This is the PERFECT example of an elegant backyard wedding done so, so right. Mastin Studio snapped the oh so gorgeous images and it’s almost as if we are right there in that backyard, enjoying all of the festivities. And the lavender field shot? Does it get any better? We’re kind of dying over that number. No detail was left uncharted and the best part is that it was all handcrafted by the couple and their wedding warriors. This is what backyard bliss looks like and there is A LOT of it so be sure to stop by the gallery for the full stunning affair!
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From the Bride…When Erich and I began dating, he was just starting his wedding photography business. Although I had never been a girl who dreamed of her wedding day growing up, exploring wedding blogs and photography sites with Erich quickly snowballed into a mild obsession with all things wedding. I figured that designing our own wedding would be a breeze since we had become so familiar (aka obsessed) with weddings over the last few years. It totally wasn’t. We had completely overwhelmed ourselves with so many ideas, themes, color schemes, dresses, venues and moustache-laden photo booths that we didn’t know where our own wedding and sense of style fit in the mix. Finally, it all started coming together when we chose our colors – white, crème, beige, champagne, our wedding colors were “no color,” and from there things quickly fell into place. Our venue (a forest on my parent’s farm) was like a green, tree canopied cathedral, and we wanted to maintain the natural beauty of the area by enhancing it slightly with details and allowing the scenery take center stage. Keeping the wedding natural and neutral in terms of colors definitely didn’t mean we were lacking in the DIY department. Almost every aspect of our wedding, including stationery, framed signs, flowers and centerpieces, were designed and created by us with the help of our very generous – and talented – friends and family.
For the ceremony, guests first came to a sign in table (a thrift store desk my sister and I found while hunting for other wedding décor items) where in lieu of a guest book they signed antique postcards which then hung on twine tied between two trees. Near the ceremony seating, programs and handmade cones of confetti sat in old wooden crates we borrowed from my grandpa’s orchard. The “altar,” was a small antique table from my parent’s home on top of the oriental rug from my childhood bedroom. We had planned to have a unity candle lighting during the ceremony, but because it was windy that morning we decided to scrap it. My grandma was helping us set up decorations when we made the decision to not have the unity candle on the table for the ceremony, and she kindly offered to let Erich and I use a crystal cross as a focal point on the table during the ceremony. She and my grandpa then gifted us with the cross after the wedding, and it now sits on a shelf in our home. My bouquet, which I made myself the day before the wedding, served as a way for me to carry bits and pieces of family history with me during the day. It was wrapped in lace from the veil both my grandma and mom wore on their wedding days, and on top of the lace I wrapped a beautiful silver and turquoise necklace, which Erich’s mom gave to me at my bridal shower, and was her late mother’s. It made my bouquet even more special to have so many meaningful items incorporated into it.
At the reception, the tables had handmade table numbers made by Erich, and burlap runners sewn by my mom with the help of her good friend, topped with hundreds of antique vases, candelabras and jars we sourced from local thrift stores. Over ten family members and friends did all of the floral arrangements the day before the wedding, with all white and cream flowers as well as hundreds of potted succulents (which my mom grew in one of the farm’s greenhouses especially for the wedding). One of our favorite parts of the reception area was the dance floor. Instead of renting a dance floor, Erich and my dad hunted on Craigslist daily for large rugs and found two perfect, beautiful rugs which we put down side-by-side over plywood as the dance floor area. Erich designed and custom framed a number of large signs for the wedding site, and made one for the dance floor area that said “Cut a rug.” The guests loved the signs, and the dance floor area and sign helped to set the fun, light-hearted mood of the reception. Other special touches in the reception area included framed quotes and song lyrics that were special to us, and framed photos of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents on their wedding days. Erich and I are so blessed to have strong legacies of love and lasting marriages on both sides of our families, and we wanted to celebrate their loving marriages on our own wedding day.
Wedding Photography: Mastin Studio / Wedding Cinematography: Moetic Wedding Films / Wedding Dress: Augusta Jones / Belt: Kristen Kuehn Designs / Flowers: The Bride’s Mother, Aunts, and Family Friends / Venue: Private Residence / Wedding Planning: The Bride + Groom / Music: Symmetry/Symmetry / Groom’s Suit: J.Crew / Groomsmen Suits: Shyrocks Men’s Wear / Bride’s Shoes: Steve Madden / Groom’s Shoes: Edmond Allen / Bridesmaid Dresses: Various / Stationery: The Groom / Wedding Cake: Cherry City Cakes / Engagement + Wedding Rings: Simon G via Jackson Jewelers / Bride’s Earrings + Bracelet: Nordstrom