I personally witnessed Renna and Josh’s sweet “I do’s” in late spring and knew right away that I wanted to share it with our readers! While the weather was overcast, the lush grounds of Barr Mansion created the perfect space for friends and family to celebrate these two lovebirds. A full DIY wedding right down to the bride’s customized design of the dress and the groom’s handmade guestbook, this Texas affair is beyond perfection – enjoy!
The Couple: Renna and Josh
The Wedding: 5.25.2014 – Barr Mansion, Austin, Texas
The Goals: Being that Austin was our meeting place and our wedding brought family and friends from near and far, we wanted to give a nod to our Texas roots, and display the eclectic beauty that is Austin. We wanted a consistent theme that matched our personalities as old souls. As such, we wanted a setting that blended old and new in a very elegant and romantic way. In the fonts we selected for our invitations and other materials, we staggered old script and modern/new-age fonts that set the stage for the Barr Mansion style.
The Look: My dress was modified quite a bit from its original design. In searching for the perfect dress, I found the best solution was to customize my own. However, watching the seamstress take a sharp pair of scissors to my dress was an unnerving sight. The end result was a dress that exceeded my expectations!
The Design: Our colors played on our romantic theme with soft blush pinks and pops of green succulent colors bordered by chocolate brown. We incorporated these colors into the accents of the wedding party attire and allowed for actual succulents and flowers to bring in a natural feel. Josh made our Texas “guestbook” himself with reclaimed wood he found and painted. We also made the signature drink signs, flip flop bins, the table assignments, and purchased the LOVE marquee.
Incorporating the groom’s British heritage, Jenna and Ben’s rustic DIY wedding from photographer Rachel Solomon is such fun and full of love. Whether it is the bride’s “I Love British Boys” tee or the page boys sporting tweed caps and suspenders, this original wedding is sure to make anyone smile!
The Goals: We wanted our wedding to be unique to us of course, and because Ben is from the UK, we also tried to incorporate as many British traditions into it as possible. We had a lot of guests coming from out of town, and Ben’s best man flew out all the way from the UK. So we also had to accommodate them and make it extra special.
The Design: We just wanted a cool, rustic and somewhat natural wedding for the guests. Coming up with ideas wasn’t difficult, but at the same time, it was hard to single out exactly what we wanted. We made almost everything we had for our decor. All in all, it was perfect. Once you’ve put in all of that work to create that personal look, and you stand back and see it all put together – that did it for us. Almost every guest told us that they had never been to a wedding that reflected a couple’s personality and captured their essence in such a perfect manner. It was a huge success.
The Look: I have my own style, and that’s what I set out to find – something that was unmistakably ME. I knew that when I saw the dress that I wanted, that would be it, and it was. When I found the perfect Vera Wang dress on a sale rack, I tried it on and everybody just groaned. It was a monstrous thing that didn’t fit me at all, but when it was all pinned into place to fit me, there was no doubt which dress I’d be getting married in. It was perfect. I wanted Ben to cry when he first saw me at the end of the aisle. That’s the moment that every girl dreams of, right? That’s what I was looking for, and boy did I get it.
The Moments: There were so many special moments. Everything was perfect. The ceremony itself was sublime. There was not a single dry eye from any of the guests. I suppose the most precious moment was when we read our vows to each other. They showed our complete devotion to one another; the silence as we read them, and the faces in the crowd said it all. It was a moment of utter bliss.
The Advice: At the end of the day, it is YOUR day. Let your day reflect its true meaning: your love and unity. Finally, don’t scrimp on your photographer. Our’s was the best that we could have possibly found. Rachel Solomon was an absolute diamond. Her style was perfect for what we wanted, and she was so easy to work with.
The Wedding: 07.20.12 – Spruce Meadows – Alberta, Canada
What three adjectives best describe your wedding?Elegant, Fresh and Crafty!
