etsy, we had a cake topper made to look like our kittens we got together. I found my wedding dress and skirt on sale at J.Crew. The dress was originally long and I had a seamstress cut it down and work the long skirt in a way that it could come off for the cake cutting and the rest of the night having a fun laid back party dress. Luckily for us our fantastic photographer Maria DeForrest was there to document all of our hard work. It was truly a magical night for us!

Wedding Vendors (Glen Mills, PA):

Wedding Venue and Caterer: Terrain / Wedding Photographer: Maria DeForrest / Wedding Dress: J. Crew / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J. Crew / Wedding Flowers: Sherry Ryden / Wedding Invitations: Loveleigh Invitations / Wedding Guitarist: John Kemp

Related posts:

1. Handmade Illinois Wedding
2. Handmade Violet Wedding
3. Handmade Cape Town Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings beakers, Glen Mills, gray, J.Crew, Maria deForrest, outdoor weddings, Pennsylvania, pink, purple, Terrain

From the bride, Tess: About the wedding, Joey and I really just wanted it to feel comfortable, intimate, fun, and reflective of the things that we like. We were limited though, by the fact that we had a tiny budget, we live in Chicago but the wedding was in California, we were both graduating (I needed to pass my nursing boards 2 weeks before we left for the wedding) and once we arrived, we only had a few days to set everything up. I had to choose my battles wisely and not stress out about what didn’t come together.

We wanted to spend the bulk of our budget on three things: good food, good music and a good photographer. We had a small wedding with about 90 guests. We didn’t care about traditions, we wanted everything to feel personal. No cake cutting, no lame-o chicken or salmon dish and most importantly no impersonal ceremony. Joey’s parent’s backyard was such a lovely place to get married. We wanted our ceremony to celebrate all of the people who’s relationships were inspirational to us, so we had friends and families wedding/commitment ceremony pictures hanging from the tree behind our homemade altar.

Joey used to live in Spain, and before he moved there he had spent time there in Pamplona for the running of the bulls with his family. So his ties to Spanish culture and his Cuban heritage were part of the reason we chose Allegria Cocina Latina (Long Beach) to cater. They were AMAZING! I couldn’t recommend them more. I also love the communal feel of family style dining, that was a must for me. To top it off, an old family friend of Joey’s is in an incredibly talented Latin band (Cafe Fuego) who played our ceremony, dinner, and then stayed for a salsa session. They now play at Allegria and my in-laws go to see them regularly!

The bar had to keep up with the great food so I used some of my past Chicago bartending experience to come up with a few signature drinks. We had boozy snow cones (basil syrup with blueberry vodka and lemon rosemary simple syrup with hendricks gin). The bartender was churning out lots of mojitos, sangria, and Goose Island’s Matilda (had to represent Chicago).

Dennis Owens and Patrick Miller of Proper Sound were our DJs. Wow. They were so good that I made a “no requests” sign to ward off any Lady Gaga or YMCA requests. Joey and I LOVE soul music, so the guys took all of our suggestions and built up an awesome set from just a few songs.

All of the decorations were either bought at thrift stores, found around the house or handmade with the exception of the colored lanterns. We rented lights from a guy who puts up Christmas lights in the winter and put them up ourselves. (Saved soo much money that way). We had a great deal of help from our families in the days leading up to our wedding. My in-laws put in countless hours of work on the house to get it wedding ready (and it looked great!). Overall, it was a lot of work, but not overwhelming because of our awesome support team.

Wedding Vendors (Yorba Linda, CA):

Wedding Venue: Private residence / Wedding Photographer: Paul von Rieter / Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal / Bride’s Broach: Lulu’s / Bride’s Reception Dress: Vintage / Bridesmaids’ Robes: Plum Pretty Sugar / Bride’s Makeup: Dana Delaney / Wedding Band: Cafe Fuego / DJ: Dennis Owens and Patrick Miller of Proper Sound / Wedding Caterer: Allegria Cocina Latina

Related posts:

1. Intimate Backyard Wedding
2. Small Michigan Backyard Wedding
3. Backyard Napa Valley Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | Posted under: Garden Weddings backyard weddings, California, Long Beach, Paul Von Rieter, Yorba Linda

From the bride, Trish: Our hope was for the wedding to reflect our personal style and to include things in our everyday life. The colors that we chose were the same as bowls and French serving plates that we have in our kitchen. We have lots of friends and family who live far away and who we don’t get to see as often as we’d like so, as much as possible, we wanted them to feel like they were visiting us and seeing our lives when they came to our wedding. Also, we go to a lot of parties and celebrate often so we wanted the guests at our wedding to have fun and feel like we were celebrating them and showing them how grateful we are to have them in our lives.

