This spring fête by Gema Blanton Photography is just the cutest thing I’ve seen all week. All the different centerpieces this adorable couple put together for their backyard wedding using vintage goodies, wildflowers, branch slices and planter boxes with photos and quotes from their favorite classic romantic movies are just the most darling things ever! Each special little detail like the paper heart boutonnieres, colorful napkins and doily place settings make this one of the sweetest celebrations around! Click here to see it all!
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From the Bride… We knew we wanted one kind of atmosphere: an intimate backyard affair with our closest family and friends. At any point of the planning, that was always our goal. And even with 140 or so people, we still managed that intimacy and charm of a small Southern soiree. Elwyn and I live in Tyler, Texas, which is in East Texas. I had lived in Houston for most of my life, so I was a lot more accustomed to the city life prior to Elwyn. When we were dating, he introduced me to so many wonderful things! Now I can’t imagine my life without them. I tried to incorporate a lot of these things into our wedding to almost tell our story to our guests.
First, there were the pies from Fresh Bakery. (Yes people, I had never had pie before meeting my husband!) Pies replaced the cakes, and people loved them. The buttermilk pies were a hit, especially. Personally, the cake feeding tradition needed to die down anyways and I decided to start this anti-tradition in my family. Then there are the birds in our centerpieces. Those are inspired by my husband’s love of birds. He’s a biologist, and when he first started taking me camping, I remember us hiking through the woods and him pointing out all of the different native birds. He can go into details about each of them. Every bird I saw at my wedding would instantly remind me of those days. Next would probably have to be the BBQ and the sweet tea (also things I never had before my husband and now I CANNOT live without!) Our first date was actually at Stanley’s BBQ and what better place to cater our wedding than them? They were so cool too about it. Last, would be the classic movies inspiration. I am a huge fanatic of classic film and now have successfully converted Elwyn into one of us. The women and men of those times played a huge part of my aesthetic in this wedding. The colors were inspired by films like My Fair Lady and the Wizard of Oz. (The flowers and the gingham on the napkins definitely says Wizard of Oz to me.) There were vintage touches here and there. And those pink boxes with the classic movie quotes on them were made from love. Elwyn built and painted the boxes while I collected my favorite classic romantic moment and printed them out to paste. The one motif I had definitely included in our wedding was bears. Elwyn and I call each other bears. He’s actually big bear and now hubby bear. I’m his little bear and his wifey bear. Gema Blanton did such a great job capturing our engravings on our rings. I didn’t even think she would notice them, but she came back with our rings smitten with the cuteness of it all. I am not even a cutesy person particularly, but with Elwyn, I can’t help it. He IS my big bear and my best friend.
My friends are all different from each other and I loved that their clothes were too. I just told them my colors and that it’s a garden wedding, not the club. They went at it, and looked great. The men looked very handsome with their heart shaped boutonnieres, and the men on Elwyn’s side really were the most important men of our lives. He had two very close mutual friends, my brother, his brother, and his father stand beside him. I literally felt surrounded by love when we were exchanging vows. My dress was from David’s Bridal, and my headband was from Etsy. (Thank God for Etsy.) I chose a headband instead of a veil or tiara because how simple and sweet the wedding was. Plus I really looked like myself, but bridal. My bouquet and all of the flowers were from The Flower Girl in Tyler. Alison was amazing! I didn’t give her too many specifics — I just said that I wanted to carry a garden in my hands. And boy, did she bring it. All the imperfections and quirks made our day perfect. That, and we walked up and down the aisle to George Harrison. Thanks, George!
Wedding Photography: Gema Blanton Photography / Wedding Venue: Victoria Station in Whitehouse, Texas / Floral Design: The Flower Girl in Tyler, Texas / Officiant: Tommy Jackson of Longview, Texas / Catering: Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Que / Pies: Fresh by Brookshires / Cupcakes: DIY by the Bride / Favors: A Donation to the Treatment and Learning Center for Children with Autism / Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal / Bride’s Headband: Etsy / Hair + Makeup: DIY by the Bride / Rings: James Avery