Handcrafted Philadelphia Wedding

We sure made up for such a short week with beautiful weddings filled to the brim with inspiration! Wrapping up the week is Veronika and Bryan’s DIY wedding, shot by Carina of Love Me Do Photography. They did everything themselves – from the beautiful table runners made out of vintage doilies to their paper goods.

We wanted to tailor the wedding to exactly what fit us, as a couple, best. We omitted anything that we didn’t want to do (such as a bouquet/garter toss or first dance). We wrote the ceremony, including excerpts from the velveteen rabbit (I’m a huge fan of children’s books) and the poem “I like you”. We’re both huge beer fans, so we included a variation of the wine-box ceremony, using beer instead. I wanted a huge dance party for most of the night, and we definitely had that; my dad and stepmom didn’t leave the floor the entire night, and i got to see my 78 year-old grandmother dancing to Salt ‘n Pepa. Our family and friends played a huge role in the day, and it made the entire experience so special to Bryan and I.

Almost everything for the wedding was DIY. All of the paper goods (menus, favor tags, drink dispenser tags, program fans, guest book table instructions, sparkler wrappers) were all designed and printed in my home. Bryan made all of the drink concentrates (grapefruit-mint and blackberry) and peach iced tea. With the help of two friends, I cut, ironed, sewed, and goccoed 100 napkins. The 250 cocktail napkins were also goccoed with the same heart that we used on the dinner napkins. I collected vintage frames to use for the table numbers, and using chalkboard paint, made the backs into chalkboards. the bridesmaids hair flowers were made by a friend, as was my garter. Bryan constructed the entire bar (and I sewed the bunting!) and arch that we stood under during the ceremony. We also made the photobooth backdrop, and used our own cameras, lighting equipment, and computers. We made the cake-stands out of milk glass plates and candleholders, as well as wood plaques and branches.

With the help of my mother and grandmother and friend, I collected over 300 doilies and sewed them together to make the runners. They were starched and ironed a couple of days before the wedding. All of the jars for the flowers, the typewriter, milk glass and birdcages, were found by me through craigslist, flea-markets, and countless hours of searching thrift stores. I also found the various tables that we used for cupcakes and the ceremony at thrift stores and flea markets, antiquing them to better fit the feel of the wedding.

I asked each of the girls to pick a light pink dress to wear, and whatever color gold or silver shoes they wanted. for presents, I found each of them a white vintage beaded clutch (1920’s – 1950’s) and a beaded necklace. They looked absolutely stunning!

My advice for brides planning to arrange their own flowers is to take however long you expected for florals to take, and multiply that by 3. it took about 11 hours in 1 day to do all of the flowers, including 7 boutonnieres, 4 bouquets, and 4 large arrangements – as well as approximately 220 bottles and mason jars. Also, be sure that you have a cold room to do the arranging; we don’t have central air, so this was a problem. Make sure you buy a stripper (to get rid of thorns and leaves) and have lots of trash bags ready. Try to stay organized with tubs of water; group the flowers by color or size. I chose many different types of flowers/greenery, but stuck with the same color scheme so everything seemed a bit rustic.

Wedding Vendors (Philadelphia, PA):

Venue: Colonial Dames / Photographer: Carina Romano of Love Me Do Photography / Wedding Dress: Jim Heljm / Wedding shoes: Bagdley Mishka Randee / Garter: handmade / Hair flowers for bridesmaids: Bernadette Paolucci / Bridesmaid Dresses: Anthropologie and Express / Groom’s suit: Indochino / Cufflinks: Halloween / Flowers: DIY, purchased wholesale from Pennock Florals / Cupcakes: Flying Monkey / Officiant: Reverend Pamela Brehm / Caterer: Shackamaxon Catering / Hair: Lena Guard / Makeup: Aleksandra Ambrozy / Bluegrass Band: Wanamaker Lewis Band / Pint Glass Favors: Custom Glassware