We both work in the design industry; Michael as a founder of creative agency called Dumb Eyes and I’m a recruiter for Filter, working with web and graphic designers. We met while working at The Stranger, an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle. When Michael proposed, it was with a ring that he made out of paper that had lorem ipsum printed on it, which is used by web designers as placeholder copy in comps. This would be the placeholder ring until I picked one that I liked.

Because we met at a newspaper we really wanted to use paper as a theme. Since we had a pretty limited budget, we wanted to keep the paper décor simple and bold to avoid an overly crafty look. As we sought inspiration, a friend introduced us to a book on paper folding techniques “Creating With Paper” by Pauline Johnson. We also watched the documentary “Between The Folds”. We enlisted the help of artist Matthew Parker, who shared our admiration for geometric paper shapes, to bring these shapes to life. Our ring bearer carried our rings down the aisle on a paper sculpture created by Matthew. Rather than flower petals, our flower girls dropped “petals” of colored tissue paper that Michael and his mother cut into geometric shapes.

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Michael and I were really fortunate to have supportive families who didn’t impose their expectations or wishes on our event. In that respect, we could do almost anything we wanted and this became daunting sometimes. We tried to focus on the top things that were important to us and remind ourselves of those things when our attention would start to become divided. This ended up being really helpful when I’d find myself obsessing over some minor detail that wasn’t on my list. If you’re lucky and have wonderful friends like we do, they’ll offer to help you. If you’re organized enough, graciously accept!

Wedding Music:

Flower Girl Processional: “Here She Comes,” The Velvet Underground
Bride’s Processional: “Terrapin,” Syd Barrett
Recessional: “All My Loving,” Almighty Defenders
First Dance: “I’m Sticking To You,” The Velvet Underground
Father/Daughter Dance: “‘Til There Was You,” The Beatles

Wedding Vendors (Seattle, WA):

Wedding Venue: Rainier Chapter House / Wedding Photographer: Jenny Jimenez / Officiant: Wazhma Samizay / Event Design: Matthew Parker Events / Wedding Flowers: Katherine Anderson of Marigold and Mint / Wedding Dress: Neiman Marcus / Wedding Veil: BellaBridalVeils / Wedding Hair: Beehive Salon / Wedding Rings: Greenlake Jewelry Works / DJ: Mark Gockley, DJ Buttontop and Chris Sutton / Wedding Caterer: Long Provincial Restaurant / Wedding Invitations: Designed by groom, Dumb Eyes / Stationery Printer: United Reprographics

Related posts:

1. Woodsy Port Townsend Wedding
2. DIY Geometric Favor Boxes
3. Sodo Park Barn Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Posted under: Whimsical Weddings geometric, Jenny Jimenez, modern weddings, Seattle, Washington

From the bride, Kate: The most important thing for us was that our wedding was authentic. We didn’t want to select a package from a “wedding factory” we wanted to find a venue that felt like home & decorate it to feel like Us.

We found Melross by searching holiday rentals & were so lucky that they would rent the entire property to us. We sourced every element from the table cloths to the crockery ourselves. We also did all the decorations. We trawled blogs for ideas but mostly took inspiration from illustrations on old 1960s Buttericks sewing patterns.

All our hard work really paid off. It was a big year collecting boxes of glass jars, linens, crockery, papers & ribbons but it really was worth it. I would recommend getting as involved as you can. I think the more of yourself you put in to your wedding the more welcoming the vibe & the greater feeling of inclusion for your guests.

I walked down the aisle to Elvis’ “I Can’t Help (Falling in Love With You)” & carried a daisy bouquet. We wrote our own vows & kept them secret from each other until the day. Our friends sang “One hand, one heart” by Leonard Bernstein at the ceremony which was officiated by our Scottish celebrant. We walked back down the aisle to “Home” by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros as our guests threw rice.

After the ceremony we all followed the bagpiper down a dusty road to the marquee. We had perfect weather including a bright pink sunset just as we went in for dinner. The night ended with delicious deserts & dancing with the band until the “wee” hours of the morning. Graeme & I watched the sun come up from the house on the property.

My advice would be enjoy yourself! So many brides had told me how stressful the process is but you can make the decision not to get stressed. We had so much fun dreaming, planning & sourcing & it was an incredible day. I just wish we could do it again.

