We all have our favorite romantic story to curl up on the couch with. For some of us, it’s The Notebook, for others it’s Sleepless in Seattle. Well, today we’ve found a real life wedding that stands on it’s own in that league. It’s got all the makings of a true romance, with the rain and the groom almost not making it for the big day. It’s beautiful and vintage. Captured by Love is a Big Deal, and designed, flora’d and housed at Historic Cedarwood, it is my new favorite romantic tale. Click here to see why!
Who would’ve thought a rainy day + and outside wedding could end in one of the most beautiful things ever. Let it rain!! I look back on these photos and smile, cry, giggle, and get all warm and fuzzy inside. The rain made our day even more special. The memories from this day are some of the most perfectly beautiful memories of my whole life. This day is so very special to me; especially because at one point the wedding was about to be cancelled due the fact that my groom wasn’t going to be able to make it! Eric is in the military and was told two months out from the wedding that he was required to go to a three month training course that would overlap our wedding date. I was devastated, as any bride would be, but was unable to do anything about it.
At the same time, Eric and I were living in two different states, going through the process of buying our first house, moving, AND trying to finish planning our wedding. I called our venue (Historic Cedarwood) and our photographers (Meg+Josh at Love Is A Big Deal) and sobbed on the phone about the possibility of cancellation. Everyone was so sweet, supportive, and understanding, and assured me that no matter what, we would make it work whenever the wedding could happen. I am so grateful for the relationship I formed with these amazing people and how much they really cared about us. Needless to say, those final months were CRAZY. If it weren’t for my family and friends, I’m not sure I would’ve made it. LUCKILY, with only one month until our wedding, Eric received word that he would not have to attend training after all. WHEW! Happiest bride to be EVER!! So…myself, and my amazing maid of honor continued crafting our hearts away to make sure that the wedding was everything I’d ever dreamed.
Eric and I knew from the very beginning that we did not want a generic, traditional, or cookie cutter wedding, we wanted our day to be unique to us, and we wanted to get married outside surrounded by our closest family and friends. We (and by “we” I mean me throwing photos and ideas at Eric with him nodding in agreement) started planning from the beginning and the style of the wedding just came about on its own.
I knew I wanted to be very involved in the planning, styling, and details of our big day. Lucky for me, the ladies over at Cedarwood were on board and so excited about all of my ideas! I must tell you that not only am I a pretty crafty gal, but I have an extremely crafted and talented best friend/maid of honor. Put us together and it’s magic . We stayed up countless nights and spent approximately one gazillion hours cutting, hot gluing, sewing, ironing, twisting, tying, etc. It looked like Hobby Lobby blew up in my house! We made all the bunting from fabric scraps, constructed boutonnieres, wrapped twine around rocks for escort cards, put together a mini cake topper bunting with twigs from the backyard, hand stamped mason jar tags, sketched a wedding tree for the guest book, hot glued fabric letters for our chairs, etc. Eric’s mom even stitched my initials and wedding date in the bottom of my dress. It took a lot of work and a lot of patience, but it was COMPLETELY worth it in the end.
I love all things chippy, rustic, vintage, and covered in burlap. Eric and I love hiking, camping, canoeing, and anything outdoors. I wanted to incorporate natural elements into our day like the twigs for the cake topper bunting, rocks for the escort cards, feathers for the boutonniere’s, and floral design that was very thrown together and wild. I wanted our day to reflect who we are. Laid back, fun, silly, non-formal, and completely smitten with each other. We wrote our own vows, our own ceremony, chose our song selections (which were non-traditional), incorporated poems and readings that were relevant to us, and even had one of our best friends as our Officiant. In lieu of a generic unity ceremony, we chose something that was more meaningful and relevant to us. Eric built a box, and I painted our last initial and our wedding date on it. We put in two unread love letters to each other about why we fell in love, a nice bottle of wine from the year we started dating, and nailed the lid on the box. We promised that if things ever get too hard and our love starts to fade, we will open the box, drink the wine, and read the letters we wrote to each other, reminding us of how much our love means and to never give up. If things don’t get bad (as expected), we will open the box and enjoy the wine together on our 25th anniversary. PERFECT. That box of love now sits on our mantle .
The best advice I can give to any bride is to embrace change, don’t be afraid to make your day unique, and dance the night away come rain or shine!! You are going to change your mind, things aren’t going to go as planned, some DIY projects just aren’t going to work out, your dress is going to be ruined (Poor Felice looks like I dragged her through a junk yard), your grandpa is going to wear a crazy hat, etc., etc. In the end, none of that matters. You won’t even notice ANY of those things the day of, and if you do they will make you giggle. Make the most of everything and just embrace the love from those around you. The day goes by so fast! Remember what the day is about and don’t lose sight of that…Oh, and don’t hot glue ANYTHING while sitting indian style in your living room. Myself and my maid of honor are literally scarred for life from 3rd degree hot glue gun wounds on our legs.
There are so many favorite moments. Seeing Eric for the first time was pretty amazing. Looking in his eyes and knowing that I am getting to marry my best friend was one of the most amazing feelings. Also, hearing Eric’s vows that he had written took my breathe away. He put so much time and effort into those words and they were so completely perfect. Really our entire ceremony is at the top of my favorites list. We put so much time and energy into writing every single detail. It was completely us from the first word to our exit. Another favorite, literally dancing all night with each other, and running around in the rain. We were so silly and on such a high from the entire day. It was the best night of our lives.
Photography: Love is a Big Deal / Venue: Historic Cedarwood / Styling and Design: Historic Cedarwood + Erika Hoelscher / Floral Design: Historic Cedarwood / Dress: Felice by Melissa Sweet, The Bride Room / Groom’s suit: Express