WEDDING BLOG

This Retro Ranch Wedding is a Little Bit Country, a Little Bit Rock n Roll, and a Whole Lotta Lovely

August 20, 2019 | Junebug Weddings

With vintage gowns, western wear, and retro colors, Emma and Austin’s ranch wedding was a prime example of how to combine two totally different styles into one cohesive and stunning design! The couple chose the ranch location for its sentimental value and transformed it to fit their unique vibe. Their outdoor ceremony was framed by antique rugs and a modern circular backdrop, and their barn reception was filled top to bottom with vintage and slightly boho pieces. But the overall vibe was whimsy at its finest and gave us such a clear picture of the couple’s individual styles. (Plus, the groom’s ceremony entrance was one of the coolest we’ve seen!) We’re not sure how she did it, but Hana Alsoudi Photography managed to capture this couple’s true essence in every single frame!

The Couple:

Emma and Austin

The Wedding:

Red Hawk Ranch, Kansas City, Missouri

The most important part of wedding planning was finding a way to merge Austin’s old west, rock and roll style with my eclectic, vintage, and femininity in a way that was authentic to us. I dwelt in the details for sure! I also wanted it to feel more like an art installation/living space and less like a “wedding.” Cohesion, color, texture, and mood were my motives!

While dreaming of the day I expected it to be a serious occasion. The truth is, it was the most exciting, exhilarating, and hilarious day! From Austin surprising us all with a fashionably late entrance on an old Suzuki motorcycle, to my vail getting caught on a cactus the second I got to the altar, to both of us struggling with our shoes, laughing the whole way through the feet washing, and ending up barefoot for the rest of the ceremony.

The memory that stands out the most is our first kiss. I had antique glass bells on the chairs of our family members and instructed them to ring the bells during the first kiss. It was like a fairytale moment and took my breath away. The way Hana captured every moment lets us remember all of the butterflies, deep breaths, laughs, and moments of serenity.

For decor, estate sales are the way to go! We found almost all of our decor with the help of my mother every weekend at estate sales. It’s the best place to find unique, antique, and inexpensive pieces. Also, having a donut truck (or food truck), and having a midday wedding allows for less money to be spent on food and more on what you want

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Hana Alsoudi Photography
Ceremony Venue – Red Hawk Ranch
Catering – Cowtown Mini Donuts
Videography – Two Hue Creative
Stationery – Zola
Hair and Makeup Artist – Paisley & Stripe
Wedding Dress – Donna Dress Shop
Bridal Accessories – Nordstrom
Bridesmaids’ Apparel – Free People and ZARA
Groom’s Apparel – Rockmount
Rentals – Sky’s the Limit
Transportation –
Favors – For Your Party

Congratulations to Emma and Austin, and a special thanks to Hana Alsoudi Photography for sharing this incredible ranch wedding with Junebug! Love this unique bride and groom style? These country music lovers combined western fashions and southern vintage flair for their Buxton Hall wedding!

This Romantic Neutral Wedding Palette Highlighted the New Orleans Charm of Race & Religious

August 19, 2019 | Junebug Weddings

champagne sage green white

Between the neutral wedding colors, the poolside vows, the greenery-forward decor, and the DIY donut board, Chelsea and Garrett’s New Orleans wedding at Race & Religious was as charming as it gets! The couple created elegance in its simplest and most authentic form, infusing their own brand of romance into every detail. Their soft, simple, and sweet bride and groom styles were total summer wedding style goals, as well! Rebecca Taylor Photography didn’t miss a beat in capturing this special day, from the bride’s extra fun getting ready moments with her girls to the couple’s spontaneous late-night dip in the pool!

The Couple:

Chelsea and Garrett

The Wedding:

Race & Religious, New Orleans, Louisiana

The most important factor to us planning our wedding was that everyone had an absolute blast. We wanted a wedding that had tidbits of New Orleans charm but, more importantly, we wanted to make sure everyone danced, connected, and just let loose for the night to celebrate with us!