What was your wedding color palette?Blush Rose, Yellow and Gold
What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day?We knew that we wanted our wedding to represent a feeling of who we are as a couple; creative, crafty, intimate, easy-going and happy! We both felt that a couples wedding day is truly a celebration and wanted our family and friends to be able to do just that, celebrate! Honestly, my engagement ring was where we got most of our initial inspiration. It is elegant and classy, yet simple and minimal. We both realised those qualities would make the perfect wedding. Our venue really captured the elegance we were going for with its floor to ceiling windows and chandeliers. To incorporate the unadorned feeling we wanted, we chose white chairs and white tablecloths, and the majority of colour came from the florals and little details. Our colour scheme was blush, yellow and glitter gold, is what really brought out that happy and bright feeling we wanted our guest to experience. Little DIY wedding touches like craft paper album favors and seating tags brought out the natural aspect of who we are. Elegant, yet simple with crafty aspects? Even we weren’t sure it could be pulled off!
Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding?The stolen, unplanned moments like sneaking away from dinner to take photos with our daughter. Or, after our sparkler send off we turned around and ran back in because we weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to all of our loved ones. Even though we had made an exact timeline of the day, so many things were late or early and that was okay! We have told so many friends that have recently gotten engaged that the best thing they can do is have their photos taken before the wedding. It also meant that we got to do a first look before the ceremony. A last moment together. We thought seeing each other for the first time in front of everyone would be so overwhelming. And we both agreed that when the couple rushes off to take photos afterwards everything is hurried and the day broken up. That was definitely the best decision we made!
What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today?Don’t lose sight of what your wedding day truly represents. After all the planning, appointments and long nights, the day will arrive and you owe it to you and your husband to bask in all your hard work and accept that not everything will be as you imagined it. If, at the end of the night, you drive away married to your best friend and man of your dreams, everything went perfectly.
Today’s sweet DIY wedding comes from a crafty bride and determined groom, Irene and Walt. Walt revived the oft-neglected art of courtship and spent months wooing Irene with random acts of sweetness including pineapple deliveries to her front porch and her favorite candy Fed-Exed to her office. Originally hiking buddies, she said she made him “climb even steeper trails to my heart on his hike up romance mountain“. Eventually reaching the peak, Walt’s reward was a totally smitten Irene! The two have been sharing adventures ever since.
The Goals: Irene and Walter always dreamed that their wedding would include a natural outdoor setting; rustic, vintage touches; warmth, laughter and serenity. The couple fell in love with the Condor’s Nest Ranch for its picture-perfect setting, gorgeous big red barn, and view of their beloved San Diego. Also on their wish list was a reception dinner filled with comfort-food and a hot grill, which they complemented with signature cocktails named for the Condor’s Nest and it’s beautiful barn.
The Design: Irene and Walt loved crafting and creating for the wedding, and it evolved into a huge DIY project for them. They now have special memories of fun weekends spent cutting, gluing, planting, and folding with their wedding party. The couple used pinwheels as a design element that ran through the whole event, from a cheery greeting for guests to aisle decor and centerpiece accents. They love recycling and re-purposing, so they used well-loved blackboards, mason jars, and buttons as decorative accents. Irene spent a lot of time finding the perfect vintage-inspired fabrics to cover the hay bales that the guests sat on for the ceremony in lieu of chairs.
The Look: Irene’s Cymbeline wedding dress was romantic and fun, with a modern silhouette and ruffled hi-low hem that provided a view of her darling bright yellow shoes. She accessorized with a sparkly Twigs and Honey headband and beautiful yellow wildflowers. Her maids wore sunny yellow dresses and more ruffles! Walt’s cotton plaid tie and summer suit perfectly complemented Irene’s casually sophisticated look.
The Moments: Irene and Walt treasure the photos and videos of their wedding, because the most amazing day of their lives just flew by so quickly. Laughter and joy from their loved ones seemed to surround them and they loved surprising people with all of the thoughtful touches they had created for the day, which included a fantastic first dance performance…a hip-hop styled mash-up of J. Lo’s “On The Floor” and Frank Sinatra. The quirky touches Irene and Walt added to a sophisticated event were just so perfectly them.
The Pros: To learn more about all the professionals that helped bring Irene and Walt’s vision to life, please visit their page in our Real Wedding Library!
Irene and Walter, thank you so much for sharing your sunny, fun day with us! You did an extraordinary job creating a day that was both beautiful and meaningful. Best wishes in your new life together!
Please check out Irene and Walt’s Real Wedding Page for a complete list of all of the talented professionals that helped make this day amazing!
