It’s that time again, lovelies. Time to dive into SEVEN gorgeous fêtes chock-full of pretty, pretty inspiration and enough heartwarming moments to fill your entire work week. Yep – I’m talking Wedding Wednesday. One fabulous soiree after another for a morning, noon and night of lovely. So, silence those phones, clear those calendars and get ready for all of the pretty. It’s going to be awesome.
When an oh-so-wonderful designer at one of our all-time favorite invitation studios gets married, we get a little crazy. And when that invitation studio happens to be the ever-fabulous Bella Figura and that marriage is a backyard BBQ overflowing with rustic meets vintage touches every which way you turn, well. That’s a cause for a serious celebration. Because this is the kind of wedding that captures your heart from moment ONE with its beautiful setting, adorable duo and, of course, fine paper goods. Join us in the gallery for all of the lovely captured by Amelia Beamish Photography. It’s sooo good.
From the Bride… We wanted a very informal, down-to-earth wedding to make sure every one of our guests felt comfortable and ready to celebrate! So we had a rustic, backyard BBQ filled with natural, hand-made touches. The wedding was held at Ophelia’s Garden Inn, a local bed & breakfast in Syracuse, New York, that’s surrounded by trees. The grounds are filled with beautiful gardens, and vintage furniture and eclectic knick-knacks can be found throughout the inn, which made for a really romantic, shabby chic look. I asked both of my sisters to be my maids of honor, and all of the girls wore different dresses in beige, champagne and ivory. The boys wore sand-colored suits with ivory accents. I worked with Bella Figura (of course!) for my invitations and used the Hendrix design by Jessica Hische in antique gold and camel inks for a soft, romantic look. Debi Zeinert (a Bella Figura calligrapher and owner of The Blooming Quill) did hand calligraphy accents for my invitations and addressed my envelopes as well. Sarah Hanna (another Bella Figura calligrapher) created a custom tree guestbook for me. All of the guests signed the artwork in gold pen, and it turned out so beautifully — a piece of art I will always hold on to! For flowers, I chose astilbes which were wrapped in burlap and accented with neutral lace ribbon and twine. We created our own altar for the ceremony by using shepherd’s hooks painted in champagne, then decorated with tulle, mason jars, astilbe flowers, and a custom banner that read “Be in Love.” The banner was handmade by my friend Tiffany Button. Ribbons and astilbes were tied to the chairs for the ceremony.
We incorporated more handmade touches throughout the reception: we used a vintage bird cage for cards and hung white paper poms from the trees around the property. The place cards were handwritten in gold ink, and with twine, we hung mason jars with candles inside from a wooden archway on the property and clothes-pinned all of the place cards to the twine. My family and I also hand-painted mason jars with table numbers and filled them with astilbe flowers in shades of blush and ivory. We also filled mason jars with sand and votive candles and used natural lace ribbon and twine for finishing touches. Limp Lizard Catering did the food, and it was local, down-home BBQ, smoked to perfection! And Biscotti’s, a local bakery, made our red velvet, two-tier cake with ivory buttercream frosting and Swiss dot decor. We topped it off with a handmade burlap bunting banner as our cake topper.
Favorite moments from the big day: watching Anthony’s face when I walked down the aisle; my dad tearing up when he saw me in my dress; Anthony singing “Whatever It Is,” by the Zac Brown Band to me on the dance floor; stepping away with Anthony throughout the evening to try and take everything in; our exchange of vows, (which we wrote ourselves!); and dancing!
Wedding Photography: Amelia Beamish Photography / Wedding Venue: Ophelia’s Garden Inn in Syracuse, New York / Floral Design: Wegmans / Catering: Limp Lizard / Wedding Cake: Biscotti Cafe / Wedding Invitations: Bella Figura / Calligraphy: Debi Zeinert of The Blooming Quill / Tent, Linens, Dinnerware, Lighting + Dance Floor: Upstate Party Rental / Guest Book: Sarah Hanna / Wedding Dress: Watters