Be sure to watch the video by The Story of Us!

Wedding Vendors (New South Wales, Australia):

Wedding Venue: Melross, Kangaroo Valley / Wedding Photographer: Julian Beattie / Bride’s Dress and Veil: Karen Willis Holmes Couture / Jewelry and Shoes: Vintage / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alfred Sung and Chloe & Reese / Groom and Groomsmen’s Suits: Jack London / Makeup: Christina Cleary / Hair: Cathy King of Toni & Guy, Mosman / Wedding Flowers: Gwenda Louise at The Country Flower Shop, Bowral / Wedding Caterer and Dessert Bar: PB Catering / Wedding Music: Ulterior Motive / Marquee and Furniture Rentals: YES Events / Bunting: Victorian Station / Officiant: David Courtney / Table Linens: Burlap Tablecloth / Wedding Invitations, Paper Goods, and Videographer: The Story of Us

Related posts:

1. Backyard Napa Valley Wedding
2. Chic Santa Barbara Wedding
3. Jazz Age + Classic Wedding Ideas

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Posted under: Vintage Weddings Australia, Julian Beattie, Kariz-Matik, NSW, pink, suitcases, The Story of Us, vintage details, vintage wedding dresses, white

From the bride, Amber: Our biggest goal while planning our wedding was to have it be both a reflection of us as individuals, and as a couple. We also wanted to blend both old & new, showing our guests that just because we’re non-traditional ourselves, didn’t mean that we wanted to disconnected ties with all traditions. Lastly – we wanted the whole process and day of to be a lot of fun.

Our starting point for a theme was 1950s/1960s Nashville. John and I have visited there a couple of times together and have just fallen in love with the music scene, southern hospitality and the food! Because we both love all things vintage, this naturally played a large role in the decor.

There were a TON of DIY projects involved in this wedding. Here’s a list:
-Hand-painted burlap table runners
-Hand-dyed doily garland
-Groomsmens’ bowties made using vintage fabric
-Bridesmaids’ dress hangers and button rings
-AJ DIY Marquee sign
-Vintage style concert posters, I designed them in Photoshop and had them printed on Vistaprint
-Painted dessert stands
-Banners for around the reception
-45rpm record place cards
-Ruffled streamers
-Here comes the bride banner
-Doily poms at the end of pews
-Flags & lavender sachets for post-ceremony parade

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? If you’re doing a lot of projects yourself, it is NEVER too early to get started. Get as much done ahead of time as you can! Also – keep yourself as organized as possible. I swear by a wedding binder. It’s a great place to keep all of your contracts, to do lists, inspiration, etc.

Wedding Music:
Bridal Party Processional: Four Seasons Spring Movement, Vivaldi
Bride’s Processional: Sonata in A Major, Op. 65, No. 3, Felix Mendelssohn-Barthody
Recessional: Symphonie No. 2, Op. 13, No. 2, Charles Marie Widor
First Dance: “Picture in a Frame,” Tom Waits
Father/Daughter Dance: “In My Life,” The Beatles
Mother/Son Dance: “You’re the One,” The Black Keys

Wedding Vendors (Easton, PA):

Wedding Ceremony: Trinity Episcopal Church / Wedding Reception: Third Street Alliance / Wedding Photographer: Alison Conklin / Wedding Dress: Vera Wang for David’s Bridal / Wedding Veil: made by bride / Wedding Shoes: Discount Dance / Jewelry: Family heirlooms / Hair: Ashley’s Main Street Styles (Coopersburg, PA) / Groom’s Outfit: Express / Bow Tie: Countess Mara / DJ: Soundscape DJ Entertainment / Wedding Cake and Sweets: Bride’s Family / Wedding Invitations: Kevin Maloney / Cake Topper: Simply Silhouettes

Related posts:

1. New Year’s Eve Wedding
2. Intimate Nashville Wedding
3. Pastel Nashville Farm Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings Alison Conklin, black, Easton, lace, Nashville, Pennsylvania, rockabilly

From the bride, Megan: The pinwheels and all other decorations were made by JP and me, my sisters, and my closest friend Sarah. As graphic designers we love the tactile nature of paper and made all of our decorations aside from the flowers out of it. The cake toppers were an idea I had that JP perfected. JP made 20 cake toppers of different famous couples.