We have another take on a fun DIY-filled outdoor wedding for you today, and this time it’s the darling couple Amanda and Brett who were married at the Hendry House in Arlington, VA. These two turned their DIY projects into reality with lots of help from friends and family!
To create their wedding color palette of yellow, rouge, and gray, Amanda and her good friend Danyce spent hours sewing flag banners by hand one early spring day over several glasses of wine. Then her mother made all of the pennant flags and napkin ties with the leftover scraps. “We actually only used 3 yards of fabric for the entire banner design! Striped table runners were sewn out of fabric from IKEA, and they used old vintage suitcases and L-O-V-E letters that they found at the Brooklyn Flea market as accent pieces.
The flower arrangements completed the colorful and sweet look and were all designed by Amandas mother. The flowers were presented in either buckets, a collection of old vases, or mason jars. My mother is a superwoman, she even made my bouquet and the corsages and boutonnieres for the guys!
Supporting small, local craftsmen and artists, Amanda purchased personalized Heart Shaped Seed Bombs from Seed Bombz on Etsy and even purchased Bretts ring through Jewelers Danny and Amy on Etsy as well!
Beautiful bride Julie is a wedding photographer, so when it came time to plan her own wedding to fiancé Adam, photography was high on the priority list. So high in fact that having just one photographer was never going to happen. Between their lead photographer, Antigonish, Nova Scotia’s Eunice Montenegro, Eunice’s second shooter Christina Craft, currently based in Costa Rica, and Julie and Adam’s other wedding photographer friends who snapped away all day long – Stacey Hedman, Kira Nelson and Tessa Perkins – this fun, camping-inspired, DIY wedding was covered from beginning to end!
When you imagined your wedding day, what was most important to you?It was so important to us to keep the whole wedding authentic and true to ourselves. Of course we wanted our guests to have a great time (THAT WAS SOOOO IMPORTANT!) but at the end of the day, we focused on what was meaningful to us as a couple. We certainly broke tradition in many areas and don’t regret a thing. So many people told us after the event that our wedding changed their idea of what a wedding could be. I think that’s pretty cool!
What kind of wedding ceremony did you have? Our ceremony was very casual. It was outdoors with a great view of the Rockies – rain or shine…and we had a bit of it all, weather-wise. We incorporated a few of our own twists and rituals into the standard ceremony that our commissioner offered.
1. We walked in together! We had already done a first look earlier in the day and I think its only fair that 1/2 the eyes were on Adam too. When we walked into the ceremony together through the woods, everyone started cheering as we got closer. I have been to way more than 100 weddings and I have never experienced that. It was just SO amazing to have all these incredible people who had traveled from far and wide cramped into that tiny corner of the forest to witness our nuptials.
2. We did an honoring of the parents. Both sets of mums and dads are still together. Adam and I have both grown up with such an amazing example of marriage and we really wanted to acknowledge this. Some people give roses to each of them, but we just gave them a big hug.
3. We did a wine box/love letter ceremony. We added our own twist on this tradition, we decided to add a menu to the box. Adam has been a chef for much of our relationship, so we picked our favorite meal that he cooked us this past summer and paired the bottle of wine with the entree. On our fifth anniversary we’ll open the box, he’ll cook the dinner and we’ll enjoy the wine. By then our culinary tastes may have become more sophisticated, but it will remind us of the summer we were married!
4. Lastly, we didn’t have a wedding party, so to chose our legal witnesses for the registry, we did a witness lottery. We had each guest fill out a slip with their name on it upon arrival and we each drew a name. It was fun! Adam’s mum won a spot, as well as one of our photographer friends, Kira.
Tell us about your reception and all your DIY projects! Our reception was right there at the campsite where we were married and everyone stayed. Thankfully there was a great picnic shelter with a wood stove because it got chilly and very, very stormy later in the night. Two days prior to the wedding I was at peace with the fact that we very well could have a cold and wet outdoor wedding so I started calling all my local friends to round up tarps. We got our hands on what I think was nearly 1000 square feet of colourful coverway more than we needed! I couldnt believe the amazing tarp collage that was constructed over our dinner area!
