There’s no mistaking that when you’re planning a DIY wedding, you need all the help you can get. This lucky bride just so happened to get tons of help from her artsy and crafty mom and together they created one fabulous day. From the doilie painted table clothes to the antique brooch bouquet, this wedding is a total original. This is You Photography captured it all perfectly. Click here for the full gallery.
From the Bride… After I got engaged the first thing my mom and I tried to nail down was the venue and the overall feel/look of the wedding. Heath and I love doing and being outside, so I had narrowed it down to an outdoor ceremony. We looked around the Newnan area and my mom had visited Dunaway Gardens and she was in love. I went out there as soon as I could and saw what she was talking about. It was beautiful and I knew that it was the spot.
I had always loved casual, rustic, antique decor used in weddings so now that we had the location the look was starting to develop. I was inspired by antique ball jars for centerpieces and wanted to use burlap since it was a great natural backdrop for just about anything. I didn’t use a wedding planner- my mom is a retired art teacher, so once I talked about what I wanted and showed her things I liked she ran with it. We spray painted doilies onto the table cloths, she scavenged antique shops for jars, made a moss P and you can see from the pictures the list goes on and on…. I owe her BIG! and more importantly I trusted her with anything she suggested she was making. One thing I did want was a brooch bouquet. Flowers wilt and die and I loved the idea that its something I could keep and remember the day. I also love the idea that if I have girls, I can give them one of the brooches off my bouquet. One of my favorite parts of the day was my dress…. after traveling and trying on who knows how many dresses I had narrowed it down to a 2 dresses but before I went back to try them on I had an appointment at New Natalies in Atlanta. I went and saw the bottom of my dress in a bag and said,” I like the lace, lets try this on.” I saved it for last, and when I saw myself in it, I knew.
For music, my mom really liked the idea of a string quartet playing and we asked Jacob Winslett, our praise band leader at our church, to do a solo. Jacob sang “Take My Life” by Chris Tomlin during the lighting of the unity candles. For the reception music we wanted to have variety and we thought a dj would be best for that. Lastly, another part I knew from the begining I wanted to include, was a paper lantern release. I had seen the tradition for couples to write love wishes on the lantern and then releasing it for it to come true. I think they are beautiful and thought it would be a cool thing to include.
Photography: Mark & Tracy from This is You Photography / Wedding Venue: Dunaway Gardens in Newnan, Georgia / Wedding Coordinator + Floral Design: Phyllis King / Event Design: The Bride’s Mother / Caterer: Contemporary Catering / Wedding Cake: Linda’s All Occasion Cakes / Entertainment: Mike McGraw / Wedding Dress: Enzoani via New Natalies