Our wedding was sentimental and joyous. Our wedding color scheme was various shades and hues of red. Our DIY projects included:
-We made tons of red pinwheels that decorated the chairs at the reception and made a huge focal wall behind the bridal parties table.
-We made our invitations, save the dates and programs.
-We sewed a booklet for each guest that served as the place card. Inside each booklet we wrote a message to the guest. We knew we wouldn’t get to talk to everyone during the day so we wanted to write them each a note thanking them.
-Jp made all the cake toppers!
-I made my garter

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Pick one thing you are going to splurge on that means the most to you and one thing you are going to let go and live without. For Jp and me, having wonderful photography to look at after our wedding was a must so we splurged on photography. While I love cake we decided that the cakes didn’t really matter to us in the grand scheme of things. This really helped us gain some perspective that everything in the planning process is not equally important and somethings you can live without.

Wedding Vendors (Milwaukee, WI):

Ceremony Venue: Holy Apostles (New Berlin) / Reception Venue: Villa Filomena / Wedding Photographer: Anna Page Photography / Wedding Dress: Jenny Packham / Wedding Shoes: Steve Madden / Rings: Britta Kauppila / Groom’s Suit: Banana Republic / Wedding Flowers: Gabriella Bras

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1. Ice Blue and Crimson Wedding Ideas
2. Green Building Brooklyn Wedding
3. Handmade Violet Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings Anna Page Photography, crimson, gray, handmade, Milwaukee, New Berlin, paper goods, pinwheel, red, Wisconsin

From the bride, Emma: As soon as Craig and I got engaged, we started planning the wedding. Actually, let’s be honest, we started talking about the aesthetic of the wedding before we got engaged. We did not want the typical ballroom wedding, which is why we chose the Aldredge House. We love the vintage feel of the house, and we loved that it felt much more personable and cozy than a typical ballroom wedding. Once we chose the venue, everything else fell in to place.

Including the venue, my four most important wedding components were my dress, the invitations, and the photographer. First, my dress was love at first sight. The minute I tried it on, I knew it was for me. I checked that off my list early in the process. Then I started researching invitations, save the dates, wedding programs, and was shocked to see how expensive paper goods can be. I talked to some people at Paper Source and read some DIY blogs and decided to tackle the invitations – letterpress and screenprinting – myself. I am now obsessed with making invitations and cards and anything involving paper. The invitations set the tone for the wedding. A lot of brides overlook invitations, but I think that they deserve a lot of thought, because they really do set the tone. We received so many compliments on our invitations with several people telling us that they were the most beautiful invitations that they have ever seen and they could not wait to see more at the wedding.

Now comes our photographer – Apryl Ann. I found her featured on Ruffled and fell in love with her vintage, whimsical, personal style. We knew she was perfect once we met her. Our photographs will last forever, and we did not want to skimp on the photographer and regret it later. We are only doing this once, and we want the photos to be perfect, and Apryl delivered. We could not be happier with Apryl and her beautiful photos of the most important time of our lives to date.







My advice to other brides is to slow down and enjoy every moment of the day. I had put a year of my life planning the wedding and was so anxious the day of that I feel like I missed out on some moments. I never saw the food display (we are separately upstairs at the reception site before being announced, which was awesome). I never saw family photos that were placed around the house for guests to view. There are guests that I have seen in photos from the wedding that I did not get to see. The night was a blur and over before we knew it, but it was the most perfect night of our lives. Enjoy every minute.

Oh, and our DJ suggested doing a last dance for the evening, and I highly recommend it! It was such a sweet moment and some of my favorite photos from the entire day are of Craig’s tux loosened and me in my Tom’s and we are in such bliss, spinning around the room.

Wedding Songs:

First dance: Mushaboom by Feist
Father and bride dance: Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Mother and groom dance: I Hope You Dance by Leanne Womack
Bride and groom last dance: Home by Edward Sharpe

Wedding Vendors (Dallas, Texas):

Photographer: Apryl Ann Photography / Ceremony: Greenland Hills United Methodist Church / Reception: Aldredge House / Cake: Frosted Art Bakery / Caterer: Food Glorious Food / Dress: Lazaro from Stardust Celebrations in Plano/ Invitations and Paper Goods: Designed by Alaina Cherup of CheerupCherup on Etsy; printed by bride / Out of Town Guest Bags: Purchased from Enviro-tote and made by bride / Bridesmaid and Groomsmen shoes: Toms / Transportation: 360 Limos / DJ: Mathias Carthen of Randal Stout Entertainment / Wedding Planner: Factor 110 from Oklahoma City / Bride Earrings: Kenneth Jay Lane

Related posts:

