Jes + Caleb’s Indie Wedding Part II
On to Part II of Jes + Caleb’s big day shot by For You Love Me…
More from the bride, Jes:
I’m the kind of girl that always has a dress in my head I can never find. If we wanted to wait longer than 3 months I could of had it made, but it was more important for me to marry my love than to have the perfect dress. My idea was to have a knee-length dress that was simple, modern, and had sleeves. Impossible to find! Eventually I decided it would be done as a two-piece. The skirt and camisole were from J.Crew. The silk-organza blouse was by Boss Black at Saks. My hair and makeup were done by my close friends Laura and Monica. Laura also sewed together my hairpiece from some vintage netting and felt flowers we made.
Caleb wore a button down shirt from Express and a suit from ZARA. His boutonnière was two paper flowers that he made.
We knew we wanted to get married in Lancaster, PA because it was a central location for us and our families. We also knew we wanted everyone seated at their dinner tables during the ceremony so we wanted a venue that would give us an open, modern looking space. Progressive Galleries in downtown Lancaster was perfect. It was a big room with awesome lighting and hardwoods and the staff was very willing to move artwork to accentuate the ceremony.
Practically everything was DIY! The one that took the longest was the escort/seating plan. Caleb found vintage maps of six cities that had played a part in our relationship and designed table markers. I wrote up the “City-Story” for each map so that people could visit different tables and learn some interesting facts about our past year together. A matching seating chart at the door directed travelers to their destinations for the evening.
Caleb and I designed and printed our programs on mailing tags. Then we wired them together with a ticket for our Guestbook Photo Booth and a favor tag that told people where to go to get a handpicked playlist of music from our wedding. A bundle of tags were at each place setting. It was literally 3 straight nights of crafting but so worth it.
All of the flowers at the wedding were paper. One of my favorite parts of the preparations for the wedding was gathering my girlfriends and the women in our families and having a Flower Making Day. I got some free books from a thrift store, black and brown card stock (even dryer sheets!) and we made all of the flowers by hand. Caleb even joined in. The flowers in my hair and for the Mother/Father boutonnières were made from felt. My bouquet was a small bundle of twigs with paper and felt flowers. My “Something Old” was a little collection sewing pins from the matriarchs in my family that have passed away. They held the ribbon around the bottom of the bouquet.
I insisted on having our desserts catered by Flying Monkey Patisserie in Philly’s Reading Terminal Market. They did our Espresso Bean mini cake and 5 dozen cupcakes with flavors like hazelnut praline and peppermint candy. In addition, both of our moms baked a batch of cookies. Mine did Oatmeal Scotchies, and his did Chocolate dipped Mint Chocolate Chips. We served dessert with coffee and Tazo teas.
By Far, my FAVORITE DIY was the Guestbook Photo Booth. In my own wedding-blog research I saw how a lot of photographers did a back drop “photo booth” with wedding guests and liked the idea. However, we didn’t want to waste a photographer on taking those shots all night. So thank goodness for Caleb, who is so inventive with computers. He rigged up a monitor, camera, computer and remote so our guests could take their own photo and actually see it as it was taken. We supplied them with a white board for notes and names and the result was pure, candid hilarity. It was a great way to get guest photos and something that entertained them during the evening.
Don’t think that because you have to cut costs in a certain area that it has to come off looking cheap. Our candle holders were little glass jars that our moms collected and our table cloths were cut the day of from a bolt of beautiful, heavy fabric we found for a dollar a yard. It can be done without blowing ten grand! Just keep it simple.
Wedding Vendors (Lancaster, PA):
Photography and Videography: For You Love Me/Venue: Progressive Galleries/Desserts: Flying Monkey Patisserie /Catering: Bride, Groom, Family & Friends/Invitations: Target/Music: Groom/Flowers: Paper flowers by Bride, Groom, Family & Friends/Bride’s Dress: Separates by J.Crew and Boss Black from Saks/Groom’s Attire: Suit from Zara, Shirt from Express/Wedding Ring: David Yurman
I love, love, love the table numbers. The map images they used are very cool, I wonder where they got them.
I love the table numbers and I love love love the bride’s ensemble! That bright blue flower in her hair is really amazing in contrast! Adorable wedding!
Way to go with that round two! I love that she got exactly what she wanted, even without the budget–that should be a lesson for all of us brides to be, I hate feeling like I’m spending so much [of my parents] money– it should be all about the couple, family and friends.
So freaking amazing, love the Turnpike table maps.
What an amazing wedding setting! I love it when people think outside of the box when it comes to their wedding. It really adds to an experience that nobody will forget!
I love the blue contrasts! The handmade flowers are a gorgeous touch. Would love a ‘how-to’ on them:)
Cute, personal and stylish – wow!
I love the fact that the flowers are made of paper and the city maps telling the story.
Fantastic creativity! We want to do something similar with a DIY photobooth at our wedding… any tips you can offer would be much appreciated!
Oh me, oh my! I love everything….especially the table cloth fabric! I wonder if the bride is willing to sell….?
Amazing pictures. I really felt like I was at the wedding. Love the blue flowers …great contrast with all white.
Gorgeous wedding!! I’m also interested in tips for a DIY photo booth. My main question is how you got the remote to work.
Beautiful! I was so busy oohing and ahing over all lovely details that I almost didn’t notice this took place a few blocks from my home! How wonderful to see a such great wedding in little ol’ Lancaster. Thanks for giving me hope about my own budget wedding next year.
To tell you the truth Leigh, I have no friggen clue how Caleb rigged that thing up. I think he downloaded a piece of software that linked the remote to the Canon. If he were here i’d ask him, but he’s out. sorry!
Stephanie, already gone!!! haha. Family took it from the space. Along with anything else they could carry. But we bought it at a place in Philly called Jomar. So Awesome.
You two are the cutest most romantic wedding i have ever seen.
Beautiful wedding! I also had a very small budget to work with, but the bride did a MUCH better job then me! I would really love to learn how to make those beautiful paper flowers!!
Wonderful! Thanx for sharing this beautiful source of inspiration! I wonder how to make those paper flowers. Are they from a tutorial online by any chance?
Hi Lelly,
Here’s a tutorial we posted a few years ago: https://ruffledblog.com/2008/10/paper-rose-tutorial/
Hope this helps!