Our friends and family did so many special things – the flowers were grown by family, wine was made by Adam’s parents, my sister made an amazing playlist that we played at the wedding and gave out as wedding favors too. My aunts sewed the tablecloths, napkins and bunting. Big red lanterns and white lights were donated to us by some of my past clients. Myself and my mother-in-law gathered dozens and dozens of beautiful mismatched vintage vases for the flowers. I made chalkboards out of old frames and re-purposed cardboard for signage and little notes around the site. My aunt collected well over a hundred mason jars in various sizes from her local thrift store for our drinking vessels. Our mums collected old family photos, I printed them black and white and put them in an array of gold frames. Instead of a wedding cake, my mum, aunts, grandma and a great friend got together one Sunday afternoon and baked chocolate chip cookies, triple gingersnaps, brownies, lemon squares and four flavors of cake pops. I thought we had an insane amount of goodies…but every last one was eaten up.
Adam and I bought a 1971 thirteen foot Boler trailer in the spring before the wedding. During the weeks between he spent so much time renovating it to bring it back close to it’s original state…it turned out just perfect! It was there front and center and was a great focal point for the event.
And everything was coordinated by the amazzzzing Callandra Caufield of Cherry Tree Occasions (our wedding planner hero).
What was your personal bridal style and what inspired it?I wanted to look like me on the wedding day. Adam loves my hair long and curly, so that’s how I wore it. I wanted cocktail length dress with lots of poof, a natural waist, sweetheart neckline and Swiss dots! I knew I wouldn’t find a dress in a typical bridal store that I would want to wear so I gathered a bunch of ideas and eventually found a lady on Etsy who could whip a custom gown up for me. It was perfect.
My entire outfit definitely wasn’t understated. I had a big feathery-flowery hair comb and birdcage veil, big vintage gold belt, loads of chunky gold jewelry and bright blue shoes. I added a printed cardigan after the ceremony. When my feet got sore, I changed into a brand new pair of moccasins (I wear moccasins every day) and then when it got even colder, in true mountain girl fashion, I added a big scarf, toque, long underwear and my clunky Sorel boots.
In retrospect what was your best wedding planning decision?Keeping our wedding casual and true to ourselves. During the planning process, every now and then I would feel a tad guilty to be planning such an offbeat, quirky, budget-conscious affair when in the meantime I was frequently photographing lavish ballroom weddings for my clients…I didn’t want them to think that I was disrespecting the choices they’d made for their own weddings. In the end (as I knew all along!) it was the absolute perfect kind of party celebrate our marriage. It was so us, and every one of our guests fit right in with the setting and theme we chose. I loved every last one of our DIY projects, I feel so grateful for the time I got to spend with friends and family throughout the planning process.
Thank you for sharing your wedding with us Julie and Adam!
Rukiya and Qubi’s Dominican Republic destination beach wedding, photographed by SB Childs Photography, is not only delightful to look at, but it absolutely tugs at the heartstrings with all of the sweet ways they honored their families. Read on to enjoy the beauty, and just see if you don’t feel your heart swell with love!
The Goals: Rukiya and Qubi were thrilled with their decision to have an intimate and personal destination wedding, but more than anything, as parents, they knew that they wanted to include their sons in their wedding. Just before their ceremony at Dreams Palm Beach Resort began, the couple gave special gifts to each of their boys. “Knowing that Qubi and I were exchanging rings, we wanted to present gifts to our children as well to show them that it was their special day too. We had ID bracelets and necklaces engraved with their names on them. I presented Jaces (Qubis biological son) gifts to him, and Qubi presented the gifts to Kyran (my biological son). Reminding them that we are not replacing the parents they have, but rather enhancing the relationships we’ve already established with them.” What a wonderful idea! During their meaningful Christian ceremony, Kyran walked his mom down the aisle and they included a contemporary sand ceremony that included both boys. During the reception, instead of traditional parent dances, they did a mother sons dance where Rukiya danced with Kyran and Jace.
The Design: To add to the tropical beach-chic feel of their amazing Punta Cana location, Rukiya and Qubi chose khaki, mint green and coral wedding colors. Save the Dates that looked like boarding passes and invitations that looked like passports had been sent to each of their 20 guests, and canvas beach bags welcomed everyone upon arrival. Travel agents VIP Vacations helped arrange details for wedding travelers – a special touch I think is brilliant for a destination wedding!
