I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Tait and I were actually at the Cape all of last week so before I begin, I wanted to send a HUGE thank you to Erin, Elaine and our Guest Bloggers for keeping the blog afloat (and totally gorgeous) while we were gone! You girls are the best. Okay, so we have the loveliest of lovely weddings for you this Monday morning. The bride and her friends and family crafted all of the gorgeous details on a $13,000 budget and made it look like a $50,000 budget…something we LOVE to see. And the photographs by Eric Yerke..well, totally beyond. I am seriously swooning over this little beauty and I know you will too. Click here to see even more!
Click here to see the full wedding in all it’s fabulousness!
We met this past October during Oktoberfest in Amana – it was definitely love at first sight. On New Year’s day, Adam proposed and so began our fairytale.
As a graphic designer I had many ideas and thoughts going through my head as what I wanted the wedding’s theme to be… I have always wanted to have an outdoor ceremony – something so beautiful and real about having your wedding outdoors. To me its one step closer to God – surrounded by all his creation. And our reception had to be in the Festhalle Barn! The location of Oktoberfest… Where we met! With all its rich and strong history and elegance it was a great place that not only had meaning but potential!
There was one thing besides our tight budget ($13,000) that was very important to us. I wanted to carry throughout the wedding day the “feeling” that our guests would have. A feeling of a whimsical fairytale that they were swept into the beauty of nature in our ceremony and experiencing the elegant contrast of the rich wood barn against the flowing fabric and tranquil candlelight – – while they listened to the soft jazz / classical music of the band while they enjoyed their night away from their reality.
Some of the interesting snippets of the wedding / decoration…
We bought wine glasses from all sorts of second hand stores, vintage stores, goodwills, etc. — which made them all different shapes and sizes – creating a very homey individual look. Also the guests got to take the wine glasses home with them as a favor. All of the brass we used to decorate with throughout the reception area came from Goodwill’s so there was no sets — just playful and random. The fabric we used to drape was muslin (which you know is extremely affordable). We used lots of fabric softener to make it easier to drape. The backdrop for the reception (behind the band & photo booth) was cardboard pieces that I painted then we taped them together.
The menu was made up of a piece of wood which I sprayed chalkboard paint on then wrote the menu on — the frame was from an antique store. For our ceremonial unity we used different types of rope/string/etc. So… Adam came up with a piece that depicted him, I did and each set of our parents did. Then during the ceremony we tied them all together.
The directional signs for the wedding were just old pieces of barn board that we hinged together and my mother in law painted. Oh and all the little candles were bought at Hobby Lobby (not sure how wide-spread that store is…) which were very inexpensive! Another place that saved us money was GotPrint.com — we printed all of our invite pieces from this website for… I think around $280.
Planning / Coordination / Design & Decorating – Done by the bride with help from family and friends / Photography – Eric Yerke / Ceremony Venue – Kent Park / Reception Venue – Festhalle Barn in Amana, IA / Cake – Deluxe Cakes & Pastries / Groom’s Suit – DKNY / Dress – The Bridal Connection, designed by Christina Rossi / Bride’s Shoes – Menbur, bought from Endless.com / Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Victoria’s Secret / / Hair – Tracy Andes / Flowers (bouquets & boutonnieres only) – All Seasons Weeds / Flowers (table arrangements) – Amy Raes / Wreath, Swag – Mother of the bride / Ceremony Music – Janet Carlon, Amy Carlon, Joey Russell / Band – Freestyle Band / Caterer – Howard Ball / Beer – Millstream Brewery / Appetizers – Amana Meatshop