The most memorable part of the day was the time I got to spend alone with my new husband. We ate dinner away from everyone else so we could have a private moment — I would recommend this to any bride-to-be! And I had a letter that was supposed to be delivered to Garrett 30 minutes before I walked down the aisle, but that didn’t end up happening in the chaos of the day. Still, it was such a special moment for us to share as he read it while we were together and we just basked in the joy of being a newly married couple!

Garrett is a 6’6”, a certified giant. I’m 5’4”. I thought it would be fun to poke fun at the height difference…so I had my maid of honor hide a stool under her chair during the ceremony. When the officiant said, “You may now kiss the bride,” I said, “Wait!” My maid of honor then handed me the stool to step on. Just my little way of putting my silliness into the ceremony! We also surprised ourselves by jumping in the pool at the end of the night! We did NOT plan on doing that.

My best advice is to allow your partner to help as much as possible with wedding planning. I couldn’t have done it without Garrett! We each took the elements that we were better at and ran with them. For me, that was the aesthetics of everything in the wedding from the venue to the flowers to the outfits to the invites and beyond, the bigger vision of the feel we wanted, the DIY of the signs, and anything that required a creative eye. For Garrett, it was the logistics, the scheduling, the bookings, and the timeline. (Fun fact: I never looked at our Knot website once. He managed the whole thing!) Of course, we also made lots of mutual decisions, such as the music, the food, and the venue. But it was nice to split the duties and not feel the pressure all on one person.

The Wedding Team:

Photography – Rebecca Taylor Photography
Venue – Race & Religious
Floral Design – La Paris Floral Designs
Videography – Nathan Willis

Congratulations to Chelsea and Garrett, and a special thanks to Rebecca Taylor Photography for sharing this beautiful neutral wedding! Love this subtle color palette? Take a peek at this ultra glam neutral-colored wedding at Solitaire Homestead in Western Australia!

This Mid-Century Palm Springs Wedding at The Lautner Compound is Straight Out of the ’60s

August 18, 2019 | Junebug Weddings

orange tan yellow

Rachel and Michael could not have chosen a more perfect backdrop for their mid-century modern than The Lautner Compound in Palm Springs! The retro vibes of the venue laid the framework for a stunning display of ’60s-inspired florals created by Walden Floral LA using a palette of dusty yellows, oranges, and taupe. Rachel and Michael also added their own personal touches with DIY-ed invitations and paper goods, modern signage, and table runners that gave their tablescapes a totally unique look. Their planner from After The Engagement pulled all the pretty details together for a loungy, mod vibe that was the epitome of California cool. We’re completely obsessed with every detail and are grateful The Hendrys captured every moment so vividly!

The Couple:

Rachel and Michael

The Wedding:

The Lautner Compound, Palm Springs, California

The two most important things to us in planning the wedding were that it was a beautiful space and that the event ran smoothly so our guests would be able to be comfortable and have a great time!

We personalized the ceremony with our choice of processional and recessional songs. We also opted out of any wedding party. It was just us! Additionally, we had our close friend Jon officiate. We did a few pre-wedding interviews with him and he wrote such a wonderful, touching and funny ceremony for us. Having a friend perform the ceremony definitely made the whole thing feel more personal and special to us.

Choose your vendors wisely and then trust them to do a wonderful job! We ended up getting so many special and unique touches by giving our talented vendors pretty open and loose direction and really trusting them and their experience.

We gave our guests a custom gold and black lapel pin of our cactus wedding graphic. Designed by Everett Pelayo our very good friend who designed all our wedding graphics for the invitations and event. It had R+M 05.11.19 engraved on the back. We wanted to give something that was fun and unique but not overly “wedding branded.” It was important to us that it be something that everyone could have and use in their everyday life that was memorable of the event but not specifically recognizable as something from a wedding.

The most memorable part of the day for us was the toasts after dinner. We opted to have only friends and siblings give toasts, 6 total. We asked everyone to participate a few weeks in advance so they could prepare and everyone wrote such wonderful speeches! They were funny and touching, there was even a poem. It made us feel so special.