If ever there was a wedding to seriously sweeten your Thursday evening, this gorgeous Nashville affair captured by Rachel Moore Photography is most certainly IT. A literal DIY dreamland, it’s an exposed brick warehouse (hello, Building 8 at The Factory!) meets colorful bunting meets fab paper goods designed by the uber-stunning, plus oh-so-talented bride. Completely crafty, seriously dreamy and totally amazing – this is a personality-filled wedding done oh-so-right. See SOO much more right here.
From the Bride… I’m a graphic designer and my husband is a video editor, so we definitely agreed on was our wedding had to be visual, and it had to reflect us. We were both born in middle Tennessee, so our southern roots have inspired the look and tone of our crafty, handmade wedding. We wanted it to feel comfortable and homey, so no tuxes or roses here! It was also very important to us to prove that a beautiful wedding can be thrown for less! I’m proud to say that we planned our wedding in just seven months for under $10,000! We accomplished this by simply setting a budget from the beginning and sticking to it! We picked our main priorities and found less expensive alternatives for everything else. We put photography at the top of the list, even above venue! We kept other costs down by borrowing wherever possible, thrift shopping and seeking out deals.
We go to church in an old factory, so renting it was perfect for us — not only does it have character with exposed beams, brick walls and concrete, but we also got a discount for being members there. Another way we cut costs on venue was to have the ceremony and reception in the same room. This decision came with so many benefits. First off, we saved set up/tear down time by basically setting the room up for a reception for the entire event. We set up our altar in the middle of the room, and then placed round tables around the altar, so the wedding was in the round, and everyone got a unique view during the ceremony. I also appreciated this setup because it allowed me to be involved in the setup of everything the night before, instead of it all getting thrown together in between a ceremony and reception.
I love doing crafty things, so I made all of the handmade details around the room. Fabric squares from Joann’s Fabrics were the best way to get tons of fabric samples for a very low cost, especially if you catch them on sale! I bought several patterns in our colors and made fabric birds, fabric flower chains for the altar and bunting off tutorials I found online. For the “Just Married” and “gifts” bunting, I printed letters onto iron-on transfer paper, ironed them onto the fabric and glued them around hemp. So easy and SO affordable! I designed our invitations myself, along with various signage around the room, such as the favor table, guest book, and cupcake and catering lists. My centerpieces had awesome old books and various found objects I got from garage sales and Goodwills. The flowers were one of my favorite parts. My vision was a wildflower kind of feel using varied clear bottles and vases. I started collecting bottles when we got engaged and enlisted the help of my bartender friend. I had over 150 by the wedding. Our flower vendor was a friend of my fiancé’s family who did flowers for his mother and aunt’s weddings years ago. He no longer does weddings, but was kind enough to consult with and advise us, as well as make the bridal bouquets/boutonnieres and order us buckets of flowers. Then the day before the wedding, about 7-10 of us got together and assembled all the flower arrangements for the centerpieces and tied jute and hemp around the bottlenecks for added detail. They turned out better than I had envisioned!
After our send-off, we got into our getaway car: my grandfather’s 1927 Model A. He passed the year before, so it was important to me to have a piece of him in the wedding, and I was honored to be able to use that classic Ford. My dad even taught my fiancé how to drive it beforehand to make it more authentic.
Wedding Photography: Rachel Moore Photography / Wedding Venue: Building 8 at The Factory in Franklin, Tennessee / Wedding Day Coordination: Margot L. Irwin of Destination Nashville / Floral Consultation + Ordering: Henry’s Florist / Wedding Cinematography: Matt Giesler of Matt G Video / Catering: Famous Dave’s / Cupcakes: Sweetface Cakes / Wedding Invitations: Designed by the Bride / Chair + Linen Rentals: Southern Events Party Rental & Vintage Prop Shoppe / Wedding Dress, Veil + Headband: David’s Bridal / Hair + Makeup: DIY by the Bride / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Wtoo / Groom’s Suit + Tie: Express