Handcrafted Finger Lakes Wedding
Never have ‘vintage’ and ‘rustic’ merged more beautifully than in this beauty of a wedding from Forged in the North (formerly Ryan & Heidi Studios). Delanie and Kayle chose a timeless color palette of greens, pinks, and silver to decorate their wedding day, and we think it worked perfectly against the barn backdrop to bring a bit more of a romantic touch to an equally romantic day.
From the bride, Delanie: We visited the wedding venue for the first time on a hot August evening and could just picture ourselves surrounded by family and friends having the best night ever… luckily what we envisioned and more came true. Kayle is a timber framer, so having a barn reception made complete sense and the venue comprising an old farm house allowed for the vintage inspiration. The barn space could have easily ended up too country for our tastes or “over decorated”, so we had to evaluate our decor carefully and stick to the vintage and rustic theme. All of the center pieces were old silver teapots and borrowed vintage glassware collected by Kayle’s mother. My mother helped to obtain and frame the wedding photos of great grand-parents to parents that we proudly displayed. I work for a museum and like to support handmade products and artists. We knew we wanted to stick to a handcrafted feel and not use lots of newly purchased products. For example, we used an arrow in our invitations and save the dates, so the arrows we used for the table numbers were made by Navajo artists from a vendor at the museum. Ultimately though, we wanted our guests to have a fantastic time. We hoped this plan would alleviate the rush of going from the ceremony to a reception and create an atmosphere with lots of dancing, music in the barn and drinks on the lawn. Luckily, the weather also cooperated for a perfect evening, we even had a full moon.
Flower recipe: I knew I wanted lots of flowers and greenery, so being able to get married in July was fortunate. Kayle’s mother orchestrated the arrangement of all our centerpieces and bouquets. We used white roses, pink roses, hydrangea, peonies, lambs ear, wild roses, tiger lilies, baby’s breath, smoke tree leaves and palms. If you are ambitious, creative and on a budget, take some floral arranging classes prior to the wedding with your friends and family, you may find you could do some of the arrangements yourself.
We did not want to be limited to a color palette that would be hard to execute so we decided to stick loosely to Greens, Pinks and Silver. Everything else really just coordinated to those choices. I wanted my MOH to choose the dresses for the bridesmaids, and since we found green dresses that became the primary color inspiration. Our biggest DIY project was the Timber Frame Arbor that Kayle built and designed. Kayle works for his father’s company, Settlement Post and Beam, and they handcrafted a beautiful backdrop for our ceremony. We ended up using silk flowers on the arbor due to the intensity of the sun at that time of year. Another fun DIY project was the BAR sign. We used signboard, plywood and patio lights to create one of our favorite decorations of the wedding.
Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Don’t worry if your bridal party is uneven or mixed gender or too big or too small. Your bridal party encompass the people who will make your wedding weekend more fun and really put you at ease during the chaos, so do whatever you want. Decide on a theme and stick to it. It is easy to get distracted by other beautiful weddings on Pinterest and wedding blogs, if you don’t make a decision you will drive yourself crazy. Really consider hiring a wedding coordinator if your venue doesn’t provide one and spend ample amount of time on the schedule of events.
View all images from this wedding in the gallery
Wedding Music:
Processional: “All of My Days,” Alexi Murdoch (sung by Kayle’s cousin Dallas)
Recessional: “The Valley,” The Oh Hellos
First Dance: “Hold You in My Arms,” Ray LaMontagne
Second Dance: “At Last,” Etta James
From the photographers, Ryan and Heidi of Forged in the North : Kayle and Delanie met and fell in love at Penn State. It’s no surprise to why they were a perfect match. Both of them have huge heart, a passion for creating beautiful things and being surrounded by nature. Their wedding venue, Gratitude & Grace, is tucked away in the finger lakes. A unique private residence with a renovated 1870’s farm house and barn, basically a photographer’s playground. Kayle hand cut and assembled the beautiful arbor that him and his bride got married under. Delanie LOVES details, which was clear to see in all the creative decor elements that she and her family completely DIY’d. Even the floral centerpieces! Not to mention they homemade the most incredible pies for dessert. Everything from their day was absolute magic from Delanie’s BHLDN dress to the outdoor bar to the field of gold that we shot them in. They danced the night away with family and friends with fireflies flickering in the fields and a super moon overhead. A perfect summer affair.
Wedding Location: Ithaca, NY / Photographer: Forged in the North / Venue: Gratitude and Grace / Wedding Dress: BHLDN “Omelia” / Wedding Shoes: L’Amour Des Pieds “Irena” / Hair Accessory: H&M / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Eliza J via Nordstrom / Groom’s Suit: J. Crew / Desserts: Homemade pies / Ceremony Musician: Family Members / DJ: Bulldog Sounds / Copper Cooler: CopperBox / Wedding Invitations and Signage: Bride and groom