1. Historic Ballroom Wedding
2. Kelowna Ballroom Wedding
3. Ballroom Rhode Island Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | Posted under: Real Weddings Apryl Ann Photography, Dallas, Texas

From the bride, Camryn: I really loved the romantic, rustic, with a touch of vintage thrown in look. I guess the best way to describe the look was romantic elegance. Brian and I are not super fancy people, so we wanted it to look and feel simple, yet beautiful. Our venue was Spanish-looking, so we had to incorporate the look with the natural look of the venue. Good thing the look I loved fit naturally with the look of the venue. I loved the natural color palette. The hardest question to answer was, “What are your colors?” I didn’t have any specific colors, but I loved the natural colors: ivory, light browns, earthy greens, etc. I also loved the natural fabrics: burlap, lace, and linen, all of which were incorporated into our wedding.

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? I have tons of advice! I always read to “not sweat the small things.” For someone who is detailed oriented, that is a very hard thing to do. However, in the end, it really is about you and the person you are marrying. The only person that notices those details is you! My best advice I can give is that it is your wedding day. If you really want something, go for it. You can make a lot of it, or use your creative friends! A wedding really doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to be beautiful.

From the photographer, Jen Rodriguez: Camryn and Brian are both teachers so when they decided to tie the knot it only seemed fitting that they not only included her love for all things soft, vintage and beautiful but that there was also a nod to their teaching backgrounds. Camryn and her buddies turned their garage into wedding central creating every last detail of the wedding (with the only exception being the wooden numbers for the centerpieces) by hand. Even the wooden boxes were hand made by the bride! From the gorgeous signage, again lettered by hand, to the amazing cookie and milk dessert bar that included some of the families favorite cookie recipes, to the hand made string balls that hung from the tree above the ceremony location they did not overlook any details and it truly felt like them. But I would have to say that a highlight for me was that they hired a school bus to transport the bridal party which was so fitting since the bride and groom are both teachers!

Wedding Vendors (Santa Barbara, CA):

Venue: Rockwood Women’s Club / Wedding Photographer: Jen Rodriguez / Event Design: Adored Wedding Design / Day-of Coordination: Joy de Vivre / Wedding Flowers: Acton Country Flowers / Wedding Caterer: Command Performance Catering / Wedding Cake: MJB Cakes / Wedding Hair and Makeup: Janelle Lewis of N’Style Salon / DJ: SOS Entertainment

Related posts:

1. Chic Santa Barbara Wedding
2. Woodsy Santa Cruz Wedding
3. Rustic Romantic California Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 13 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings California, Jen Rodriguez, Santa Barbara

From the bride, Rachel: I wanted our wedding to be different from the traditional wedding because traditional just does not represent my husband and me. Both of us are pretty laid back and we wanted a wedding that allowed us to be ourselves and our guests to be themselves. In order to do this, we incorporated many things that would represent who we are. We knew that we wanted our venue to be somewhere that people would feel comfortable, so we chose a barn in which the owner allowed us to decorate and setup how we wanted. One of the other ways we incorporated a laid back feel was in our and our wedding party’s attire. I chose to design my own dress so that it would fit my style better than a dress from a bridal boutique. I’m not a seamstress by any means, so with the help of my wonderful mother, who can sew, we were able to take a plain sweet heart dress, I purchased online, and turn it into a dress that I loved. We altered the dress so that it would be more form fitting and purchased lace to create the look that I wanted.

The most unique part of my dress is that the lace is actually a curtain I purchased from K-Mart! We looked at several fabric stores, but were unable to find the pattern I wanted, so my mom began looking at lace curtains and found the exact pattern that I had in mind for my dress. I knew that I wanted to incorporate something of my grandmother’s, so I used one of her brooches and pinned it to a braided belt. For my shoes, I knew that I wanted something a little vintage-ish, so I had purchased a pair of cream oxford type heels from Modcloth which went perfectly with my dress. We also wanted my husband’s attire to match his personality, so in order to do that we actually just went through his closet and chose pieces that would match with the colors I had chosen for the wedding and to go along with a newly purchased pair of skinny jeans and tie.

As for the wedding party’s attire, I wanted a combination of the style of the wedding and each member’s style. In order to do this, we shopped for outfits that each member would want to wear after the wedding, but were in the color scheme of the wedding. As far as the decor goes, I wanted both a natural and a vintage feel. In order to do this, we interspersed lace and wood decor throughout the ceremony and reception.

