Hmmm…how do I describe this next wedding sent to us by crazy talented Carla Ten Eyck? Pure and unadulterated AWESOMENESS comes to mind. Donna and Andrew, the stylish bride and groom, created a rustic affair full of unique personal touches completely crafted by hand and so uniquely them. I must say, I am left yearning for a wheat bouquet to call my own. Be sure to visit the gallery for even more DIY inspiration from this artistic duo.
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All of the DIY details from the Bride:
We are both creative. I am a graphic designer and Andrew designs and builds store window displays for the fashion industry. I designed our save the dates, programs and thank you cards. He built the trellis and took care of tracking down and ordering lighting, etc. I really felt this was our chance to do and make everything on our own and just be so completely us.
Our inspiration came from blogs, Etsy and magazines from which I placed together mood boards. Many things just sort of came together and they miraculously went hand-in-hand with our rustic October theme. We sort of just did what we wanted and hoped it would work well together, but didn’t stress over it. We had planned on having the ceremony outside in Middletown, CT. It was beautiful in new England in October and we both love the fall. The day we got married, it was actually the stormiest, rainiest of days which we totally hadn’t planned on but which resulted in the most amazing photos and awesome memories.
Our photographer was amazing. She gave me the contact info for the dressmaker I used and also for our florist. We shopped thrift and craft stores near and far to collect all the glass centerpieces of which the florist made the most epic centerpiece terrariums of odd flowers and vegetables. I picked a creative and talented florist, told him we wanted terratium centerpieces, ferns somewhere and wheat bouquets for the bridesmaids and the rest was all his creativity. (Using wheat and vegetables is creative and easy on the budget). We also sliced a tree trunk to provide the centerpieces with a tree base.
We made our table markers from scrap barn wood and old cinema letters I had saved for no particular reason for years. We sprayed them white and glued them on. For wedding favors, I bought plastic party wishbones in bulk, spray painted them gold and attached thank you banners. I thought it was kind of fun to get people to interact. It was fun seeing people cart off table letters, centerpieces and wishbones to their cars afterwards. We used the leftover wood to make an arrow sign to point out the props and the wishing tree.
For the wishing tree, we dragged a huge branch out of my parents’ backyard and secured it to a wall in the back of the barn next to the gift table. The place cards, which doubled as our wishes, were made out of large tags with string. We stamped one side, wrote our guests’ names and leaned them against pine cones. I also glued origami flowers (which Andrew’s sister made and mailed to us from Florida) on random ones to spruce up the display. We placed a sign on the table asking our guests to write wishes or thoughts on the back of their tags and hang them on the tree.
It was really fun doing everything ourselves. We got to make things together and be creative together. Everything meant so much more on our wedding day because so many things we personally made or thought of. Andrew spent the entire morning with friends hanging the lighting and building the trellis. It was so amazing walking in that room for the first time and seeing him surrounded by all the work we had done together. It was so beautiful. I also loved having family involved like my grandma embroidering the ring holder or Andrew’s mom making his bow tie and his sister making the origami flowers for the pine cones.
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck / Venue: The Barns at Wesleyan Hill / Flowers: Datura: A Modern Garden / Dress: Jane Wilson-Marquis/ Necklace: Moon and Lola