The Look: Rukiya’s personal bridal style was inspired by their Dominica Republic destination. “I knew I wanted ruffles at the bottom similar to the Dominican flamenco dresses. I ended up selecting a form-fitting mermaid style dress that flattered my petite frame.” Rukiya’s maid of honor wore coral and her bridesmaid wore green – each dresses they chose themselves. Qubi wore a perfect-for-the-tropics tan suit with leather sandals and a coral tie. He wanted his groomsman to be comfortable so they all wore khaki pants with linen shirts and their sons wore matching white linen outfits.
The Moments: Getting to spend ample time with all of their guests made a destination wedding the perfect choice for these newly-weds. They even incorporated the concept into the way they approached their wedding favors. “In lieu of traditional favors, we treated our guests to an experience they would never forget. The night before the wedding we chartered a private boat and set sail on a three-hour sunset dinner cruise. Transportation picked us up from the hotel and took us to the dock. We set sail and docked at a natural swimming pool where our guests were able to either take a swim or relax on the boat. After we ate our dinner we danced and partied the night away as we set sail back to the dock. It was definitely a highlight of the weekend.”
What three adjectives that best describe your wedding?Personal, fun, joyous
What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day?Tim and I wanted to create a wedding that was a true reflection of the laid-back, loving and goofy couple that we are. When we envisioned our wedding day, it was to be a joyous occasion for our family and friends to celebrate, laugh, be silly, cry, sing and dance with us. We kept all of his in mind as we started our planning process.
We both love the outdoors and decided we had to get married outside. We found this totally rustic little bed and breakfast in Sonoma Valley called Relais du Soleil that was off the beaten path. The venue had a lot of eclectic charm and really set the tone for our casual, back yard feeling wedding. We ended up not needing a lot of extra décor because the venue itself had so much character. Our flowers came from a local farm, and we just had friends snip off the ends during our rehearsal and place them into collected vintage mason jars. It all came together so naturally and effortlessly, which was exactly how we wanted our wedding to feel.
We felt that the best way to inject our personalities into our wedding was to add a lot of DIY elements. I love being crafty, and our wedding provided me with so many opportunities to tap into my creative side. It was a lot of work but I had a lot of help from my groom, my brother (who also served as my Man of Honor) and his girlfriend. One of my favorite projects was designing and assembling our program. Since we knew it was going to be a hot day, we decided to have our programs double as fans. On the front side, we had all the info a program needs but added our own personal touch with a great cartoon depiction of the two of us drawn by one of my very artisitic bridesmaids Elaine Chao. Tim also loves crosswords (as do many of our friends), so Tim made a crossword puzzle for the back. There were lots of clues about weddings and about us, that when strung together read, To have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse.”
It was also important to us that we incorporate our cultures into our wedding day. Tim is Jewish, and his mom and aunt volunteered to craft a beautiful chuppah for us. Our close friends contributed squares, and the end product was a perfect backdrop for our ceremony. I made sure we played Chinese door games before the wedding. Door games are a Chinese tradition where the groom and his entourage have to complete a series of tasks and challenges designated by the bride and her bridesmaids before he can see his bride. Since Tim loves games, I had one of my very talented bridesmaids, Joyce Chen, make a Bridal Pursuit board game where Tim was tested in three categories: brains, brawn and bride. It was a great way to start the day!
Lastly, we wanted to make sure our love of fun was captured in the day. Instead of traditional wedding favors, we had a basket of white wayfarer sun glasses for all our guests to take. Our DJ made sure everyone was wearing a pair at the end of the night on the dance floor, and it was awesome! We have this great photo of my parents in them. They looked so cool! We also had one of my super crafty bridesmaids sew and build us a bright yellow photo booth backdrop. I purchased the fabric from Ikea, and she made a frame using PVC pipe. We found some fun photo props from Etsy and our guests had a great time goofing it up with mustaches and funny glasses.
Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding? After we got engaged, Tim and I wrote down a list of must-dos for our wedding. It wasnt a long list but it contained all the important elements to make our wedding day truly memorable and special to us. One of the first things on our list was that we wanted to be married by someone who really got us and our quirkiness, so we chose our close friend Jason Miller, and it was the best decision we made for the entire wedding. He reached out to our family and closest friends and worked with us to create the most genuine, intimate and touching ceremony we could have ever asked for. It allowed our guests to laugh and cry with us, and we will remember it forever.
It was also important to us that our family to be part of our ceremony. Our parents, siblings and my grandmother have meant so much to us, and we wanted to make sure they played a special part in our day. We asked them to literally wrap us in their blessings. During a part of our ceremony, our family came up and stood in a circle around us. We held one end of a Chinese silk cloth in our hands and the other end was passed around from one family member to the next as they each gave us a blessing for our marriage. When it was my 88 year old grandmothers turn, I simply couldnt stop the tears from flowing.
Another “must-do” was to have song and dance to be a big part of our day. This was a bit risky as you never know how people will react or if itll end up being awkward, but we are so glad we took the risks we did. I always joked that if I could have my dream wedding, the Harlem Gospel Choir would come and get all our guests on their feet, and itd be one big happy songfest. Well, I dont know the Harlem Gospel Choir, but I do have a great friend Grace Chen who has a beautiful voice. Grace sang Aint No Mountain High Enough during our ceremony but coordinated it so that midway through the song the wedding party joined her in song and dance. We also had plants in the audience who got up and started singing, and before we knew it, all our guests were on their feet. Looking out on all our guests, seeing everyone smiling, clapping to the music was one of the most awesome moments of our wedding for me! The second song came in the version of Karaoke. Ive been singing Karaoke with my father since I was a kid, and it only made sense that we sing a song together versus doing the traditional father-daughter dance. We did a medley of two crowd favorites: Stand By Me and My Girl. It was a lot of fun for us to ham it up and gave our guests a chance to have a good laugh!
Lastly, Tim and I decided to buck the traditional first dance. Tim HATES dancing but compromised for our wedding. We started taking dance lessons with Val Cunningham, the most wonderful dance instructor, three months before our wedding. When we first met with Val, we were definitely hesitant about the time it would take and the money it would cost, but luckily, we were in good hands. Over the three months, Tim and I took ten lessons with Val and practiced almost every other night on our own. We both were incredibly surprised by how much our relationship grew just by taking dance lessons together. We were learning new things about each other and also just having a lot of fun. By the end, we had a great number to wow our guests with and knew the time and money we invested into our dance was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. When we walked out for our dance on our wedding night, we started off with Etta James At Last, purposely making it seem awkward as thats what people would expect. Then all of a sudden the music changed to the Pipettes Pull Shapes, and we started our choreographed dance. The crowd went wild, and we got so much energy from everyone. It was absolutely fantastic! We know that it was the highlight of the wedding for so many of our guests, and we will remember it forever.
Our wedding really was filled with so many amazing memories. We had such wonderful friends and family around us, and we are so glad that Noah Hawthorne, our photographer, and Julian Gilliam, our videographer, captured it all so perfectly. We really feel so lucky to have found the vendors that we did to help us create a beautiful, memorable day. If we could, wed do it all again in a heartbeat.
We consider ourselves true cupcake connoisseurs here at Junebug Weddings, so we were delighted to come across this brilliant DIY decorating idea from Ticings.com. Ticings makes thin, decorative, edible icing sheets with modern designs and sayings that you can add to homemade cakes, cupcakes, cookies or brownies. How cute would these be as the treats for your wedding shower or as thank you gifts for all those who are lending a hand with your wedding planning? All you have to do is “peel and press” onto fresh buttercream frosting (yum!) and your baked goods will get an instant pick me up. So easy and fun!
Some of the most enjoyable parts of The Most Ridiculous Wedding Event Ever were when guests got to get up and get involved! Cindy Smith from Mark’s Garden Flowers led a wedding bouquet making contest, and I was super impressed with the floral bouquets they created! The lovely lady in the bottom photo with the pink orchid bouquet was the big winner.
Joan Spitler and Leigh Grode, the Cake Divas, led a wedding cake decorating contest that drew cheers from the audience as they displayed their sugary creations. Yum!
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