For the ceremony, I made the bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages from lace, burlap, sticks, and wheat tops. I gathered sticks from my yard, and purchased the other items needed from Joann’s. My inspiration for this was wanting to be original. After looking at a lot of wedding websites, I knew that I wanted to create something that I hadn’t seen before. For the reception, in order to incorporate both the vintage and natural look, I used lace table cloths, a mixture of vintage serving platters along with vintage coffee mugs for our coffee/hot tea/hot chocolate bar and then slabs of wood that my dad cut and made into tiers for the display of the pies and our wedding cake. Our wedding cake was just a small cake since we served pies, cake pops, lemons bars, salted caramel chocolate bars, pumpkin donut holes, fruit, and trail mix to the guests. The cake topper was an estate sale find. My sister baked our cake, but we hadn’t been able to decide on a cake topper until my dad found these two little owls at an estate sale and I knew they had to be on top of our cake to represent my obsession of owl figurines, which just so happens to be a family obsession on both sides.

Other things that we did to create a wedding that represented us was to make portions of the ceremony and reception that portrayed what was important to us,and what we liked. For the ceremony, we knew that we wanted God to be represented in it. He is everything to my husband and I and we wanted to represent that to our guests. In order to do this, we wanted the unity portion of our ceremony to show that He brought us together. At first, we had a hard time deciding how to do this until Alex researched unity ceremonies and found the unity braid. The braid has three strands representing God, Alex, and me. While we braided strips of lace, burlap and yarn we had one of Alex’s favorite worship songs (Divine Romace by Phil Wickham) playing and then once we braided the belt we asked the guests to join us for a moment of worship until the song ended.

For the reception, we had family and friends perform songs for us to dance to. As a surprise to me, Alex, my brother-in-laws and sweet friend surprised me with a performance of “Kiss the Girl” from my favorite Disney movie “The Little Mermaid.” It was the best surprise ever and really made our reception represent us.

Wedding Vendors (Lebanon, TN):

Wedding Venue: Private Residence / Wedding Photographer: Ulmer Studios / Wedding Dress: Made by Bride / Bride’s Shoes: ModCloth / Lace Bouquets and Boutonnieres: made by bride / Wedding Caterer: Kendra Uhl, sister of the bride / Officiant: James Ulmer, father of the bride

Related posts:

1. Tennessee Farm Wedding
2. Homespun Tennessee Wedding
3. Knoxville Tennessee Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings barn, DIY, gray, handmade, lace, Lebanon, rustic weddings, Tennessee, Ulmer Studios

From the bride, Nikki: My vision for the day was one that was relaxed and fun, with a hint of rustic whimsy, and a mix of modern and traditional. My main inspiration for these projects came from hours of studying the visual displays at Anthropologie and of course, wedding blogs! The project I was most excited to make was the “Nikki & Derek” made of nails and yarn, which is now hanging in our home! The area I was the most stumped on was the ceremony decor, until I came across a blog post that reminded me of an Anthropologie display made of coffee filters. It was everything I wanted in a project: inexpensive, easy and high impact! Lastly, when Derek proposed, he used big wooden letters to spell out “Marry Me,” and I really wanted to incorporate those somehow. A fresh coat of paint to match the wedding colors, and on the stage they went! It was a perfect centerpiece for the dance floor.

My first piece of advice to future brides is to create a list of projects, and then prioritize the most important to you. You won’t get to do everything on your to-do list, but if you select a handful to focus on, it will prevent you from having a ton of half-finished projects. My second piece of advice is to delegate. Trust your friends and family! They likely have talents that you never knew existed. Most importantly, keep your groom involved. Find out what aspects of the wedding mean a lot to him and let him handle those. It’s a good reminder that you know the wedding is about him too, and you have delegated tasks to lighten your load. It’s a win-win! Above all, soak up every minute of your day. It’s true what they say, it will be over before you know it!

Wedding Vendors (Montgomery, TX):

Wedding Venue: Stonebrook Hall at Amber Springs / Wedding Photographer: Half Orange Photography / Wedding Flowers: HEB Blooms / Wedding Dress: Enzoani / Wedding Shoes: Steve Madden / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alexia Designs / Wedding Cake: Kristin Spicer / Wedding Invitations: Minted / Program Designer: Haley McMichael / DJ: Klentzman Entertainment / Videographer: Simmons Visual Arts

Related posts:

1. Nostalgic Dripping Springs Wedding
2. Eco-friendly Handmade Wedding
3. Handmade Cape Town Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 15 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings Amber Springs, Half Orange Photography, Houston, Minted, Montgomery, pink, succulents, Texas, yellow