Judging by the pretty levels (off the chart) of this wedding, we were not surprised to hear this bride spent much of her engaged days on SMP, scouring for inspiration – but we were tickled pink! Her wedding was stylish and chic, personal and fun – the perfect SMP soiree, captured fabulously by some of our faves – Lindsay & Jacqueline of Readyluck. I’m heading straight into the gallery for a really gorgeous finish to my week – meet you there?
I lived and breathed Style Me Pretty and magazines for inspiration while planning. I really wanted a simple/elegant feel for the wedding. I did almost everything myself, but didn’t want it to look that way…”DIY incognito.”
Photography, food, and location were our top three priorities, and overall we wanted everyone to have fun. I really worked hard to have a beautiful event, but at the end of the night we just wanted people to look back and say “that wedding was a blast!” No one talks months later about the wedding they went to with the best cake or the cutest bridesmaid shoes.
We are both big fans of country music and open space, so when we came across The Comus Inn we knew it was perfect. Outdoors, relaxed, and simple – we loved it. The fact that there were rolled hay bales down the street the day of the wedding was, as you know, one of my favorite miscellaneous surprises of the day.
I took my cue from our location with a slightly rustic/country chic feel, but I really didn’t want anything too “themey” or overdone and I felt those sources had the most perfectly put-together weddings. The kind of events that no matter what motif or color scheme, look perfectly classic and timeless.
My dress was Alvina Valenta purchased from Marry Me Bridal in Orange, CA. The crystal embellishment in the v-neck was actually a hairpiece from Edward Berger. I chose the Jim Hjelm color “acorn” and told my bridesmaids to pick any silk dupioni dress in that color. The result was fantastic and each girl was both comfortable and able to show their personality through their dress.
The table arrangements were candelabras with white hydrangea, hanging amaranthus, and green apples to coordinate with the green apple placecards. I hand-wrapped votives with twine and filled the remaining space with hydrangeas in mason jars from fiftyflowers.com. The last table detail was gold chargers, which I purchased on sale from Bed, Bath, and Beyond for cheaper than I could have rented them. On a side note, I loved loved loved the way the long tables turned out, and they saved me $1000 in flowers over doing round tables – win win!
We had an absolute blast when we got to do our post-ceremony pictures with just Lindsay and Jacqueline. We were able to be ourselves and let the wedding settle in and have fun with each other. It was so important to us that we didn’t go from our relaxed/personal ceremony to stuffy/posed portrait pictures. I’m notoriously the one with the camera anywhere we go because I have to document everything. I was thrilled to be able to relax and enjoy the night knowing the memories were being captured with good hands! Note to brides: DO NOT skimp on photography. We had hired a photographer prior to Readyluck and ended up switching because we were not over-the-moon about our engagement photos. They were pretty, but nothing spectacular. I was 100% confident in Lindsay and Jacqueline and I truly believe I was able to enjoy the night so much more because I wasn’t worried about how the photos were going to turn out. Obviously after seeing our photos we knew they were worth every penny, but the night of the event that was such a priceless feeling of confidence!
I was able to incorporate our loved ones who had passed in various subtle ways throughout the wedding, which meant a lot to us. I made a small button picture of Chris’ grandfather which was incorporated into his boutonniere, and also made cufflinks for his dad with the same picture. My dad’s cufflinks were photos of his parents, and I made a pearl bracelet with photos of my mom’s brother, sister, and father. I put a great deal of time into our invitations and paper products, and was thrilled with how they turned out. I created burlap pocketfolds with wood-grain textured interior. Each piece of paper had a line art image I made from photographs of different views of our location.
My biggest advice to future brides would be to think outside the box and find ways to make your wedding about you and your husband. I loved that my dress was completely customized – and with something as simple as a hair clip! I found our flower girl’s dress in Target for $17 – it was actually a child’s shirt that I shrunk to toddler size because it spoke to me so much more than the vintage dresses I found for hundreds of dollars. Likewise, our ring bearer’s outfit was $30 and was so adorably fitting for the event. Our guest list wasn’t really tailored to several round tables. I loved the look of events with long tables and found that it was substantially cheaper when it came to centerpieces – so I won in both aspects and the guests loved it. We made the burlap drapes for our sweetheart table with spray glue and a shower rod – they added a great touch to the event and are now hanging in my home office! The burlap pillow was also handmade – I ironed our monogram onto the fabric and Chris’ grandmother made it into a pillow for us, which is now a great keepsake. By incorporating things as simple as his football cufflinks, cowboy boots, and hat, the wedding was so much more personal and Chris felt like it was just as much about him.
Photography: Lindsay and Jacqueline for Readyluck / Cinematography: Shawn Girvan Films / Flowers: DaVinci Florist (bouquets & tall arrangements) and FiftyFlowers.com (small mason jar arrangements) / Event Planning & Design: Bride / Location: The Comus Inn / Cake: Simply Desserts / Stylist: Hope Stanley – Bridal Stylist / Ceremony string trio: Palladio Strings / DJ: DJ Kevin O’Donahue / Invitations: DIY by Bride / Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Dress: Alvina Valenta purchased at Mary Me Bridal, alterations at Love Couture Bridal / Hairpiece: Hair Comes The Bride / Hair & makeup: Clarissa at Creative Images Hair & Makeup / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: JLM Couture / Flower Girl’s Dress: Target